Kelly Bolhofner Originally posted on LinkedIn on August 30, 2018
In today’s world of internet and more informed buyers, the sales concept has shifted and evolved into something much different than it was in the past. It has evolved into the concept of consultative selling however some believe that even this process is outdated. While the consultative sales process has changed it can still be as just effective as long as the sales professional is willing to evolve.
Selling has always been about relationships. Even in the age of the snake oil salesman, they had to be able to build common ground with their customers and understand their woes in order to be able to get a crowd to listen and purchase their products. Even though his methods were unconventional and he didn’t really have the real relationship with his customers he had to build a perceived relationship to be successful. The concept of the relationship sale however has changed, it is not about knowing your customer personally, knowing his children’s names and his likes and dislikes. It is not about taking him to his favorite restaurant or bringing him his favorite cigar or a gift. It is more about actually knowing your customer’s business.
The relationship that you build with your customer and the resulting loyalty is built on a knowledge of his business and understanding his issues. Surveys show that customers value sales professionals that offer them unique and valuable insights into their market, assist them in navigating alternatives, help them find the balance the benefit of risk and educate them on new issues in their industry.
The product selling (transactional) salesperson uses the approach of starting with the product without knowing if the product will solve the customer’s pain points. He is about making the sale and then moving on to the next sale. He hopes that his product will speak for itself and will lead to them looking at his other product lines however he is only acting as an order taker and not truly meeting the customer needs.
The question based salesperson is a little more effective in building the relationship and trying to understand the issues of the customer. They ask the questions about their business and their pain points however that is only solving the problems that the customer knows about and “keeps them up at night”. This is the traditional solution sales approach. While it is a form on consultative selling it only works with the issues that the customer wants or needs to fix.
What about the pain points and things that are costing them money that they didn’t even know about? This is where today’s consultative salesperson can be most effective. They offer insight and listen beyond the questions, taking the customer to reducing costs and increasing productivity. The relationship is based on value and insight and helping their customers to run a better business.
The relationship is only the beginning in consultative selling. While the relationship and understanding of the customer’s business helps to build advocates and helps them to make the sale, there is another layer that the effective consultative salesperson needs, leadership. They should be able to lead through offering unique alternatives and perspectives, identify and address economic drivers and demonstrate value to the customer. This leadership will not only help make the sale but it will educate the customer and ultimately help them to appear more effective in their job and to bring value to their company stakeholders.
The keys to being a successful consultative sales professional is two way conversations with customers and becoming their trusted advisor. However this is not always easy since most customers are comfortable with the status quo. They are perfectly content to stay the course with their current way of doing things and not willing to “rock the boat” if they feel their way of doing things is not broken. This thinking often leads the customer to not address the issues that he knows often exist. They may know that the equipment that they have is old and outdated however it still works perfectly or this is the way that we have always done it so why should I change.
The trusted advisor uses this as an opportunity to build construction tension and get the customer to think in a different way. In order to do this you must undercover the status quo and the assumptions that the customer has to lead them to not want to change. Once this has been established it up to the consultative sales person to go about changing it by creating a productive conversation that will lead the customer to action.
Uncovering the status quo and assumptions is not always easy since many customers are afraid to talk about changing because they are afraid of risk or they are not sure how to go about changing it. They have certain behaviors that lead them to believe the way that they are doing it is the right way. These beliefs lead to assumptions that it is the most productive and efficient way.
In order to uncover these behaviors and beliefs, the consultative sales person needs to ask open ended questions that involve what, how, who and why. These would be about their goals and what they are doing to reach those goals, what is the expected outcome of doing it that way and what results have you made so far. They could also ask about what best practices are being used to accomplish these goals. These questions are time consuming and will elicit unnecessary information but often develop a trust and allow for an open response which only builds further on the credibility of the sales person as an advisor.
The balance in uncovering the assumptions that the customer has made is often difficult. The sales person often needs to be assertive in their approach and use direct language that talks to the customer and their goals versus at the customer. They should not be dismissive of the customer’s ideas and ways of doing things but push them to consider new alternatives to doing the same thing but with better results. They also need to look for the rational versus emotional cues to help guide them in the discussion.
Building this constructive tension can be, but not always, a long process since it involves digging into the beliefs and perceptions of reality that the customer has about their business challenges and current strategies. However, the sales person needs to be careful to not go too far that the customer starts being defensive and is no longer listening. They need to be able to read the cues and exercise emotional intelligence in identifying when it is time to change the approach.
The consultative sales professional delivers commercial insight. Once they have uncovered the customer’s needs, they can begin to reframe their thinking. This reframing will turn the supplier into a thought partner and the salesperson into a collaborator and trusted business advisor. Offering commercial insight through data and information applied to the status quo, that you discovered in your pre-approach and approach, will likely propel them to change and disrupt the current state. It will make them think differently about their past assumptions and beliefs.
Commercial insight conversations teaches the customer about the new “status quo”. It identifies a pain point and the cost of continuing to do things the way we have always done them. This is often the icing on the cake for the customer since they could be increasing productivity and saving money. It also helps your customers to discover their opportunities that they may not have known that they had, align value and implement growth. All of which in the end will help them to reach their goals.
However the consultative process doesn’t stop with one idea or insight. It is a continual process of bringing overall value to the customer and relationship. This is not always just at one level of the organization. You may be able to bring an idea to the company that could improve many facets of the business. A good way to deliver this insight is through providing the customer with facts about the industry and best practices that have worked for other customers. These facts can be obtained through trade publications, personal knowledge or through trends that are emerging in the market. Once you have provided them with the facts you begin to build the insight in their minds even before you talk to them about it. This helps the sales person become a trusted advisor and the go to person for knowledge or advice. This in turn will give them the opportunity to provide value through the sale.
In addition, this process makes the conversation about them and their needs and goals and not about the product or service that you are selling. It leads them to think about the cost of their current process or equipment and how yours can reduce that cost. This is much more effective than talking about the product and its features and benefits. They will ask you about how to reach that goal and helps them to understand more fully the value that will result in implementing what you are proposing.
In the most basic terms, consultative selling is being the customers trusted advisor and consultant. By sharing insight to reframe the customer’s thinking, showing them the impact of thinking in a different way, changing the status quo and showing them the value of taking action you become their go to person and partner in business. This also builds a long term relationship with the customer.
Many believe that this type of selling is outdated and is no longer relevant. These critics think that the consultative process is more about being a consultant for the customer and less about selling to the customer. They theorize that companies want someone that will take responsibility for a crucial part of their business versus bringing ideas that will help them reach their goals.
They feel that companies want the salesperson to be a representative of their business and to help them to manage crucial parts of their business that they could do in house rather than getting an outside source to handle. The difference being that instead of providing advice and ideas that you solve the problems and hassles that they would rather not be bothered with or think about.
In theory, these “managers” would be able to do the following:
· Be knowledgeable about their business and how your product fits into it
· Able to help the customer reach their goals through the use of the product or service
· Ability to manage the team that provides the product/service (your own company team)
· Act like a manager within the customer’s company would
· Be able to put the customer first
This is a different way to look at the selling process however it is really just another way to look at the ever evolving consultative process.
While, the solution selling process focused on finding advocates within an organization that can help the salesperson to navigate the sale and “coach” them in the process. The ideal advocate, according to the Harvard Business Review had these traits:
· Can provide valuable information that is typically unavailable outside the company
· Good at influencing others
· Speaks the truth and is considered credible by colleagues
· Delivers on commitments
· Stands to gain from the sale
· Assists the salesperson in networking within their organization
In truth, this person does not truly exist. Many times a sales person will overlook the ones that can really help them in the process. They would get so wrapped up in trying to find the one person with these traits, they would often either overlook the ones that could truly help them or they would settle for someone that could only partially help them and then the sale would often fall apart.
The consultative selling process evolved out of the “advocate” based process of solution selling. While the sales person is still looking for that advocate, they are now looking for the ones that have more influence on the sale than just helping them to navigate through the company and its processes. They are looking for the go getters, teachers and skeptics. They are usually focused on what can make a difference in their company. They don’t care so much about your product or company but more about what it can do for them. They don’t want to talk about the features and benefits, they would rather talk about how it can help their bottom line. These people are looking for insights that will help their company reach its goals.
This is the new evolution of the consultative selling process. The critics that think that the consultative process is outdated are looking at the old process. They are not considering that it is an ever evolving process and the fact that companies are looking for a manager is the next evolution of consultative selling. They both go hand in hand and are intertwined in its principle.
The sales process is ever evolving and as long as the generation’s processes and the way that they think change, it will continue to evolve. Customers are becoming more complex than the ones that the snake oil sales people sold to years ago. They are more informed and educated about the world around them. The successful sales person needs to evolve with them and understand their business and how they can partner with them. It is about being forward thinking and able to adapt to the customer’s needs. That can be called managing the sale or consultative selling but it is ultimately helping the customer to do business in the most efficient way possible.
Consultative selling is still alive and strong, it has just evolved into something else as it will continue to do. As long as there are sales people and customers who are willing, ready and able to purchase there will be a sales process. No matter what this process is called, the customer will always ask “what’s in it for me?” which is the basis for consultative selling.