5 Steps to Making a Consultative Sale
Posted: Wed Dec 04, 2024 11:08 am
A few years ago, Lou Diamond was conducting a workshop for financial advisors at Merrill Lynch. Diamond is president and CEO of the sales development company FOBIA.
The aim of the workshop was to help consultants develop consultative selling effectively. During one of the role-plays, a consultant discussed a situation that was happening to him. This led to a significant finding for all those present.
His case was that he had problems convincing an elderly lady who had just become a widow.
Although the woman was in a very good financial situation, she had never done any kind of financial management. The counselor had met with the woman countless times. He tried again and again to get her to understand that she needed to take some action soon. Otherwise, she would leave her children with nothing but a mountain of financial problems.
To help the sales executive, Diamond asked the consultant to pretend that one of his colleagues was the older woman. The consultant was to demonstrate how he would approach the conversation.
The argument between the executive and the “lady” went overseas chinese in worldwide data back and forth. After failing to make a breakthrough, the advisor finally reached a breaking point. He stood up and said, “Don’t you see? I care more about the safety of your money than you do!”
The whole room was in awe. Diamond stands up and tells them, “It was so powerful, you didn’t just say it… you didn’t believe it.”
Developing an effective consultative sale is not only based on certain skills, techniques and good practices. What defines a good consultative salesperson is authenticity and this fact was affirmed by Diamond that day.
Diamond notes that “to be a good consultative salesperson you need to be authentic to your personality. You need to make the entire sales process about helping your prospect.”
To understand the lesson of this story we must begin by describing something very important.
What is consultative selling?
Some say it is a methodology or a type of strategy. But in reality consultative selling is a philosophy about the perspective that a salesperson should have, especially regarding their relationship with their clients and prospects.
A salesperson who practices consultative selling does everything in his power to understand. He needs to have a holistic understanding of his client's needs. On the other hand, he must also focus on meeting these needs with a customized solution.
Consultative selling requires establishing a relationship of trust. Here, the salesperson focuses on understanding the difficulties that the prospect intends to solve by purchasing a product or service.
A consultative salesperson doesn’t start with a typical salesperson’s pitch: “Let me explain why you should buy my product.” Their skill lies in starting a dialogue where the buyer reveals how a salesperson can help them.
In theory, it is the consultative salesperson who leads the potential client to reveal why he or she wants to make the purchase. He or she then uses this information to provide a tailored solution.
Despite the importance of a well-implemented consultative selling approach, some salespeople lack this skill.
Of 350,000 salespeople across nearly 200 industries, only 48% exhibit consultative sales skills. This is according to a data set published by the Objective Management Group.
The aim of the workshop was to help consultants develop consultative selling effectively. During one of the role-plays, a consultant discussed a situation that was happening to him. This led to a significant finding for all those present.
His case was that he had problems convincing an elderly lady who had just become a widow.
Although the woman was in a very good financial situation, she had never done any kind of financial management. The counselor had met with the woman countless times. He tried again and again to get her to understand that she needed to take some action soon. Otherwise, she would leave her children with nothing but a mountain of financial problems.
To help the sales executive, Diamond asked the consultant to pretend that one of his colleagues was the older woman. The consultant was to demonstrate how he would approach the conversation.
The argument between the executive and the “lady” went overseas chinese in worldwide data back and forth. After failing to make a breakthrough, the advisor finally reached a breaking point. He stood up and said, “Don’t you see? I care more about the safety of your money than you do!”
The whole room was in awe. Diamond stands up and tells them, “It was so powerful, you didn’t just say it… you didn’t believe it.”
Developing an effective consultative sale is not only based on certain skills, techniques and good practices. What defines a good consultative salesperson is authenticity and this fact was affirmed by Diamond that day.
Diamond notes that “to be a good consultative salesperson you need to be authentic to your personality. You need to make the entire sales process about helping your prospect.”
To understand the lesson of this story we must begin by describing something very important.
What is consultative selling?
Some say it is a methodology or a type of strategy. But in reality consultative selling is a philosophy about the perspective that a salesperson should have, especially regarding their relationship with their clients and prospects.
A salesperson who practices consultative selling does everything in his power to understand. He needs to have a holistic understanding of his client's needs. On the other hand, he must also focus on meeting these needs with a customized solution.
Consultative selling requires establishing a relationship of trust. Here, the salesperson focuses on understanding the difficulties that the prospect intends to solve by purchasing a product or service.
A consultative salesperson doesn’t start with a typical salesperson’s pitch: “Let me explain why you should buy my product.” Their skill lies in starting a dialogue where the buyer reveals how a salesperson can help them.
In theory, it is the consultative salesperson who leads the potential client to reveal why he or she wants to make the purchase. He or she then uses this information to provide a tailored solution.
Despite the importance of a well-implemented consultative selling approach, some salespeople lack this skill.
Of 350,000 salespeople across nearly 200 industries, only 48% exhibit consultative sales skills. This is according to a data set published by the Objective Management Group.