Table of Contents
Are you familiar with the concept of consultative selling? This investigative approach is focused on the needs of prospects and providing them with a way to solve their problems.
Transactional selling, however, is the complete opposite. Transactional salespeople focus on the product itself instead of on customers by pushing its features and benefits. Since the majority of prospects are repelled by pushy sales reps, consultative selling has attracted the attention of many companies.
Plenty of businesses decide to invest in consultative selling training for their sales teams to turn them into more emphatic and helpful salespeople.
These are the main techniques for trainees to learn during such training.
Do research
The initial technique trainees should learn during consultative selling training is doing the right kind of research. Detailed research is essential for discovering whether prospects are qualified to buy a particular product or service. It’s best conducted on social media by analyzing the profiles of prospects or by reading their most recent blog posts. This information should help you assess whether a person is likely to develop an interest in your products.
Moreover, consultative selling training should teach you that research provides conversation starting points to use when engaging with prospects. The key to selling a product is in having an engaging conversation with prospects, not delivering a sales pitch. The objective of consultative selling training is to develop a new mindset whose focus is solving customers’ problems. The conversation with prospects is supposed to eventually result in a sale, not be focused on it right from the start.
Ask questions
The following technique consultative salespeople should learn is asking the right questions. The essence of consultative selling is understanding the needs of prospects, which is best done by asking the right set of questions. Although the questions you ask should be custom, every salesperson must have a list of generic questions at hand when having a conversation with a prospect.
Nevertheless, as a consultative salesperson, you’ll be expected to think on your feet and make the most reasonable choice of questions. Most prospects would be in a rush and willing to respond to no more than several inquiries. You should be asking umbrella instead of trap questions. The former allows salespeople to get more information from prospects, whereas the latter is usually answered with yes or no.
For instance, instead of asking a potential customer whether he/she is happy with a particular product, you better ask what he/she hopes to achieve with it. The questions should be investigative and emphatic so as to gradually uncover the plans and goals of prospects.
Become a better listener
Active listening is another technique that consultative selling training should teach to salespeople. Almost forty percent of buyers think that sales representatives don’t listen to their needs. Instead of listening actively, most salespeople practice passive listening, meaning they hear what prospects say but fail to interpret it. Click here to learn how to practice active listening.
For example, after asking a question, plenty of sales reps don’t listen to the answer but focus on choosing the next one. Consultative selling is all about listening to the customers rather than talking incessantly.
Trainees should be taught the secrets of active listening, which involve never interrupting the prospect until he/she has finished talking. It will provide you with enough time to process the words of the customers and provide an adequate response. This practice prevents awkward silence, which is common when the listener isn’t really listening.
The best method to prove you are an active listener is by validating and clarifying some of the things customers say. By repeating some of their statements back to them, you’ll demonstrate your active listening skills and remember the main conversation points.
Be your authentic self
More than eighty percent of buyers consider salespeople pushy, which is why they rarely trust a sales representative. Nevertheless, an important principle of consultative selling is building trust. The best method for building trust is by being completely honest and open with customers. This selling method requires salespeople to be authentic while staying professional. This URL, https://www.business2community.com/sales-management/how-to-be-an-authentic-sales-professional-02068639, includes some tips to help people become authentic sales professionals.
In addition, as a consultative salesperson, you shouldn’t swear or represent your controversial views to customers. Most importantly, your job is, to be honest with customers when it comes to offering the right product/service for them. It means telling them the product is a good/bad fit for them after listening to their needs. Selling the wrong type of product to customers might result in a few bad scenarios, such as having the product taken back or dealing with the complaint of an angry customer.
Final thoughts
Consultative selling is the future of making deals and helping prospects make educated decisions!
