{"id":2573,"date":"2018-04-02T16:14:00","date_gmt":"2023-10-18T16:14:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.salesforce.com\/?p=2573"},"modified":"2023-10-18T17:35:45","modified_gmt":"2023-10-18T17:35:45","slug":"delivering-outstanding-consultative-selling-experience","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.salesforce.com\/ca\/blog\/delivering-outstanding-consultative-selling-experience\/","title":{"rendered":"3 Steps To Delivering An Outstanding Consultative Selling Experience"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

If you boil it down, the value proposition of almost everything a rep will ever sell is basically, \u201cWe have just the thing you need.\u201d<\/p>\n

In some cases, that may be true. After all, companies without a strong product\/market fit will never get very far. For the majority of customer interactions, though, the product being offered might not be exactly what they need. There may be additional products and services that should be layered on. There might be different ways to adapt or deploy the product to make it truly work for the customer.<\/p>\n

And then there are those moments when — whether the customer realizes it or not — the product really isn\u2019t what they need, and the rep is only going to create a negative impression of the firm\u2019s brand by selling it to them.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have just the thing you need\u201d might be the motto for what some call solution selling. The alternative — which is based on strategic use of data, along with nurturing a trusted relationship — is sometimes called consultative selling. The motto or value proposition for the consultative sale might be best articulated as \u201cLet\u2019s figure out what we need to do to.\u201d<\/p>\n

Notice the difference? With consultative selling, there are no assumptions about what the rep can offer. There is an openness to learning more, and most importantly, the learning happens in direct collaboration and dialogue with the customer.<\/p>\n

If you\u2019ve been selling successfully to a particular customer for a while, they may have enough trust in you and your firm that consultative selling is a natural evolution of the relationship. That doesn\u2019t mean you can\u2019t approach prospects in a consultative manner too, though. When they fill out a form or act in some other way that qualifies them as a lead, the rep can begin with a friendly conversation based on genuine interest in who they are and what challenges their company is tackling at the moment.<\/p>\n

Leverage the data you and the rest of the sales team have collected in a CRM like Sales Cloud<\/a> as the starting point for these discussions. When you can reference what you\u2019ve learned from other customers in similar kinds of organizations, you\u2019ll establish credibility and authority much faster.<\/p>\n

There are many different theories about consultative selling and how it should work, but let\u2019s keep things simple by breaking them into three general phases.<\/p>\n

1. Diagnosis<\/h2>\n

When someone goes to see the doctor, what generally happens first? Most likely the doctor begins by asking why the patient came in, what symptoms they\u2019re experiencing and any other relevant details. Then, they tend to go to their desktop to look up other information based on the patient\u2019s electronic health record, followed by whatever tests seem most appropriate.<\/p>\n

Sales reps shouldn\u2019t think of themselves as doctors, necessarily, but a similar combination of steps can work well with customers and newer prospects. Even if they come asking about a particular product, back up and ask the right questions that ensure it\u2019s the right solution. Don\u2019t assume customers always know what they need; you\u2019re there as an expert to assess what they think they need and either move the sale forward or explore other options. Some of the questions you ask could cover:<\/p>\n