Consultative Sales Process: Tactics and Strategies for 2023
The consultative sales process is like a personal shopper helping you find the perfect outfit for your unique style.
They take the time to listen to what you want and help you find something that fits your needs perfectly.
As you can guess, it is an important concept in sales, marketing, and customer service.
So, it is hyper-focused on the customer, NOT the product being sold.
Each year, a business loses 10-30% of its customers.
Moreover, customer satisfaction is the top KPI for more than 66% of sales teams.
So, consultative selling enables businesses to build long-term relationships with their customers, which can be beneficial for both sides.
By listening to their customers and providing tailored advice, salespeople can create a positive experience for the customer.
This can lead to repeat customers, word-of-mouth marketing, and a loyal customer base.
So, let’s take a look at some steps to follow
Consultative Sales Process Steps and Strategies
1. Conduct Proper Research
The consultative sales process begins with research. It is important to conduct proper research in order to learn about the customer’s current needs, wants, and preferences.
This research should include gathering information about the customer’s industry, company size, and current products or services.
Top sellers spend an average of 6 hours a week researching their prospects.
By conducting thorough research, asking the right questions, and being curious of the customer’s needs and wants, a salesperson can help to build relationships and trust, resulting in a successful sales development process.
2. Don’t Be Seller-Centric
Once a thorough understanding of the customer’s current needs has been acquired, it’s time to ask the right questions.
However, keep in mind that only 19% of buyers want to talk to sales reps during the awareness stage of the sales cycle.
Asking the right questions is a key component of the consultative sales process, as it helps to identify the customer’s needs and wants.
Questions should be open-ended, allowing the customer to provide details about their current situation and potential solutions. This information can then be used to tailor a solution that meets their needs.
If you truly are seller centric (or want to be, for that matter), then asking the right probing questions improves your ability to effectively position solutions.
And THAT’S how you can build trust with the customer.
3. Give the Conversation a Clear Direction
As one could guess, one of the most important steps in consultative sales development process is setting the conversation on the right path from the get-go.
Be flexible in the conversation.
As the conversation evolves, the sales professional must be prepared to adjust the approach if the buyer’s goals and expectations are different from the intended path.
This can involve asking additional questions to gain a better understanding of the customer’s needs or changing the approach to focus on a different solution.
4. Don’t Anchor to Your Own Assumptions
When it comes to the consultative sales development process, one of the most important strategies to incorporate is avoiding anchoring to your own assumptions.
Anchoring occurs when salespeople rely upon their own experience and knowledge to make sales decisions rather than actively listening to the customer and understanding their specific needs.
To counteract anchoring, the best sales professionals engage in active listening and seek to understand the customer’s thinking.
Data shows that while 50% of sales reps believe in avoiding being pushy when interacting with buyers, 84% of buyers disagree.
Rather than move away from the customer’s point of view, they use it as a starting point to build a compelling value proposition.
This involves asking tough questions and pursuing the facts and truth for the customer.
Wrapping Up
The consultative sales process is an important part of any successful sales strategy.
It helps salespeople build relationships with their customers, create positive experiences, and provide tailored advice that is tailored to the customer’s individual needs and wants.
By understanding the customer’s needs and wants, salespeople can provide the right solution, build long-term relationships, and create a successful sales strategy.
