Consultative selling

Consultative Selling is an approach to selling based on a dialogue between the salesperson and the customer. First, the customer is encouraged to express his/her needs. The salesperson then selects the product or service that best meets these needs and adapts the sales message to the customer's needs and language.
Definition
Consultative Selling is a selling technique that emphasizes the dialogue between the salesperson and the customer. Before talking product and/or service, the salesperson strives to learn about the customer's needs, and may even help the customer identify and phrase these needs. Then, instead of delivering a standard sales pitch about a product or service, the salesperson can sell a tailored solution that meets the customer's needs, using the customer's language.
There are three primary differentiators that mark a Consultative Salesperson:
* They ask more questions.
* They provide customized (as opposed to generic) solutions.
* Their calls are more interactive.
The customer's needs are identified by the Consultative Salesperson through a combination of preparation and interactive probing.
History
Today, Consultative Selling is a mainstream approach to selling. However, when the word consultative was first applied to sales in the 1970s, it was quite revolutionary. It marked a major transition from the salesperson as the purveyor of information and the customer as the recipient, to a much more collaborative interaction in which the customer's needs (as opposed to the product) were the focal point of the sale.
The transition from product-focused selling to need-focused selling was the direct result of market changes. Increased competition and customers' greater access to information began the shift of power in a sales call from the salesperson to the buyer.
Concerns
Some people challenge the merits of Consultative Selling on the basis that it is a long, arduous sales process that focuses on the needs at the expense of closing business. Others argue that effective Consultative Selling actually accelerates the sales cycle because the salesperson's recommendations are more likely to be on target when his/her knowledge of the customer's needs are clearer.
See Also
*Selling

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