Customer-Focused Selling




Customer-Focused Consultative sellers listen to the true needs of their customers
	Question: I’m new to sales and am a little confused. I've heard people refer to “Consultative Selling”. I'm not sure what that means. Is that the best approach? If so, can you define it for me? Answer: Solution Selling, Consultative Selling, Relationship Selling, Value Added Selling, the list goes on. When it comes down to it, they're all buzz words for utilizing a customer-focused approach to selling instead of relying solely on product focus and techniques. The approach that is right for you depends largely on your market, your product and yourself. Most successful companies and individual salespersons have adopted some form of a customer-focused sales model over the last decade or so. That's if they have adopted a sales model at all. For the sake of not having to use all of the buzz words, I'll just use your words, "Consultative Selling". As the word implies, it relies largely on uncovering needs before positioning solutions specific to those needs. That's the heart and soul of it. What I refer to as traditional feature and benefit selling relies almost exclusively on the product and what it can do. Salesperson's who employ Consultative Selling are successful because they listen to the true needs of the customer and present benefits and values that pertain only to these needs. Consultative salespeople look for and recognize needs that the customer doesn't even know they have or may not have considered. They also realize that selling is a two way street. Service is extremely important, but it has to make sense both for the customer and for you and your company. Again, there are slight variations to sales models that employ customer focused selling as the norm. However, it may be helpful to understand the main components of most successful Consultative Sales Models. Pre-Call Planning — There are many salespeople who we refer to as professional visitors. They don't seem to have a plan, they just make an appearance. You're too busy for this type of approach, & so are your customers. This means, before you visit a customer, or make a call, you have considered the expected outcomes for both yourself and your customer by conducting pre-call assessments & setting call objectives. You also need to anticipate who can affect your objectives, prepare questions to guide the sale & develop a strategy for influencing each.
		Opening the Call — It is during this phase that you build rapport, assess the behavioral and communication styles of the customer and position your agenda, (let them know why you're there or why your calling if you are on the telephone). Uncovering Needs — Before you explain what your company can do, you need to have a firm understanding of the customer's business, their needs and the value that you bring. This is the heart and soul of the Consultative sales approach. You can't assume that because you are providing exceptional service that your customers will necessarily volunteer needs, or that they even know what their needs are! Additionally, you are not really providing service if you are not looking for opportunities to help your customer improve their business and save or make them money. Positioning Solutions — Customers don't care to know everything about what you do, only what's important to them. It's critical to position solutions that add value for that customer specifically. You may choose to position solutions as each need is uncovered, or you may choose to uncover all of the customer's potential needs and then position your solution(s) all at once. Either way is fine. By the way, uncovering customer needs is not a one-time activity. Rather, it is an ongoing process. The best way to accomplish this is to spend time with your customers. Tour their production areas periodically, and ask them good strategic questions. Close On Actions And Handle Stalls — At this stage, you are making recommendations to the customer to move forward with your recommendations. This should be the easy part if you have done a complete job of assessing needs. During this phase you may encounter stalls or objections. It's important to clarify stalls to understand exactly what the customer is resisting. Follow-up — At this point you initiate any actions that were promised or implied during the sales process. This may also include negotiating to solidify action from the customer. Do what you say you are going to do. This can significantly differentiate you from the competition. Adjust Your Customer Profile And Adjust Your Strategy — Employing a customer ñcentered Consultative approach is an ongoing process. Successful salespeople understand that each customer contact is an opportunity to uncover information that will help position them with the customer and advance their sales strategy.

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