NAME _______________________

CONSULTATIVE SELLINGAchieving Continuous Success

Learning is a challenge!

First, we have to get over our natural resistance to allowing anything new into our already too busy lives. Secondly, we have the challenge of understanding all this new and unfamiliar information. Finally, we have to deal with the forces of habit. The habits of routine, how we react, how we feel, and how we think. No wonder this process can seem just too much effort! But the effort is worth it, and you are worth the effort!

Some exercises in this workbook will require just a few minutes of thought to complete and others will require you to gather information from your real life

work situation. Be prepared to take the time you need to complete the learning process thoroughly.

Introduction

Consultative Selling is a pathway to success for two most important people in the sales process: the customer and the sales person.

Salespeople need to sell and achieve growth in a very competitive, constantly changing business environment. Acquiring and keeping customers is becoming harder, since a lot of products and services look the same to customers. All kinds of insurance and financial products are being communicated to your customers and prospects. How fo they decide what to buy? And from whom? What can you do to turn prospects into customers and then keep them?

Consultative Selling is the answer. This workshop will explain what it is, why it is vital to achieve on-going sales success and how to apply it in any situation. Consultative selling is a mind-set. It starts with thinking about the customer before, during and after the sale.

That old cliché, “He's a born salesman,” does not apply here. No one arrives with a tag that says, “Look, I am a consultative seller!” You can learn how to develop the mind-set. You can learn how and what to think as you begin each part of the sales process. Thinking about the customer has no geographical or product/service boundaries. Whether you sell insurance in Delhi or a car in Mumbai you are dealing with people. How you treat and value them is often the difference between mediocrity and excellence in your sales performance. Caring about customers and how your product or service can support their success is the mission for every consultative seller. It's a high purpose, but also one that can be translated into what to do and how to do it.

One thought before we start. People often wish you good luck before you begin something new. You won't need luck to be a consultative seller. Practice these steps, and you will create your own luck.

What is important to you today?

Since the two most important people in the selling process are you and the customer, let's start with how this workshop can help you. Whether you are new to the consultative process or an experienced sales person, this workshop is designed with you in mind. By understanding the consultative process, learning how to do it and making a dedicated commitment to succeed, you will succeed.

What parts of the consultative sales process are most important to you right now?

Use this checklist to focus on the areas that mean the most to you. In the beginning, review this checklist weekly. After one month, refer to it monthly. As a sales professional, your priorities will change, based on your current circumstances.

Today it's important that I:

• Understand how I will benefit as a consultative seller

• Learn how to develop a consultative mind-set

• Determine what skills can be improved

• Know how to apply these skills to my own job

• Find ways to help keep my customers

• Develop a plan to exceed my goals

• Chart my progress

• Select and review one part of the workshop to support my progress as a consultative seller

1

Use the terms defined in this section to determine where you are right now. An honest rating of yourself in the following chart will help you begin to focus on your role as a consultative seller. The point value scale is:

Are You On Target?

5 = Always 4 = Often 3 = Sometimes 2 = Rarely 1 = Never

In dealing with customers and prospects, I: 5 4 3 2 1

Have a consultative mind-set

What to take the time to:• Understand what they want• Understand what they need• Understand the needs and goals of their company

Value their time

Sell them what they want

Care about how they succeed with what I’ve sold them

Earn their trust

Provide on-going service to ensure that all is going well

Care about their continuous success

TOTAL POINTS: _______________

If you scored above 40, you have an excellent foundation in place to achieve success as a consultative seller. If you rated between 30 and 40, you have a good start and can work toward achieving greater success. A total under 30 indicates one of two things: Either you don’t know how to achieve sales success (this workshop can help you) or you should not be in a sales position.

Many consultative sellers may use this rating as a confirmation that they are on target. And they want to stay there! If your sales results are not exactly where you would like them to be, improvement in one or two areas can make a major difference between average sales performance and exceeding your goals.

• When you hear the term Consultative Selling, what words, images, ideas, or other associations come to mind?

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Discussion

• Which of these terms, words, images, ideas, or other associations that you discussed were positive and which were negative?

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

What is the best way to sell?_________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________

2 3

Industrial Economy1860-1960

Information Economy1960-2020

• Major Advances occur in manufacturing and transportation• Strategic resource are capital and natural resources• Business is defined by its products and factories• Sales success depends on meeting sales quotas

• Major Advances occur in information technology• Strategic resource is information• Business is defined by customer relationships• Sales success depends on adding valueINCREASES IN RELATIONSHIP SELLING AND RELATIONSHIP MARKETING

Industrial Economy1860-1960

Information Economy1960-2020

• Major Advances occur in manufacturing and transportation• Strategic resource are capital and natural resources• Business is defined by its products and factories• Sales success depends on meeting sales quotas

• Major Advances occur in information technology• Strategic resource is information• Business is defined by customer relationships• Sales success depends on adding valueINCREASES IN RELATIONSHIP SELLING AND RELATIONSHIP MARKETING

A shift in Emphasis

Consultative selling is a process of :

1. ____________________________________________________________________________

2. ____________________________________________________________________________

3. ____________________________________________________________________________

4. ____________________________________________________________________________

The three primary differentiators that mark a consultative sales person :

1. ____________________________________________________________________________

2. ____________________________________________________________________________

3. ____________________________________________________________________________

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.

Consultative Selling accelerates the sales cycle as the salesperson's recommendations are more likely to be on target when his/her knowledge of the customer's needs is clearer.

From the customer's point of view, a consultative sales person wants to:

1. Take time to understand what I want and need

2. Show me how a product or service will help me succeed

3. Sell me a product or service and begin a trust-oriented relationship

4. Provide on-going service to help support my continuous success

TEGYARTS

BUILDING QUALITY PARTNERSHIPS

CONSULTATIVE SELLING MODEL

Write down 03 important things you learnt from Selling-Different Viewpoints video clips

1. ________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________

2. ________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________

3. ________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________

4 5

Servicing Administrative tasks

Attending to Business on Phone Commuting/Waiting

Selling Face to Face

How Sales People Spend Time In

A Week

Relationship Strategy

A salesperson can compete on the basis of product, price and service but still lose the sale because of the

relationship between the customer and a competitor's salesperson. It's no surprise that people buy from

people they know, like and trust. Your likeability and your ability to form strong relationships quickly will be

more effective than all the credentials in the world or even having the lowest price.

Partnering Relationships

With the increased competition and greater product and service complexity of today's marketplace, there

is a need to adopt a relationship strategy that emphasizes the lifetime customer. Instead of viewing

prospects as transactional customers that you sell to once, you view them as partners in a long-term selling

relationship.

Which salesperson traits help create perception of value ?

____________________________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________________________

Three Keys to Partnering Relationship

1. _________________________________

2. _________________________________

3. _________________________________

How Sales People Spend Time In

A Week

6 7

• Self image is shaped by______________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________________________

• Feelings and behavior are consistent with : ______________________ _______________________

Developing a POSITIVE Self Image

• Focus on future, not _________________________.

• Develop__________________________________ In selected areas

• Develop a _________________________________ mental attitude

Self Improvement Strategies

• Set ________________________ goals

• ___________________________ success

• Use ________________________ self talk

• ___________________________ progress

• Invest in_____________________ .

Relationship Oriented

Q 1Q 1

Q 3Q 3

Q 2Q 2

Q 4Q 4Task Oriented

Fast -

Paced

Slow -

Paced

• How can a negative self-image be an obstacle for a salesperson?

___________________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________________

8 9

Low

CO

UR

AG

EH

igh

Low CONSIDERATION High

Win-Lose Win-Win

Lose-Lose Lose-Win

Values Attitude Behavior

What do you think are the most common ethical dilemmas that salespeople face?

__________________________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________________________

• Values are ____________ and , representing the ultimate reasons people have for ____________ .

• __________________ serve as foundations for our attitudes.

• Attitudes serve as __________________ for our behavior.

____________

The WIN – WIN Philosophy

Win-Win isn't about being nice, nor is it a quick-fix technique. It is a character-based code for human interaction and collaboration.

The 4 possible outcomes of our customer interaction :

• Win-Lose

• Lose-Lose

• Lose-Win

• Win-Win (High Courage + High Consideration)

A person who adopts a win-win attitude possesses three vital character traits:

1. Integrity: sticking with your true feelings, values, and commitments

2. Maturity: expressing your ideas and feelings with courage and consideration for the ideas and feelings of others

3. Abundance Mentality: believing there is plenty for everyone

6. Winners ask powerful questions. They reveal Are You A Winner? Can You Achieve Your unforeseen ways of improving businesses, probe for Potential?hidden risks, show real value and earn their customers

As you read over this list, give yourself a VERY honest respect and trust.score on how well you stack up to description of a

Score ____________winner.

Here is the 10-point scale:7. Winners know when to say NO. They prioritize 1= I never do this. this does not describe me at all.their time and their sales efforts on the top

5 = This describes me sometimes—but not all of the branches that generate the bulk of their business. time.They spend the appropriate amount of time

10 = This is me! I do this every single time. This on smaller branches. They promise each branch a level describes me perfectly.of service and responsiveness that is

in step with the amount of revenue and profit the 1. Winners answer their customer's questions branch truly generates.directly and truthfully. They prove their integrity

Score ____________by always acting in their customer's best interests, never selling them anything that will not

8. Winners mobilize resources. Whether it's getting help the buyer's business. Knowing this, customers Branch Manager to come on a sales call or setting up a don't question a winners' motives.visit to customer's worksite, they bring in the right

Score ____________ person, at the right time, to help the customer.

Score ____________2. Winners are accountable. Mistakes may be made and deadlines missed, but winners take 100% responsibility and tell why it happened, what they are going to do about it, and why it will not happen 9. Winners provide value on EVERY call. Their name again. Taking full responsibility for missteps, yet and their company's name is associatedsharing lots credit for the good things builds

with their value. incredible trust.Score ____________Score ____________

10. Winners are technologically savvy, using the 3. Winners are methodical. They work from a latest tools to deliver more value to theirplan, a behavior that comforts clients. Winnerscustomers and win more business.always know where they are going and how they will Score ____________get there. They plan their time carefully

and are exceedingly disciplined in working their plan. 11. Winners take 100% responsibility for their own

professional development. They read tradeScore ____________

magazines, sales books, listen to tapes and CDs and attend seminars. They do not wait for a4. Winners are responsive. Prospects understand manager to tell them what to do—they are that sales people who are not consistentlyaggressively proactive in building their knowledgeavailable while selling will be unreachable with a and expertise.signed contract in hand. Winners are also

Score ____________responsive to their internal customers. If you don't return a call from one of your co-workers,

they have to wonder if you treat customers the same 12. Winners are competitive, not only head-to-head way. with their sales rivals but in the customer'sScore ____________ competitive interests as well.

Score ____________5. Winners understand their client's goals and objectives. Having taken the time to

listen, study, and explore, they can provide a clear Well, how did you stack up? To be a truly great sales vision in meaningful terms of how theirperson you would have to be a 9 or 10 across the

company and they themselves can help achieve the board. If you were brutally honest and scored yourself client's plan. below a 7 on anything — then you have some work to

do!Score ____________

10 11

PRODUCT STRATEGY

“The product strategy is a well-conceived plan that emphasizes becoming a product expert, selling benefits, and configuring value-added solutions.”

Redefining products in today's world :

• Products are _________ tools

• People buy products if they _______________ a problem-solving need

• Today's better educated and more demanding customers are seeking a _______________.

_________

Today’s product(Meets and exceeds

expectations)

• Better quality• Larger selection• New-product

Improvements

Today’s salesperson(Acts as a partner)

• More courteous and trustworthy

• More knowledgeable• More understanding of

customers• Provledes service after the

sale

Today’s company(Acts as a team to provide)

• Customized product offerings• Delivery• Guidence• Service

Potential Product

Prodcuct(generic)

Value-addedproduct

Expected product

(Customer’sperceptions)

(Salesperson’sknowledge)

(Mutually discoveredpossibilities)

Total Product Concept

Write the assignment given by your facilitator:

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

– Generic product?

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

– Expected product?

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

– Value-added product?

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

– Potential product?

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

12 13

Product Selling Model

CUSTOMER and PRESENTATION STRATEGY

“A customer strategy is a carefully conceived plan that results in maximum customer responsiveness. One major dimension of this strategy is to achieve a better understanding of the customer's buying needs and motives.”

Complex Nature of Customer Behavior

• Individual customers _______________ the product in their own _______________.

• The customer is a _______________, not a statistic.

• Sales people who fully accept this basic truth are likely to adopt a __________________.

strategy.

Buying Process

Need Awareness

Evaluation of

solutions

Resolution of

problems

Purchase Immplementation

• Need awareness

– Salespeople can create value by determining problems and identifying solutions

• Evaluation of solutions

– Salespeople can create value by providing useful information

• Resolution of problems

– Objection Handling

• Purchase

– Salespeople create value by arranging medicals, offering different modes of payment and quick delivery

• Implementation

– Value creation involves timely delivery, accurate document, follow-up contacts by the

salesperson

Value of Questioning

If we are truly interested in helping our clients, we are going to have to ask them a lot of questions and create a strong atmosphere of trust. In order to get someone to open up to you and share important aspects of their business, they have to believe that you honestly have their best interests at heart.

A Few Things To Think About Before You Even Begin To Ask Questions

Your customer does not care about you (at least from a business standpoint). They are worried about themselves, their problems, their business.

When you open your mouth to talk, what they are most interested in hearing is; “What is in it for me?” “How can this person help me?” You should spend the great majority of every sales meeting asking excellent questions and listening.

All Buying Decisions Are Based On: Pain Or Gain / Logic And Emotion

People buy for their own reasons—not yours. If you want to create a sense of urgency in the purchasing decision and build a high level of trust you have to find out what is motivating their buying decision.

At its most basic level, all motivation comes down to the overwhelming desire to either avoid pain or gain pleasure. People either go to the gym to lose weight or get in shape. They take vitamins to keep from getting sick or to be more healthy. Take advantage of an opportunity or avoid costly risks. To invest or to save.

To sell successfully, you must clearly understand in each specific instance if the customer is trying to avoid pain or gain pleasure.

You also have to remember that all decisions go through a cycle of emotions—logic—emotions, so you will need to build both aspects into all of your sales efforts.

EMOTION LOGIC EMOTION

WantDesireNeedDissatisfactionProblemChallengeOpportunity

FactsDataSpecsCriteriaProofRequirements

ConfidenceTrustBeliefComfortUrgencyDesireDemand

The key to finding the solution is in an understanding of the problem and questions are your tools for finding and understanding your customer's needs.

14 15

Write down 4 types of questions :

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Write 03 open ended Survey questions ____________________________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________________________

Write 03 Close ended Survey questions

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________________________

Write 03 open ended Probing questions ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________________________

Write 03 Close ended Probing questions

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________________________

Write 03 Confirmation questions ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________________________

Write 03 Need-Satisfaction questions

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________________________

Have A Goal In Mind

There is somewhat of an art to asking excellent questions. Good questions take time but they also save time. Just like you should have a goal for every sales call you go on—you should also have a goal in mind for every question you ask.

The Answers Are In The Questions

Before you ask a customer a question, you must first ask yourself; “What am I going to learn from the answer to this question? Will it be something that helps me to move the sale forward or will it run me down a dead-end?” Often it can be helpful to think of the response you want to hear then craft a question that will bring you that answer.

What Message Are You Sending With Your Questions?

Other times you will not have an exact idea of what the answer might be but you do have a direction you want to keep the conversation moving in. As well as soliciting information, questions can also be designed to deliver a message or an image.

Choose Your Questions Carefully

There are many different types of questions, and certain times when some types work better than others. The key is to become convinced that asking more questions will increase your success, then become comfortable with asking lots of different types of questions through preparation and practice.

The Purpose of Questions

• Gather key information

• Introduce a line of reasoning

• Lead the client to a specific conclusion

• Demonstrate your knowledge - Build credibility

• Build pain - Show gain

• Elicit emotion - Demonstrate logic

• Earn the right to ask more questions

• Position yourself as a peer - As a partner

Skillful Questioning will Help You:

• Uncover Client Wants, Needs, And Expectations

• Clearly Define The Problem To Be Solved

• Determine The Cost Of Not Solving The Problem

• Allow You And Your Client To Arrive At A Solution Together

• Build Your Credibility And The Client's Trust

• Determine If There Is An Opportunity For Cross-selling

Get The Customer To Tell You - What You Want Them To Hear!

16 17

Strategic Planning Points

Sales Increases That Result formStrategies That

Create Value

Length of Partnership

INITIAL SALE

REPEATSALE

SUCCESSIVE SALES

• Determine what features to demonstrate

• Determine what sales tools to use

• Check sales tools

• Determine when and where to demonstrate

• Determine how to involve the prospect

• Prepare all proofs and support documents

• Rehearse the demonstration

Quiz Time

True/False

• Consultative-style selling, which emerged in the late 1960s and early 1970s, is an extension of the marketing concept.

• Value-added selling can be defined as a series of creative improvements within the sales process that enhance the customer experience.

• Typical salespeople spend about 30 percent of their time in actual face-to-face selling situations.

• Consultative-style selling practices have become popular because they can be easily mastered.

• The four major strategies that form the strategic consultative selling model are independent of one another.

• Today's customer wants a quality relationship as well as a quality product.

• In the strategic/consultative selling model, developing a relationship strategy includes the following prescriptions: adopt the marketing concept, project a professional image, and maintain high ethical standards.

• Self-image can set the limits of our selling accomplishments, defining what we can and cannot do.

• Ideally, the relationship strategy should be tailored to the type of customer you are working with.

• The steps of self-improvement include goal setting, visualization, positive self-talk, and rewarding your progress.

• Lack of self-confidence may prevent salespeople from asking for the order.

• When you build value into your sales process, you increase the odds that the customer will give you a referral.

• Very few purchases are guided by emotional buying motives.

• Buyer behavior is often influenced by perception.

Multiple Choice

Select the response that best answers the question or completes the statement.

• The ultimate goal of the “marketing concept” is:

a. product diversification.

b. customer satisfaction

c. brand loyalty.

d. rising profit margins.

• Which of the following statements accurately describes value-added selling?

a. The value added by salespeople today is increasingly derived from intangibles.

b. Value-added selling surfaced due to lower profits from old approach selling.

c. The value added by salespeople today is increasingly derived from tangibles.

d. Value-added selling would not be an appropriate strategy for insurance sales

_____________ .. _____________

18 19

Notes: __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

• The four broad strategic areas of the Strategic/Consultative Selling Model are:

a. relationship strategy, product strategy, customer strategy and presentation strategy

b. relationship strategy, company strategy, customer strategy, and credit strategy

c. relationship strategy, customer strategy, product strategy, and service strategy

d. relationship strategy, company strategy, product strategy, and service strategy

• _______ is shaped by the attitudes, feelings, and other thoughts you have about your-self that influences the way you relate to others.

a. Self-appraisal

b. Self-understanding

c. Self-image

d. Self-efficacy

• Developing a relationship for selling involves all of the following prescriptions EXCEPT:

a. maintain high ethical standards.

b. project a professional image.

c. self-image is not a key dimension

d. adopt a win-win philosophy.

• Which of the following is a practical approach to improving your self-image?

a. Maintain a clear focus on past mistakes.

b. Learn to develop a positive mental attitude.

c. Spend time getting to know your competition.

d. Spend time each day contacting your current customers.

• According to the buyer resolution theory, which of the following is an important factor that the consumer is likely to consider before making a purchase?a. Where should I buy?b. What is a fair price?c. When should I buy?d. All of the above .

• A careful study of buying behavior reveals that people make buying decisions based on:a. emotional buying motives only.b. rational buying motives only.c. social buying motives only.d. a combination of emotional and rational buying motives.

Pay The Price

If you agree that you can have just about anything you truly want if you are actually willing to Pay The Price to give, get or give-up whatever is necessary to achieve it. Then below are some ideas as to what is at least part of the price you must pay to achieve sales excellence:

• Read at least one sales/business book every month

• Read your local paper every day

• Attend two training seminars per year (sales, communication, time management)

• Do 1-3 hours of research every month on your industry and competition

• Work a solid day— minimize wasted time and interruptions—plan your work / work your plan

• Be extremely organized with your time, goals and files

• Follow-up on ALL calls and emails within 24 hours—sooner if possible

• Be very well groomed, neatly dressed, good shoes, clean and pressed shirt—look professional

• Come to every meeting on time and extremely well-prepared

• Be an absolute expert on your company, products, pricing and availability

• Strive to truly understand and help the customer

• Take incredible notes and keep them on file

• Have a clear plan for every meeting—a call objective, set of questions, specific next steps

• Make sure you ask the four or five key qualifying questions you must have answers for

• Be ready to handle every key objection beautifully — know your stuff inside and out

• Focus intently and ONLY on the customer when you meet with them

• Never be aggressive — but always ask for the business

What Can You Add To This List?

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Your Commitment:

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

20 21

Additional Reading :

1. UDF, No. ACT, Yes!!

2. Four Tips & Examples for Consultative Selling

3. Qualities of a Successful Salesperson

UDF, No. ACT, yes!!

You've heard it many times: create uncertainty, doubt and fear in your client's mind to uncover unspoken needs and to elicit a sense of urgency for a decision.

“You know, Mr. Client, customers who haven't bought our latest storage compression appliance have found their storage costs increase 20 times the current baseline.”

Or,

“If you don't sign this agreement for this limited partnership today, one of our many other investors looking at the same investment may take your spot.”

It may be seductive to attempt such tactics, and they may have worked in past, but clients today are more sophisticated and are generally put-off by such approaches. Clients wish to be respected and want to build long term relationships with their business partners. They want to trust and be trusted. They neither wish to be sold nor to buy—they don't want to be “closed'; rather they want to enter into a joint decision to move the business to the next level together with their solution provider.

Eliciting uncertainty, doubt or fear may work sometimes; it may get you a meeting or an opportunity to present or demonstrate; it may even get you a signature on a contract. But it will ultimately destroy the relationship. Why? Because the relationship, whether it is an agreement to move to the next step in the sales cycle or to an order, is based on fear, uncertainty, and doubt!

Your objective should be instead to build and enhance the relationship, unless you are selling carrot peelers on a corner of Connaught Place. Even then, buyers want to trust that the seller is pitching something of real value and is ultimately considerate of the buyer's desire for quality, reliability, and good value-to-price.

Instead of uncertainty, try assurance. Work hard to earn your client's confidence in you and in your product or service. Rather than saying “Disastrous things will befall you if you don't buy my product”, say “My product may help achieve your goal of better budget allocation in the out years and may help release funds for your post retirement or other personal needs,” and then go one step further “and I will be here to support its profitable implementation for you.” The difference is nuanced, but the tone is more appealing. In any case, it is the way men and women think and buy.

Instead of doubt, try confidence. Clients don't want to buy your product out of doubt about the consequences of not buying it. They want to invest in your product or service in order to achieve their own personal or business goals, whether these are employee benefits, planning for children, investment efficiency, and so on. By understanding these motives, you will position your product or service as a solution and yourself and your company as a value-adding business partner.

Instead of fear, try trust. Even if you must walk away from the sale because some element in the deal requires follow-through or because there just wasn't a fit for your product or service, continuously building

trust will earn you the right to come back when the dynamics of the deal are more conducive to closure. And if you don't have to walk away, closing a deal with your client in the spirit of trust fosters confidence, reduced buyer's remorse, and repeat sales. Further, it allows deeper, more fruitful conversations when new needs are discussed post-sale.

Trust, assurance, certainty ... ACT, yes ... UDF, no!

Four Tips & Examples for Consultative Selling

Example Number One-

Adjust Your Mindset

The first thing to understand about applying a consultative sales approach is that it is as much (and maybe more) about adjusting your mindset than it is about applying new sales skills. Consultative selling is a TWO-WAY conversation, it's not a monologue, it's not scripted, and the sales person certainly shouldn't be using “tie down” questions such as “do you want to meet on Tuesday or is Wednesday better?” There is no manipulation and there are no “steps” to complete (as you see with traditional sales methodologies). Consultative selling is a real, open, honest and transparent conversation with your client about their challenges and how you and your product or service may be able to solve those challenges. Consultative selling is often counter-intuitive to “traditional” sales approaches and tactics. It's an old cliché but oh so true-if you truly care about your customer's business and they know it, good things will happen.

Example Number Two-

Identify, Diagnose and Co-Create

Consultative selling is not about leading with or talking about your products and services and internal processes. It's about identifying the critical business issues your customer's face and diagnosing those challenges through the effective use of probing questions while simultaneously expressing empathy for their situation so that they feel understood. After you identify and diagnose their challenges the next step is to understand the impact of the problem and then collaborate with the customer and co-create a solution. Keep in mind, to do this you must first establish credibility and trust with the customer so that they feel comfortable in sharing this information with you.

Example Number Three-

Building Credibility

How do you build credibility and earn the trust of executive stakeholders you ask? This is not an all-inclusive list, but here are a few things that you must do. Executives EXPECT you to know this…

1. Situational Knowledge-You must be able to demonstrate that you understand what your customer is talking about. This requires good questioning and understanding skills.

2. Functional Knowledge- You must be able to demonstrate that you understand what is that your customer wants and how would your advice help him.

3. Technical Competency-You must bring some technical competency to the conversation

4. Fresh Ideas & Insight-You need to bring some ideas to the table that your customer would benefit from

5. Benchmarking Data-Executives love benchmarking data. You should know what kind of data they

_____________ .. _____________

22 23

would be interested in and share it with them

Example Number Four-

Understand What Your Customers Think About & How They Think

You need to understand how your customers think and what they think about. Selling becomes so much easier when you understand these two things. As a general rule, all customers are thinking about their “current state” and their “desired future state.” Your job is to uncover what those are and what gap or pitfalls lie between their “current state” and their “desired future state.” This is accomplished through the use of effective probing questions. The gap you identify between the two is your sales opportunity.

QUALITIES OF A SUCCESSFUL SALESPERSON

1. INTELLIGENCE

2. KNOWLEDGE

3. VERBAL SKILLS

4. FEEDBACK SKILLS

5. PLANNING SKILLS

6. PERSONALITY

*SOCIAL SENSITIVITY

*FLEXIBILITY

*DURABILITY IN RELATIONSHIPS

*EMPATHY

*DRIVE

*ENTHUSIASM

*MOTIVATION

Intelligence

In general, the more technical your product line and the more sophisticated your clients, the greater is your need for a high level of intelligence. Intelligence is needed to master information about your company's products and to cope with the problems of their use. In addition, you must be able to communicate with sophisticated decision makers. Special aptitudes may be needed, depending on both the nature of the products and the uses and applications associated with them. For example, selling construction equipment may require mechanical abilities, whereas selling insurance solutions may put a premium on financial aptitude.

Verbal Skills

The ability to communicate verbally is universally required in all fields of selling. In no other occupational field is this ability as crucial to success. Your skill in verbal communication depends on having an adequate vocabulary, selecting the most effective ways of phrasing ideas, and developing& voice qualities that enable your message to be conveyed with clarity, sincerity, and conviction.

Knowledge

The amount and kind of education you need, like the level of intelligence, depends on the technical nature of the selling job and the level of sophistication of your customers and prospects. Any salesperson, of course, has to have knowledge beyond that obtained in school. In fact, in some selling fields such as investments, information is accumulating so rapidly that substantial time must be devoted each week merely to keeping up with recent events.

The knowledge needed for any selling job may be thought of as three-dimensional: general knowledge, business knowledge, and technical knowledge. The amount of general knowledge required is mainly related to the background of your customers and prospects. It provides you with something in common with the prospect. The amount of business knowledge required is related to the nature of your accounts and the importance of the product line from the standpoint of the customers and prospects.

For example, as an insurance salesperson, you would need more knowledge of finances, taxation and accounting than would someone selling cars, for which financing is much less important.

Personality

Several personality traits that are desirable in a salesperson are social sensitivity, flexibility, durability in relationships, empathy, drive, enthusiasm, and motivation

=> Social sensitivity You must possess a considerable amount of social sensitivity-being "others-

conscious," not "self-conscious." This is the ability to pick up small changes in other persons' reactions and to develop empathy with them.

=> Flexibility Just as important as social sensitivity is a capacity for flexibility or the ability to adjust to

the other person. It would be useless for you to note changes in the other persons' reactions and not be able to adjust effectively to them. This does not mean that you are putting on an act. The effective salesperson is flexible enough to adjust to a wide variety of reactions in the other person. But your behavior must not seem contrived or phony.

=> Durability in relationships Since you must sustain personal relationships over time, it is important to

be able to maintain long-term people relationships. Being dependable, following up, and being knowledgeable are all qualities that enable you to "wear well" with your customers.

=> Empathy Another key trait is empathy, that is, the ability actually to sense the feelings and thoughts

of others and to relate to them. This ability to pick up feedback from others and to relate to them is very important, because it allows you to adjust and modify your strategy based on the buyers' reactions.

=> Drive Another desirable personality trait is drive. As a salesperson you may have to keep long,

irregular hours as well as almost daily adjusting to the frustration of refusals and unexpected competitive behavior You must also face uncontrollable factors that upset your plans and still have sufficient physical and psychological energy to cope with challenges. You must be able to direct your energy toward worthwhile goals and to reset goals as the need occurs. Finally, you must have as much enthusiasm on the last call of the day as on the first call in the morning.

=> Enthusiasm Another quality of successful salespeople is enthusiasm. This quality generally shows

up in three ways: in a general positive attitude, in enthusiasm toward your job, and in enthusiasm toward your products or services. If you have a generally positive attitude toward your life and the things that go on around you, this will transfer to your customers: enthusiasm is contagious.

Selling activities, particularly those conducted face to face, should have a high level of interest for you if

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you are to be effective. If selling is fun, you can show enthusiasm for your job, which in turn will have a favorable influence on your customers or prospects.

Finally, you should also be enthusiastic toward your product line. If you are sold on your product line, it will be much easier for you to sell it to others.

=> Motivation As a salesperson, you will probably have a strong urge to achieve success and to score

victories over the competition. Each of your accomplishments sets the stage for seeking new ones.

A salesperson works in an environment of change; therefore, you must find much of your personal security within yourself. If you are to be effective in your work, you have to see change as a challenge rather than a problem. You will have to view each unanticipated event or reaction as a chance to display your skill and your ability to cope with change.

Feedback Skills

In addition to verbal skills, you also need feedback skills to get information from customers and prospects. These consist of questioning techniques designed to get information from the prospect, listening skills that allow you to take this information in and process it, and the ability to monitor the nonverbal communications of the prospect. Most products and services today are bought for a variety of reasons, and identifying the prospect's motives and interests is critical.

Planning Skills

Planning is essential in all fields of selling. However, several factors influence the amount or level of planning needed and its importance to your success.

First, as you are given increased authority to act on behalf of the company, greater care must be taken in planning actions and commitments.

Second, the less supervision there is, the greater the need to be good at self-supervising and, consequently, the more important it is to be skillful in planning your own work.

Third, the more complex the selling-buying relation, the more need there is for skillful planning. A higher level of planning skill is needed in banc assurance sales than in selling as an agent.

Fourth, the more drawn out negotiations are likely to be, the greater is the need for planning. Thus, if you must conduct several calls to achieve a purchase, you should plan carefully to make each call count and each enhance the previous contacts. The wide scope of your planning encompasses the ways you will cover your territory and manage each branch, your plans for specific calls, identifying the key decision makers to be influenced, and management of your time.

Consultative Selling Skills – Personal Assignment

1. Which specific tools shared during the Consultative selling workshop did you find useful:

a. Weekly Time Planner

b. Relationship quadrant

c. Attitude axis ( Win-Win plot chart)

d. Total Product concept

e. Building powerful questions

2. Of the 5 techniques listed above, please specify the one's you implemented on field since leaving the workshop? Please share any 2 field experience. If you've not used them yet, please use & then write.

3. Which other concepts shared during the workshop did you find useful? Please share 2 specific experiences? If you've not used them yet, please use & then write.

4. What are the 3 typical characteristics of a consultative seller?

5. What changes have you observed in yourself post adopting consultative selling?

6. What differences have you observed in your customers' behavior, when you practice consultative sales?

7. Have you started to work on self improvement strategies? If yes, please share. If no, why not?

8. Have you been able to start identifying customer's buying preferences? Please share your observations and also mention about your attempt in achieving alignment between sales and buying process.

9. Have you been able to use a good mix of 4 types of questions? If yes, please share your experiences. If no, why not?

10. Do you need any support from your trainer, in terms of implementing skills learnt during the workshop? If yes, please elaborate.

Please attempt the assignment on the following pages.

Notes: ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

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2. Of the 5 techniques listed above, please specify the one's you implemented on field since leaving the workshop? Please share any 2 field experience. If you've not used them yet, please use & then write.

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

1. Which specific tools shared during the Consultative selling workshop did you find useful:a. Weekly Time Planner b. Relationship quadrantc. Attitude axis ( Win-Win plot chart)d. Total Product concepte. Building powerful questions

Give reasons for finding these tools useful. How do you think these tools will help you in your day to day work?

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28 29Please use extra loose sheets if required.

Please use extra loose sheets if required.

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3. Which other concepts shared during the workshop did you find useful? Please share 2 specific experiences? If you've not used them yet, please use & then write.

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

4. What are the 3 typical characteristics of a consultative seller?

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5. What changes have you observed in yourself post adopting consultative selling?

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6. What differences have you observed in your customers' behavior, when you practice consultative sales?

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30 31Please use extra loose sheets if required.Please use extra loose sheets if required.

Please use extra loose sheets if required.Please use extra loose sheets if required.

Consultative Selling Skills – Personal Assignment Consultative Selling Skills – Personal Assignment

7. Have you started to work on self improvement strategies? If yes, please share. If no, why not?

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

8. Have you been able to start identifying customer's buying preferences? Please share your observations and also mention about your attempt in achieving alignment between sales and buying process.

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

9. Have you been able to use a good mix of 4 types of questions? If yes, please share your experiences. If no, why not?

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

10. Do you need any support from your trainer, in terms of implementing skills learnt during the workshop? If yes, please elaborate.

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

32 33Please use extra loose sheets if required.Please use extra loose sheets if required.

Please use extra loose sheets if required.Please use extra loose sheets if required.

Consultative Selling Skills – Personal Assignment Consultative Selling Skills – Personal Assignment

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Consultative Selling Skills – Personal Assignment

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Throughout this workshop, we stress the importance of treating people with honesty and always doing the right thing.

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Strictly for training purpose and internal circulation only.