How do you close a consultative sales conversation?
I asked that question the other day on LinkedIn.com in the small business development category.
I was looking for an exchange of ideas on sales skills. Unexpectedly, I heard from several consultants (not sales consultants) say that they would never “close” a consultative conversation. Some seemed offended that I suggested it. To them, “closing” meant proposing that a customer buy a particular brand. The turnout was that a consultant stays above brand identification to stay independent.
I 100% agree that a consultant should remain independent. This is exactly how I would consult…I would recommend a particular brand only if I thought it was the best solution and I would offer multiple brands if all else was equal.
So how does someone sell consulting?
Consultative selling resembles consulting in some ways, but ends up presenting a single brand as the best solution. (This is somewhat different from the original Consultative salecoined in the early 1970s by Mack Hanan, in a book well worth reading).
Selling consultatively, like consulting, involves diagnosing the prospect’s situation to find out what their problems are, what they’ve tried to do to solve them, what’s at the root of the problems, what’s holding them in place, etc. It’s using skillful, intelligent influence to help the prospect see their situation through new eyes. It’s asking the right questions at the right time to move the thought process forward toward new insights and inspiration.
Do not sell consultatively
Selling consultatively doesn’t simply mean “educating” or “giving the prospect information so they can make an informed decision” or “figuring out what the prospect needs so you can present your solution using their words.” Good consultative selling DOES all of these things, but usually much later in the sales conversation than most salespeople think.
open sale
Think of the sale as an hourglass. While the sand is at the top of the hourglass, be a consultant. Spend enough time exploring your situation so that they have fully developed the problem and tell you how and why the problem exists. Understand the flow of the conversation so you can ask questions that help them think about their problem from your expert perspective. Notice how this process dissolves concerns and objections. Do not take advantage of opportunities to present a solution. Mentally catalog such opportunities and set them aside for now.
When the time is right, the sand will have fallen to the bottom of the hourglass and the prospect will find that they want to hear your solution. You can now present a solution that exactly fits your needs (if you have one), and you’ll have developed a lasting relationship that you can nurture for future business.
Do not educate your prospect
The approach that captures the consultative sales process and the intelligent influence needed to make it work is called Open Selling, and one of the first principles of Open Selling is this: DON’T educate your prospect. As soon as you start talking, you lose control of the conversation. Instead, provide just enough information to move the conversation forward, but stick to asking questions until you’ve decided together that you don’t have a solution, or practically begging you to introduce. Then educate enough to come to an end.