Unlock the Potential of the Consultative Selling Model for Building Services

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i was recently asked about the difference between solutions based selling and consultative selling solution selling is an approach where a salesperson takes the time to understand a prospect's situation and offers a product or service based on solutions rather than features consultative selling is all about building trust with your prospect it's about truly uncovering and understanding their needs well before offering any type of solution this means that when consultative selling a salesperson's first objective is to build a relationship once that relationship has been built they can then move on to their second objective of providing the right product or service to meet their customers needs it's easy to see how both terms can be confused both are about understanding a prospect's needs and circumstances the key difference here is that consultative selling involves a deeper relationship building approach to sales the thought process is when you build a relationship it allows sellers to better uncover customer needs allowing them to position more compelling solutions my take on it is that consultative selling helps elevate solution selling at the end of the day solving problems for your customer is fundamental when it comes to effective selling so how can you learn to elevate your solution selling and be more consultative well here are a few tips that will help you with the process number one make sure you do your research top sellers today think about researching before they meet with the prospect they never go into a call unprepared they take the time to learn about who they're selling to they read up on industry news they understand who their competitors are they know what current solutions they might be leveraging and they know who has the decision-making authority so don't be afraid to use linkedin visit their company website and read up on that industry news educating yourself is the best way to set yourself up for success number two you have to actively listen once you're in a position where you can directly engage with a prospect prepare yourself with some open-ended questions that can help you uncover pain points i've seen some top sellers ask personalized and specific questions that allowed them to apply their research so be sure to listen intentionally and actively when your prospect answers those questions let them know that you hear them by remaining engaged paraphrasing their answers and reflecting what they say number three diagnose and find the right solutions now that you've uncovered your prospect's main challenges you can use this information to shape your solutions shape your value proposition around the outcomes your prospect will see and make sure you can demonstrate that you understand their challenges and know how your solution will remedy them your solution should be customer specific and now that you've built a relationship it can be more personalized number four educate your prospect you built a relationship now prove you take it seriously demonstrate that you listened convey a value proposition that will help their business don't be vague and don't be pushy make sure that you ready to handle objections and answer more questions remember this isn't about you it's about them by elevating your solution selling and being more consultative you position yourself as a trustworthy advisor and start to build a productive relationship with your prospect so go out there and be more consultative in your sales approach take care