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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.
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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.[original research?]
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.[citation needed] 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.[citation needed] 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[who?] 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[who?] 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
References
- Mack Hanan, Consultative Selling: the Hanan Formula for High-Margin Sales at High Levels, Kindle Edition, 1970.
- Linda Richardson, Stop Telling, Start Selling: How to Use Customer-Focused Dialogue to Close Sales, McGraw-Hill, 1998.
- Atul Uchil, Relationship Selling: the Fine Art of Consultative Sales, Outskirts Press, 2007.
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