Solution selling is the process of selling the customer a solution to their problems as opposed to a product or service. And management often ignorant of the subtle differences between selling products or services and selling solutions become frustrated when. Followers of solutionselling generally apply a consultative sales approach to all aspects of their sales process or cycle including. A mix of understanding, shaping, and redefining need, crafting compelling solutions to address the need, and communicating maximum impact for the buyer core consultative selling. Consultative selling skills ebook harrison consulting 2014. Sales and management toolbox au page 3 1 introduction to be effective and successful today sales people need highly developed consultative selling skills. Consultative versus transactional b2b selling lead forensics. A consultative sales methodology informed by perspectivenot an.
Product selling compared to consultative selling sales. Solution selling has a salesperson or sales team use a sales process that is a problemled rather than productled approach to determine if and how a change in a product could bring specific improvements that are desired by the customer. Solution selling is common in areas such as construction services, software and outsourcing sales. They will head online to research their problems and find possible solutions, long before ever contacting any potential suppliers. Solution selling is, as its name suggests, focused on finding out what a customers needs are, then selling them a solution. This is why we allow the books compilations in this website. Being able to hold a conversation around benefits and value isnt that easy but it can be mastered with practice and guidance.
The second half of this book was almost completely useless for me, serving as a set of testimonials about how good the solutions selling system is in b2b sales with large clients. It really has nothing to do with helping the customer. Apr 28, 2015 watch my latest video to learn the differences between normal, or, transactional selling, versus consultative selling. The b2b selling landscape is transforming and nowhere can this be seen more clearly than in the rise in popularity of consultative selling. Jan 29, 2012 consultative selling is a more complex, longterm process involving collaboration of both buyer and seller, in which the latter must first develop an understanding of the customers business. Consultative selling is a philosophy rooted in building a relationship between you and your prospects. The salesperson, in turn, uses that information to select the best possible product or service to meet a need. Solution selling is the best methodology ive seen for placing emphasis on business issues rather than product. While oldschool selling tells us to focus on the features and benefits of our products, solution selling tells us to focus on the value of our solution.
Advantages of consultative selling over traditional. Consultative selling is often referred to as solutionbased selling, which is a helpful term to understanding the emphasis of the methodology. Mar 26, 20 sales why consultative selling doesnt work forget becoming a trusted adviser. The hanan formula for highmargin sales at high levels, 7th edition by mack hanan is mainly targeting sales representatives to provide a specific and consistently successful approach and techniques for better sales i read the book and i found that it very helpful and useful for sales representatives. Tony hughes shares his thoughts on challenger sales vs solution selling. Eades is a required reading for the enfusen sales staff, and a mustread for anyone in the. Consultative sales is a selling method in which the salesperson spends time with the customer to understand the problem the customer is trying to solve and then recommends a solution that will. In consultative selling, the sales professional learns about customer needs before talking about a product or solution. Sometimes this is also referred to as solution based selling. If you arent positioning your organization as a consultative, solution selling resource you are falling behind.
Jan 01, 2018 lessons learned from consultative selling book january 1, 2018 november 10, 2018 mohamed sami the consultative selling. Consultative selling is a sales approach that prioritizes relationships and open dialogue to identify and provide solutions to a customers needs. The term is associated with the sales of products and services that can be used as the building blocks of a custom implementation. It explores a selling technique in which the salesperson acts as an expert consultant for his or her prospects, asking questions to determine what the prospect needs. Any salesperson who hears price as an objection is selling transactionally. If a product or service resolved the pain, you were then the true solution. Rather than telling prospects what they need, you ask prospects thoughtprovoking questions that help them identify their own pain points. A prospect has very little time and not a great deal of bandwidth to receive your informationhence a crm solution needs to fully empower a salesperson to be able to deal with a prospect rapidly, accurately and powerfully. This very practical approach worked and this is where i made my living for more than a decade. Consultative selling vs solution selling salesstar. Historically, solutionbased selling was the expected methodology for achieving goals. Everyone sells solutions hoping they can charge a premium or perform some miracle that will instantly differentiate them from their competitors. Whats the difference between consulting and consultative. Download it once and read it on your kindle device, pc, phones or tablets.
It has less to do with what the customer is buying and more to do with why. Mike bosworth is probably the smartest guy i ever met in the sales training world. When we say focused on the prospect, we are referring to a sales approach where one tries to learn and understand the prospects needs first and then tries to provide a solution that aligns with those needs. The term consultative selling first appeared in the 1970s book consultative selling by mack hanan. A consultative sales approach is key to running a welloiled sales team.
Consultative selling the 4 steps to sales success 4 steps to consultative selling success, how to incorporate solution selling into your sales process. Apr 14, 20 explaining the solution selling to insight selling gap. A salesperson who practices consultative selling develops a holistic and nuanced understanding of the buyers needs, and then they try to fulfill those needs with a customized solution. Spin selling explains the science behind consultative selling, or rather, presenting an offer to a potential client, based systematically on the clients painpoints, using a powerful questioning process. Consultative selling is an approach to sales whereby sellers redefine reality and maximize buyer value through. The challenger method asserts that solution selling is dead. Sometimes this is also referred to as solutionbased selling. Key differences between consultative selling vs traditional transactional selling a consultative sale is different from a traditional sale in that it involves suggesting a tailored solution to the customers problem after listening to their needs, rather than the sole purpose being to sell a specific product that may not meet their unique needs. The 6 principles of a consultative sales process hubspot blog. Rather than just promoting an existing product, the salesperson focuses on the customers pains and addresses the issue with his or her offerings. The hanan formula for highmargin sales at high levels.
Nov 20, 2018 the term consultative selling first appeared in the 1970s book consultative selling by mack hanan. Solution selling, consultative selling, challenger selling is all about uncovering needs so you can position your solution. Lessons learned from consultative selling book mohamed sami. Product knowledge is transformed into a tailored solution when it is delivered and positioned based on the customers needs and language. Five reasons why consultative selling outperforms the. If you arent positioning your organization as a consultative, solution selling resource you are falling behind because, rest assured, your competition is. What do you see as the difference between consultative. Consultative selling is an investigative approach to sales. Increased competition and customers greater access to information and sophistication shifted the focus of a sales call from the seller to the buyer. Overview 15 quick solution selling tips to close more sales be sure to download marcs incredible e book on 25 tips to crush your sales goal. Imagine for a moment that you have come down with the flu. Selling consultatively resembles consulting in some regards, but ends with presenting a single brand as the best solution.
Product versus solution selling partners in excellence. Its a bit slower and important for the sales rep to stay in touch with the potential buyer. Overview 15 quick solution selling tips to close more sales be sure to download marcs incredible ebook on 25 tips to crush your sales goal. Consultative selling involves selling the product range but also includes. It isnt about being soft, or about not really selling. Consultative selling is a more complex, longterm process involving collaboration of both buyer and seller, in which the latter must first develop an understanding of the customers business. Consultative selling starts with educating the potential buyer and offering a variety of options the buyer could use to solve their problem. The conventional solutionselling wisdom was that the sales teams were trained to align the customers needs to their existing solutions, and then demonstrate why it was better than the competitions solution. Mike bosworth has the best understanding of sales process in corporate america. If you want to change your sales force into a consultative selling machine, then you must invest heavily in the right training. Integrity selling selling solutions and training for.
Consultative selling requires sales professionals to focus on executing 7 key behaviors. Dit is het ultieme en meest complete boek over verkoop. Productfocused selling the transition from productfocused selling to needfocused selling was the direct result of market changes. Solution selling is a type and style of sales and selling methodology. Building partnerships in solution selling zs principal chris morgan outlines the fundamentals of building and nurturing successful partnerships with customers. Whereas transactional selling is about the product, consultative selling is about value. The term consultative selling can get thrown around a lot. Modern buyers are a lot more sophisticated and informed than they used to be.
In the consultative selling vs solution selling showdown it is not so much a case of consultative versus solution, but more like solution is part of consulting. The term solution infers that the proposed new product produces improved outcomes. On the other end of the selling spectrum is consultative selling. Pipeliner crm solution selling requires an efficient crm, through which can be visibly and easily tracked prospect issues, proposed solutions including exactly which products and services, thoughts on solutions from different decisionmakers, and tasks and activities all the way along the line. Sales why consultative selling doesnt work forget becoming a trusted adviser. The 7 stages of the solution selling process simplicable. This is a highly practical selfhelp training focussing on solution selling and the core sales communication tools and activities. Today it is almost impossible to meet a product salesperson in the businesstobusiness sector.
One big difference between consultative selling and product selling is that consultative sales is more focused on the prospect and product selling is more focused on the product. Use features like bookmarks, note taking and highlighting while reading consultative selling. Jul 11, 2018 while oldschool selling tells us to focus on the features and benefits of our products, solution selling tells us to focus on the value of our solution. Consultative selling vs solution selling traditional solution selling is based on the premise that salespeople should lead with openended questions designed to surface recognized customer needs. Consultative selling is far more difficult than transactional selling. How many sales organizations try to position themselves as consultative vs. Integrity selling is a comprehensive sales training solution, grounded in strong values and ethics, that simultaneously elevates the two essential components to sales success. What is the difference between consultative selling and. Diagnosing buyer pain parts of this post adapted from the solution selling fieldbook 2005, mcgrawhill, isbn 9780071456074 by eades, touchstone and sullivan. Consultative selling vs solution consultative selling vs solution when people should go to the books stores, search instigation by shop, shelf by shelf, it is truly problematic. Pipeliner crm empowers snap selling pipeliner crm is designed very much along the same sorts of principles as snap selling.
It will certainly ease you to see guide consultative selling vs solution as you such as. You need to demonstrate the profits in some detail, and you will probably need to involve operational and more. Oct 29, 2007 mike bosworth is probably the smartest guy i ever met in the sales training world. This is somewhat different from the original consultative selling, as coined in the early 1970s by mack hananin a book well worth reading.
The focus is not on the product or service but on the needs and pains of the client before presenting how the product can solve or meet those needs. On the one hand solution selling kind of implies selling a canned solution in search of problems that need it, and consultative selling implies a more custom productservice sell. Sales essentials solution selling 6 weeks watch your customer communication and sales results improve from the get go with the implementation of these practices. To me, the difference between consultative selling and traditional sales is a bit like the difference between a therapist and a doctor. Consultative selling doesnt mean what most people think it means. Product versus solution selling business 2 community. Solution selling understanding the importance of not only being consultative, but leading customers through a process to help them achieve success begins with relevant content in the right place and time.
Its about selling effectively, and it is about shifting the decisioncriteria from price to cost. The solution selling methodology has evolved as key components of professional selling evolve. The hanan formula for highmargin sales at high levels kindle edition by hanan, mack. That is, how does your product or service impact the customers productivity, profitability, operating costs and downtime. Integrity selling selling solutions and training for your. The salesperson, in turn, uses that information to select the best possible. However, solution selling in the promotional products industry has also been refined into value proposition selling. Rather than just promoting an existing product, the salesperson focuses on the customers pains and. Consultative selling by mack hanan macks recipe works as promised. Bosworth author two books on the topic of creating buyers in difficult selling markets. In a consultative sale, the salesperson creates value. Solution selling refers to the philosophy or practice of uncovering a customers pain points and then providing products and services that address the underlying business problem.
Why should you practice consultative selling instead of. One of the most intuitive books on the market for selling. Creating buyers in difficult selling markets, was brilliant, and full of great. Executive board ceb research and the challenger sale book.
Five reasons why consultative selling outperforms the challenger. Watch my latest video to learn the differences between normal, or, transactional selling, versus consultative selling. The 6 principles of consultative selling open to export. We adopt a new approach, perhaps calling it solutions, consultative.
At salesstar, we see solution selling as one step of the consultative process. Understanding the importance of not only being consultative, but leading customers through a process to help them achieve success begins with relevant. The hanan formula for highmargin sales at high levels, 7th edition by mack hanan is mainly targeting sales representatives to provide a specific and consistently successful approach and techniques for better sales. To bring clarity to that question, we will take a step back and compare consultative sales with a more traditional type of selling and in this exercise we will call that product selling. The consultative sales process is most especially not about you.
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