" Is the « species » of the field salesperson irrevocably destined for extinction? Or does it have a chance to adapt to survive? KESTIO provides you here with some keys to emerge victorious from the natural selection process! "
Buyer Power!
According to the Forrester report1, the change in customer purchasing practices and behaviors largely explains this disruption.
These individuals now have very powerful tools at their disposal that eliminate the need for a sales representative to deliver a presentation brochure: websites, social networks, comparison sites, e-commerce platforms. This is much less expensive and more effective than a meeting.
The generalization of these tools has accentuated the autonomy of customers and buyers. As a result, the perception of the value of the sales profession seems to have never been so undermined.
However, meeting with a salesperson remains necessary, but for different reasons and at different stages of the purchasing and decision-making process: to be supported in their thinking and helped in defining a need or a project, to understand this or that specificity of a solution, to negotiate, and finally, to benefit from advice.
The consulting approach therefore appears to be the best possible solution for the sales profession, because it is through the provision of advice and expertise that the salesperson demonstrates their added value. So, how can a salesperson move from a Push approach to a Pull approach, in other words, from a "Sales" approach to a "Consulting" posture?
How to transform (or mutate?) into the 'BtoB salesperson of the future'? This is what we are going to explain in this 2-episode saga...
The salesperson, an inveterate egocentric?
The mountaineer who, at the foot of a mountain, focuses only on the summit and the time it will take to reach it, loses sight of the essential: their technique, the precision of their movements, and thus their safety.
The salesperson encounters the same obstacle. By focusing too much on their product and sale, they miss their real objective: gaining the client's trust. To achieve this, they must concentrate on one area: the quality of the interaction with their contact.
However, many factors affect a salesperson's state of mind when starting a relationship: anxiety about not meeting targets on time, the conscious or unconscious obsession with making a sale.
These factors lead him to focus on his own objectives and to distance himself from the client's interests.
The salesperson must mentally forget about closing and focus solely on initiating a quality relationship based primarily on trust. The Consulting approach involves adopting a mindset resolutely focused on the client's interests.
Let's stop thinking egocentrically, let's be "customer centric"!
The advisory approach: the science of listening and the art of questioning
Most of the time, people are inclined to talk about themselves and like to discuss their profession. Customers and buyers have the same desire. So, we must take an interest in them. Showing interest in the person, focusing on the quality of the relationship, showing empathy... all this leads your interlocutor to open up.
But is simply listening to a client enough to uncover all their secrets, meaning their needs and projects? Does one suddenly become a client's confidant overnight?
The answer is no, at least if we remain focused on searching for "needs" or "problems."
By definition, a client doesn't have a problem. On the other hand, a client – a company – may have an ambition, wish to develop a program, want to optimize its resources, strengthen its growth, or launch a new product…
And in the face of such objectives, the client does not necessarily have fixed ideas about the levers at their disposal.
The primary objective is to gather information to understand and analyze the client's environment. Data collection is key.
The essence of the advisory posture lies in the quality of questioning and the ability to build on the information gathered to broaden the scope and deepen the subjects. The consulting salesperson must be focused solely on researching and understanding their client's challenges. The art of questioning is to make their interlocutor aware of their need, often expressed implicitly, and to formalize it into an explicit need.
Therefore, the salesperson focuses on finding the causes (the "why") and not on solving the problems (the "how").
The advisory approach also involves putting oneself in the customer's shoes. The salesperson must immerse themselves in the discussion as with a friend, in a disinterested manner. They must assume that they have nothing to sell, they are simply there to listen and understand.
For the client, these questions of understanding are all signs of interest that strengthen their confidence and position the salesperson as an ally, not an adversary.
Listening and the art of questioning are very powerful psychological levers that allow you to discover client issues that are much broader than just the immediate need.
However, these are not the only components of a 'consultative approach'. To achieve the 'status' of a consultative salesperson and prove your value to your clients, you will need to develop and accumulate other skills (providing specialized expertise, a ROI-oriented approach, rephrasing client issues, and identifying decision-makers). We will reveal them in the article: the selling salesperson is dead, long live the consulting salesperson, episode 2!
Knowing how to reposition your company's activity can be vital in a difficult situation. Discover the different stages of this process in this webinar:
1 External resources:
Our exclusive methods and training modules on this topic:
– The Chessboard Method© – Key account sales and complex sales
– The KESTIO System© sales training modules – Sales effectiveness and dialogue tools
– The DISC Method© – Behavioral analysis for sales representatives and managers
