How do you like your sales? Consultative, helpful and full of benefit for you. How do you not like your sales? Aggressive, out of the blue and laden with guilt. The world of sales has changed, consultative is the way of the future and you might be doing it wrong.
You Are A Problem Solver
This concept is an organizational mindset switch that is the starting block for any good sales change. You do not sell anything. You are not someone that arrives door to door. You shouldn't be starting a sales pitch with someone that doesn't know who you are or what you do.
You are a problem solver. What you have to offer fills a pain point for your potential customer. Something isn't working for them, that is why they are talking to you in the first place. Find the source of pain, recommend the solution.
Problem Solvers are Great Listeners
You will hear a million times over that sales requires great listening. Forget that adage. Problem solvers need to know the problems in order to identify solutions. Great problem solvers care about the solutions, they need to hear every piece of the problem to find the right way to correct course.
Listen carefully, take it all in, ask questions about parts that seem more notably pain-inducing than others. Ask people to prioritize the pain points, take notes, be attentive... do all of the things that make you feel like you are being listened to. That is a great problem solving strategy.
Great Problem Solvers Care About Solutions
You don't just recommend a band-aid and move on. Never. You search for the best possible solution. You assure your prospect that your solution is going to cover the applicable areas of needed improvement and you are straight up about it.
Do you not cover all 13 but only 12 of those pain points? Tell them that. Under promise, over deliver. Be honest, build trust and do it all while you are just being yourself and wanting to help. When you are authentic about your intentions people will gravitate to you and the solutions that you have to offer.
The By-Product is a Great Relationship
The best part of being a problem solver is that your approach to the sales process suddenly becomes a relationship builder. This isn't MadMen, a cocktail at the Oyster Club isn't going to win you the deal the way it did in the past. Your relationship with your client is all about delivering on your promises, being attentive and genuinely caring about the solutions you've prescribed to their problems.
When you change the way you think about the sales process, when you value every person that you transact with as someone whose problems you care about enough to solve and you demonstrate their worth to you regularly and without hesitation... you change the game.
Business is hard enough without the sales role thrown into the mix. So get rid of it. Cultivate a business full of problem solvers and build lasting relationships with people that you will come to care about. Let us help you build a business of problem solvers - contact us today.