National Sales Center

Improve Sales With Consultative Advising

You may turn down someone trying to sell you a membership to a gym but all that changes if your doctor strongly advises you to join a gym. In today’s world, people listen to experts. Reps must therefore evolve and transition from rep to expert if they expect to succeed.

The New Face Of Sales

Consultative selling has been around for quite some time and it’s due a facelift. I recommend “Consultative Advising”. People no longer want to be sold, they want to be advised.

We are surrounded with information. Never before have prospects been so educated. They also know that “a little education can be dangerous”. At that point, they seek advice.

The New Way To Sell Is Consultative Advising

I believe the future of sales resides in Consultative Advising and it will change “selling” forever. Sure, the sales process will remain as well as the techniques required to professionaly execute the process. However, those strategies must become less obvious to the prospect. The prospect wants clear direction on what to do and that direction can only be delivered in the form of recommended advice, from a trusted advisor.

We will see more and more companies offering a number of solutions from different manufacturers. This structure allows vendors to recommend the best solution for their prospect. If you only sell one product, your solution is way too obvious. Consultative Advising must involve choice and a recommendation on why that’s the best choose. If there is no ability to choose, there is no consultative advising.

You don’t visit a Plastic Surgeon to get a sales pitch. Instead you get a free consultation. My bank’s “sales rep” is now my “personal banker”. This evolution is taking place at great speed.

New Role Of Consultative Advising

Salespeople need to change and get with the Consultative Advising program. Product knowledge must dramatically increase. We may see a change to industry specific vertical territories as a way to better understand prospect’s needs. Most importantly, Marketing must position a sales force as a team of expert advisors.

This concept of Consultative Advising is at the center of my sales training. It is most obvious in my sales prospecting training. People would rather meet with an expert than a sales rep. I show reps how to position themselves as experts.

I hope you’ll position yourself as an expert the next time you visit a prospect. Take the Consultative Advising approach and good things will happen.  How can I be sure? I’m an expert!

To your sales success!
Nick

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