There was a time when getting an order meant ``good salesmanship''. If an order was lost, the reason given was ``the price was too high''. Especially in the case of industrial products and services. This may have been true some time ago, but it is not entirely applicable today.A number of things have happened in the marketplace, and are still happening today, that have changed the strategies of marketeers. Just telling how good your product is does not work anymore. There are probably a half-dozen ``better mousetraps'' (products) on the market which have identical features. Equal features generally produce equal price. Even quality is the same; in most cases quality is assumed to be equal until proved otherwise. Without the advantages of features, price, and delivery, what is left to sell? Only one thing `consultative selling' or `service selling'.
It means creating a difference other than the product between you and your competitors. It means more knowledge about your products and services and theircapabilities. It means developing relationships with your customers beyond the purchasing and engineering specifiers. It means getting marketing information from their sales and marketing groups. It can even mean involvement in their financial planning.
Consultative selling calls for emphasis on personal negotiation and creative communications with more people. And it means selling service first, the products will follow. Consultative selling is aimed at high-volume or potential high-volume customers, that is high volume and high profit customers. The goal in this is to become the customer's consultant for the services and products you sell.
Plan the proper sales strategy: The first step in establishing a sales relationship is to define the customer's needs and wants. We often know what he needs, but that does not necessarily agree with what he wants. When we bring his needs -- as we see them -- and his wants -- as he sees them -- closer together, we will be successful.
Consultative selling meansknowing the market situation on any particular negotiation. After receiving an inquiry in the first place, the usual response of salesmen is to hurry up and quote. The obvious facts are probably there, but what about the unwritten factors that are actually going to get you the order and produce profit?
You need to know why you received the inquiry in the first place, and why he wants your quotation. This is particularly true with a new account (client). On older accounts you should already know why. You have several other things to find out. Is the customer sincere? Is this a price check on his usual supplier? Does he want better delivery? Did his boss tell the purchasing manager to send the inquiry even though he is not genuinely interested? Did the engineering ask the purchase department to seek inquiries, but doesn't know why? If the customer is an original equipment manufacturer, does he have the requisition to buy, or is this for an estimate or budget? Is this a genuine marketing opportunity? The rightanswers to these questions will invariably allow you to plan the proper sales strategy.
What are the odds of an order? This must be evaluated so that you can keep your proposal and sales in line to maximise profit. There is no use betting on a dead horse. You also want to know the credit situation and the customer's ability to pay. Competition is another important consideration. The answers to these questions establish the initial market situation and set up the stage for going further or stopping right there.
Use all the selling tools: A consultative salesman uses all the available resources of his company. Team selling is invaluable. Use your engineering, manufacturing, management, and even your financial people to help you sell. You might be surprised at the different doors they open. Do business man-to-man. This means getting people together with common interests and goals. The salesman is there co-ordinating the whole plan.
Another characteristic of the consultant salesman is that he emphasises theservices, or service systems approach, that he can offer. Perhaps it is engineering design assistance, inventory control assistance, marketing information, or expediting help -- all kinds of things other than products features and price. The salesman can even become a discreet and reliable communication link between departments within his customer's company.
Ask listen, and observe: The key to success in consultative selling is interpersona relationships, one-to-one communication compounded time and again with everyone you come in contact with until you obtain all the right answers. In practically every case where consultative selling has been used but has been unsuccessful, it was because some personal link was not established. The most effective persona relationships are business-oriented, not the typical entertainment-oriented relationships with one or two individuals. Some socialising can help in certain situations, but if that is the only personal link, this is a weak foundation on which you cansell.
In the consultant type of personal communication, you don't do much telling. You ask, listen, and observe. Now this is difficult for many salesmen, because much of their training has been on how to ``pitch.'' And it is also difficult to resist the temptation to display how much we know. But, for consultants, the pitch or recommendations must come last. The information gathering and customer knowledge always comes first.
Ask questions, leading questions, questions you know he can't answer. Ask questions you know the answers to. Be humble. Summarise or confirm his answers along the way to make sure you are both tune in. Asking questions is also an excellent way of displaying your intelligence. Many salesmen stop asking too soon. And they are reluctant to ask questions which will bring obvious answers -- in their minds, anyway. Quite often, obvious questions evoke a different response than anticipated.
A good questioner must know his subject thoroughly, or else he cannot phrase the proper questions.This is where product knowledge is extremely important. Use that knowledge as an exploratory tool; don't use it to perform a `snow job' on the customer.Offer the unusual, wisely: Once in a while, some unusual tactic can be used effectively. But it must be employed sparingly and only when the situation dictates. Sometime ago a salesman was negotiating a large order. On the final day, just before Divali, the salesman had a meeting with the company purchase manager. His competitors also had met the manager.
Technical and price discussions were over, and the final decision was to be communicated to the selling company. The salesman while waiting suddenly noticed a sign advertising a last minute pre-Divali sale. That gave him an idea. He quickly faxed a Divali greetings message to the purchase manager, and on the fax wrote in hand the amount of his bid. He drew a line through it and wrote ``Divali Special: 2 per cent Off,'' and with the revised discounted figure of the bid. The next day when he contactedthe purchase manager to enquire about the decision on the quote, he was told he had been awarded the order. He got the order, not because of the price discount, but because he had with his fax and the idea established a personal communication relationship. A relationship that will last a long time.
Establish mutual confidence: The objective of personal communication is to establish mutual confidence and rapport that will enable you to determine the real needs and wants of your customer. He must feel nice about you, or he is not going to tell you much. And he certainly won't buy from you.
Developing meaningful personal business relationships with many people is not easy. It may take a long time-years in some cases-and may depend on a certain set of circumstances. An approach must be tailored to meet the situation. If you don't know the situation, it is difficult to tell someone else how to handle a personal business relationship. There are times when you just cannot establish communications, so youcannot establish needs. If this happens, you had better admit it and move on. Further effort will be unprofitable. When you cannot `sell' an account, either the account does not need you or you have not found the need.
Product features, price, and delivery are certainly important. The consultative selling style assumes that these elements are already present. You must also assume that you and your competitor have equivalent products that are competitively priced. What remains then, is the need to create a difference between you and your competitor, and that takes a great deal of digging and thinking. Constantly.
Copyright © 1998 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.
