Successful sellers today act as trusted advisors to their buyers, guiding them to the best solutions. Salespeople who employ a consultative selling strategy add value to the selling process and reap the benefits of increased sales, larger customer bases, and referrals.
Traditional sales methods typically revolve around salespeople emphasizing product and service benefits while ignoring prospects' individual needs. Individual customers' specific interests become the focal point of the sales process with needs-based selling. The development of personal relationships and open dialogue between buyers and sellers is the foundation of consultative selling, a type of need-based selling.

Needs-based selling frequently aids salespeople in forming productive, long-term customer relationships. Salespeople can set themselves up for more educated, well-rounded prospect interactions over time by taking the time to understand individual customer needs.

Salespeople require a framework for maximizing limited time across multiple pitches. A consultative approach is a solution to that problem.

Consultative selling is a method of selling that focuses on gaining a prospect's trust and understanding their needs before recommending a solution. The first goal of a salesperson is to establish a relationship; the second is to sell the right product.

Inside sales and consultative selling go hand in hand. It enables sellers to identify customer needs more quickly and present more compelling solutions.

Putting this strategy into action necessitates the application of seven key techniques:

1. Make sure you have a good mix of questions and answers: The path to the sale begins with careful questioning to understand the customer's needs. The seller benefits from developing this detailed picture because the prospect benefits from it. Sellers, on the other hand, frequently position solutions that aren't a good fit for the customer.

Questions should be asked by sellers. However, this procedure takes time, and asking too many questions can make a customer feel interrogated. What is the solution? Along the way, share your thoughts.

For example, suppose you're selling an all-in-one CRM software to a prospect who initially expressed interest in sales automation but then switched to customer service.
If that happens, interrogating your buyer about their support infrastructure isn't the best course of action. Instead, before moving on, you should briefly discuss how well your solution has worked for businesses similar to your customers.
You have earned the right to ask questions as a result of this. Insights give context to your questions and establish credibility.

2. Establish a foundation of trust based on knowledge: While it's true that more customers are willing to work with sellers online these days, it's also true that building trust without face-to-face interactions is difficult. Sellers can overcome this barrier by establishing knowledge-based trust, which is the process of establishing trust through actions that match words.

After the call, sellers should try to follow up with at least one follow-up. You could call your buyer and express your gratitude for the opportunity to speak with them, mentioning specific topics that came up during your conversation and reminding them to contact you if they have any questions.

The point of the follow-up isn't always the subject of the follow-up. That aspect is less important than the opportunity to demonstrate to the customer how trustworthy and considerate you are. It demonstrates that you are a trustworthy individual.

This establishes the value of your solution and aids in the development of a solid, trustworthy relationship between you and a potential customer.

3. Maintain a conversational and genuine tone: Building trust with a customer entails more than just establishing a rapport based on knowledge. You'll need to be friendly, approachable, and show that you care about what you're selling and who you're selling it to. This entails speaking with genuine enthusiasm and intent. That's not the kind of enthusiasm you want to infuse into your consultative sales approach. You've got to be more honest than that. Believe in your product and talk about it with sincerity and conviction.

Recognize and speak to the value of your product. You should also try to figure out what is personally meaningful to your prospect and spend some time discussing it.

In a nutshell, be casually captivating, honest about your intentions, and genuine in your pitch.

4. Take Charge of the Discussion: The consultative style relies heavily on dialogue. Sellers, on the other hand, must continue to steer the conversation. The customer must recognize that they are collaborating with someone who can help them navigate the complexities of business challenges.

Sellers should be prepared to use concise messaging to reference examples of relevant work done in the customer's area — assertiveness demonstrates capability.

Taking responsibility establishes credibility. Controlling the conversation allows the seller to shape perceptions. Control, however, does not imply dominance; sellers must be at ease with using silence to emphasize key points and allowing customers to take turns.

It can be beneficial, for example, to remain silent after making an offer. While prospects get a sense of what's on offer, this can put some pressure on them. To fill the silence, many people will negotiate on their own, and they may end up talking themselves into very seller-friendly deals.

5. Allow the process to be guided by feedback
There isn't such a thing as negative feedback. Even the most vehement customer objections provide the seller with a valuable benefit. When a customer expresses concern or dissatisfaction, they are expressing their needs and indicating what they want to see happen in the future.

As a result, every piece of feedback should be carefully considered by the seller. Take careful notes. Also, don't be afraid to ask the customer if the solutions discussed address their concerns.

The seller's commitment to a collaborative, consultative sales process is demonstrated by asking for the customer's viewpoint. Gaining feedback may even allow you to expand your solution in some cases.

If you were selling software to small businesses and a prospect expressed concern about whether your solution would work for a company their size, you should be concerned. This will aid you in identifying a weak spot in your sales pitch, which you can focus on as the process progresses.

6. Conduct customer research and present relevant findings: Sellers should do their homework on the companies and industries they'll be dealing with ahead of time. This provides the seller with the necessary foundational knowledge, allowing them to begin with the most probing questions.

Sellers can identify opportunities to create differentiated value by researching potential gaps and needs ahead of time.

For example, if you're selling cybersecurity solutions, you should be familiar with the industry-specific security regulations. From there, you can figure out what advantage your product has in terms of assisting customers in meeting those standards.

Sellers can map their capabilities to customer needs once they understand these differentiators. Customers will eventually listen to what those salespeople have to say because the information they provide is relatable.

The key is to keep your ideas to the ones that are most relevant and compelling. The desire to demonstrate the importance of one's research is common. Defend yourself against this compulsion. With just a few concise insights, you can make a bigger impact.
If you're pitching an all-in-one CRM, you probably don't want to go over every single feature of the platform's sales and marketing aspects if you know your prospect is looking for a way to improve its customer support infrastructure. Trim the fat from your consultative approach by focusing on the points you need to make.

7. Pay attention: Customer-centric consultative selling means that listening to what your prospects have to say should be your top priority. Allow them to speak freely. You should take ownership of the conversation, as previously stated, but there is a distinction to be made between ownership and dominance.

Avoid overbearing tactics that come across as competitive or combative. Don't get in the way of their thinking by offering your own solutions to their problems. Also, be aware of any nonverbal cues they may be sending, such as uncomfortable body language or facial expressions, which could indicate how well the conversation is going.

The important thing to remember here is to empathize with your prospects. Let them know that their problems are important to you and that you are invested in finding solutions to them.

The sales landscape is changing, and the ability to develop and maintain interpersonal relationships is becoming increasingly important. The consultative approach may be the most effective way to keep up with this shift.

The approach also assists sellers in applying a consistent methodology to a constantly changing audience, achieving excellence in telephone selling, and ultimately driving more sales.