..

There was an era not long ago, when slaves used to be stoned to death, and enterprising people started selling "stones". Everyone sells. Who doesn't? History tells tales how old selling really is. Every one tries to sell something at one point in their lives. As a kid, you might have convinced your parents to buy an icecream. Your first proposal. Convincing your wife was perhaps the third.  If you are working on one, which stage are you? Here's one more exciting story we wrote about law of unintended consequences in sales engagement! In this post let's understand a tad more about why sales consultants must work on consultative selling in a sales funnel.

People don't like to be SOLD.

Would you marry a perfect stranger? Would you really get kissed by a perfect stranger? Would you sleep in bed with a perfect stranger? You don't take a big decision just in 2 seconds, would you? People liked to be helped, not sold. If you notice a parllel, a guy hawking (direct selling) coolers at a fuel station vs a guy trying to get intimate with a girl, share the same after-effects: REJECTION. Don't try to be desperate in your sales pitch. It never works. Your desperation is their advantage. Its wise to say – Stop Selling. Start Helping. There are 2 ways. #1: Solve an existing problem. #2: Help your customer achieve a future goal.

Do you dig deep enough?

Don't help your customer with a problem with an intangible problem. Always recall the 3Ps of sales – Prospecting, Presenting, Positioning.  Find the need of your customer. Try to understand what he really cares about. Does he really care about the past, or looking forward to the future goals. Identify his/her NEED, and then help him with a solution. So, that explains the 1st step in consultative selling. Identifying the NEED, and next comes WANT.

Branding

Selling in general is the hardest part, and heavily relies on a mutual trust. We can't establish trust overnight. Most young companies generally fail on the perception war. In short, branding does matter. Would you deny branding does not matter? Most succesful companies have mastered the art of making their brand stand apart from the rest. Branding is one part important in a marketing lifecycle, and its wise to consider investing in branding services.

Barking at the wrong tree?

Identify your KDM - Key decision makers. Often in sales, the focus on audience is almost always lost on who the "real" buyer is. So, we have 3 segmentations for who the real, ideal person who will purchase your products/services. Consider a company structure, where there exists a purchase manger. He is ideally a buyer, but not an influencer, or decision maker. So, before you send your mails, think TWICE. Are you really talking to a decision maker?

Ask client's budget

Remember, there is no real reason why you should spend your time with losers. Stop chasing clients who are cheap, and difficult to work with. Obviously time is a commodity that is non-renewable. There are people who are willing to spend money, but have less money, and who have money, but dont' really want to spend that money. Don't be caught up with the wrong ends.

.