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Profiling the consultive salesperson
19 Jun 2008
In the second of my series on types of salespeople, the focus is the quadrant 2 (QII) consultive salesperson. Consultive salespeople are amongst the most difficult to find because it is a conceptual sale, focusing more on business outcomes or results, than product features and benefits. Unlike closers, consultive salespeople often move comfortably into management roles.
The consultive salesperson is required if a product is an advanced, high-tech “system” or business solution that must be integrated into the customer's present operation. These systems often replace older, established systems. They provide more cost effectiveness or expanded capacity.
Customers are typically inexperienced in the new technology. The purchase decision is complex, since it represents a change from current operations and involves multiple decision-makers who must decide on different feature and option alternatives. Customer needs include design assistance, basic use and benefit education, installation, employee user training, and service support throughout implementation.
Fulfilment approach (high-tech & high-touch):
| Requirements | QII consultive solutions |
|---|---|
| Seller's company image | Expertise and competence; high-tech/state-of-the-art; serving leading companies |
| Lead generating methods | Offer free educational information; place bylined articles in professional journals; offer booklets, seminars, and how-to-manuals |
| Qualifying criteria | A lukewarm market; prospects value benefit but question supplier's method of accomplishing the benefit |
| New business presentations | Demonstrate initial concept to high level decision makers; educate customer in the basic concepts; offer case history support; provide a team to design a tailored solution; focus on growth opportunity or profit improvement |
| Solid answers to natural objections | objection: customers worry about interruption of operations; response: convince customer that improvement will be more than worth the trouble of interruptions |
| Closing techniques | Agree on a concept or pilot test; sign letters of agreement; develop project schedule agreeable to customer |
| Customer relations | Continue patient, one-on-one education; information mailings |
| Customer service | Design and install the system; train the customer's users; provide follow-up and system maintenance; track benefits to demonstrate; wisdom of the customer's decision; find areas for further improvement |
| Resale | Tend to be project-oriented; little chance to sell same product or service to same customer; sell expanded system or new products or additional services to other divisions; eventually change to relationship; Selling as internal customer; expertise develops |
Sales force approach (high-tech & high-touch):
| Requirements | QII consultive solutions |
|---|---|
| Type of salesperson | Consultive |
| Traits & characteristics | Business oriented; career advancement driven; team “quarterback”; academic and conceptual overview; patient and tolerant of the inexperienced |
| Sales style | Technically expert; competent as a business or project manager; confident of the benefits |
| Sales focus | Educate and train customer; listen, uncover and resolve objections; supervise project; manage customer satisfaction |
| Role | Account team manager |
| Technical ability | Be technical expert |
| Training | Technical; application potential in the market; group presentations; consultive selling skills; project management |
| Length of time to close | Six months plus |
| Length of contact after close | Until product/system is working and customer sees benefits |
| Corporate support and structure | “extensive”; engineering; service; marketing: literature/presentations |
About Peter Gilbert
A sales veteran with over 30 years of experience, Peter Gilbert is MD of HR Chally SA (www.challysa.co.za), an international sales consulting company specialising in talent management and recruitment. He is passionate about sales as a profession and the identification of real sales talent who can really sell! Email him at az.oc.asyllahc@retep
