Profit from Consultative Selling

There are as many ways to gain a customer as there are marketing methods. But how can you maximize profit once you have a customer? There are almost as many methods. But first a word about that dirty word “selling.” It’s not what most people imagine it to be, with that sleazy image of a used-car salesman in their minds. Those types are NOT successful sales people. What will make you successful in sales are three traits: knowledge, empathy and listening skills.

 

Keep in mind that when you are contacted by a potential customer, they have a need and are ready to buy. They need your expertise to help them make the correct choice. Your immediate job is to ferret out what the real need is and not jump to any conclusions. The real need may be something totally different than what you imagined it to be. It may even require you to become creative about your solutions. So, ask a lot of questions. After you get the answers, ask some more questions. Sometimes customers are unclear in their own minds about what their needs are.

 

Once you are totally confident that you understand the prospect’s need, think carefully about your range of products (or services) that you think will best fulfill the need before you overwhelm your him with too many choices. Pick no more than two or three at the most (good, better, best) and discuss the pros and cons of each. Probe some more about how your prospect’s needs may change in the future. If appropriate, suggest that the “better” may be a good choice now and explain exactly why. This is known as “up-selling.” Proceed carefully and never give your prospect the impression that you are just trying to sell what’s most expensive. The solution has to pencil out in the customer’s favor.

 

Once the choice has been made, think about what else your customer may need that complements his purchase. If you have just sold a camera, the obvious questions are about a spare battery, a 2nd memory card, lenses of different focal lengths, a camera case, a tripod. This is known as “cross-selling.” When asked in a friendly, no-pressure manner, your customer may well thank you for having reminded him. And you will have profited from an additional sale.

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