Consultative Selling
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Now That You Have a Sales Process, Never Mind
- October 16, 2013
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Category: Understanding the Sales Force
Here’s the premise: Companies that have been rigorously enforcing sales process should stop doing so because it is resulting in longer sales cycles, decreased conversion rates, unreliable forecasts and depressed margins. So they say. Here are some of the many problems with their premise:
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The Connection Between Gas Prices and Sales Lead Follow Up
- September 26, 2013
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Category: Understanding the Sales Force
Why do salespeople still do the things they used to do, even though those things don’t work anymore. For example, why do salespeople still sell transactionally when presenting/demoing, quoting/proposing and closing yields a 10-20% conversion ratio? Even if they were in hiding, everyone must have heard by now that a typical B2B sale requires a customer-centric consultative approach.
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Specific Words are So Crucial to a Sales Conversation
- August 27, 2013
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Category: Understanding the Sales Force
I just returned from a speaking engagement in Athens and had to stop at passport control several times during this trip. They always ask, “What kind of business?” and over the years I’ve used them all: consulting, speaking, training, business adviser, author, coaching, etc. I’ve learned that if I want to be interrogated, “speaker” would be the answer of choice. If I simply want to answer a few questions, “consultant” will do the trick. But to elicit the desired yawn from the officers, I only need to say “attend a conference.” Words make a huge difference and if you like scripts, you’ll be disappointed. But a well-chosen word or phrase at just the right time can be the difference between a resistant prospect and an intrigued one. Do you pay enough attention to the things you do and say as well as how you say them just before a prospect becomes resistant or more engaged? Well, you should!
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Top 6 Reasons Decision Makers Fail to Attend Your Meetings
- July 30, 2013
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Category: Understanding the Sales Force
My mind doesn’t work the same as most people. I always seem to find a sales analogy buried somewhere. Frank, who writes the Sales Archaeologist Blog, has that ability too.
Recently, at a picnic with my family, I took note of all the guests and couldn’t help but see the similarities between the picnic and selling to a group.
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Top 3 Reasons Why Salespeople Fail at Consultative Selling?
- July 8, 2013
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Category: Understanding the Sales Force
One of the challenges with a consultative approach is that while it is easier to close the sale, it is far more difficult to implement than the traditional, transactional approach that today makes it so much harder to get the sale closed. The question is why?
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The Waffle Cone and the Mass Production of Salespeople
- July 2, 2013
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Category: Understanding the Sales Force
For me, today’s waffle cones are a constant disappointment because they always fail to meet my expectations.
What does this have to do with selling?
Think about salespeople as a version of the waffle cone. In some companies, they are made fresh, and in other companies, especially bigger companies, they are mass-produced.
There are many ways of looking at th
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Everyone Can Sell. Not Really. Top 10 Reasons Why Not
- May 22, 2013
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Category: Understanding the Sales Force
Dan Pink, Author of To Sell is Human, has been getting a lot of well-deserved exposure. He wrote a terrific book and most who have read it, really like it. I don’t have a problem with his book because read in its entirety, it makes sense. I do have an issue with the people who write about his book and take the concept, that everyone can sell, out of context. The context is that everyone can sell their ideas. Agreed. But out of context, it is suggested that everyone can be a salesperson. I strongly disagree.
Forget for a moment all of the data from Objective Management Group showing that 74% of all professional salespeople suck. When we take the concept from selling an idea (at home, at church, in the neighborhood or internally to coworkers) to professional selling, 10 things change:
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Salespeople Must Stop Snorkeling and Start Scuba Diving
- May 15, 2013
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Category: Understanding the Sales Force
We talk a lot about the importance of using a consultative approach instead of a transactional approach to better differentiate and sell value instead of price. When we explain consultative selling, we usually emphasize the importance of listening and questioning. When we further explain effective listening and questioning, it becomes much more difficult to describe in a paragraph or in the absence of a demonstration or role-play.
Until today.
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Top 10 Reasons Why Salespeople Let Price Drive the Sale
- May 10, 2013
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Category: Understanding the Sales Force
Selling value.
What comes so easily to the top 6% and some of the top 26% is so very difficult for others.
Most salespeople have little capability to effectively build value. Talking about what your company does better or differently or telling a prospect what your value proposition is does not build value. Instead, value comes from 3 things:
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Sales Management Best Practices – Are Top Salespeople Challengers?
- April 29, 2013
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Category: Understanding the Sales Force
I don’t promote an approach based on either Relationships or Solution Selling, but both must be incorporated into an appropriate sales approach. Also worth noting, the approach or methodology is only one part of selling. Without a sales process and a sales model, no methodology will work very well on its own.