A recent LinkedIn State of Sales survey revealed some ominous (but potentially valuable) trends for small business owners seeking to improve their sales growth and profitability.  Among other findings, the survey of more than 7,500 buyers and sellers in 11 countries determined that…:

• 75% of sales managers say the ability to cope with change is more important now than it was five years ago.
• 80% of sellers say they lost or delayed a deal because a key stakeholder changed roles.

And…

·         60% of sellers say they always put the buyers first, but only 24% of buyers agree.

These post-pandemic findings represent an outstanding opportunity for any savvy business owner seeking to increase market share and maintain margins during these rapidly changing and very uncertain financial times. 

I’m actually surprised that 24% of buyers believe that sellers put them first.  I would’ve guessed that the percentage would be far less.  While most salespeople SAY that they sell consultatively, buyer’s perception IS reality, and the proof is in the pudding.   For years now, I’ve been trumpeting the importance of TRUE consultative selling, the microscopic percentage of the profession that can effectively executes consultative selling, and the fact that those who do not are losing a greater and greater percentage of sales each and every year.  

 In other words, having the consultative selling competency in your organization used to be a nice-to-have, and it has now become a MUST-have.   If your salespeople do not possess these selling skills, they WILL lose massive market share, will not be able to maintain margins, and will ultimately die on the vine.   Choose or perish.

 There is a very good reason that more than three-quarters of buyers don’t believe that sellers put them first.  It is because most sellers don’t.  

This is the ultimate sales paradox.  Selfishly, most salespeople (and owners) believe that their sellers SHOULD put themselves first.  However, the most successful salespeople in the world know that doing so will quickly lead buyers to dismiss them from consideration and purchase from their competition.

 As with every other sales attribute, success begins with a salesperson’s mindset.  Here are a just few more critical behaviors required from any truly consultative salesperson:

 Questioning:  A Consultative Salesperson will ask good, tough, timely questions, and when appropriate, will respectfully challenge certain info they unearth.  Most salespeople simply cannot do this, not because deep questioning is difficult, but also because the questions cannot be scripted in advance and because they do not possess the correct mindset.  Follow up questions should never be the result of a script.  They should almost always result directly from the buyer’s responses. 

Outward-focus:   Most sales reps (and human beings) are self-centered.  It is difficult for most people to remove themselves from their own desired outcomes.  Until a rep can train him/herself to set aside their own objectives, desires to be liked or validated, egos, and other needs, they will hear very little of what their prospects are actually trying to convey.   In other words, they will miss out on all of the really good stuff.

Listening (actively and deeply):   Most salespeople spend way too much time talking versus listening and understanding.  When their lips are flapping, they are often spouting either statements or rehearsed, non-differentiated questions.   Yikes.  They rarely ask the question behind the question.  Rather than closely listening to a prospect, they are actually preparing a reply. 

Patience:  Most sales reps just cannot wait to tell people about what they sell, how amazing their company is, and all the ways they can help.  The (disempowering) tapes playing in their heads convince them that time is limited so that they “better hurry and tell them how great we are”.   They avoid asking questions because doing so might delay or replace their presentations, demos, and proposals, all things in which they have much more confidence in than selling consultatively.  Patient, consultative, differentiated salespeople add tremendous value with skilled Buyer Facilitationä.  Because their facilitation is unearthing new insights and adding value, they subsequently learn that buyers will make additional time for them.   A sales representative should always strive to slow down, be 100% present, and go deeper and wider with their listening and questioning. 

Infinite Curiosity:   Children do this very well.  Adults, who become “selling experts”, often develop the “curse of knowledge”.  They consequently lose their ability to be curious and make far too many assumptions.  Infinitely curious salespeople facilitate mutual discovery, differentiate themselves, and help buyers to create a new, better buying vision.

More Questions, Better Questions:   As the survey results revealed, most salespeople who have asked a few (often scripted) questions truly believe they are selling consultatively.  The reality is, until several dozen questions have been asked, a salesperson isn’t even close.  Again, I’m not talking here about rehearsed, blah, blah, blah questions.  Consultative selling demands unique, thoughtful, spontaneous follow-ups to perhaps a couple opening questions asked during the first few minutes.

An extremely small percentage of salespeople possess consultative selling skills.  Those who adopt, develop, and master them have always captured the lion’s share of available business, but now stand to completely dominate in 2022 and beyond.

One final thought…:  Effective Sales Management can have an enormous effect on the mindset, methodology, culture, improvement, and performance of your team.  Team success in today’s (primarily) remote selling environment demands the development of a high-touch coaching and learning sales culture that will pay huge dividends.

Please don’t wait.  The tsunami is already gaining steam, and developing these skills takes time.  Consultative sellers have always captured the majority of sales.  They will soon capture just about all of it.  Whether you are looking to develop your existing sales team, are recruiting new reps, or are seeking to improve your own personal selling effectiveness, I hope you’ll find this information to be valuable.

Copyright © Joe Zente 2022. All Rights Reserved.