Consultative selling
‘Selling’ doesn’t work. You’ve got to help customers buy. And that means engaging with the customer in a positive way, showing that you understand their requirement and giving them confidence that your product or service is the best possible way of meeting that requirement.
This may sound painless but there’s more to it than meets the eye and it’s all too easy to get it wrong. You need to follow a process. This in-depth two-day programme will show you how, including:
- Structuring calls effectively
- Understanding the reasons behind customers’ buying decisions
- Defining a customer’s level of interest
- Following an effective method of developing sales
- Well-developed questioning techniques
- How best to present features and benefits to customers
- Differentiating between logical and emotional purchasing
- Overcoming objections
- Gaining commitment to the next stage of the buying process
Learning objectives
- Understand ‘how buyers buy’ and align their selling activities accordingly
- Recognise the difference between ‘latent pain’ and ‘active vision’ opportunities
- Conduct effective pre-call planning and research
- Stimulate interest and establish credibility with your prospects
- Get prospects to share / admit high priority pain
- Engage in consultative dialogue that promotes the differentiating strengths of your offerings
- Gain access to ‘power’ people within an opportunity
- Effectively qualify and disqualify opportunities based on objective decision criteria
- Better control and manage sell cycles
- Improve their chances of winning competitive opportunities
- Shorten sales cycles and avoid ‘no decision’
- Negotiate the steps leading to a successful sale
Who should attend?
Format
The style is very facilitative and learner-centred, taking into account the needs and preferences of the group on the day whilst at the same time delivering the programme as agreed with the client in order to meet the specified learning objectives.
Special features
Expert trainer
He spent 15 years as an Authorized Independent Sales Consultant for Miller Heiman, a highly respected global sales consultancy specialising in sales management sales processes and methodologies. Tim is also a certified NLP Master Practitioner and runs courses in Neuro-Linguistic Programming, focusing very much on the practical applications of the discipline in today’s business environment. He was one of the trainers involved in the first NLP Practitioner Course for Henley Management College.
Tim is widely regarded as a leading authority on sales techniques, particularly complex B2B selling, and has been a judge at the prestigious UK National Sales Awards. He contributed to the government-sponsored body, the MSSSB, involved in setting national standards for sales throughout the UK. He is also a certified training provider for the ISMM, providing courses in sales and management up to degree level.
See what people have said about Tim’s training:
‘The best presenter I have experienced in my 25 working years’
‘Tim is an excellent trainer with a vast knowledge, which is conveyed in a very engaging manner’
‘Tim was very good – I enjoyed his teaching methods, he knew a lot and gave many useful pointers and I would recommend him in future’
‘Very helpful and worthwhile experience’
‘Really looking forward to being in contact with Tim with any questions or help I might need – exceptionally valuable’
‘Best sales training I have ever attended – gave so much value – takes things to the next level – Tim is amazing’
1 An introduction to selling
- Understanding the key points that encourage a customer to purchase from us
- The difference between consultative selling and a transactional sale
- Understanding the roles that trust and empathy play in a sale
- Understanding how tricks and manipulation can sink a sale
- Vital pre-meeting research that must take place before a conversation
- Understanding how the customer sees us and why positioning is important
2 Structuring the sales conversation process
- Defining a set process for structuring a sales call with a chance to demonstrate understanding
- How the first minute of a conversation can destroy a sale
- Understanding BPO objectives for a sale
- How a step-by-step sales conversation process helps win more sales
- Understanding the mis-match between the customers buying process
- How our sales processes can lead to mistakes
3 How and why people buy
- An insight into the emotional factors behind how people arrive at purchasing decisions
- Using research from neuroscience that shows how sales people can really make mistakes
- Understanding how people make decisions about larger purchases
- Understanding the stakeholders in companies and their buying motives
- How to analyse the stakeholders and determine a win-plan
4 Understanding the funnel
- Studying the sales and buying process to understand the ratios of sales to prospects and better forecasting
- Understanding the role of forecasting in sales analysis
- Why many forecasts are nearly always wrong
- Understanding the stages of a sales process
- How ‘verifiable outcomes’ can really change forecasting
5 Questioning techniques
- Understanding the different questioning techniques and when they should be used
- Using the ‘knowledge tree’ as a framework for questioning
- Understanding the use of real empathy to help customers uncover their needs
- How effective research can really empower your questions
- How to ask ‘high gain’ questions
- How to ask difficult questions without feeling intrusive
6 Features and benefits
- How to practically apply them in a sales scenario
- How to align the benefits to customers’ business goals
- Really understanding the difference and how to demonstrate true economic benefits to a customer
- How to discover business goals, and align value propositions to these
- How to craft an effective value proposition for a customer
- Using the SAR storytelling method to really engage customers to align their thinking patterns
- Using the latest neuroscience research that explains what customers are really thinking
7 Overcoming objections
- How ‘confirmation bias’ can hinder any sales conversation
- How the CLARA method of responding to customer concerns can dramatically improve the chances of customers responding to us in a positive way
- Practising the method to become comfortable and congruent with it
8 Closing the sale
- A deep dive into what closing is
- How different sales have different closes
- How too many closing methods can destroy a sale
- How to lead up to a close with a logical sequence of questions
- Using the ACSAT trust method of closing
- A clear methodology with a chance to practise the skills in a fun way
Any questions? Please just give us a call on 01582 463463 – we’re here to help!