Black Sales Journal

Selling is a fluid art, with some components that would make it seem as if it has its basis in science, yet we all know that is not true.  Selling is a process.  It has stages, and for many products and services it will always be necessary to have a human in the process as it depends on recognition of the customer, customer reaction, and intimacy.

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A discussion about selling styles always makes for interesting banter.  Just as soon as you figure out what your style should be, you reflect back on a sales call or situation and determine that you haven’t always acted within that character.

A Look at Some Styles

There are a number of selling styles that should be recognized.  I would note that depending on what text you read you are sure to find countless interpretations and nuances of sales styles.  I will stick to some conventional logic here in describing the styles I am referring to:

• Technical Sellers
• Relationship Seller
• Collaborative & Consultative Sellers
• Account Servicing Sellers
• Closers/Assertive Sellers

Which of these styles is for you?  Which of these styles do you need to exhibit?

There is a good answer to this question…all of them!

Selling is situational.  This is where the art becomes true to form.  Sales professionals who sell in one style will limit their effectiveness to particular situations with particular types of buyers.

A Closer Look

The sales process generates some notable styles.  This is not an endorsement of any of these styles as much as it is a cataloging of them so that the differences between them are known.

Technical Sellers – These individuals are considered experts, usually with a product that is complicated or technical.  They know the product or service like no other, and know its applications from the company view and from the customer view.

Relationship Sellers – These sales professionals sell on the strength of a close, personal relationship with customers and prospective customers.  Not everyone can do this, as it requires the right personality and attractions.

Collaborative and Consultative Sellers – This sales professional consults and collaborates with the buyer, outwardly looking for input and providing suggestions as to what could make his/her product fit the needs of the customers.  They listen well and look for those things that they can agree on changing.

Account Servicing Sellers – These professionals spend their efforts proving their worth providing exceptional customer service and getting sales based on the confidence they have build with the customer.

Closers/Assertive Sellers – This group counts on the technical act of the sales process, particularly the close and aggressive sales manner to get accounts.

There are other types, yet these stand out.

You Need Them All!

I know that this statement intrigues you but we must recognize that although you may have a dominant style, each of the styles plays a rather important role in the sales process.  Often, the buyer, and the buyer’s style determine the style that you use for the sale.

Example 1. Closer/Assertive Seller

A buyer is slow to make a decision in a complex sale.  You can react by buying into that slowness or even ambivalence, or you can move to close at different impasses, forcing the buyer to disclose his/her objections.  You move to being a closer/assertive seller.  In this case, you changed your style to accommodate a buyer, and to accelerate the sales process.  You move past the objections and consummate the sale.

Example 2. Technical Selling

Your product is technical in nature.  Tolerances are tight, and even sophisticated users struggle with the specifications and requirements.  You utilize your expertise to pull together all aspects of the features and benefits, and how they relate to the customer’s situation.  Your competition is bringing in someone from another region to “explain” the product to the prospective buyer.  Your advantage is that you are right here, and will be here when the competition’s expert goes home. Your emergence as the technical expert is what the customer needs to gain assurance and commit to the sale.  You get the order.

Example 3.  Relationship Seller

Inertia may be a physics law, yet it is sometimes difficult in the sales process unless you are the incumbent sales professional.  You spend time with the prospective customer explaining the process, product, and pricing.  You spend so much time that you get to know the customer’s needs better than the competition, and the incumbent.  Your relationship is solid. You know the organization, its financial condition, and its projections for the future.  Your customer data file is complete and you utilize the information to its fullest.  When the incumbent makes a mistake or misstep, what sales professional is the logical choice?  You close the deal.

Example 4.  Collaborative and Consultative Seller

This sales professional acts as the business consultant to the buyer, while collaborating to come up with the best selling situation possible.  You are involved in a sales situation with a buyer who has never purchased at this level.  The size of this ticket, and the complexity of this sale, coupled with the gravity of this sale require you to be close to the buyer.  It requires listening and “making the buyer look good.”  You do so by asking questions, listening, and involving the buyer’s important personnel to determine the product specifications.  You then use your ability to provide expert consultation to consummate the sale. You emerge the most sensible option.

Example 5.  Account Servicing Seller

You are the Account Executive who has been servicing this account.  You have teamed up with the sales professional on the account.  Your responsiveness and your reputation are rock-solid with the buyer, and you can use that to get an order.  You get involved in the specification and the quotation process, as no one knows the customer like you do.  Your reputation of delivering is a primary factor in the customer believing in your organization.   The customer continues the old order and awards your organization with more business.

In Summary

There is no doubt that these situations happen.  Actually, the same individual can be involved in example 1 through 4.  You need to find comfort in situational selling.  Utilize the correct selling style for the situation.  In the coming weeks we will touch on some of these.

Keep selling and stay flexible.

Your comments are welcome.

In the 5/12 edition of Black Sales Journal, we examined selling styles and how you need some exposure and experience with all of them to be an accomplished sales professional.  I recognized the importance of this subject and our need to examine some of them in a more in deeply.

If you have used the consultative selling style, you recognize that the strength of this method is the collaboration with the client to determine his/her organization’s needs is time well spent.  It is a time of personal interaction and development.  The fruit of this is a listing of the most important needs of the organization, and a pretty good idea of the priority of these items.

This style allows for relationship development (important and essential for Black sales professionals) as well as a demonstration of your product and industry expertise.

Are You A Problem Solver?

Consultative selling is an art.  It is attempted often, yet should be mastered.

My definition of the consultative selling style is as follows:

“A selling style where the sales professional acts in the role of a consultant, first aiding the buyer in identifying his, or his organizations needs, then recommending the products and services that satisfy those needs.”

The most important aspect of the consultative selling style is problem solving.  Being a problem solver is not necessarily natural, but it is logical.  Recognizing the client’s needs and being able to get agreement on them from the client is ‘job one’.

This means that the sales professional who is adept at this form of selling must exercise the personal skills and industry knowledge to get to the root of the problem, then use the knowledge that has been gained to suggest solutions, which include your organizations products that could solve the problem.

Recognize that if you do not do a thorough review of the problems, needs, and desires of the customer, you will not be able to come up with solid courses of action and products to satisfy the problem.

The consultative seller never suggests a product until knowing that this product will satisfy the need of the customer.  In depth questioning is common in this style of selling. Your objective is to be the expert on your customer, your customers needs, and solutions.

What Are You Adding to the Equation?

Buyers look for problem solvers because that level of consultant to their business adds value.  Think about the fact that there may be very few buyers who have the expertise to think through problems when the products and services have the potential to be very complex.

That is where the sales professional who utilizes consultative selling can come in handy.  Helping the customer understand the most important aspects of his own problem, then solve the problems using an array of solutions and products including some of those of the sales professional’s cadre of products.

If you do this, and do it well, you have enormous value to the customer who wants to do something other than that to make money for his/her organization.

A sales professional can sell “what he/she has” to the customer or be a true business consultant and follow the process of recognizing the wants and needs of the customer, then determining the solutions that make sense.

Remember to always add value to the equation by sorting though the issues to find the problems, and then vetting the solutions well before that presentation of issues and what will make them better.  Your value to the customer will be based on your ability to keep the process focused, and produce a sound “best option” outcome.

When is this a Superior Selling Style?

Consultative selling is extremely effective in the following circumstances?

• The product or service that is involved in the sale is complex potentially including several options.
• The frequency of transaction or purchase is very limited. If your product is purchased on an annual basis, it is a candidate for this style.
• The customer cannot afford to make a mistake on the purchase

So using this as a template, it is simple to realize that the most favorable situation to use this selling is for complex, infrequent, large sales.  When the product or service requires the knowledge and counsel of a professional who is up-to-date on the environment, and product nuances, you need to be there to make it happen.

An Example

I once worked with sales professional who worked with a small to medium business niche.  Working with small manufacturers and contractors he developed a keen sense of their needs, and could begin the relationship learning needs and preferences and quickly move into showing how his product would serve the needs that were developed.

He was the business consultant for those who really could not afford one and he did it efficiently.  He had the largest segment of customers available (small to medium) by segment, and was adept at forming deep relationships only with those who had the highest corresponding revenues.

His process worked so well that he was very successful and wealthy.  Perhaps his only significant problem was that it did not give him the opportunity to develop his other styles as well as he could. His success in the segment did not require them, so when he encountered a buyer that needed a “deep” relationship seller he had limited experience in that realm.  This limited his success as he moved to go upstream to larger clients.

Summary

Master all of the sales styles, and use them as necessary.  Remember always, that the consultative sales style can be used with the other styles.

The true sales professional will work to integrate all styles in their sales lexicon.  When they are all used at the right time, they increase the effectiveness and…income.

We welcome any comments.