5 Ways Your Team Can Master Consultative Selling

Consultative selling skills plus a true understanding of personality will consistently deliver high performance.

This is a guest article by True Colors International

Sales representatives must go beyond mere likability and learn to add value through every step of today’s complex sales process — whether that be in-person, on the phone, or online. To fully master today’s sales relationship, your sales professionals must develop the ability to have a deep understanding of their customer’s problems, needs, wants, and objectives. They must understand how each customer will behave or respond to different situations throughout the selling process and use this knowledge to influence their sales conversations strategically and consistently.

The way your sales team gains this critical understanding is if reps actively listen to and empathize with their clients.  Consultative Selling is the sales approach your team needs to accomplish this goal and deliver high performance consistently.

Below are five ways your team can master consultative selling.

#1: Understand What Consultative Selling Is

Consultative selling “is an approach that focuses on creating value and trust with a prospect and exploring their needs before offering a solution. The salesperson’s first objective is building a relationship; their second is providing the right product.”

With a consultative sales approach, sales reps aren’t just talking potential customers into needing something. Instead, they research customer needs, ask questions, provide insights, and build and maintain relationships.

#2: Know the Benefits of Consultative Selling

Sales Hacker notes that the benefits of consultative selling include increased revenue through both new and existing customers, shorter sales cycles, and an advantage over your competitors.

Furthermore, based on an exhaustive study of thousands of sales reps by Dixon and Adamson, the Consultative Seller has over 50% probability of success in a complex sales relationship vs. a low complexity sales relationship.

In addition to the positive effect consultative selling has on external relationships, it can also improve internal collaboration and strategy. When your sales team masters consultative selling, they learn to view external relationships and conversations not only as potential sales but also as business development opportunities. They’ll discover the value of sharing insights gained in the field with one another. As a result, your team will be better equipped for success and increased sales over time.

#3: Appreciate the Importance of Active Listening and Empathy

The Forbes Business Development Council wrote, “empathy is the foundation of consultative selling." Empathy is the ability to understand and share the feelings of another person and is “the most important leadership skill according to research.” 

To engage in productive conversation and relevant exchange of ideas around customer needs, your sales reps must be able to put themselves “in the other person’s shoes” and genuinely understand the prospect’s business concepts and ideas. These skills — starting with active listening — are what will help your sales reps be more effective problem solvers and ultimately produce more sales for the organization. 

#4: Learn the Role Personality Plays

Each of us has our own personality type, and it has a tremendous effect on how we interact with other people. Your sales team should learn the four primary personalities and how best to interact with each one. This will help them optimally communicate with every one of their unique customers.

True Colors is the original, user-friendly temperament and personality typing program. We’ve been a leader in consulting and training for over 40 years and our proprietary methodology distills complex temperament theory into practical tools and actionable programs. We use colors — Orange, Gold, Green, and Blue — to differentiate the four primary personality types and illuminate how these types best interact with each other.

Our concept and implementation of consultative selling go beyond mere understanding of the strategy. By building in our personality temperament methodology, we can take consultative selling concepts to a higher level of effectiveness, resulting in better internal and external relationships, business development, increased revenue, and other lasting outcomes.

True Colors consultants will take the time to collaborate and understand your team’s specific goals. We’ll customize a program that ensures your sales representatives gain a full understanding of our personality profiling language and can integrate it into the consultative selling mindset.

#5: Take an Online Personality Assessment

Our Online Personality Assessment provides unique insights into each participant’s personality type and decision-making style through the True Colors methodology lens. It is the beginning of an amazing journey of self-awareness and improved communication that can benefit every individual on your sales team.

You can choose from individual assessments, individual assessments plus a one-to-one consultative session, and customized team experiences and training programs. Our True Colors Team Profile and Leader Reports can provide you with a detailed analysis of your entire sales team with easy-to-read charts that help you develop a deeper understanding of your employees and team composition. You can use this understanding to better manage your team and help them master the consultative selling strategy.

Master Consultative Selling

There is a wide array of selling strategies out there. When you combine the consultative selling framework, True Colors’ time-tested methodology, and our fun and interactive approach to training, your teams’ relationships and sales will rise to the next level.