Page 74 - Consultative Selling

CHALLENGES IN CONSULTATIVE SELLING

Customers may have a lot of reasons that prompt them to abstain from
making the commitment. The reasons can vary from a personality issue to,
lack of confidence, their own fears and anxiety etc. There can also be other

factors such as internal organizational politics or environment that can
hinder decision making by the customer. These are the soft issues that
you as the salesman will need to learn to handle and still reach

your goal of getting the customer to close the deal with the
commitment.

As a consultative salesman you will need to develop not only your sales
skills, but more importantly people’s management and emotions
management skills. Apart from your technical abilities, product knowledge

and professional skills, it is your soft skills that aid you in closing a deal
successfully with your customer.

In most cases, it is the customers who shy away from making the
commitment. However there are several situations where in the
inexperienced salesmen fail to get the customer to sign on the dotted lined.

This happens simply because they forget that they have to ask the customer
to commit. After presenting the solution you will go on to building

consensus with the client and get him to accept your solution. Then comes
the price negotiations phase.

Once you have settled the pricing issues, it is your duty as the salesman
leading the process to ask the customer for a commitment. Your inability or
inexperience in being able to ask the customer for commitment can become

a reason for the deal to fizzle out. Unless the customer is ready and in a
hurry to get your solution implemented or has an urgent need for it, he is
likely to put off his decision to commit to you. This is therefore the most

important test for the consultative salesman.

Consultative Selling - A new
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