By Andrew Hupert

Clients come to you because they have problems they need to solve. But for many China sales teams, the only problem is how to transact on this deal right now. That leaves a lot of money on the table, because the client has a whole range of problems, and he is looking for answers - not transactions. How can a salesman be a problem solver? It’s time for China sales professionals to start acting like consultants who get paid to improve the overall business of their clients and not just suppliers of parts and services.

Consultative sales takes place when we work with a client to raise his sales or lower his costs. There are basically 2 ways to do this.

1) Become an expert in how our product or service can help his business.
2) Become an expert in the client’s industry.The main idea behind consultative sales is about providing solutions. If we are just filling orders, we are not consultants. But if we take the time to learn about our client’s problems and use our experience and training to provide a solution that he wouldn’t be able to think of on his own, then we are acting like a consultant.

Another important feature of consultative selling is that it is part of a long term commitment between the buyer and seller. Sometimes we will be able to identify our client’s problem very quickly, and provide a solution right away. Usually, however, consultative selling requires a longer-term relationship and a series of very open, honest discussions about his problems and your solutions.

The basic steps to consultative selling are:

• Understand the client’s business challenge.
• Develop a value-added solution to his problem using your company’s product or service.
• Present you solution in a powerful and pursasive way.
• Consultative selling is more difficult and takes longer than regular sales, but it builds long-term, value-added
• relationships that will be the foundation of your sales career.

Andrew Hupert, Best Practices China