The 6 Elements of a Truly Consultative Sales Process

我们知道，一流的销售组织使用协商销售流程。但是那真是什么样的？

Asales processis consultative when the stages and actions align with the customer’s buying experience and are defined in terms of the customer relationship.

It's only successful when sales leadership and the sales force execute with dedication and competence. That's why a trueconsultative sales frameworkhas both a process component and a human component. Let's dig into each.

Consultative Sales Process

A typical consultative sales process is made up of six stages. Each stage maps out winning behaviors and strategies. Here's an example:

• Stage 1: Target and Qualify
• Stage 2: Explore and Assess
• Stage 3: Access and Develop Solution
• Stage 4: Present Solution and Follow-up
• Stage 5: Negotiate and Close
• Stage 6: Implement, Follow Through, Assess Results, and Expand

Thesales process stages应该帮助指导销售人员进行资格，结束，扩大业务和建立关系。

每个阶段应该定义目标,pract最好ice activities, tools, models, and customer actions that signal readiness to advance to the next stage (for example, the customer agrees to a meeting in stage one or provides access to the executive buyer in stage two).

There should also be a list of sales coaching questions related to each stage. Some examples in Stage two would be: What business problem is the customer trying to solve? Have I reached the executive sponsor?

The stages must align with the buyer's journey: The process buyers go through to become aware of, evaluate, and purchase a new product or service.

Here's a typical buying cycle, along with the corresponding salesperson action.

Stage 1: Target and Qualify

The customer becomes aware of a business problem. Alternatively, the salesperson creates a pre-stage one opportunity by introducing an idea or challenge that is not yet on a customer’s agenda, or raises the visibility of an issue the customer has underestimated.

例如，与提供在线教育课程的公司交谈的销售员可能会说：“raybet电子竞技Some of your competitors have seen a decrease in online course subscribers as our economy has come out of the recession. Luckily, I've been able to help them find new avenues for attracting new business."

In this scenario, the salesperson identifies a problem, or a potential problem, the company or its industry is facing, and teases a solution.

Stage 2: Explore and Assess

客户评估问题的优先级，确定其选择，并制定决策标准和决策过程。销售人员可以通过向他们发送操作博客文章，提供咨询电话并向他们发送相关内容资源来帮助他们的潜在客户。reybet雷竞技下载

在这一点上，销售人员将发送有关他们如何帮助类似企业克服减少订户的案例研究。他们可能还可以分享相关的研究或其他文章，以仔细研究在线教育的状态和未来。

而且不要忘记视频。发送有用的TED演讲或网络研讨会也是吸引潜在客户注意力并以引人入胜的方式提供宝贵的教育资源的好方法。reybet雷竞技下载

Stage 3: Access and Develop Solution

顾客research, compare solutions, narrow down choices, and refine decision criteria. The salesperson must differentiate, focus on business outcomes, and prove value.

How will your solution differ from your competitor's? Make sure that's clear for your prospect. In our online education example, this might look like the following: "我们的许多竞争对手都提供帮助您购买订户列表。我们认为，通过电子邮件发送从未签署您服务的成千上万的人是一种糟糕的客户体验。取而代之的是，我们帮助您在正确的时间和正确的广告中针对相关的订户针对相关订户。这使您能够建立关系，而不是在听众知道自己是谁以及如何帮助他们之前向班级推销。"

The salesperson has clearly outlined how they're different from others in their industry and the unique solution they offer for their prospect's business.

Stage 4: Present Solution and Follow Up

Knowledgeable customers make their selection and negotiate. Skilled salespeople will have already involved procurement prior to this stage. You should already know what steps need to be taken for your prospect's organization to buy a new product or service. That knowledge is crucial for presenting a solution with a realistic timeline.

Make sure you understand what the procurement process is and confirm that the solution you've laid out meets your champion's expectations.

For example, "I know that before I present to your executive team, your finance and paid advertising teams need to sign off on our solution. Do you think we will able to get their approval by the 14th of this month? And if so, would an executive presentation be realistic by the 20th?"

By securing your champion's agreement to the timeline, you have a more concrete plan forward, which makes follow up easier.

Step 5: Negotiate and Close

顾客make the purchase. Salespeople support implementation and follow-up. When a close is imminent, it's more important than ever to make sure your prospect feels supported.

You never want to lose a deal that's close to the finish line because you took attention off of nurturing a "done deal" and shifted it to a prospect higher in your funnel.

定期与您的后期前景签到。询问他们是否有任何疑问或疑虑。并领先于可能出现的任何危险信号。如果您与一个说话的潜在客户接触，”我的经理批准了这笔交易，但正在拖延她的治疗以签署文书工作，" ask if it would be appropriate for you to reach out directly to that stakeholder to answer questions or provide a gentle nudge.

在此阶段，为您的冠军前景提供他们所需的备份至关重要。

步骤6：实施，遵循，评估结果并扩展

顾客are in an evaluation mode. In the post-purchase stage, customers implement, measure outcomes, and evaluate performance against the sales promise. They decide on the future of the relationship. Salespeople must discuss results, prove value, and build on the rapport they previously created.

It is at the intersection of sales process and the buying process that sales are made. Marketing must step up to the plate and support the sales force not only with qualified leads but with knowledge sharing, research, and insights into industry and customer priorities, personas, and challenges. At that point, it is up to salespeople to build on that foundation to understand their customers on an individual, granular level to solve their business problems.

It has been myexperience in building sales processes几乎所有的销售组织都拥有在其范围内的有效过程的基础知识 - 但大多数人都没有达到。

Defining a sales process doesn’t take significant blocks of time. To start, pull together a diverse team of sales leaders and top performers, operations, service, and marketing people to map out and capture elements such as key milestones in how customers buy, best practices, tools, customer actions, and models for each stage.

咨询销售人员

协商销售流程很强大，因为它阐明了销售人员的预期。此外，它指导销售经理进行什么指导和评估。

A sales process, however, is not a silver bullet -- nor is it cast in stone. Instead, it's a map that detours and changes based on conditions. The sales process should also be flexible enough a salesperson can adapt it using their best judgment.

The success of a consultative sales process takes more than even the most clearly defined stages, models, and tools. What you won’t find laid out in the sales process are the salespeople tasked with carrying out the process, the sales managers committed to coaching to it, and sales leadership that fosters an open and supportive culture. These stand equal with process.

正如客户的购买模式有剧烈的ly changed, so too has what it takes to be a consultative salesperson. To execute, salespeople need a number of new skills and resources, including deeper knowledge, a higher level of skill, greater creativity to bring new perspectives and ideas to customers, better sales tools, and most importantly, committed sales leadership and coaching.

A new emphasis has been placed on sales process, but as essential and valuable as a consultative sales process is, success depends on the ability and dedication of sales leadership and the sales force to execute. In his book "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance,"Robert Pirsig makes a point worth remembering: The instruction book -- i.e., the process -- is only as good as the driver.