3 Sentence Approach:
A consultant's problem-solving approach to selling requires helping customers improve their profits/reduce costs, not persuading them to purchase products and services.
The ideal positioning for a consultative seller is customer profit improver - focus attention on the ultimate end benefit of a sale, not its components or cost.
Selling Return on Investment
A consultative sale is the sale of a positive return on the customer's investment: the economic impact of what is sold - not the components of the sale itself.
Whenever a product is mentioned, define it immediately in terms of its contribution to customer profit. This is what customers do; they listen for the numbers.
Classifying Money
At the customer manager level, "business-ese" is the only language spoken - investments being returned, cash flowing, payback occurring, profits improving, costs being reduced, revenues being increased, and market share being gained.
Money is classified into six major categories:
Investment—what customers pay out.
Return—what they get back on what they pay out. The rate of return is the ratio of return to the investment.
Payback—when they get their investment back.
Net profit—what they make on their investment or their increment over and above payback.
Cost—an investment on which there is no return.
Opportunity cost—the profit they could have made on a different investment.
Customers choose among them on the basis of the best combination of Muchness, Soonness, and Sureness that meets their needs.
In a profit-centered line of business, what contributions to its revenues and earnings being made by its critical products and services can you affect? What is the gap between the current contribution of a product or service and the line managers' objective to increase it? Can you help them close the gap enough to make you a compelling partner?
In a cost-centered business function, what are the current contributions to the function's costs being made by its critical factors that you can affect? What is the gap between the current contribution of a factor and the function managers' objective to reduce it? Can you help them close the gap enough to make you a compelling partner?
- How much is the problem costing the customer or what the customer could be earning without the problem. - If you mention your product or service, you are vending and not consulting.
- What is the value of your profit improvement solution to the problem. If you mention your product or service, you are vending and not consulting.
- What are the challenges the customer is facing and how your offering can be applied to alleviate these problems - you are able to mention products and services for the first time.
A consultant's problem-solving approach to selling requires helping customers improve their profits/reduce costs, not persuading them to purchase products and services.
The ideal positioning for a consultative seller is customer profit improver - focus attention on the ultimate end benefit of a sale, not its components or cost.
Selling Return on Investment
A consultative sale is the sale of a positive return on the customer's investment: the economic impact of what is sold - not the components of the sale itself.
- Forsake performance benefit orientation for financial benefit orientation - features-versus-benefits (what it is versus what it does) conversion that all vendors undergo.
- Translating performance benefits to financial benefits is the calculation of their monetary values.- "What is the contribution to customer profit?" is their key question.
Whenever a product is mentioned, define it immediately in terms of its contribution to customer profit. This is what customers do; they listen for the numbers.
Classifying Money
At the customer manager level, "business-ese" is the only language spoken - investments being returned, cash flowing, payback occurring, profits improving, costs being reduced, revenues being increased, and market share being gained.
Money is classified into six major categories:
Investment—what customers pay out.
Return—what they get back on what they pay out. The rate of return is the ratio of return to the investment.
Payback—when they get their investment back.
Net profit—what they make on their investment or their increment over and above payback.
Cost—an investment on which there is no return.
Opportunity cost—the profit they could have made on a different investment.
Customers choose among them on the basis of the best combination of Muchness, Soonness, and Sureness that meets their needs.
In a profit-centered line of business, what contributions to its revenues and earnings being made by its critical products and services can you affect? What is the gap between the current contribution of a product or service and the line managers' objective to increase it? Can you help them close the gap enough to make you a compelling partner?
In a cost-centered business function, what are the current contributions to the function's costs being made by its critical factors that you can affect? What is the gap between the current contribution of a factor and the function managers' objective to reduce it? Can you help them close the gap enough to make you a compelling partner?
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