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Sales Skills for Successful Selling?

There seems to be a tendency on the part of companies that if their salespeople ask questions that attempt to uncover a customer’s needs, offer solutions to those needs, and then these people qualify as consultants. Make no mistake, it is a good thing to ask questions that uncover and develop a customer needs, but if that is as far as a salesperson goes he or she will most likely not be or remain a top performer in today’s competitive marketplace. And, it is just as likely that the company itself will not be a blue-chip performer with this particular mindset.

So, what are some of those skill sets that differentiate really good consultants from mere mortal salespeople who use only a need- based approach to selling?

	Adaptive and Sociological Mobile: This skill set permits the consultant to function with all different types of buyers from low reactors to high reactors and from decisive persons to indecisive ones.
	Strong Business Acumen: Consultants who are solid in the business acumen area really understand how a business works and why it doesn’t.
	Resource Driven: Consultants with this particular skill set are really good at recognizing when to use particular people expertise within their company or offer research data to support their solutions in order to add value and to secure customer relationships.
	Outsource Focused: This particular skill set refers to the consultant’s awareness of when to forge partnerships with companies that would enable him or her to create additional value beyond what their company is currently offering.
	Unanswered Questions: Perhaps the greatest difference between the consultant who explores a customer’s needs and the traditional salesperson is that the consultant tends to ask really smart questions that no one in the prospect or customer’s company seem to be able to answer—and they want to know the answer!

Smart consultants try to figure out different contexts by which they can ask questions that will provoke interest on the part of a senior manager to continue the dialogue.

In the end, if a sales organization wants consultants, they may want to begin with the question: What is a consultant.

Canada can be reached by e-mail at rcanada@dartmouthgroup.com.

Quote: … one should strongly ask if negotiation is being used as a substitute for effective selling skills.

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