Consultative selling is a sales technique that involves fostering trust and partnerships with customers. How can this help businesses increase sales, not just in the short-term but as a long-term marketing plan? The true meaning of consultative selling is about serving the customer. Not just saying the words, but really trying to find appropriate goods or services or to solve problems for customers. A company must be genuinely motivated to help customers for it to be most effective. Consultative selling involves being engaged in constant and informative communication with customers in order to have a feel for their needs so suitable answers can be provided to them. In a consultative selling model, the sales representative becomes a consultant. The point in this approach is to deliver solutions.

Most companies are still deeply ingrained in the approach of convincing customers that the products they sell are the best for everyone. Niche’ marketing to smaller, more tailored groups has helped change this. When customer needs are not really examined, people can be turned off by the offer because they don’t hear anything that really helps them or makes them feel valuable. For example, an automobile sales agent is offering the latest model of a vehicle to a young couple with two small children. In the old approach, the sales agent is expected to peddle the amazing new features of the car. He tells them that it has four-wheel drive, it is capable of reaching speeds as high as 100 miles per hour, it has leather interior and a sunroof, etc.

This approach clearly disregards the customers’ needs, which is why the couple is there to begin with. Consultative selling does exactly the opposite. Instead of showcasing the benefits of the new model, the sales persontalks to the couple about what they need in a new car and advises them on what type of car has those features. Additionally, the agent offers ideas they might not have considered because she has researched, or been educated in, what a family vehicle should offer. She’s likely to point out safety features, including side airbags, the ability to clean the car or get car seats in and out.

Additionally, because they are young and gas prices are so high, she will try to find a car for them with great gas mileage, even if this means something smaller (and a smaller commission) than a minivan or SUV. This is true in computer sales, cell phone sales, furniture sales, and more. In consultative selling the sales representative is as concerned about getting a right fit for the customer as the size of their commission. Why? Because there are advantages in doing so.

Advantages of Consultative Selling

Consultative selling is part of the newer trend towards business ethics and really serving a customer or business partner. Do a Google search on “compassion and business” and there are many sites, articles, books and blogs on the topic. Tim Sander’s Love is the Killer App is a great book about compassion and business. In it he says “Those of us who use love as a point of differentiation in business will separate ourselves from our competitors just as world-class distance runners separate themselves from the rest of the pack trailing behind them.” People sense real caring and customers are people. Like most of us they sense the false and gravitate towards the genuine. Thus, if a sales agent (and the company) operates out of real concern for the customer, they may lose sales here and there because the true genuine fit for the customer wasn’t there, but they will gain overall.

Practicing Successful Consultative Selling

When a company starts to integrate consultative selling into their salesmodel, the first thing to remember is service of the customer. This involves advising, problem-solving and letting the sale go if it isn’t appropriate. It is not about just selling products. Scratch that old mentality! Develop a customer-oriented strategy that provides real returns Sales people need to receive real training in communication, empathetic listening, and consultative selling. Customers need to be routinely surveyed, contacted and respected. It sounds ironic but in consultative selling, a company should not be overly concerned about making sales.

Even if a customer decides to buy a product that could contribute offer a high profit, it should be in their best interests to do so. If it isn’t, other more appropriate options should be offered, and this includes making a call to a competitor if all in-house possibilities have been exhausted! This is the most important point to remember when practicing consultative selling. With this, you can convince a customer that the company’s highest concern is their satisfaction and not profits. The importance and likelihood of this customer being retained for a very long time cannot, well, be undersold.

If you don’t want to be bothered with all the minutiae that comes with the planning of a wedding, the simple thing to do is to hire a wedding consultant. The job of the wedding consultant is to take over all the jobs that you either can’t handle, don’t want to handle, or don’t have the time to handle.

There are basically two types of wedding consultants – those affiliated with a store or establishment and independent consultants. When dealing with a store consultant, you basically get whoever they assign to you. When dealing with an independent consultant, however, you have to interview the person to determine if she is the right person for you. So what do you need to know?

The first thing that you will want to know is if she if a full time or part time consultant. Sometimes it can be frustrating dealing with a part-time moonlighting consultant who is hard to reach because of the other demands on her time. So you want to know up front what her availability is like. On the other hand, depending on what duties you want the consultant to perform, you may only need a part time consultant.

Related to whether she is a full time or part time consultant you will want to know how much time she will be available to work on your wedding. Before she can tell you this, she will have to know what you expect her to do. Explain to her what kinds of things you need taking care of and she will be able to tell your her availability.

By the time you talk to a wedding consultant you should know the date of the wedding. So the next thing that you want to know is if she has any other weddings the weekend or day of your planned wedding. In the last days leading up a wedding, things always get hectic. The last thing you want is for your wedding consultant to be working on another wedding at the same times she is working on yours. This can be a strain even for the most efficient of consultants.

Next, you will want to get a feeling if you and her can work together. Remember, this is the person who is going to be responsible for handling some or all of the details for one of the most important events of your life. You will want references from clients who she has done work for and you want to ensure that your personalities mesh as well.

And last, but certainly not least, you need to find how much she is going to cost you. If you can’t afford her you’ll have to move on.

A professional SEO consultant can help a person with every feature of online endorsement including but not restricted to:

1. Modifying the currently owned web site for the online search engines depending on their new keywords.

2. Looking for the appropriate keywords that are commonly searched for in the Internet for a specific business.

3. Rectifying and adding significant title, meta and alt tags.

4. Carrying out advanced visitor behavior study and web analytic to develop conversation.

5. Form and manage pay-per-click (PPC) campaigns to begin the business.

6. Alleviating the site structure and usability to guarantee excellent search engine rankings.

When a person undertakes a fresh project, a SEO consultant will make the person aware of all the details including the time scales and costs. This will ultimately create a honest and strong relationship between the customers and the SEO consultant. The problem is proving yourself as an SEO consultant, and not getting caught up in giving 40,000 worth of advice on a $300 budget.

Selecting A SEO Consultant

There are unfortunately several SEO consultants around, who will cheerfully take a person’s money and will then never deliver the appropriate results. Sometimes there are certain SEO consultants who will optimize a person’s owned web site and secure the available top positions for a specific search term. However, a problem will arise since the person will not receive any additional revenue or traffic for all the expenses. Thus, the resulting search engine optimization will be a total waste of money and time. With that said my suggestion is you have an SEO campaign. I offer one and call it appropriately the 12 Steps to SEO.

The Ugly SEO

This appalling SEO consultant actually targets keywords that people do not commonly search for. Hence, no real competition exists and the top ranks are easily available since no one looks for it. This is not how a decent SEO consultant works.

A person can ensure by asking six specific questions before hiring a particular SEO consultant to carry out a search engine optimization.

1. What methods does the SEO consultant employ while executing a search engine optimization?

2. How long will the optimization process take?

3. What qualifies the consultant to provide expert SEO consultation service to a person?

4. How much will the optimization process cost?

5. What other web sites has the consultant carried out search engine optimization on and is there any way to contact them

6. What are the guarantees available?

The golden rule is that if you believe the SEO consultant then you can afford to carry out the optimization process. However if you are in a doubt then do not risk anything. In conclusion take the time and do some research. My best advise is once you have found your SEO consultant have a relationship with your SEO consultant, then the sky is the limit. I cannot tell you how many times I have given clients freebies because I genuinely like them. It’s amazing what relationships can do.