DISCLAIMER€¦ · Consultative selling is a philosophy, a belief and a way of conducting business...

DISCLAIMER

Copyright © 2018 Anthony Chaine. All rights reserved worldwide.

No part of this material may be used, reproduced, distributed or

transmitted in any form and by any means whatsoever, including

limitation photocopying, recording, scanning, or otherwise, except as

permitted under section 107 or 108 of the 1976 United States

Copyright Act, without the prior written permission from the author,

except for brief excerpts in a review.

This book is intended to provide general information only. Neither the

author nor publisher provide any legal or other professional advice. If

you need professional advice, you should seek advice from the

appropriate licensed professional. This book does not provide

complete information on the subject matter covered. This book in not

intended to address specific requirements, either for an individual or

an organization. This book is intended to be used only as a general

guide, and not as a sole source of information on the subject matter

covered. While the author has undertaken diligent efforts to ensure

accuracy, there is no guarantee of accuracy or of errors, in omissions

or typographical errors. Any slights of people or organizations are

unintentional. The author and publisher shall have no liability or

responsibility to any person or entity and herby disclaim all liability,

including without limitation, liability for consequential damages

regarding any claim, loss or damage that may be incurred, or alleged

to have been incurred, directly or indirectly, arising out of the

information provided in this book.

First printing, 2019.

Connect with Anthony Chaine

www.asalesleader.com

www.linkedin/in/AnthonyChaine

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Chapter 1: What Is Consultative Selling? ................................ 1

Chapter 2: Large Buyers Master Game ................................... 7

Chapter 3: Consultative Selling Is Value-Driven................... 14

Chapter 4: Major Differences Between Consultative Sellers

And Vendors ........................................................................ 18

Chapter 5: Transitioning From A Vendor To A Sales

Consultant ............................................................................ 26

Chapter 6: Sales Consultant Versus Sales Vendors ............... 32

Chapter 7: Transaction Classification And Approach ............ 36

Chapter 8: Your Ethics Define Your Brand And Success ...... 40

Chapter 9: Sales Consultants’ Selling Edge .......................... 44

Chapter 10: How To Influence C-Level Executives .............. 48

Chapter 11: Value-Based Selling .......................................... 54

Conclusion ........................................................................... 58

About The Author ................................................................ 61

The Great Art Of Consultative Selling

1

CHAPTER 1: WHAT IS CONSULTATIVE

SELLING?

onsultative selling consists of creating value and trust with

your potential customers. It’s an elevated method of

communication and interaction that ensures understanding your

customer’s needs before offering any type of business solution.

It’s an approach that creates a win-win situation for the buyer

and seller by putting the customer’s needs first.

Consultative selling is hyper-focused on serving the

customer in a transparent and caring manner that builds trust and

cooperation. It’s an honest style deprived of manipulation or

aggressiveness, where both the seller and the buyer can have a

dialogue that fosters openness and professionalism.

Consultative selling is a philosophy, a belief and a way of

conducting business where the seller engages in a dialogue with

a potential prospect by asking meaningful strategic questions to

understand each other effectively.

HISTORY OF CONSULTATIVE SELLING

The word ‘consultative’ was applied to sales for the first

time in 1970. Historically, the salesperson was the bearer of

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information and the customer was the recipient of a

collaborative dialogue controlled primarily by the seller. The

salesperson was in control of the sales process, knowledge, and

the close.

By the early 1980s, consultative selling started to emerge

as a better method, as it focused on the customer needs first

rather than the close. Consultative selling began its transition

from product-focused selling to need-focused selling.

When the internet empowered customers with the ease of

access to information, the competition got fiercer, product

innovation offered better options, and global competitors started

to compete with local companies. Many companies faced with

these significant challenges start training their sales force on

consultative selling, where relationship-selling and trust became

a potent winning differentiator.

The progression from product-focused approach to need-

focused approach occurred as a response to market demand and

the buyer’s behavior evolution that were influenced by the

advent of technology and general preferences.

These changes had tremendous effect in the sales force

ability to earn a living; the top produced had to apply agile

thinking to adapt to the new market demands, the salespeople in

the middle tier had to work much harder just to stay afloat.

However, these sales reps who were floating in the middle were

forced to change gear quickly to survive.

The sales process increased dramatically, since the

customer had access to most of the information they needed, and


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no longer had to endure the pressure of decision-making in

exchange for getting product information from the sales reps.

Many sales organizations had used shaming tactics to

coerce the customer to buy, as if when the salesperson shared

their valuable information-based knowledge, the customer had

to do their part by buying the product.

Sellers that adopted the business philosophy of sharing

knowledge with their customers without reservation, and in a

distinct manner that promotes authenticity, simplicity, and trust,

continue to thrive.

CONSULTATIVE SELLING FOUNDATION

This approach requires a candid dialogue to understand the

buyer’s business, pressing issues, and expected outcome. It’s

the:

• process of working side-by-side with your client and

drafting a path toward mutual goals.

• process of working hard toward creating the ideal

business solution for your client and getting paid a fair

value for improving the overall client business.

• way of charging for services based on the outcome

achieved rather than time invested.

• process of involving competitors to work together to

deliver better results for your clients. It’s accepting the

fact that total client satisfaction is the goal.

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• way to create trusted relationships and lifelong

partnerships with most of your clients.

• way to create real value every time, with every customer

regardless of the company size or industry. It’s merely

being invested in the well-being and longevity of your

customers’ relationships.

MARGIN-ENHANCEMENT SELLING

At its core, consultative selling is margin-enhancement

selling. Decision makers are always looking for ways to save

money while dealing with vendors.

Vendors base their prices on the cost plus a profit margin.

Vendors transfer a product or service in exchange for a price that

is often subject to negotiations. Some vendors tend to hike their

prices, knowing that most vendors will push for lower prices.

Most vendors perceive decision makers as individuals who

want it all for less than market value. Vendor relationships are

often transactional in nature, where both parties try to get the

best deal possible.

Sales consultants base their price on the value they deliver

to the buyer. Your expertise should allow you to explore

possibilities and options the decision maker may not have

known or considered.

As a consultative seller, you should price according to the

value addition that you deliver to your clients. The higher the


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value created, the higher your price.

Your ability – to look for ways to educate your customer on

how to add value to their client while improving their margins

and revenue – is priceless.

Consultative selling is all about increasing the client’s

margin and profit while building long lasting relationships. Most

vendors’ primary focus is to sell a product or service while

making an acceptable profit. These are two distinct sales

methodologies that relatively work based on their respective

markets and verticals.

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PROACTIVE LEARNING

Write down how exactly you will use what you learned about

consultative selling in your sales approach while you are

presenting your product, service, proposal, or idea.

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List the difference between consultative selling and vendor

selling methodologies.

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CHAPTER 2: LARGE BUYERS MASTER

GAME

endors are often pressured to reduce their prices to make a

sale. Most vendors are subject to fierce competition and to

win the deal many sacrifice their competitive advantage and

product superiority to make a sale.

The customer may not always be right, but they do hold the

power of purchase and rejection. Your ability to shift the

customer asking for a discount into a conversation revolving

around different available business solution packages may be

the way to get the customer to agree to a solution that meets one

business needs.

For example, when a company wants to buy large copiers,

it generally places a bid, then sits back and watches as a fierce

competition ensues among vendors to win the deal.

The larger the deal, the more willingness to sacrifice

margin. Many vendors will throw in several additional items to

sweeten the transaction.

Here is an example of items that are often offered as a free

add-on value:

• Multi-year, no-cost maintenance services

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• Enhanced upgrades at no cost

• Free replacement while under contract

• Interest-free financing

• Free backups systems

RFP GAME—CAUTION

As a sales leader, I spent years in several Fortune 500

organizations dealing with B2B sales consultants who needed

assistance with their request-for-proposals (RFP)—a tedious

process even with the support of a specialized team.

I spent many weekends reviewing or enhancing many RFPs

to meet customer demand, especially when the RFP team

deemed the opportunity presented was not significant enough to

warrant their focus, or when occasionally our RFP got bumped

back because of higher-priority requests or larger national deals

that had more weighted value to the company.

In the banking environment, RFP deadlines are brutally

unrealistic. However, failure to deliver will destroy your

credibility and eliminate you from any future consideration.

Hence, the need to be creative and continuously hustle to

perform—with or without resources—is an unspoken mandate.

Surrendering to the RFP terms and conditions seems to be the

nature of the beast.

Many large contracts are won that way, but unless you have

a dominant competitive advantage to achieve success, you will

quickly realize that your success has an eroded margin built on


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an anemic revenue platform.

RFP IS THE NEMESIS OF MARGIN

I always felt that RFPs are mostly time-wasters and revenue

illusions. Even when the bid is successful, you find out that the

margin is ridiculously low and the revenue is unattractive. The

buyer wins by pitting competitors against one another. I once

had a buyer who wanted the pricing page to be at the very front

to speed the elimination process without even considering the

RFP-specified requests against firm capability.

SUCCESS RATE

Some sales consultants are so focused on responding to

multiple RFPs on a weekly basis that they forget the economic

impact of neglecting to build a strong pipeline. Many RFPs

require painstaking attention to the requirements, diverting

many resources to create these customized or templated RFPs to

meet bid asks. Some large specialized companies do this

frequently and thoroughly.

Most bidders have a low probability of success, however,

especially if the company or the sales rep has no substantial

influence on the buyer. RFPs are time-consuming and often take

away the company’s and the sales consultant’s focus from other

valuable opportunities with higher winning odds.

It would be best if you were alarmed when:

• Your pipeline is filled primarily with RFPs

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• You are spending most of your productive time chasing

RFPs

• You are seeking bid sites frequently or you are listed to

receive RFPs leads, and you capitalize on them as the

primary source of revenue generation

• Your entire production is based on RFP outcome

PRE-DEFINED WINNERS

Industry experts state that most RFPs are built with specific

criteria that narrow the field to few pre-defined

companies. Buyers usually have preferences, and critical

information sometimes gets into the hands of the potential

preferred bidder earlier. I’m not suggesting that the system is

rigged, I’m merely stating that the decision makers have their

preferred picks.

An RFP can be designed precisely to enhance the chance of

a few players by requesting that a combination of specific

criteria must be met. Here is an example:

• Industry experience

• Unique credentials and history

• Technical capabilities

• Experience with similar jobs (size, scope, geography)

INFLUENCE MATTERS!


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Surrendering to an RFP’s terms and conditions leads to a

minimally accepted revenue to do the job with the hope of

creating the necessary influence to secure future lucrative RFPs.

Remember, the same rule that forced the company to tender the

RFP will apply again, despite the quality of your work.

RFP EQUALIZE THE FIELD

Your response means you agree to the term and conditions

and you accept to be part of the same box of pricing uniformity.

Can you offer more value than what the prospect asked for? The

answer is, yes. But it may not be necessary all the time.

Leveraging a differentiating competitive advantage that

may not be part of the RFP request can help you win the bid.

Here is an example:

• Post-project audits and education of best practices

• Fixed periods maintenance and progress evaluations

• Employee/management periodic remote education.

The extra value may not work all the time to secure the deal

despite the fact your bid meets all the project objectives.

However, this type of out-of-the-box response may set you apart

from your competitors.

ASSET OR LIABILITY

An RFP can be an asset or a liability, depending on your

focus, resources availability, and success rate. Few markets deal

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with government agencies and large Fortune 500 organizations

that mandate conventional RFPs.

However, if your industry, company or sales consultant rely

primarily on RFPs to meet their objectives, you should probably

have a dialogue exploring ways to improve their long-term

competitive advantage and sustain a healthy level of margins

and revenue. You may want to reinforce what makes you the

best choice and emphasize critical differentiators that set you

apart from your competitors.

CUSTOMIZE TO WIN

Smaller organizations can create an easy-to-customize

work frame that breaks down an RFP into different required

areas such as technical expertise, field experience, strategic

value-added, financial prowess, company strength, and

specialization. Good templates can be quickly reworked to

create value-driven content for future similar RFPs.

My advice is to refrain from responding to most RFPs

unless you establish a good rapport with the buyer and you can

quickly make the case that your company can provide add-value

beyond the current RFP request.

However, when the deal is worth your effort, and you

respond, try to add value beyond what's typically requested and

incorporate it in an addendum. Little things can be the only

things that capture the evaluator’s interest.


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PROACTIVE LEARNING

Write down exactly how selling to large clients differs from

small transactional selling.

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When is it necessary to respond to a request for proposal? How

can you increase your winning odds?

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CHAPTER 3: CONSULTATIVE SELLING IS VALUE-

DRIVEN

onsultative selling focuses on adding so much value to the

client business, it makes it harder for the client to argue

price. Consultative selling is value-driven and high-margin

proposition.

The higher the perceived value in the mind of the client, the

less concern about cost. The higher the value provided, the

higher the client satisfaction.

The main difference is vendors downgrade value by not

being strategic, while consultative selling restores and upgrades

the customer perceived value.

Consultative selling is based on a dialogue between the

client and the business expert. The sales consultant learns about

the client’s business, complexity, current issues, and the

outcome they are looking to achieve from this initiative.

This solution-based selling methodology is all about

elimination of client issues and finding a path that will increase

profit and improve client retention by providing an additional

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solution that wows customers.

CONSULTATIVE SELLING REQUIREMENT

• Solid research beyond what the client asks. The purpose

is to open the client’s mind to new options they may not

have considered before.

• Asking intelligent questions to understand the business

purpose and the outcome it is trying to achieve.

• Actively listen to the client’s aspiration, wants, and

needs. As a growth partner, you want to exceed

expectations.

• Define the business issues as they are the quantifiable

logical reason behind the pain, concern, and business

goals.

• Understand your client’s “why” and communicate your

“why”. Stay flexible in your approach and thoughts;

everything you do should create mutual benefits with the

customer’s interest at the very center of your decision-

making process.

• Follow through post-sales. Think in terms of long-term

relationships, future up-sales, cross-sales, and

testimonials.

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PROACTIVE LEARNING

Why do you think consultative selling is value-driven?

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Why do you believe consultative selling should focus on the

customer first?

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CHAPTER 4: MAJOR DIFFERENCES BETWEEN

CONSULTATIVE SELLERS AND VENDORS

here are many significant differences between consultative

selling and vending. The difference is apparent in the

approach, language, methods, thought process, mindset

relationship building, outcome, product positioning, packaging,

and delivery.

The above approaches, methods, and processes are distinct.

A vendor makes products and sells them, often by sacrificing

margin.

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PULL VERSUS PUSH

A vendor’s aggressive approach relies on lowering the

prices to make a sale. The more competitive the bid, the higher

the erosion of margin.

The more push-back a vendor gets, the more willingness to

lower the price. Vendors often view their products as

commodities even when far superior to competitors’ offerings.

Sales consultants leverage their products’ competitive

advantages and focus on the value addition derived from the

offered business solution. The value could be financial,

operational, legal, or other.

Sales consulting is all about positioning the business

solution’s competitive edge in a way that makes it desirable.

Sales consultants are all about selling value, while the vendor

sells the product as is.

• Vendors sell to anyone willing to buy their products.

Consultative sellers sell to business buyers and

managers who are looking to maximize value.

• Vendors focus on the features and functionality the

product brings you today. Consultative sellers

demonstrate their business solution competitive

advantages and the specific component that will get you

to achieve your desired outcome.

• Vendors are intimately familiar with lowering their

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prices the moment they are subjected to the slightest

customer or market pressure.

Consultative sellers view the price as the investment

required to acquire a business solution that provides a higher

ROI. Business consultants focus on getting you to envision the

financial gains you are going to generate by buying the product

you need to achieve your ultimate desired outcome.

PRICE CONCEPT

While price will always be an important factor in decision

making for your clients, it’s often not as critical as you may

think. The buyer knows there is a price that must be paid to

acquire the products and services they must have. When the

product is perceived as a commodity or sold as such, however,

the buyer will naturally compare it to similar products and

available options.

WHAT’S YOUR EDGE?

Vendors tend to highlight their product’s features and

advantages and over-emphasize the characteristics that

differentiate them from other competitors with similar products

in the marketplace.

This strategy leads the customer to focus primarily on the

value of these differentiating factors while canceling the benefit

of all similarities. This comparative analysis leads to reducing

the product impact to price only.


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Vendors are used to customer’s addiction to price

discounting. When markets are in growth mode, and the

customers are plentiful, the discount factor tends to be offset by

the sales volume. When the market is down and buying,

customers are scarce, however, the discount factor goes

exponentially higher.

Discounting is often a habit triggered by fear, a desire to

shorten the sales cycle or to ensure meeting one quota. I have

seen my share of vendors leading with price and even

volunteering a price discount to win the deal.

Consultative selling focuses on providing competitive

advantages by demonstrating ways to increase profits, reduce

cost, win market share, and gain an edge over existing

competitors. Consultative sellers focus on opening the buyer’s

perspective to the value derived from the ongoing partnership,

rather than a single transaction.

PRICE COMPETITIVENESS

Buyers will carefully review your product specifications,

features, advantages, and benefits in comparison to the asked

price. Naturally, they will perform a market comparison of your

product versus your competitors’.

Finally, they will pit your competitors against you to get the

highest value possible for the lowest price possible. As a vendor,

if your product is superior, you may end up having a fair price,

though if your product is average, you may end up with lower

margin or no deal.

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Consultative sellers are aware of this pitfall; that is why

they sell on value and ROI first. Then they position the price as

a necessary investment to drive higher performance,

productivity, and return on investment.

This strategy moves the buyer’s focus from a cost

perspective to a growth mode.

TYPES OF BUYERS

There are primarily two types of buyers:

Traditional Transactional Buyers: This category sees

every vendor as a dishonest broker trying to maximize profit at

the buyer’s expense. Each time the vendor provides a pricing

concession to speed up the buyer decision-making process, it

reinforces the buyer’s belief that most vendors are unethical.

Also, pressure and rejections often lead to better deals.

Economic Buyers: These buyers are often executives or

business owners looking to grow their business or companies.

They are often fair in their dealings with vendors; they are

shrewd professional negotiators who respect their business

partners.

These economics buyers do primarily get excited when

working with consultative sellers, mainly because these industry

experts bring in new ways to spur growth and maximize profit

for the organization. The business consultant ideas and

expertise become part of the overall ROI derived from the

business solution. Well-executed ideas create higher value and


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faster returns. The product acquisition becomes just an add-on

to the equation.

THE VARIENCE

A vendor will educate you on the usage of the product you

buy. A consultative consultant will explore many ways that will

allow acquiring market shares you never thought possible.

The transaction with a vendor feels like you exchanged

money for a product you needed to get a specific issue resolved.

These transactions often leave the buyer with some level of

doubt.

Could one have acquired a better business solution at a

lower price from another vendor? Based on cost, was the

solution purchased the best in the market? How reliable is the

company’s customer service policy? Vendors are perceived as

takers who cannot be trusted.

A consultative seller leaves the buyer with no doubt. The

buyer feels they got more than their money’s worth. The ideas

provided and shared concept was worth more than the product

itself.

Consultative sellers leave the buyer satisfied with the

transaction and the trusted relationship forged with one another.

Buyers often feel that they are working with an equally trusted

unpaid employee. Consultative sellers are perceived as givers of

time, energy, smart ideas, and proven financial concepts that

work.

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PROACTIVE LEARNING

Write down the major differences between consultative sellers

and vendors.

__________________________________________________

__________________________________________________

__________________________________________________

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__________________________________________________

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__________________________________________________

Write down the competitive advantages that consultative sellers

have over vendors. Which sales methods are you currently

using?

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CHAPTER 5: TRANSITIONING FROM A VENDOR TO

A SALES CONSULTANT

Can a vendor become a consultative seller?

he answer is yes, of course. However, it will require a

mindset, skillset, and toolset change, along with a process

change at the individual level.

Vendors are all about selling a product by exerting some

level of pressure and reducing the price to gain agreement,

especially when faced with a slow decision-making buyer.

Some vendors attempt to create a sense of urgency by using

some form of sales pressure and gimmicks. For example, “We

are trying to close the quarter on a strong footing. We are willing

to reduce your current final price by an additional ten percent,

on the condition you sign the order before the end of this

month.”

This pressure model may work sometimes, but it is often

perceived negatively. Vendors often incur a substantial

opportunity cost, usually because the usage of pricing and sales

tactics is often not a reason to move these buyers forward.

Savvy buyers often propose a ridiculously low price and

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wait for the vendor to go as low as permissible or just give up

on the deal when it doesn’t meet their specific target. Shrewd

customers view a vendor giving up on a contract as a sign that

they already got the bare minimum price offer.

Habitual discounting is the norm for vendors, and this

approach lengthens the sales cycle by allowing the buyer to

leverage time and pressure against them.

Consultative sellers create a sense of urgency by leveraging

decision making and time as a tool to secure additional financial

gain for the customer. Time becomes an opportunity cost that

needs to be seized and maximized. Time becomes the vehicle to

make additional new net revenue.

The investment of acquiring the product becomes an urgent

matter to tap into future financial opportunities. For example:

Assuming you invest $200,000 and your investment will

generate a gross yearly revenue of new sales equating

$2,000,000, it means you will be making a yearly profit of

$1,800,000 or $150,000 of profit per month. Leveraging this

financial gain can speed the customer decision-making process.

This simple approach will heighten the ROI as well as the

opportunity cost.

When positioned as such, timing becomes everything. The

faster you acquire the solution, the more revenue you will

generate. Consultative sellers shorten the sales cycle by

leveraging every available opportunity cost.

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Buyer Revenue Enhancer

• Faster product implementation and start-up cycle.

• Significant product return

• Improved qualitative and quantitative results

• Better predictable output

Desirable Benefits

• Faster and glitch-free installations

• Professional installs done on premise at no additional

cost

• Reliable output, with minimum maintenance time

CONSULTATIVE SELLING

Most buyers conduct some level of market research on the

product, suppliers, prices, and company reviews to create a

similar foundation on which to base their selection.

Vendors often rely on comparative charts that depict

product features, advantages, and benefits against other market

suppliers. It’s usually a straightforward simple comparison.

Consultative sellers focus on other critical key performance

indicators (KPIs) that can impact the buyer's bottom line. Some

of these metrics include market growth, access to new


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demographics, increase operating revenue, decreasing operating

costs, improved customer relationships, and enhanced repeat

sales.

Consultative selling is all about delivering on the above

agreed-upon KPIs. Failure to do so will breach the trust and

destroy the bond forged between the buyer and seller.

Consultative sellers are all about delivering on promises and

following up continuously to ensure the promised outcome is

being met.

The required follow-up is critical. That is why the price

needs to comprise the post-sell monitoring and account

maintenance as a long-term part of the agreement

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PROACTIVE LEARNING

Write down how exactly you can transition from a vendor to a

consultative seller.

__________________________________________________

__________________________________________________

__________________________________________________

__________________________________________________

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__________________________________________________

__________________________________________________

__________________________________________________

What are the major differences between a vendor and a

consultative seller from an ROI and KPI’s perspective?

__________________________________________________

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CHAPTER 6: SALES CONSULTANT VERSUS SALES

VENDORS

You are a sales consultant if your primary focus is:

• Asking targeted questions to understand the client’s

business without making any conclusions.

• Asking questions to identify your client’s financial

problems in terms of missed revenue and opportunity

cost.

• Spotting revenue gaps, operational improvements, and

profit enhancement along with issue resolution.

• Acting as a resource to resolve your current client’s

problems while achieving a better outcome.

• Thinking about ways to partner together to improve your

client’s financial state while eliminating obstacles.

• Delivering benefits as revenue improvement and cost

reduction

You are a vendor if your focus is:

• Asking shallow questions while you are thinking about


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connecting your product functionality to your customer

exact needs.

• Marketing your products and services as a cure-for-all

to your customer ails.

• Thinking in terms of your products and services’

superiority as the only competitive edge you should

offer.

• Viewing the client’s financial well-being as their

concern.

• Feeling that a long-term relationship is a nice thing to

have, but not a priority.

• Viewing customer relationships as limited to a specific

transaction.

• Pricing your products and services on a cost-plus margin

as the only basis.

• Viewing most relationships as a discounting-based

opportunity.

• Delivering benefits as products’ functionality.

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PROACTIVE LEARNING

Write down exactly what a consultant focuses on versus what

you focus on while selling.

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__________________________________________________

__________________________________________________

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__________________________________________________

__________________________________________________

__________________________________________________

Write down exactly what a vendor focuses on versus your

approach. Write down the areas that you need to improve on?

__________________________________________________

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CHAPTER 7: TRANSACTION CLASSIFICATION AND

APPROACH

VENDORS

endors position the purchase of their product as a cost to

the business—what the firm pays out to acquire the

product.

SALES CONSULTANT

Sales consultants position the value derived from the

acquisition as money invested to stimulate large returns, in

terms of revenue growth, profit maximization, future value

creation, increase in owners’ returns, market share increase, and

cost reduction.

Sales consultancy is all about positioning. It’s much easier

to have a conversation with your client about an investment that

impacts their returns, increases market share and net profit,

while decreasing overall cost and improving opportunity cost,

over discussing price.

Most companies go out of business because of three main

reasons:

1. Undercapitalization

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2. Wrong decision-making

3. Bad market conditions

Decision-making is a huge part of the success of an

organization. Buyers at all level of the organization, ranging

from strategic operation buyers to partners with trusted sales

consultant’s relationships, look for ways to improve their buying

power image while advancing the company agenda.

Organization heads are not afraid to make significant

purchases to achieve specific organizational milestones.

However, most are fearful of making substantial mistakes or

being taken advantage of. This is the reason behind their

preference of buying from primarily trusted sources.

BUYER’S MOTIVATIONAL FACTORS

• Revenue growth

• Acquire a higher percentage of market share

• Increase gross profit margin

• Improve customer satisfaction

Great sales consultants assist senior buyers in achieving

their business targets by influencing controllable activities that

create results.

Vendors often act more like product and service pushers

than professionals. Many do not speak the business language of

the sophisticated buyers, putting them at a disadvantage. Senior

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buyers’ business language is often finance-oriented.

Sales consultants must be fluent in the industry and finance

language as much as their clients. They should possess a certain

level of financial intelligence to understand economic data,

allocation of resources, budget expenses, and operational

investment.

They should, at a minimum, be able to read and analyze an

income statement or P&L, balance sheets, cash flow statements,

and separate hard data from standard assumptions and estimates.

• Profit-centered business functions are often focused

on opportunities to create revenue and new earning by

selling more of their products and services. A sales

consultant’s role is to help find gaps and fix them.

• Cost-centered business functions are focused on

reducing and eliminating cost on most business areas. A

sales consultant’s role is to see areas of contribution to

meet the management objectives.

Your purpose is simple as a business consultant; your role

is to find the gap and remedy it. The customer will give you their

time, attention, and resources to remedy the issue as a trusted

consultant and a growth partner. Vendors cannot achieve this

level of trust.


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PROACTIVE LEARNING

In term of purchase positioning, what major distinction exists

between a consultative seller and a vendor?

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What type of approach does a consultative seller take to

facilitate decision-making versus a vendor?

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CHAPTER 8: YOUR ETHICS DEFINE YOUR BRAND

AND SUCCESS

endors often try to circumvent a buyer’s resistance by

reaching out to a higher authority to achieve the level of

profitability they are seeking. Many believe that a higher

authority officer is easier to convince than their lower-ranking

counterparts.

The higher the person in the purchasing ladder, the more

focused they are on the value proposition offered. These people

invest higher financial resources on higher value propositions,

but minimal resources on required vendors’ products.

The higher-ups respond to value, time gain, revenue

generation, streamlining the process to multiple productions. If

you don’t have a solid value proposition based on value

multipliers, you don’t stand a chance.

VALUE PROPOSITION

The sales consultant should ask and know the answer to the

following questions.

• Here is what you should expect from us… You should

start seeing these benefits three months after

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implementation.

• Here are the advantages you should realize by these

specific dates.

• You should achieve a 30% increase in your system

performances by June, and you should save $140,000 in

your marketing expenses by the same time.

• You should reduce your discounting process by 40% by

July 2018, and you should eliminate it by July 2019.

• You will reduce your current marketing program by

60% by June 2019, and you should increase your

aggregate sales force closing ratio by 10% by the same

date.

MARKET STANDARDS

Sales consultants superimpose the company current norm

standards with the market norm standards and the current

business standards. This analysis allows you to compare your

product’s edge against competitors’ products’ edge as it is often

the norm in vendors selling.

The key behind this initiative is to reflect the following: Our

company standards are way higher than the industry current

average standards. My job is to take your current standards to

our level, providing you with a significant competitive

advantage and allowing you to upgrade your capabilities on a

continual basis to stay ahead of your competitors.

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Standards provide the sales consultant with the necessary

impactful language that the buyer understands.

• Your transactional uptick time is 89.5%, our average is

99.9%, the industry average is 89.9%. That will put you

among the 1% payment processors in term of speed.

• Your profit per average transaction in this specific area

is X dollars. Getting you to our standards will triple your

profit per transaction.

• Our system output generates five times your current

output. The industry standard is double your current

production.

• Your sales cycle takes three months. Our sales cycles

performance system will reduce your sales cycle to 1.5

months doubling your revenue, and saving you 50% in

resources.

• It takes you 12 minutes to resolve customer issues. Our

automated system fixes most issues in half the time,

reducing waiting time by 50% and saving you 20% in

monthly payroll.


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PROACTIVE LEARNING

According to your understanding, explain why it is easier to

convince a top-ranking corporate officer over his subordinate.

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Write down how exactly you will use what you learned to target

higher-ranking decision makers.

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CHAPTER 9: SALES CONSULTANTS’ SELLING EDGE

he business consultant’s primary job is to find a

demonstrable advantage and gaps that they can close. All

businesses have issues, deficiencies, and problems ranging from

legal, operations, HR, sales, compliance, finance, and structural

issues. Companies cannot operate indefinitely without

addressing these debilitating problems.

Vendors sell products, but sales consultant solutions are

significantly superior as they get the client closer or above

market standards. The sales consultant acts like a doctor—they

ask questions, listen carefully, take notes, and research to

understand not just the symptom but the reason that led to the

ailment.

Doctors take the necessary time to diagnose the whole body

and understand the overall patient health. Once all vitals are

checked, then a customized remedy is prescribed, and a follow-

up check-up is scheduled.

Similarly, a sales consultant reviews everything thoroughly

before offering any suggestions or business solutions.

Clear, customized question should be asked to understand

the holistic aspect of the business.

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• What are you trying to accomplish? How soon? And

why?

• What value will you derive from achieving your

request?

• How would it affect your customers?

• How would it change your bottom line? What is

important to you?

• Why is a shorter sales cycle vital to your business? How

would it affect your just-in-time imported inventory?

• What is your current norm? What is the industry

standard? Why is it essential to reduce it by half?

• What competitive edge will be ideal for your business?

• What critical success factors you must achieve to ensure

your business survival and growth?

• What is the minimum output you must meet to gain

significance in the market?

• What is the ideal outcome you want to achieve?

• Can you provide me with your current business issues

statement and tie each loss to a dollar value?

• What specific cost are you trying to lower or even

eliminate, and by when?

• What time waster are you trying to eliminate? Describe

your why and by when.

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PROACTIVE LEARNING

Write down exactly what questions you would ask your clients

to create value.

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What’s the best approach to get your clients to reveal hidden

problems?

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CHAPTER 10: HOW TO INFLUENCE C-LEVEL

EXECUTIVES

-level executives rarely get involved with the vendor unless

under high pressure to resolve a critical issue. Vendors

speak the language of price and output; C-level executives talk

about value and profit maximization.

Vendors tend to be self-centered. “Here are my product’s

distinctions, my price in comparison to my competitors.” C-

level executives worry about the value they bring to their

customers to keep an edge over their competition. Vendors think

cost and speed of decision making. C-level executives think in

terms of business solution value.

C-LEVEL EXECUTIVES THINK IN TERMS OF

• What kind of profit would add to my bottom line?

• How can you contribute to my growth?

• What’s so unique about your business solution that’s

worth the investment?

• How can you assist me in attaining my business

objectives?

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• What is the ROI or revenue derived from this

partnership?

• How does your solution increase margin and decrease

the cost of my operations?

VALUE AND PERCEPTION MATTERS

BECOME PART OF THE BUSINESS MATRIX

C-level executives are always seeking outside intelligence.

Your ability as a business consultant to connect the dots beyond

your industry can position you as a profit enhancer or a field

expert.

If you are in the payment industry, you cannot speak just

rates, cost reduction, transactional speed, and POS’s. It would

help if you covered additional areas of concerns such as:

software’s capability, legal challenges, compliance issues,

robotic capability, banking channels, aggregators, accounting

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and finance. By understanding your partner’s business

complexity, you become a reliable contributor worthy of

consultancy.

You need to earn the right to be perceived almost like an

internal member of the management team.

You should know:

• How the application of your business solution will align

with your internal client process without interruption.

Knowing this matter intimately will allow you to

uncover specific areas where to eliminate redundancy

and costs while improving efficiency.

• How to quantify your contributions to the company.

Getting the system up and running is one thing. Being

able to define with clarity the KPIs that you are

impacting in term of performance and output, and

putting them in financial terms is the way to justify your

work.

C-level executives need to see the output in a language they

understand, and that’s finance vocabulary; nothing is more

potent than seeing your business solution impact on the

company ROI graph or a balance sheet.

Business consultants are all about a transfer of value, and

value comes in the form of money, time, ideas, connections, and

expertise. Created value can be summed up in the variance from


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the initial state you find the business in to the new state you help

the business achieve through the implementation of your

business solution. That variance is what defines your aptitude as

a growth partner and a change agent.

The best value a business consultant can provide is to meet

the perceived value that the customer expects and according to

his specific norms. Unless that value meets or preferably

exceeds the customer needs, the consultant cannot be rated as a

growth partner.

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PROACTIVE LEARNING

Write down the competitive advantages that business

consultants add to the business.

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Write down exactly why C-level executives prefer working with

consultative sellers over vendors.

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CHAPTER 11: VALUE-BASED SELLING

his is a philosophy practiced by business consultants where

one removes the idea of price out of all discussions with

the customer and replaces it with the value derived from the

acquisition of the business solution. An investment is not a cost;

rather you are creating new monies and opportunities by

investing in your business, you are creating organic growth.

Smart business consultants always perform a customer-

improved profitability analysis to justify the before and after

value creation. Failure to conduct this analysis will force one to

sacrifice some margin. The higher the improved profitability

results, the higher your price.

Any value-add should have a price; the aggregate value-add

in term of profitability and cost savings should consist of the

final asked price.

HOW TO POSITION PROFIT IMPROVEMENT

OPPORTUNITY

1. Find the problem and define it with precision. Then

propose how you will address both the issue and the

opportunity it creates. That way, you become a fixing

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engineer and an architect of growth.

2. Leverage cost savings on a yearly basis or five-year

increments, then position the additional potential

opportunity revenue increase that turns a problem from

a cost perspective into a revenue-generating

opportunity. E.g.: our analysis has shown that by

resolving this issue, you will generate a $100,000 in

savings the first year and $500,000 by your fifth year.

Also, by adopting this enhanced add-on solution, you

will produce a net new sales increment of $150,000 in

year one, and $750,000 in five years.

3. Set the process of delivery on how you are going to

ensure the phases of solution implementation. The

milestones you are going to implement ensure that the

ongoing progress meets the promises made to the

customer.

BUILDING PARTENSHIPS

Building partnerships is a collaborative approach that

requires the business consultant to work closely with the client

to achieve a specific outcome. To have access to critical

information, the business consultant must be resourceful.

• Complete in-depth research on the industry.

• Question company employees to learn about their

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business, process, system, management, decision

making, gaps, challenges, competitors, performances,

ailments, and desires outcomes.

• Be granted access to study internally current issues and

find a resolution.

• Internal accomplishments can be achieved along with

external growth by leveraging external expertise from a

different perspective.

Great business consultants are growth partners looking for

ways to help the business grow faster, in a more efficient manner

while achieving desired results, gaining market share, increasing

customer and employee satisfaction, while cutting cost.

You want to be perceived as the best in the business and

should emanate from the following:

• The best source of revenue and profit growth.

• You are a dependable source of continuous ideas of

growth.

• You create a competitive edge above competitors and

market norms.

• You are the liaison that creates add-value with other

partners to benefit your clients.


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PROACTIVE LEARNING

What benefits does value selling provide? What benefits can you

generate from partnering with your industry influencers

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How can you position value-selling in your approach to win

over reluctant customers?

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CONCLUSION

onsultative Selling creates more revenue than vending. It

generates higher profit-margin and often higher sales

volume. These incremental cash flows have a higher net worth

to you because they can be achieved at a lower cost to you than

vending.

Consultative selling is all about value creation. The

salesperson becomes a growth partner and a value-adder, and a

large force on the design, co-management, and realization of a

specific financial gain.

This method forces both parties to collaborate in real-time

to generate additional profit improvement inputs. The customer

moves from the position of being a decision-maker to a partner

fully invested in the joint creation of an ideal business solution

that meets his goals.

There are many advantages of using consultative selling

methods in B2B. Consultative selling is about the

transformation of a physical capital into an intellectual, financial

capital. Consultative sellers look beyond the product to find new

streams of potential margin.

However, most suppliers continue to sell their products as

a commodity where you exchange a physical capital for a price.

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Many suppliers still use product-centered selling by

default, because they don’t know how to market the applied

value of their products and people. These suppliers continue to

rely on discounted margins to sell more and more volume to

survive and potentially drive weaker and smaller competitors

out of business.

A supplier who uses smart consultative selling approach

elevates his brand recognition, improves the opportunity to build

long-term, trust-based customer relationships, and creates an

environment where everyone feels valued, respected, and

bettered.

All sales happen as the result of comparisons between

available options. Consultative selling’s success lies in relating

the price to an investment; this method allows the buyer to focus

on the new profits derived from the investment returns rather

than the product cost or performance.

Consultative selling transform a product unit into a

financial profit unit.

Whatever you do, please take advantage of this method; it

worked for me for years. I’ve offered you a blueprint of the step-

by-step process of taking advantage of what the consultative

selling method provides, for now, to improve your career.

The advent of technology, robotics, big data, and science

has transformed how we communicate, interact and buy. Sales

have changed and will continue to evolve. The best salespeople

today are those who know how to create a compelling case for

change and help their customers to achieve a better outcome

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than expected.

By applying the principles of consultative selling, you will

become a trusted change agent and financial advisor.

Sales trends, platforms, and approaches are changing at a

rapid pace. Don’t be afraid to try new ways, and listen to your

instinct. It will always lead you toward the improvement of your

financial, personal, and professional life.

Now go and make a difference!


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Anthony Chaine

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

nthony Chaine, Elite Sales Leadership Consulting, LLC,

President, is a sales leadership professional, skilled at

assisting sales organizations on how to drive exponential

revenue growth and build profitable business.

Anthony has led the creation of this community institute

that focuses on helping current and future sales leaders. The

purpose is to affect people productivity and efficiency by

making informed choices and taking timely action.

Anthony spent more than 15 years as head of sales of three

major F500 companies. As a regional vice president of sales, he

has guided thousands of frontline B2B salespeople and sales

leaders towards optimum performance levels. He is recognized

as an expert in sales execution, sales analysis, compensation

strategy, recruitment, channel management, revenue creation,

performance leadership, training and sales forecasting.

As a speaker, Anthony Chaine knows how to energize and

electrify his audience. He teaches sales strategies that drive

personal and organizational productivity, growth, and

collaboration. Anthony is a professional member of the National

Speakers Association.

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You can catch up with Anthony here:

Contact Anthony

www.asalesleader.com

[email protected]

http://www.asalesleader.com/

http://www.asalesleader.com/

mailto:[email protected]

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