Consultative selling: What is it and how to apply it in your e-commerce

All businesses are constantly looking for ways to increase their sales. And along the way one can find multiple strategies to generate more income , one of them is consultative selling. But how exactly does this type of technique work?

To summarize, consultative selling is any process in which a seller becomes an advisor on a product or service. He means that he is not only focused on selling, but also on investigating if what is being offered is the ideal solution to solve the customer’s pain points.

Is this concept new to you? Or were you already applying it? In both cases, in this article I will help you implement a consultative selling strategy for your business . Also, if you were already applying it, here you can perfect this type of tactic.

But first, review all the topics I’m going to address.

What is consultative selling?

Consultative selling is a tactic where the agent will not only fulfill the role of a seller, but also a consultant to the client . On the one hand, the role of consultant is performed with the aim of being able to relate better to the client in order to be able to identify a better solution for him.

And on the other hand, the selling side will do everything in its power to truly understand the customer , since its main focus will be on offering a personalized service to satisfy the user’s needs.

This means that the agent will be able to present the product based on solutions and not product attributes. Therefore, in consultative selling, prior preparation by the seller will always be necessary so that before going directly to the offer, he has the ability to start a conversation with the client and understand him better.

Now, you have to understand that consultative selling differs a lot from normal or traditional selling. Since, the seller will spend part of his time to understand the problems that the client may have . Likewise, in consultative selling, the sales agent will have to study the client’s information before serving him.

So, how can we understand, consultative selling has good results in salespeople’s relationships with customers , as well as in the percentage of sales of a company. However, those are not the only advantages that consultative selling offers you, so in the next segment I will talk about more benefits.

8 benefits of consultative selling

As we know, consultative selling can be very profitable for a company. Therefore, below, we will see what the main benefits are:

1) Happier customers

In consultative selling, sellers are responsible for providing the customer with explanations of why they should purchase the service or product based on their needs . For this reason, when clients obtain this solution, yes or if they will use it, since the seller has specifically offered the best for that client.

So, it is clear that when customers use what they have purchased , they will be much happier with what you offer and with your business . This causes that one of the main advantages of consultative selling is, without a doubt, the increase in customer satisfaction.

2) Greater loyalty

The only consequence of having happier customers is that your level of loyalty increases. Which only brings more benefits to your business. As we are clear, consultative selling is entirely focused on customers , since they must be listened to and understood in order to offer them the best possible solution.

Therefore, by using this method of selling, each person who comes into contact with a seller/consultant will feel appreciated and satisfied . Which results in customers preferring your business over others.

3) Free advertising

Having loyal customers will mean having free advertising, because when customers love your company so much, they will want to tell about their experience. And, they will do this with their friends, family, acquaintances, anyone who is willing to listen. This is very beneficial for the company, since there is no better advertising than the one that happy customers can transmit.

Also, because we live in the internet age, customers will also post their experience online via social media . Which is equivalent to a greater obtaining of digital customers willing to buy.

4) Target knowledge

When you apply a consultative sale you have a closer contact with your clients, so it is much easier to know more about them, I am referring to their tastes, needs, desires, etc. In this way, you will be able to get to know your leads in depth and understand them really well.

Likewise, you will establish constant contact, so if there are changes in the behavior of your consumer, you will be the first to know. Therefore, you can prepare yourself to meet his new needs .

5) Average ticket increase

When customers are satisfied with the care they have received and know that the product or service purchased will truly meet their need, it will be much easier to upsell or cross-sell them to complement their first purchase . In this way, you will increase the average value of sales.

This is a great benefit of consultative selling, since if you do it with all your clients you will be able to increase the average number of your tickets with all of them.

6) Stand out among your competition

A very important fact is that more than 70% of customers will prefer to buy with a business that has a more personalized treatment and can offer them purchase options based on their history, needs, tastes or preferences. This is where consultative selling comes in and provides the differential that customers are looking for.

This extra factor that consultative selling gives you is what will make you stand out in the market, since not all companies apply this sales method . Therefore, you will be able to differentiate yourself from your competitors and, at the same time, your business will become much more attractive to customers.

7) Higher closing sales

When customers feel that the service provided has been tailored to them and the product or service offered will meet their needs yes or yes, apart from closing a sale, you will also create a relationship of trust with the user . Well, they will have the knowledge that every time they communicate with the company they will receive the same level of attention.

Thus, with consultative selling you will be able to create that link with customers , who will not hesitate in the future to make other purchases with your business.

8) Time saving

Although conducting a consultative sale may seem like a waste of time, since you have to research and connect with customers to understand what they require. The truth is that consultative selling saves you time, because you can ensure better results using fewer resources.

In other words, by using part of a salesperson’s time to collect information about potential customers, what we are doing is knowing with certainty which users are most likely to purchase our products , so that we can focus on them.

So, with all the benefits that using consultative selling can give you, it seems to me that it is time to start doing them in your e-commerce to be able to take advantage of your competitors. For that, in the next part of this article we will see step by step how to apply consultative selling in your e-commerce.

How to apply consultative selling to your e-commerce?

Now that we know what consultative selling is and what its benefits are, it is time to talk about how this type of sale can be applied in your e-commerce , in order to develop bonds of trust with customers in order to provide them with the best attention possible and close sales.

collect information

The first step to be able to implement consultative selling in your e-commerce is to collect information. That is, investigate your clients and determine the consumer profile of your ideal client, here you must put things such as their age range, tastes, needs, preferences, among other things.

To do this, you can help yourself with techniques such as buyer personas or customer journey, in both cases you would have the profile of your client well determined so that you know which ones to prioritize when selling your products or services with the consultative sales method.

Listen carefully

Especially when you have an e-commerce you are going to work with many channels and you are going to receive information from all the platforms. However, you must have the ability to listen carefully or read carefully, so that you can correctly recognize what are the needs that your potential client wants to cover.

Sellers/consultants must have the ability to be empathetic and understanding, in this way they will be able to understand the client and be able to offer the product or service based on the characteristics they are looking for and, in addition, so that the user can understand the benefits that the product can give you.

Make a final commit

When you are going to close a sale, you must make a final confirmation of what the client is acquiring. That is, you must confirm the characteristics of the product or service, the terms and conditions, etc.

In this way, we offer the customer the security they need and, at the same time, so that they have no doubts about what they are buying. Likewise, you are establishing a relationship of trust with the client , since he knows that you are making sure to offer him what he needs.

Offer after-sales service

The last step to be able to implement consultative selling in your e-commerce is to offer after-sales service , remember that the purpose of this type of sale is to achieve long relationships with customers. Therefore, a follow-up after the purchase is made is essential to reinforce and strengthen ties .

In addition, it is a great opportunity to request feedback and evaluate the services , in the same way, you can offer them discounts or promotions to motivate them to make a new purchase.

Conclusions

Consultative selling is a type of sale in which the seller will have the main role, since he will be a consultant and a seller at the same time. In consultative selling, the role of consultant will be performed with the aim of being able to relate better to the client in order to be able to identify a better solution for him.

In consultative selling, the sales agent will have to study the client’s information before serving him to find out his possible problems , needs or desires. These types of tactics tend to be successful in your sales because they manage to understand your customers and provide them with personalized solutions.

Consultative selling allows for a closer and more positive communication with customers, likewise, the conversion rate increases and the level of user loyalty grows . To practice consultative selling, it is essential to collect information from the client , listen carefully, confirm the sale and offer post-sale service.

Never let anyone tell you that you can’t do something! So that no one tells you that you cannot close that sale, use what is consultative selling. In addition, you will be able to establish close relationships with your customers.

Finally, if you want to streamline the consultative selling process, it is recommended that you implement omnichannel , with which you can maintain good level communication with all your customers. In addition, you will have the information about your previous conversations in a single platform.