It’s a sales tactic that gained popularity in the 1980s, and it’s based on a rather straightforward principle: A salesperson determines their prospect’s needs, then suggests the appropriate goods and/or services to meet those needs.
The prospect might not even be aware that they have an issue or an opportunity, let alone what it looks like, how urgent or significant it is, or how they should handle it. Because of this, the salesman becomes a valuable tool that can aid a prospect in understanding and responding to their circumstance.
One of the best methods for salespeople to sell with empathy is through the use of solutions. It also requires careful consideration and a firm understanding of a prospect’s whole situation.
Selling a solution requires more work. To diagnose a prospect’s issues and offer answers, you must have some understanding of their industry, the particular difficulties they confront, the experiences of other clients in a similar situation, and their general objectives.
When would one employ solution selling?
For sectors where items and/or packages are highly customised, solution selling works best. For instance, a business that provides maintenance and security services in addition to a cloud storage platform is likely to develop a special bundle for each of its clients.The salesperson will determine what additional features and support the prospect will require, how much data he needs to store, how many devices he will use to access his files, and so forth.
What does “selling solutions, not things,” mean?
Thinking beyond the immediate is necessary when selling solutions. As corny as that may sound, it has to do with the greater picture. Product specifications and features are crucial, but they are not the main focus of a successful solution selling strategy.The “why” of a possible transaction is prioritised over the “what” in this style of sales. The “why” your prospect needs it comes before the “what” you’re selling. Let’s take the example of a cybersecurity consulting company attempting to sell a midsize retail company a cybersecurity risk assessment.
The company would consider the overall advantages of the service if it were only focused on selling the assessment itself — “We almost always address every significant risk issue in our evaluations, which also show firms where they have potential to expand. We improve their security, to put it briefly.”
“In the end, we have an outstanding track record working in your business. Your cybersecurity infrastructure can be strengthened, your staff can be properly trained, and you can stay ahead of any vulnerabilities that might later jeopardise the security and soundness of your retail transactions and business operations thanks to the risk forecasts and practical solutions that come with our assessments.
Solution selling offers a customised method of selling, which is one fantastic feature. Instead of fitting the product to the prospect, sales representatives frequently strive to do the opposite.
When selling solutions, it’s crucial to comprehend the wants of the customer and which elements of your goods or services will be most useful to them.
Customers thus don’t see that they are merely buying features but rather that they are receiving solutions to larger-scale business problems
There are a few drawbacks to think about in terms of the negatives. Following a question-and-answer framework is common when marketing solutions, but it can result in conversations that are rigid and stale.
Additionally, you can discover that sales representatives overly rely on their predetermined list of inquiries and prevent genuine discussion from occurring. Prospects could feel as like they are being cornered into buying anything because the dialogue is more like an interrogation.
Last but not least, some contend that since prospects already know the answers they require, solution selling is less effective today. Prospects no longer rely as heavily on sales reps for diagnosis and solutions because there is so much information easily available to anyone online.
When it comes to comparing costs and terms, they might have have done their homework and are at this point.
Because of this, some sales leaders choose insight selling, when sales representatives assist prospects in understanding their unmet wants as opposed to their actual needs.
start Solution Selling.
Start selling solutions by following this three-step process:
1. Identify typical pain points.
The most crucial step in the process might be identifying the problems that your clients face most frequently; without it, you won’t be able to target prospects or sell your solution.Examine the sales you’ve closed to determine which issues led potential customers to purchase your goods. What factors did you consider when deciding to work with us?, ask them. and “When did you decide to tackle [issue], and why?”
2. Formulate your queries.
Create a list of questions to assist you assess prospects once you’ve determined the most urgent concerns your solution fixes for customers.If you have the correct questions in mind, you may steer the conversation away from your own product’s features and toward the customer and their business for the majority of the sales conversation.
Start off with general, open-ended inquiries that delve into the pertinent elements of your prospect’s business. Then, become more focused; you’re seeking for particular statistics and facts that support your claim.
3. Develop your value proposition.
The ROI of a product, not its feature set or asking price, is the focus of solution selling, which is why it works so well. Whether you’re a sales manager or a freelancer, be sure you comprehend and can articulate the value of your product.
Querying the Solution Seller.
You need the correct inquiries to effectively identify your prospect’s pain areas. This stage (usually the discovery call) aims to accomplish three major objectives:What has greater intrigue? It doesn’t end there. A number of intriguing developments are included in Imprint’s roadmap. The greatest and most recent sales management solutions will be announced soon.
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