“People don’t like to be sold—but they love to buy.” – Jeffrey Gitomer.
Imagine you’re shopping for a smartphone and assessing different models, comparing prices and features. But you aren’t confident of the options, so you abandon the idea of making a purchase. Later that day you received a call from one of those brands you were considering. They started pitching their new models even before you could answer their greetings.
Now consider the similar scenario but this the sales rep didn’t directly jump onto listing the new models but rather offered a personalized digital customer experience. They took their time in understanding your unique requirements and you better and kept the conversation more engaging. They asked about your preference in smartphone, color, processor and then offered you different options based on your needs and budget via email.
This is how consultative sales work — leveraging digital tools and data to create customized solutions that fit customers’ unique needs and exceed their expectations.
The art of conviction Vs The art of conversation- What’s right for digital customer experience?
Telesales and consultative sales are two vastly different sales techniques, each with its own unique style and approach. Telesales, also known as the art of conviction, is a fast-paced, high-energy approach that’s all about making a compelling pitch and closing the sale. In contrast, consultative selling, or the art of conversation, is a more modern-day approach, which focuses on building a relationship with the customer and understanding their unique needs.
When it comes to telesales, the key is to be persuasive. This approach requires a salesperson to be confident, assertive, and able to articulate the product’s benefits quickly and clearly. The goal is to make the consumer feel that they have some actual need for the product, creating a sense of urgency that leads to a purchase. The best-known example could be cold calling for credit cards where a salesperson calls a user intending to sell a product or service.
In contrast, consultative selling requires a different set of skills. This approach focuses on building rapport and establishing trust with the user by engaging in meaningful conversations. Instead of jumping straight to the sale, a consultative salesperson takes the time to understand the customer’s needs, likes, dislikes, and needs, a better option for digital customer experience. This approach requires active listening skills and a genuine interest in helping the customer find the best possible solution to their query.
While these two may seem like polar opposites, there’s no right or wrong approach. Both techniques can be effective and create an impact on customer experience metrics such as net promoter score (NPS), retention rate, and customer satisfaction score (CSAT). However, a skilled salesperson knows when to use each approach and how to adapt their style to suit the situation.
Both sales techniques require skill, expertise, and a deep understanding of the customer’s needs. By mastering both approaches, a salesperson can build long-lasting relationships and drive sustainable outcomes.
What’s the right choice for your business?
When it comes to choosing between telesales and consultative sales for your business, the right choice ultimately depends on your goals and priorities. However, there’s one factor that can make a significant difference in any sales approach: personalized customer interaction.
With today’s digital shopping era, customers expect an omnichannel customer service experience, which means being able to interact with the brand through multiple channels, like email, social media, chatbots and phone calls. Consultative selling can provide a seamless and personalized experience by adapting to the customers’ preferred communication style. By tailoring the conversation to the customers’ preferences, the salesperson can build a rapport and establish trust more easily. This approach helps the customer feel heard and understood, leading to a better overall experience and potentially a long-term relationship with the business.
According to a study by Epsilon, 80% of customers are more likely to do business with a company that offers customized solutions. This is where consultative selling excels, as it focuses on personalized customer interaction at its core. Here customer service sales reps take an active role in the customers’ unique goals and challenges.
It shows how a solid digital customer experience can enhance the effectiveness of consultative selling in today’s fast-paced and digitally connected world.
The Bottomline
By tailoring the conversation to the customers’ preferred mode of communication, like digital channels, consultative selling can offer a seamless and personalized digital customer experience. Remember, customers don’t like to feel pressured into making a purchase, yet they’ll always savor that feeling of joy that comes from buying a great product. Whichever approach you choose, remember that the key to successful sales is to understand your customers’ needs and tailor your approach accordingly.
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Customer service is a unique setup that requires automatic call distributors, integrated voice response units, computer-telephony integration, and custom-built CRM, which is complex to set up in a growth-oriented, fast-paced product or service-based company.
Founded in 1999, JindalX, has catered to over 100+ clients in 9+ industries through customized, data-driven, intelligent business process outsourcing (BPO) solutions. We understand the importance of continuously improving our processes in delivering excellent customer experience for our business partners.
An intelligent business process outsourcing (BPO) can help you:
· Develop unique messaging and create differentiators to build a competitive advantage.
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Want a customized consultative sales strategy that can help your platform reach more prospective customers, close more deals and save sales? Get in touch with JindalX!
