Consulting Skills
In many industries, it is a given that salespeople need business consultant skills to be effective. However, little has been done to try to define the level of consultant skills required. Some consider strategic-level discovery skills the definition of consultant skill. For others, understanding core operational strategy is required and, for others, the ability to conduct an executive-level sales call is the heart of being a consultative salesperson.
Determining the Consultant Skills Required of Salespeople
A study undertaken by Wilson Learning was an attempt to define different levels of sales and consultant skills and determine the relative business impact of providing these skills to salespeople. Salespeople in a large telecommunications company were divided into three groups; some received only basic sales training, some received initial consulting skills training, and the final group received advanced consulting skills training. The results showed that:
- Salespeople with the initial consulting skills achieved a 22% higher sales quota than did salespeople with only basic sales skills.
- Salespeople with advanced consulting skills were 21% higher than the initial consulting skills group, and over 49% higher than the salespeople with only basic sales skills.
The results provide strong support for the value of different levels of business consulting skills and the ability of an effective training process to transfer learning to job performance. By knowing their customers as a business, by understanding their customers’ success factors and processes, salespeople can position their offering in a way that links to their customers’ vision and strategy, and as a result sell more.
Business Consulting Skills
A quick look at the literature on sales training shows many definitions for the term “consultant skills.” For some, being a consultant means having the ability to uncover the customer’s needs and expectations before presenting a solution, rather than just presenting features and benefits in hopes that the customer will respond. For others, sales consultant skills mean that salespeople have an indepth knowledge of business processes and can hold their own in strategic discussions with CEOs and CFOs.
Such was the dilemma of a large telecommunications organisation. They sold voice and data telecommunications services to other large organisations—a highly complex product in a highly competitive market. Their salespeople needed consultant skills, but having the right level of skills was critical to their success. Therefore, Wilson Learning partnered with this organisation to study the relative impact of three levels of consultant skills on sales performance.
Contact Us
Please call us! Our team would be delighted to help you with your enquiry:
+61 2 9232 4124
For questions or comments you would like to direct to us through email:
Email us - clientservices@wilsonlearning.com.au
