How to Close More Consulting Business With Less Effort

Far too many consultants spin their wheels chasing leads that just won't pick up the phone or return calls. In the beginning of your interaction it seemed the prospect was initially 'hot' for your services. You sent literature, did your song and dance… and now nothing. The prospect has turned cold to all attempts to further the sales process.

Why?

They suffer from a serious case of salespressuritis: a fear of being sold.

The cure for this ailment is a simple one. Avoid "selling" in the first place. I don’t mean stop all interactions. I mean toss out the gimmicky, 1980s talk-your-head-off, push-for-a-close techniques the 'gurus' of the past preached. Sales gimmicks DON’T WORK in consulting situations!

Today's market is too sophisticated. Hard selling especially doesn't work with big ticket items, the type of selling you are faced with as a consultant.

What does work? Talk less and listen more.

Let me explain. Some time after 1992 I came across a small case of booklets labeled, Xerox’s Professional Selling Skills System III. It was unlike any sales system I had ever seen before. It did not rely on talking, but relied on asking questions and determining expressed needs. I had no clue if it would work or not. I reserved judgment. So like Mikey, I tried it.

The results? My sales doubled and my confidence quadrupled.

Here's an overview of the Xerox selling system:

1. Uncover an expressed need or desire for the benefits you provide. If your prospective won't acknowledge a need, then they won't buy from you. The chance of a successful outcome are next to none. You actively listen to recognize the difference between a complaint that they don't like their current situation and an expressed need for a change. Have you ever met someone who complains about their lot in life to anyone who will listen, but refuses all attempts or suggestions for help? Your prospect may be the same way. If they don’t acknowledge wanting a change in their situation you might as well forget about trying to sell to them.

2. Memorize a number of Probes for different situations and attitudes (see #5 below).

3. Actively listen and verbally SUPPORT positive remarks about your services.

4. Follow a specific structure for CLOSING (this is bad because you are focused on what you want—a sale—instead of focusing on honest and open communication.

5. Listen for attitudes of indifference, acceptance, skepticism, outright objections, and stalling... and then use specific techniques for dealing with each attitude type differently.

Though effective, the Xerox system is a tedious process. And even worse, it often causes objections where there weren’t any before. How? By focusing on yourself in the beginning of the call, and encouraging you to work towards a close. Even if you don’t articulate a desire to close your prospective client, your prospective client will pick up on it in your attitude and efforts to move them along. Not good.

That’s why I started looking for something that’s just as effective but less mentally taxing -- for me and the client. Did I find something? Yes. But it’s not a single selling system, it’s a combination of two. SPIN Selling by Neil Rackham (available through Amazon) merged with Reverse Selling by Ari Galper (www.unlockthegame.com).

SPIN Selling makes the process of needs-based selling much easier to use because there are only four elements to focus on: situation, problem, implication, needs.

Since it’s such a simple selling model and all of my client interactions are by phone, I've broken the SPIN Selling process down into individual tabs in Microsoft One Note. One tab for each of the SPIN elements. I also have tabs for common concerns and I a tab for how to initiate follow up calls.

For each of the areas of the SPIN process I focus on the needs of the prospect, not lame sales closing gimmicks. Fortunately I learned early what works in the real world of selling is asking questions -- and listening. Not pushing people to do stuff they don't want to do.

The SPIN Selling method has holes that Ari's Reverse Selling method plugs. The underlying focus of Spin Selling is closing. That mentality is a disaster for consultative selling. Reverse Selling focuses attention on determining if you and the client are a true match. The focus is NOT closing. It's helping people.

That's why I use the Spin Selling only for its structure. But I recommend using Reverse Selling mindset of being truly accommodating and concerned about the client's needs and objectives, instead of SPIN Selling's view of working towards a close by "Sharpening Your Skills" (chapter 12 of SPIN Selling Fieldbook). Preparing a bunch of features and benefits in advance and then 'vomiting' that noise onto a client is the cause of skepticism and objections.