In the past,
salespeople were often trained to follow a very standard “one size fits all”
sales presentation or sales script. The
idea being that the standard presentation or script contained tried and tested
selling techniques that would persuade the prospective customer to say ‘yes’.
.
This approach
was symptomatic of the more traditional, transactional “push” style of selling
that was prevalent in the past. It is
sometimes referred to as “spray and pray” or “show up and throw up”. That is you deliver your standard sales
message to every prospective customer and hope that sometimes it will get you a
positive result.
As the world
of selling evolved, perhaps in response to customers becoming more educated and
resistant to the standard and all too common “push” approach, a shift towards a
more consultative and tailored approach to sales became more common.
The
salesperson spent more time understanding the customer’s context, circumstances
and challenges so that a more customised solution could be devised that would
more accurately reflect the customer’s unique needs. This is sometimes referred to a “pull”
approach, as the information the salesperson requires and, to varying degrees,
the structure of the solution is “pulled” or elicited from the customer.
More and more
salespeople began to be trained in consultative selling techniques and on the
whole these have proved to be more effective than the traditional “push”
approach. In addition, more and more customers
have experienced the consultative approach and have come to expect it and
prefer it.
Criticism has
sometimes been leveled at the more consultative approach that it is a more lengthy and time consuming approach. Salespeople
using a consultative approach have been criticised for being too customer-orientated
and lacking the ability to challenge their customers and drive the sale to a
conclusion.
So it would
appear that broadly speaking we have two approaches to selling. In my opinion debating the validity of the
two approaches is short sighted. What we
appear to have is a continuum of selling styles and approaches ranging from at
one extreme, a “push” or “hardball” approach and at the other extreme a highly
consultative “pull” approach.
To debate the
superiority of these two extremes adopting an either / or approach is to my
mind a very narrow and unproductive exercise.
What will be
more productive and useful is to explore an approach to selling that is
practical, flexible in approach (avoiding either a one size fits all or either
/ or approach and indeed incorporating the best of each approach as required),
and most importantly is proven to improve sales performance. Allow me to introduce you to – adaptive
selling!
When using
adaptive selling, the salesperson flexes, alters and varies their selling
approach depending upon:
- The nature of the selling situation
- The stage of the buying process that the customer is currently in
- The specific interests and needs that the customer has in relation to the product / service in question
- The personality and buying style of the customer. The adaptive salesperson will tailor their questioning, probing, sales presentation and closing methodology based on the customer’s behavioural preference. They will also respond to feedback (both verbal and non-verbal) that they receive from the individual and adapt accordingly.
Adaptive
selling is a practical and powerful approach to selling. Indeed research has demonstrated that the
practice of adaptive selling is welcomed by salespeople and has been shown to
increase their sales performance.
A research
paper by James Maxham at Louisiana State University concluded that:
“In the midst of increased competition and
rising training costs, management should consider incorporating adaptive sales
training into their training structure. Salespeople in this study buy into
adaptive selling as an effective method. It has been shown to increase sales performance,
and salespeople have indicated in this study that more adaptive sales training
is necessary, in relation to other training topics.”
The theory behind
adaptive selling is that the successful outcome of a selling situation is
determined by both the customer’s deliberation of the benefits of the product /
service being offered and the
customer’s experience during the sales interaction. The salesperson’s ability to create the right
chemistry, rapport and connection with the customer will be as important as
their ability to communicate the key benefits of their proposal to the
customer.
Neuroscience research into how the
brain functions would support this thinking. Reason and emotion are intertwined
elements of our decision-making process.
They influence and are influenced by each other.
Adaptive
selling is an approach that acknowledges the importance of both reason and
emotion with regards to selling successfully.
www.simonhazeldine.com
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Good luck and good selling!
Simon Hazeldine
Simon Hazeldine MSc FinstSMM is an international speaker and consultant in the areas of sales, negotiation, performance leadership and applied neuroscience.He is the bestselling author of five business books:
Simon Hazeldine
Simon Hazeldine MSc FinstSMM is an international speaker and consultant in the areas of sales, negotiation, performance leadership and applied neuroscience.He is the bestselling author of five business books:
- Neuro-Sell: How Neuroscience Can Power Your Sales Success
- Bare Knuckle Selling
- Bare Knuckle Negotiating
- Bare Knuckle Customer Service
- The Inner Winner
www.simonhazeldine.com
To subscribe to Simon's hard hitting "Selling and Negotiating Power Tips newsletter please visit:
www.SellingAndNegotiatingPowerTips.com
To subscribe to Simon's "Neuro-Sell" newsletter please visit:
www.neuro-sell.com