Savvy salespeople have come to understand that the old way of script selling to clients is not producing the same level of sales effectiveness or success as it once did. Today’s buyer is much more sophisticated and informed then buyers of the past. The successful salesperson today is more of a problem-solver then your traditional salesperson and needs a wider range of sales tools. Traditional sales technique was product-based selling not a client-based selling.

Basically you convinced the client why they needed your product. Client-based selling is fitting the right product for the right client based on need. Client-based selling is an effective sales technique and is critical to success if the salesperson and the sales company are to produce a steady stream of income. Now I’m not saying scripts don’t play an important part of the sales procedure, at some point they do. What I am saying is; to get to the script portion of the sales presentation requires gathering much more specific information about the client, their company and the company challenges at present.

This client-based selling approach is much like what a consultant would do and requires the same skills. A sales consultation with the client will have to take place assisting the salesperson to make the correct product recommendation which is designed to effectively help the client solve those problems in the company. This requires the pre-sale preparation to be more specific and geared toward discovering the client’s challenges and problems and the factors contributing to them and not just trying to force a product on the client just to get the sale.

Client-based selling requires asking probing questions whose answers can reveal to the salesperson the appropriate direction the sales presentation and recommendation should go. For instance: Sam [company owner]; what do you see as the problem? “I need my people to be more motivated!” Now you might believe that motivation is the problem but in reality motivation is the solution! If you are going to help the client solve this problem and effectively make a sale you will have to discover what factors are contributing to lowered motivation and morale in the company. Then position your recommendations as to how your product will correct or change those factors and contribute to a higher level of motivation among his workers. If your presentation will show the client your product will help solve his problems this will compel the client to buy from you. He wants his problems to go away!

Let’s sum it up: Listen to the client’s concerns, don’t just go into a sales presentation with a script of a product you think they need without getting the facts first. Work backwards to get to the factors contributing to the problem and last, position your product recommendation to solve the client’s problem and you will experience more consistent sales success with each sales presentation.