Are you a Transactional or a Consultative Salesperson?  

Knowing the Difference Makes All the Difference…

Like most of you I wasn’t a born sales person nor did I aspire to be. But my first job at a daily newspaper called to something inside of me and quickly led to a sales role.  Although, the thought of being a salesperson was not necessarily what I had wanted to do… after all weren’t they the people who SOLD you something you didn’t need or really want, or at the very least talked you into the extras you always regretted later? My paradigm was based on the idea of the transactional sales person.

My first thoughts of a salesperson in media went to “Herb Tarlek” from the TV series WKRP in Cincinnati. You know the type… after shaking their hand you immediately checked to see if you still had your watch and wallet intact. Yet when I began my career in media and worked with clients… asking lots of questions about their businesses… really listening to their business situations… designing advertising that addressed their individual business needs… and bringing them the ROI they needed… it didn’t really feel like Selling… at least the way I had envisioned it???

I had been lucky to have been coached in the art of consultative sales by my first Ad Director (Dennis Keating- many of you may remember his name from the Thomson Newspaper days).  Dennis taught me to approach the business/sales conversation from a consultative or long term partnership stance…in other words… never just sell an ad (why wouldn’t you sell 3 or 6?) … develop a partnership where you assist the business reach their target audience with the correct message at the right time… He also let me in on a little secret… You don’t make a sale every time… especially if it is the first call on a business… but that is a topic to go into further at another time…  

As Jeffrey Gitomer once said… “Sales people are not needed to quote prices. They are the bridge between the selling price and the Perception of Value provided to earn the sale.”

Value lies in the customer concept or what we can do for them.

There are really two different types of sales – Transactional & Consultative.

A Transactional sale is a simple, short-term sale in which the customer already knows what he needs, so little to no product knowledge is required on the sales side. Typically, these are product rather than service-based. Buying criteria usually hinges on price or ease of acquisition.
Consultative selling is a more complex, long-term process involving collaboration of both buyer and seller, in which the latter must first develop an understanding of the customer’s business, industry, and needs, and then develops a solution to help the customer achieve their objectives.
The greatest advice we can take as sales people is to Think Like a Customer to truly understand their needs and offer valid solutions… Thinking like a customer… the difference between a transactional sale and a consultative one can be easily understood from best-selling author Roy H. Williams’ comparison of the transactional vs. relational shopper:

The Transactional Shopper

1. Transactional shoppers are focused only on today’s transaction and give little thought to the possibility of future purchases.
2. Their only fear is of paying more than they had to pay. Transactional shoppers are looking for price and value.
3. They enjoy the process of comparing and negotiating and will likely shop at several stores before making their decision to purchase.
4. Transactional shoppers do their own research so they won’t need the help of an expert. Consumer Reports are published primarily for the transactional shopper.
5. Because they enjoy the process, transactional shoppers don’t consider their time spent shopping to be part of the purchase price.
6. Anxious to share the “good deal” they’ve found... transactional shoppers are excellent sources of word-of-mouth advertising.

The Relational Shopper

1. Relational shoppers consider today’s transaction to be one in a long series of many future purchases. They are looking less for a product than for a store in which to buy it.
2. Their only fear is of making a poor choice. Relational shoppers will purchase as soon as they have confidence. Will your store and your staff give them this confidence they seek?
3. They don’t enjoy the process of shopping and negotiating.
4. Relational shoppers are looking principally for an expert they can trust.
5. They consider their time to be part of the purchase price.
6. Confident that they have found “the right place to buy,” relational shoppers are very likely to become repeat customers.

Although his article is talking to merchants and store owners, our customers, his advice still makes perfect sense. Some clients will be in transactional mode and others in relational mode, your success or failure hinges on knowing which and adjusting your selling style accordingly.

Some sales are more complex and end up as a mix of both transactional and consultative, depending on the client. Yet, in a consultative industry like ours, problems occur when buyers attempt to engage our services using the transactional approach. These are people who don’t respond well to questions and just want to know how much???  You know the client… the one comparing apples and oranges… buying an ad or online property as a commodity. Basing their decision solely on page price vs. page price not considering even the most blatant question… reach & readership or number of potential clients reached.  Your success lies in how you deal with them, and not in adjusting your selling style to match their buying mode… the slippery slope of discounting or DE-Valuing our products.

The key is to recognize and change your prospects buying mode, rather than adjusting your selling style. A transactional buyer can be converted into a relational one if handled properly. Remember… consultative selling is a long-term process involving collaboration of both buyer and seller, understanding of the customer’s business, industry, and needs, and then developing solutions to address the customer concept or their objectives. This takes time but the return spells long term success for both you and your clients.

For more conversation on Consultative Selling  principals check out our Consultative Selling webinar on http://www.mymetroland.com/  or register for our next Consultative Selling course on Tuesday July 10th (9:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m.) at the Vaughan Press Center, - 1 Century Place, Woodbridge ON L4L 8R2. To register, email Melanie Facchini at mfacchini@metroland.com.