A B2B consulting sale has always been something that is truly difficult. This is because the B2B consulting sale involves several unique aspects that aren’t found in other type of sales.
First, from the customer’s perspective, consulting is a high-risk purchase as the risk to benefit ration is considerably higher than other kinds of purchases. B2B Consulting sales also carry underlying emotional risks for the prospect (i.e. risk of public failure), which may not get talked about explicitly, but need to be addressed somehow.
In order to sell B2B consulting services, you need to do everything you can to reduce the perceived level of risk and generate trust. To demonstrate this idea, here are three things not to do when selling consulting.
3 Ways to Lose a B2B Consulting Sale:
- Don’t listen; jump to conclusions.
Because selling consulting inherently involves a high level of risk, it is imperative that prospects feel like their needs have been understood. As a part of building trust with your prospect, you need to take all of the time it requires to get everything out on the table. This means asking follow-up questions—both to set context and to gauge underlying emotions.
Additionally, it is one thing to listen, but it is another thing to make your prospect feel heard. To do this, you need to affirm that you are hearing your prospects words by restating or paraphrasing what has just been said. Until you have proved that you have a clear grasp on their pains, needs and goals, your prospect will be closed to hearing your solutions.
