Sales consultants drive a business to grow and expand. Without their valuable sales skills, businesses would not hit their marks. These sales professionals learn their skills from sales courses including online sales training and other sales training programs. Many of these sales professionals continue taking sales training courses well into their careers.
Many of the top qualities extend to sales development consultants, direct sales consultants, b2b consultants and other sales advisors. When looking into a career as a sales consultant, keep these qualities in mind to truly excel in your field.
What Is a Sales Consultant?
Sales consultants are professional, courteous, friendly and persuasive individuals. They sell and promote products and services to customers. Sales consultants can perform their jobs in a variety of settings, from in-store to online. For example, retail sales consultants would operate in retail stores to help customers look through inventory.
Marketing consultants have many of the same skills as sales consultants. However, instead of helping customers directly, they help organizations develop and implement marketing strategies.
What Does a Sales Consultant Do?
What Does a Sales Consultant Do?Sales consultants primarily focus on selling products and services. This means that they directly interact with customers, either in person, online or over the phone. Sales consultants generally do not perform prospecting duties. Instead, consultants interact with prospects once they decide to come to the business.
Sales consultants then take up the sales process and help match a customer’s needs with their business’s products and services. Once they listen to the customer, sales consultants use their knowledge of offered products and services to make a sale. Sales consultants can operate in every field where some sort of sale occurs.
To get the most out of your sales process, look into sales management consulting to maximize your success.
Sales Consultant Duties
First and foremost, sales consultants must take responsibility for familiarizing themselves with their company’s products and services. Once they thoroughly understand their inventory, they use their knowledge to match customers’ needs. Sales consultants must also build relationships for future sales and positive referrals. Toward the close of a sale, they often must negotiate additional details of the deal.
No matter where or when they operate, sales consultants act as brand ambassadors. This means that they represent their business and must also exude the business’s values. When it comes to former and recurring clients, sales consultants also handle inquiries and complaints relating to the product. Sales consultants must keep all customers as satisfied as possible to maintain and grow their business.
Sales Consultant Skills
Most of the same skills extend to a variety of industries and fields. Communication skills often come first for many sales consultants. Without the ability to properly explain and clarify a product’s use and value, they cannot sell anything. Many of the topmost important sales skills extend from basic communication skills.
People skills also help sales consultant perform their duties. They need a strong backbone, good negotiation skills and the ability to remain calm. These skills help a sales consultant remain steadfast in their duties. Finally, they should practice sales professionalism, meaning that they act in a professional manner from grooming to duties.
Qualities of a Good Sales Consultant
Many of the qualities needed to become a good sales consultant take years to master. However, knowing what skills to focus on will greatly help you channel your energies where needed.
Persuasion
The selling process fundamentally revolves around the ability of the sales consultant to persuade. Persuasion includes explaining to and convincing prospects why your product or service outshines the competition. To properly persuade a customer, sales consultants need to understand all the benefits of their products. Additionally, all sales representatives need to listen to their customers to understand their particular needs.
Persuasion also includes convincing a customer that the product or service earns its price tag. This means that they must explain the value in a way that makes the customer see that value as well. Nearly all customers will raise some sort of objection or ask a question. A persuasive seller can navigate these objections to put the customer at ease and keep driving towards a sale.
Positivism
All sales consultants need to have a positive attitude in their toolbelt. Sales can really wear down the unprepared. Sales consultants will need to quickly familiarize themselves with rejection. Every single sales consultant will experience rejection at some point, regardless of experience or skill level.
Therefore, in the face of rejection, sales consultants need to stay positive. The ability to remain optimistic even in dire situations separates decent sales consultants from excellent sales consultants. Customers and prospects pick up on a sales consultant’s attitude. Plus, no customer wants to buy from a negative salesperson, regardless of the quality of the product or service.
Practice remaining positive by not internalizing rejections. Rejections act as learning experiences so that you can improve your sales strategy for next time. Additionally, not every person will fit into your company’s intended demographic. So, when a prospect says “no,” keep your eyes looking forward because a “yes” is right around the corner.
Outgoing Personality
Sales consultants deal with strangers day in and day out. Without the ability to approach and communicate with these strangers, a salesperson will never make a sale. Many prospects and customers expect salespeople to approach them first, especially in retail settings. And once a conversation begins, sales consultants must engage in a meaningful way that puts customers at ease.
The better of a conversation sales consultants engage in, the more likely a prospect will become a customer. By talking about topics extending beyond the product or service, salespeople find out hidden interests. They can then use these interests to better craft the sales pitch around the specific customer. Further, when a prospect feels uncomfortable they tend to try to end the sales pitch early without making a purchase.
Sales consultants can develop an outgoing personality on and off the clock. The more comfortable they get having meaningful conversations with strangers, the better their sales performance.
Detail Oriented
Every small facet of each interaction provides a puzzle piece for the sales consultant to pick up on. When a sales consultant can pick up on the minute details of a prospect’s needs they craft better sales pitches. Beyond the customers, the sales consultants must also focus on the small details of the products and services. These small details help them better understand the value of that which they sell.
Other factors play a huge role, which the sales consultant may stay well-tuned with. From inventory counts to price changes, a sales consultant must keep these details in mind. Otherwise, they might start making promises and guarantees they cannot make good on.
Additionally, a sales consultant must recall the fine details which a customer requests. This includes the precise specifications of the customer’s order, including such details as quantity. Keeping these details straight reduces buying friction. The less buying friction, the more likely a customer will return for additional purchases.
Diligence
When a sales consultant ties positivism with diligence, they become unstoppable. Or at least unperturbed in the face of uneven odds. During their sales pitch, a sales consultant needs to stay diligent until they exhaust all ways to reach a sale. Some prospects might offer immediate rejections or objections despite a hidden need for the product or service.
Salespeople need to wade through these objections to demonstrate the full value of a product or service. By remaining steadfast in their mission, sales consultants can reach the part of the pitch that draws the customer in. Additionally, a salesperson should take the initiative and take all the effort needed to secure a sale. This means following up on dozens of phone calls and pursuing every lead to its conclusion.
Rapport and Relationship Building
A good relationship between a sales consultant and a customer results in greater quality and quantity of sales. To build a good relationship, sales consultants should discuss topics unrelated to the sale at hand. More than anything, prospects buy from sales consultants they like. By staying friendly and sharing small personal details, a salesperson can establish a mutually beneficial relationship.
Rapport building also leads to a stronger degree of trust between the sales consultant and the customer. This means that customers will better take the advice of the salesperson. So when a salesperson gives a recommendation, the customer will probably take advantage of that insider knowledge. Take the time to build rapport with your customers and watch that effort pay off in spades.
Organizational Skills
Not only must sales consultants keep up with a plethora of details, but they must also keep these details straight. When handling many accounts simultaneously, sales consultants need to make sure they keep each deal on track. That means attending the proper meetings and going into them with the correct information. Mixing up dates or accounts can lead those customers to leave for more organized competition.
Sales consultants must know their limitations as they gradually build organizational skills. This way, they do not take on too many accounts or responsibilities before they are ready. By starting small, you create the foundations for those essential organizational skills that will last your career. Staying organized also helps reduce the amount of stress you will feel because you will have everything laid out before you.
Problem-Solving Skills
Problem-Solving SkillsSelling means matching a customer’s needs with a specific product or service that satisfies that need. To go about solving any problem, the sales consultant must first take the time to understand the problem. Listening to a customer’s specific needs leads to a solution that truly matches those needs. Thinking critically about the problem allows for creative problem-solving.
Keeping an open mind helps sales consultants visualize unique solutions. So, instead of getting bogged down, a sales consultant can adapt to new situations on the fly. It is okay to try an incorrect solution out as you hone in on the correct one.
Technological Skills
In today’s modern sales world, sales consultants need to keep up with modern technology. Many businesses implement technology into their sales process, including computer databases and tablets in the field. Sales consultants need to adapt to using these tools just as they would anything else. By staying up to date, sales consultants can take advantage of the benefits technology offers.
Whenever your business implements a new technology, take the time to learn how to fully use it. This will save you from getting lost when trying to use it in the field. Additionally, sales consultants make themselves more appealing to new employers when they already know how to use modern technology.
Research Skills
From discussing a prospect’s needs in person to performing online research, a sales consultant constantly gathers information. Knowledge is power, so the more a sales consultant knows about their products and clients, the better they can perform. For example, before a meeting with a new client, the sales consultant must research that client as thoroughly as possible.
This especially applies to B2B sales consultants. By researching a client’s business, they can learn what matters most to that business. When a sales consultant knows what matters most to their prospects they can find the right solution.
Developing the Right Skills
In addition to learning these skills from firsthand experience, you can jumpstart your learning with training. Sales consultant companies can offer skill-sharing programs and seminars your business can take advantage of. When you need help with salesforce training, count on Selling Revolution.
We use our years of experience to transform your sales team into sales juggernauts. Schedule a no-obligation 20-minute call today to discuss your business’s needs, and revolutionize how you do business.