Sales are the foundation of any functioning business. Customers and clients are the fuel behind the operation, and getting them to buy your product or service is of the utmost importance. If sales slowdown your whole business can feel the pressure. When your business needs a boost in sales, it just might be time to bring in sales consulting in a professional sales consultant to get the results you have been striving for. They come in all sorts of fields, so whether you be a car salesman or a marketing firm, there are experts out there who can help your business reach new heights.
What is Sales Consulting?
In the business world, consulting means to provide one’s own expertise or knowledge to benefit those without that particular experience. Consulting takes on a variety of forms, and sales consulting is just one of the many. Sales consulting is the process of an expert assisting a salesperson or group of salespeople to improve their current sales rates. It can take the form of coaching, seminars or continued training.
Sales consulting helps look at where a business is currently falling short and which improvements can be made. The primary goal is to improve overall sales, whether it be through implementing new practices or avoiding current pitfalls. Sales consulting can help transform a business to ensure its prolonged success.
What is a Sales Consultant?
A sales consultant is the person who comes into a business to improve its overall sales strategy. Whether a sales consultant be hired to work directly with a business’ training program or is brought in to assist an established sales force depends on each business’ particular needs. Sales consultants are experts who have usually spent years developing and implementing successful sales strategies, and are there to share their wisdom. They may work directly for a company or as independent agents.
Due to their potential of improving sales, the driving force behind any business, sales consultants are highly valued assets. Some sales consultants might have direct experience in the particular field they are hired to consult in, while others might just have general knowledge regarding the sales process. Either way, their insight can help turn a business around. The wisdom and experience sales consultants bring to the table cannot be understated.
What Do Sales Consultants Do?
The first step a sales consultant takes would be to analyze and understand the current state of the sales department they will be working with. This means they will break down the sales process and possibly see it in action so as to find what is working and what is failing. From there, a sales consultant develops a plan of action in order to help the sales force increase sales. They may work directly with the salespeople, or merely provide their expert insight for the sales managers to implement at their own discretion. Sales consultants may act as coaches or teachers, or may even just give recommendations.
A Sales Consultant’s Duties and Responsibilities
Sales consultants are responsible for identifying opportunities for improvement and aim for an overall increase in sales. Sales consultants are not directly responsible for personally increasing sales, but are expected to educate and coach staff so that the salespeople can make more deals. In addition to education, salespeople may meet with a business’ clients either to understand the current sales techniques better or to demonstrate better sales tactics for training purposes. Sales consultants are expected to provide both seminarial and actual presentations on how to close deals and increase sales. Once a strategy has been developed, sales consultants must then implement the correct adjustments so the company can continue to find success in the future.
Sales Consulting Processes
Sales consulting begins with understanding the Buyer Persona, or who the business is trying to sell their products and/or services to. From there, the general sales process will change for the specific business. However, other processes are often taken to reach the goal of increased sales. These include the Buyer’s Journey, which is how many interactions a salesperson has with a potential lead until they become a sale. Each step of the Buyer’s Journey is crucial, and sales consultants can help ensure fluid progress from lead to sale. Another process is marketing integration, where sales consultants work to ensure uniformity throughout the marketing and sales process so that they’re on the same page. This may include the process of organizational alignment, where consultants determine how the business as a whole is structured to ensure maximum number of sales. The last sales process, and perhaps the most direct one, is value messaging, where the inherent value of a business’ product/service is demonstrated to the potential client. These processes may be used independently or in conjunction with one another, depending on what the sales consultant sees fit.
Types of Sales Consulting Services
Depending on your specific business needs, you may be in the market for a specific type of sales consulting. Sales consulting is offered through a variety of mediums, including:
Independent Sales Consultant
The independent sales consultant is an expert individual hired from outside of a company’s organization to help increase sales. They may work for themselves or a consulting company. Independent sales consultants often have years of experience in the particular niche where your business operates. They can be thought of as contract workers, and will leave once their duties, as per your agreement with them, have been fulfilled. Independent sales consultants offer flexibility, as you can reach out to one that meets your specific needs. However, it may be difficult to find the right sales consultant if you operate in a particularly exclusive market.
Business Sales Consultant
A business sales consultant offers general advice as to how a business can improve its current sales model and structure. Instead of focusing on a specific niche, business sales consultants offer general sales advice that can help most sales driven businesses increase their sales rates. Business sales consultants can help structure a business around its sales aspect. Startups and new businesses may particularly benefit from a business sales consultant, as their general sales knowledge can help new entrepreneurs develop a sales strategy and overall get a better grasp of how sales works.
Sales and Marketing Consultant
A sales and marketing consultant’s primary function is to get both the individual sales and marketing departments to work together more effectively. They do this by improving communication between the departments, as well as establishing a marketing technique that complements the sales technique, or vice versa. When a marketing department and sales team do not work in unison, the result hurts the business’ bottom line as it leaves potential clients confused and misinformed. Sales and marketing consultants implement a marketing integration process so that the product or service being marketing most accurately matches the one actually being sold. This kind of consulting also helps a sales team better understand what kind of exposure potential leads may already have towards their business, as marketing is the primary way leads are introduced to a product or service.
Automotive Sales Consultant
An automotive sales consultant is an expert in the automotive industry who can bring their expertise to a car lot, or even a company as a whole, to help increase overall sales. An automotive sales consultant can identify strategies and practices that result in their clients improving their sales numbers. They understand the intricacies of the market, such as what kind of automobile a member of a certain demographic is more likely to be inclined to buy, and can help turn these leads into solid sales. These consultants often have cracked the code on a specific strategy that helps clear lots.
Home Sales Consultant
The real estate market is subject to constant fluctuations, which may result in one feeling lost when they start 
treading water in unfamiliar territory. Fortunately, home sales consultants have often been there too. A home sales consultant can advise realtors on the best strategies to use during the many peaks and valleys of the real estate market. Hiring a home sales consultant can have many benefits if you need help adjusting to changes in the market, or if you just feel like you could use a boost to pick up more sales. Either way, a home sales consultant might give you the trick to sell that house you just could not seem to get off the market.
Educational Sales Consultant
Education centered businesses may often feel frustrated due to the political walls they keep running into while trying to find clients. Fortunately, there are educational sales consultants who can help overcome these hurdles. Due to the nature of the educational industry, there may be several key people that need to be convinced of a product before any sales can actually be made. These may include principals and school boards, as well as parents in some cases. Educational sales consultants are experts at getting all these people on board and behind a single product: yours.
International Sales Consultant
Taking your business overseas has a variety of benefits and no shortage of obstacles. Whether it be language, culture, customs or regulations, bringing your business into a global market may seem more than a little daunting. In order to navigate this tricky terrain, an international sales consultant can definitely be of use. Whether it be breaking into a specific country or just finding your feet in the general global market, international sales consultants can help bring your sales force to places never before thought possible. They can offer insight into how a country operates and what the current market looks like, as well as how to conduct business to ensure maximum success. The key to making a sale is understanding how the markets work, and international sales consultants are experts in exactly that.
Business-2-Business Sales Consultants
If your business is in the B2B area, there are no shortage of consultants to help you increase your client base. Dealing with other businesses is no small task and requires quite a bit of tact in order to close a deal. Bringing in a B2B sales consultant can help ensure everyone you need to win over is on your side, and can better equip your sales force with the skills necessary to close more deals. The gravity of B2B deals are often much larger than those with direct consumers. And the larger the deal the harder they may be to close. A business-to-business sales consultant may be an expert in the field you are trying to get business into, and may offer the key bit of information that results in a sale.
Direct Sales Consultant
When your business is fueled by salespeople who go out there and find the customers, it might just be in your best interest to look into hiring a direct sales consultant. These consultants are experts at finding the right methods to close deals and make sales, face to face or over the phone, turning potential leads into actual sales. They know the methods that earn trust and respect and can give a little bit of their expertise to your sales team when it needs that help the most. By often using hands on training, direct sales consultants don’t just tell your employees how to make deals, they show them.
Wrapping Up – Sales Training Consultancy
If your business just is not getting the sales you need, or if you feel like it’s time to really make the deals that are right there on the table for you, Selling Revolution is here to help you take those steps. We will build a custom strategy around your business to ensure the best possible success. Whether you be a veteran establishment struggling in a changing market or a brand new startup wondering where to start, our consultants are ready to get you on track towards the performance you deserve. Book a call with us today, and let’s bring your business to the next level.