Presentations
How To Prevent "Unpaid Consulting"
By Jeff Thull
Apr 4, 2004, 12:20

If
you're in sales, you've probably encountered this scenario.
You're trying to convince a potential customer that your great
product and service will solve his most pressing problem. To
prove the point, you explain precisely how your solution will
work. Mr. Potential Customer listens carefully, asks lots of
questions and takes copious notes. Everything seems to be going
well. The customer nods and says all the right things and you
leave convinced that the sale is in the bag. The problem is,
when you call to close the sale, Mr. PC is nowhere to be found.
Later, you hear that he has decided to buy from your top (and
less expensive) competitor. Frustrated, you find yourself asking,
"Where did I go wrong? Why didn't I see it coming?"
You realize, you've fallen prey to an all-too-common trap: unpaid
consulting.

Unpaid
consulting starts when we cross the line between diagnosing
the problem and explaining the solution. When we start designing
solutions, we start acting as unpaid consultants. In past decades,
this was not a monumental issue. Generally, there was limited
competition in complex sales. If you figured out the problem
and designed a unique and competent solution for a customer,
the sale was almost guaranteed and the salesperson was rewarded
for his consulting effort. Today, there is an ever-increasing
proliferation of competitors in complex sales, and once a solution
is designed, the customer can easily shop it to the competition.

Why
the change? you may be wondering. It is the outcome of the technology
explosion our world has experienced in the past decade or so.
Simply put, no matter how sophisticated your product is, chances
are there are numerous competitors offering the same thing.
And because geographic location is no longer a critical factor-thanks
in large part to the advent of the Internet-a New York manufacturer
can access a supplier in Los Angeles (or in China for that matter)
just as easily as it can the one across the street.

To
avoid the pitfalls of using outdated methods-pitfalls that include
but are not limited to the unpaid consulting trap-consider the
following suggestions:

• 
  
  
  

  Prevent
  Premature Presentations.
  How can you present a solution to the customer's problems
  before you clearly understand what those problems are-and
  more to the point, before the customer fully comprehends the
  problem and recognizes that you do too? While most salespeople
  devote the majority of their face-to-face time presenting
  and handling objections, the most successful salespeople spend
  the majority of their time collaborating with customers, diagnosing
  their situation, designing or creating a desired solution,
  and building their resolve to actively solve the problem.
  
  
  

  
  
  
  


• 
  
  
  

  Don't
  Lead The Witness. The
  traditional salesperson draws conclusions for the customer-often
  prematurely-and presents them to the customer before he or
  she is prepared to hear them. It is important that the customer
  discovers and takes ownership of the problem before deciding
  to seek a solution. If you move ahead of the customer, he
  or she is likely to interpret your actions as pushy or manipulative.
  This leads to a lack of trust, and creates a confrontational
  rather than cooperative atmosphere.
  
  

  
  
  
  


• 
  
  
  

  
  No Pain, No Change, No Sale. Dissatisfaction
  is the most basic human motivator for change. It is the natural
  defense mechanism that tells people that if they don't change
  and deal with a problem, they will face consequences. Change
  itself is painful. As a result, change will not occur until
  an individual or company recognizes that it would be more
  painful not to change. This is why it's so important to do
  a thorough diagnosis that uncovers the pain of the current
  situation, and the lack of the future outcome-nothing less
  will motivate the customer to change.
  
  

  
  
  
  


• 
  
  
  

  
  Go For The "No." One advantage
  of thorough diagnosis is that it allows the salesperson to
  quickly identify the 20-30% of their prospects who have the
  immediate reason and resources to make a change. It is the
  difference between an intellectual conversation about a desirable
  future and an objective observation and measurement of real
  indicators of an unacceptable present. The traditional salesperson
  wastes time arm-wrestling with a prospect that has no pain
  and hopes to win the sale by sheer tenacity. This has its
  roots in the theory that the good salesperson never takes
  "no" for an answer and the salesperson's view that
  "no" equates to personal failure. You should always
  be asking yourself, "Is there someplace better I could
  be?"