It's story time from Alexander Bird, Commercial Director at findcourses! (It’s actually a story he read on the internet, but he thought it was poignantly funny and accurate as it relates to selling):
Bird’s humorous anecdote may be clearly fictional but the takeaway is obvious. Adjusting your selling style is crucial to closing deals in any market, especially during tougher economic times. As highlighted by Harvard Business Review, sales teams that adapt their approach to buyer behavior and market conditions are more likely to thrive.
Tailoring your strategy to the current climate can be the difference between winning a sale and losing out to competitors.
In this article, we'll dive into insights from our 2024 Course Trends Report, which revealed a solid 13% increase in Sales Management and 10% rise in Sales Prospecting course interest on findcourses.com. This growing demand underscores a sharpened focus on enhancing leadership skills, refining sales techniques, and improving prospecting strategies—all aimed at boosting sales effectiveness and securing a competitive edge.
Read on to learn about the different sales styles and why understanding their nuances can help boost your performance.
What is a Selling Style?
A selling style is the method a salesperson uses to close a deal. Salespeople are only human, and as such, what works for one sales style may not fit all. Effective salespeople adapt their approach based on their personality, strengths, and the nature of what they’re selling. Some salespeople use a single style, while others combine multiple approaches.
Knowing your selling style is crucial to making the sale because it allows you to leverage your strengths, adapt your approach to different situations, and build stronger relationships with prospects. This awareness leads to improved sales performance and more effective strategies tailored to various customer needs.
Making Your Selling Style Work
Regardless of the sales approach you use, the cornerstone of success lies in effectively communicating the core benefits of your product or service. Buyers are primarily motivated by solutions that address their specific needs and provide tangible improvements in their lives or businesses.
- Emphasize Core Benefits
To capture a buyer's interest, emphasize how your offering solves their problems or enhances their situation. For instance, when selling long-term care insurance, highlight the high costs of care and how your policy can alleviate future financial burdens, providing peace of mind. Conversely, if selling a hula hoop, focus on its health benefits, such as weight loss and cardiovascular improvement, while also promoting it as a fun way to stay fit. This approach appeals to the buyer's need for practicality and enjoyment.
- Tailor Your Approach
A tailored sales approach that aligns with the buyer's specific situation can make a significant difference. Understanding your audience and customizing your pitch to address their particular concerns or desires can enhance your effectiveness. This involves researching the buyer's background, current challenges, and goals, and then aligning your message to resonate with their needs.
- Build Trust Through Value
Building trust is essential for successful selling. When buyers perceive that you genuinely understand their needs and offer real value, they are more likely to engage and make a purchase. This means not only presenting the benefits of your product but also providing evidence, such as testimonials, case studies, or data, that supports your claims and reinforces your credibility.
- Address Buyer Concerns Proactively
Anticipate and address potential objections or concerns the buyer may have. Providing clear, honest answers and solutions to these concerns can help mitigate doubts and strengthen your position. For example, if a buyer is hesitant about the cost of long-term care insurance, you might offer flexible payment options or additional benefits that add value.
- Follow Up and Build Relationships
Effective selling doesn’t end with the initial pitch. Follow-up is crucial for maintaining engagement and building long-term relationships. Regularly check in with buyers, provide additional information or updates, and offer ongoing support to ensure their satisfaction and loyalty. This ongoing relationship helps build trust and increases the likelihood of repeat business and referrals.
By concentrating on these key areas—emphasizing core benefits, tailoring your approach, building trust, addressing concerns, and maintaining relationships—you can make any sales method more effective and persuasive, ultimately driving better results and achieving your sales goals.
10 Selling Styles for Your Strategy Toolbox
Since one selling style may not suit everyone, understanding your own approach is crucial for leveraging your strengths, adapting to different situations, and boosting your closing success. Here are various types of selling and how you can leverage them to your advantage:
1. Transactional Selling
BEST FOR: when a direct, short-term sales strategy is needed to close quick deals with minimal emphasis on building long-term relationships.
In these transactions, both the buyer and seller are typically more interested in completing the sale efficiently than in establishing an ongoing connection.
While not as prevalent in today's relationship-centric sales landscape, transactional selling remains effective in specific situations. A practical example is the e-commerce sector, where consumers might purchase everyday items like office supplies or electronics with little need for personalized interaction.
In B2B contexts, transactional selling can be effective for selling SaaS subscriptions to small teams or individuals who are familiar with the product and need minimal assistance, such as purchasing a basic software package or renewing an existing subscription.
Buyers are educating themselves before interacting with sales reps. As a result, it's more important than ever that marketing and sales be in sync to ensure customer satisfaction (despite the low-touch interaction). Sales and marketing teams should work together to create a robust self-serve knowledge base, including product demos, articles, and guides.
2. Solution Selling
BEST FOR: industries like enterprise software sales, where businesses need tailored solutions for complex operational challenges.
Solution selling focuses on solving a buyer's specific problems rather than just showcasing product features. In this approach, sales representatives identify the customer's challenges and demonstrate how their solution directly addresses those needs, emphasizing the customer’s perspective of “What’s in it for me?” (WIIFM).
Although some criticize solution selling for not always delivering unique or innovative solutions, it remains effective when executed properly. A sales rep might engage with a company struggling with inefficient supply chain management and offer a customized software package that streamlines its processes, reduces costs, and improves overall efficiency.
A 2019 McKinsey report noted that solution sellers don’t necessarily close more deals than those focused on product features, but success in this approach depends on several critical factors:
- Building authentic relationships with buyers
- Developing innovative, tailored solutions that address unique challenges
- Clearly communicating the total business value of the solution, including product benefits, services, and overall experience
- Ensuring the entire organization, not just the sales team, is aligned with the solution-focused strategy
To thrive in solution selling, it's essential to refine individual sales skills, allocate more time for customer interactions, and effectively measure the long-term value provided to the client. By doing so, sales professionals can create compelling narratives that resonate with buyers and drive successful outcomes.
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3. Consultative Selling
BEST FOR: complex sales with longer cycles, where the sales team can leverage data, ask insightful questions, and uncover critical needs.
Consultative selling and solution selling are often confused, but they have distinct differences. While solution selling focuses on addressing the buyer's problem with a tailored solution, often bypassing a detailed discussion of features and benefits, consultative selling takes a more comprehensive approach.
Buyers typically conduct their own research and want reps who can answer questions promptly, provide data-driven insights, and guide them through the buying journey. In fact, 80% of buyers are more inclined to buy a product or service if the sales experience is consultative, according to Forrester.
For example, in industries like enterprise software or B2B services, where the buyer may already have a good understanding of potential solutions, consultative selling helps to differentiate by providing strategic guidance and aligning the solution with the buyer’s broader business objectives.
4. Provocative Selling
BEST FOR: times of uncertainty, such as economic downturns, where customers may be more open to bold moves.
Geoffrey Moore’s 2009 Harvard Business Review article, “In a Downturn, Provoke Your Customers,” illustrates the power of provocation in sales. This method pushes buyers to rethink their current challenges by instilling a sense of urgency and highlighting new opportunities or threats they might not have considered.
Like consultative selling, provocation-based sales involve uncovering a buyer's needs and pain points. However, this approach goes a step further by challenging the buyer with a potential crisis, compelling them to act swiftly toward a solution.
For instance, in industries like cybersecurity or financial services, where emerging threats can have significant consequences, a sales rep might use provocative selling to highlight the risks of inaction and guide the buyer toward adopting a more robust solution.
This approach demands highly skilled sales professionals who can balance provocation with sensitivity, knowing when to push and when to pull back to avoid overwhelming or alienating the buyer.
5. Collaborative Selling
BEST FOR: when a company is looking for a custom solution, the sales team works closely with the buyer to understand their specific business challenges, goals, and existing processes.
Collaborative selling, like consultative selling, focuses on building strong relationships and understanding the buyer's needs. However, it takes this concept further by actively involving the buyer in the sales process, making them a co-creator in identifying and implementing solutions.
Gartner refers to this approach as a "sense-making" process, where sellers help buyers sift through the overwhelming amount of information they encounter during their purchasing journey. Dubbed the “secret to fostering lasting client relationships” by HBR, collaborative selling transforms the relationship from a mere transaction to a strategic partnership.
A practical example of collaborative selling can be seen in the tech industry, particularly in software development. Instead of presenting a ready-made product, the sales rep collaborates with the buyer to co-create a tailored solution that meets their unique needs.
Success in this approach requires all customer-facing teams—sales, marketing, service, and support—to be aligned on shared data, goals, and metrics, ensuring they consistently deliver value and reinforce the partnership.
6. Social Selling
BEST FOR: engaging in meaningful interactions that position your brand as the solution to your customer's needs, rather than making quick sales.
In this modern age, social media has dramatically changed the way businesses connect with customers. So much so that social selling has become a key sales strategy. According to Linked In, 75% of B2B buyers and 84% of senior executives use social media to inform purchase decisions.
This approach leverages social media platforms to connect with potential customers, build trust, and cultivate relationships over time.
Key tactics in social selling include:
- Focusing on relationship-building over immediate sales
- Regularly interacting with prospects and offering value before attempting to sell
- Social prospecting by participating in relevant groups and engaging with potential customers
- Contributing to discussions about your industry or brand
- Sharing valuable content and providing insightful feedback
An example of social selling can be found in the SaaS industry, where companies use LinkedIn to identify and engage with decision-makers at target organizations. By sharing relevant articles, commenting on industry trends, and offering helpful advice, sales reps build relationships that can lead to direct conversations and eventually, sales opportunities.
This approach, when done well, can shorten sales cycles and increase customer loyalty, though it requires consistent effort and a genuine commitment to adding value rather than just closing deals.
7. Situational Selling
BEST FOR: complex sales environments where the nuances of the buyer’s context are critical.
Situational selling is a flexible sales strategy that tailors the approach to the specific needs and context of each customer. Unlike fixed sales methods, it requires sales professionals to evaluate and respond to the unique situation of each prospect.
According to Richardson Sales Performance, "[Buyers] wish to interact only with sellers who understand their business, their situations, their challenges, and their opportunities. Buyers no longer have time for generalists – they want to work with expert specialists who can bring new insight and value, and who can help them solve their problems and create new value."
The key elements of situational selling include:
Flexibility: Adjusting the sales pitch and strategies based on the buyer’s specific context.
Context Awareness: Understanding the buyer’s environment, including market conditions and competitive pressures.
Customization: Crafting solutions and messages that address the buyer’s unique needs and preferences.
Active Listening: Engaging deeply with the buyer to gather insights and refine the approach.
For example, in a B2B scenario where a company is considering a new CRM system, a situational selling approach would involve first understanding the company’s current pain points with their existing system, such as issues with integration or user adoption.
The salesperson would then tailor their presentation to highlight how their CRM solution addresses these specific challenges, provides a seamless transition, and improves overall efficiency.
Situational selling emphasizes adaptability and responsiveness, making it valuable across various industries and sales scenarios. By tuning into the unique aspects of each opportunity, sales professionals can better meet customer needs and foster successful outcomes.
8. Partnership Selling
BEST FOR: industries like SaaS, where startups aim to expand into new markets by leveraging partnerships.
Partnership selling involves close collaboration between companies throughout the sales process, treating customers as collaborative partners to achieve sales objectives more efficiently.
There are two primary forms of partnership selling:
1. Technology/Integration Partnerships:
In this scenario, two software vendors might work together to offer complementary solutions to a shared customer. For instance, a company specializing in project management software could partner with a time-tracking tool provider. By integrating their products, they deliver a more comprehensive solution that meets a broader range of customer needs.
2. Channel Partnerships:
Here, a reseller and a supplier collaborate to sell a product or service. For example, a reseller might team up with a software developer to offer an exclusive suite of tools to their clients. This joint effort combines the reseller’s market reach with the developer’s product expertise, facilitating a smoother sales process and improved customer experience.
Partnership selling can accelerate growth, shorten sales cycles, and enhance market reach by combining strengths and sharing customer bases. However, it can also present challenges such as profit-sharing agreements, potential conflicts, and the need for specialized skills to effectively sell another company’s product.
Despite these hurdles, successful partnership selling can provide a competitive edge and drive substantial business growth.
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9. High-Pressure or “Hard” Selling
BEST FOR: when buyers are hesitant but interested or during times of economic prosperity.
However, the hard sell is widely regarded as unethical as it tends to coerce customers into decisions they may not fully understand.
The “hard sell” strategy employs psychological tactics to pressure buyers into making swift decisions. By leveraging emotions such as fear, pride, or greed, this approach aims to close deals quickly, often leaving buyers inadequately informed. A hard-sell approach tends to be less effective during times of financial difficulties.
Typical high-pressure techniques associated with hard selling include:
- Relentless Persuasion: Constantly pushing the buyer with a barrage of information and arguments.
- Emotional Manipulation: Playing on the buyer’s fears or desires to induce a quick decision.
- Limited-Time Offers: Creating an artificial sense of urgency with time-sensitive deals.
- Exaggerated Promises: Making unrealistic claims to persuade buyers to act immediately.
For example, a telemarketer might use hard sell tactics by calling a potential customer multiple times, emphasizing that an exclusive deal is about to expire, and making grandiose promises about the product's benefits. This method may induce a quick purchase, but it often risks alienating the customer and resulting in negative reviews.
An alternative approach, known as high-urgency selling, aims to create a genuine sense of urgency without the aggressive connotations of hard selling. This method focuses on presenting real reasons for acting quickly, such as a product’s limited availability due to high demand, which can motivate buyers without resorting to manipulation.
10. Insight Selling
BEST FOR: when a salesperson needs to demonstrate their product’s relevance to what the customer already has.
In today's complex B2B landscape, insight selling has become essential, aligning with modern buying behaviors. HubSpot notes that buyers expect salespeople to provide value that goes beyond what they can discover on their own.
This approach focuses on deeply understanding customers, building trust, and using insights from sales data, market research, and industry trends to guide the buyer's decision-making.
Insight selling typically manifests in two ways:
1. Opportunity Insight: Sales representatives proactively introduce new ideas or solutions, helping potential buyers recognize how these offerings align with their needs and business objectives.
2. Interaction Insight: Salespeople engage prospects in discussions that challenge their current thinking, assisting them in identifying which solutions best address their specific needs.
For instance, in the technology sector, a software company might use insight selling by analyzing a potential client's current systems and pain points. The sales team then presents tailored recommendations, highlighting how their software can resolve specific issues and improve efficiency.
This approach not only demonstrates the software’s relevance but also builds a stronger connection with the buyer by addressing their unique challenges.
While insight selling can lead to more customized pitches and foster stronger relationships, it also demands substantial investment in data management and technology, such as advanced CRM systems, to effectively gather and analyze customer insights.
Final Takeaways
Each selling style can be effective when used in the right context, with the ultimate goal of meeting the customer's needs. Training in various approaches equips your team with the skills needed to navigate the entire sales cycle, deepening their understanding of your offerings and the market. This enhanced expertise enables your team to communicate your advantages more effectively and successfully.
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