B2B sales consulting from nonselling professionals may be one of the largest overlooked areas of sales opportunities. Relationships are a central part of the sales process, meaning that these professionals already have an excellent foundation to tap into to bring in new sales opportunities.
The professional services industry saw a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 7.9% between 2020 and 2021 and is expected to grow at a CAGR of 7%, to reach $7063.87 billion by 2025. This growth presents an excellent opportunity for businesses to tap into the potential of their existing sales consultants. You do not want to leave these opportunities on the table, so let’s explore how to make this happen.
Why Consultants Are an Untapped Gold Mine of Sales
Nonselling professionals, particularly consultants, often spend more time with customers than other team members. They build customer relationships and learn more about their needs and wants from the products and services sold.
There is a common misconception that consultants do not contribute directly to selling and sales, but the reality is that they are more of an untapped resource. Customers often view consultants as trustworthy and reliable because of their role in actively solving problems for the client. They have a relationship that can help them tap into potential opportunities for generating new sales.
Unfortunately, asking consultants to actively participate in selling often makes them overly transactional or not effectively engaging clients in sales conversations. They need a vision that will help them translate their relationship and consulting skills into sales skills.
Identifying Sales Skills in Consultants Professionals
Focusing on developing critical skills can be particularly useful for nonselling professionals interested in learning more about their potential to generate sales. It will help you align your sales and marketing, supercharging both.
Proactive communication
B2B sales consultants should strive to be at least one step ahead of their clients. Know the directions they want to go and how you can impress them. The foundation of trust means that clients take suggestions from consultants seriously, and thus recommendations about how additional product features and upgrades can help them achieve their new goals can make a positive impact.
Meeting new people
Sales consultants can work to meet new people throughout their clients’ organizations. Building relationships with others can further cement feelings of trust. Consultants who take the time to nurture these different relationships build their credibility. They also gain better insight into the client’s operations, thus enhancing their ability to predict their next goals and tailor their proactive communication, as described above.
Consulting
As a part of their consulting skills, nonselling professionals should work on asking the tough questions of their clients. They will need to challenge the client’s point of view and help them see how they can grow with access to new services and capabilities.
Storytelling
When consultants can take complex or technical ideas and convert them into an appealing story, they can do a better job of convincing people why a particular purchase is worth it.
Overcoming objections
Finally, the consultants will need to practice skills in overcoming objections raised by their clients. They need to practice hearing potential obstacles the client sees and helping them find a way past them instead of allowing the potential problems to halt the sales process.
When consultants focus on developing these skills, they will find that they can drastically improve their sales potential.
Upskilling Nonselling Professionals
Businesses should prioritize evaluating their nonselling professionals to gauge their current sales skills. ALTA has a sales evaluation tool to help you thoroughly and quickly assess both the primary and soft skills needed for sales.
Preparing your professionals to manage sales opportunities allows your team to tap into existing relationships and improve your sales rates, significantly enhancing your sales capabilities.
Upskilling your team can happen in a few different ways. Internal coaching can be an excellent way to walk people through strategies that they might use to engage their potential clients. Working with a sales training firm that can help you maximize your B2B sales consulting, like ALTA, will help your team reach even further.
Building Your Sales With B2B Sales Consulting
Your consulting team has established trust and built relationships with clients, which can open many doors to new sales opportunities. Unfortunately, this potential remains untapped for many businesses.
To build your sales numbers, you must look at how to nurture the sales skills in these nonselling positions, preparing your team to bring in new lead possibilities.
If you are ready to upskill your non-sales professionals so that you do not let these opportunities go to waste, contact us at ALTA Consulting now. We will help you properly assess the skills of your nonselling professionals and position your team to bring in more opportunities.
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