After reading a comment on Tom’s recent post, I thought I’d talk a bit about why consultative selling is important for long term business success.  It used to be that salespeople would try to convince or persuade customers that they needed your product.  Often the product wasn’t a very good fit, so customers would be unhappy.  Back before the Internet this wasn’t a huge problem because customers only had limited access to other potential customers (only those people they knew in person).  With the widespread use of the Internet and online social networks, disgruntled customers can have a huge impact on potential sales.

Consultative selling is the process of determining what your customer actually needs and then making recommendations for what would best fit those needs.  Sometimes what fits those needs is not something you offer, but if you’re honest, customers will remember that and will be more likely to recommend your services to others.  If you try to fit something you offer to what your customer needs, and it’s not the right fit, they’re not likely to be happy.  If your customer is unhappy enough, they can easily let other potential customers know.

This isn’t to say that you shouldn’t educate your customers on options you have that may be a close fit.  If you give your customers honest information about the advantages and disadvantages of any product, they’re more likely to be satisfied with their choice even if it’s not necessarily the best fit.

How do you sell to help your customers?

This is a guest post by Sarah Worsham, CEO & Web Strategist at Sazbean Consulting and blogging at Sazbean.com. Sarah is passionate about creating Internet strategies to help companies reach their business goals. Sarah provides guidance through Internet Marketing, Strategy & Business consulting. Connect with her on Twitter, Facebook or the Sazbean Facebook Page.