What is solution selling

Companies can use a variety of tactics when recruiting and selling products or services to customers. Solution selling is one technique that focuses on meeting customer needs. While solution selling is less popular in today's marketplace than it once was, it still offers some businesses and industries a viable sales approach.

In this article, we describe solution selling and who it works for, explain how to use it and provide elements to consider when solution selling. Solution selling is the process of a salesperson identifying a customer's need and providing them with a product or service solution. It's known as a problem-led sales process rather than a product-led sales process since it depends on identifying an issue prior to introducing a product rather than leading with the product or service. Often, companies use solution selling for highly technical or customizable products that require extensive knowledge and insight by the salesperson.

Many companies can research products, services and solutions to solve their business challenges with the Internet, so finding solutions is easier for companies than it once was. Solution selling became popular in the s, and while it's less popular today, it remains a useful tool for a select group of industries. Solution selling is most popular with B2B companies rather than individual consumers since it lends itself to complex situations and products.

Related: 14 Steps To Succeed in Sales. While many companies shy away from solution selling and have moved toward insight selling, solution selling is still a viable practice for many businesses and industries. Companies that use solution sales often provide products or services to clients that meet the following criteria:. Solution selling was a popular sales tactic in the s, but because companies and businesses now have easy access to data and knowledge on the internet, can employ procurement teams and work with purchasing consultants, solution selling is less viable than it once was.

However, companies can still use it successfully in the right situations. Follow these steps to employ a solution selling strategy effectively for your customers:. Begin by finding potential customers. Look for companies that have a clear need for your product or service or that would benefit from a customized product or plan.

Let's take a closer look at those elements. For example, a company that offers a cloud storage platform along with maintenance and security services will probably create a unique bundle for each of its customers. The salesperson will figure out how much data her prospect needs to store, how many devices he'll be accessing his files on, what kind of extra features and support he'll need, and so forth. Selling solutions means thinking beyond the immediate. Cliche as it might sound, it's about the bigger picture.

Product specs and features are important, but they're not the focal point of well-executed solution selling. This brand of sales emphasizes the "why" over the "what" of a potential sale. Consider a cybersecurity consulting firm trying to sell a midsize retail business a cybersecurity risk assessment.

If the firm was fixated on solely selling the assessment itself, it would mull over the general benefits of the service — " Our assessments cover virtually every relevant risk concern and help businesses understand where they have room to grow. Long story short, we make them more secure. Our assessments feature penetration testing to simulate those breaches and see where and how you might be most vulnerable to them — along with several other services to cover virtually any other risk scenario.

The risk forecasts and actionable solutions that come with our assessments can help you bolster your cybersecurity infrastructure, appropriately train your staff, and get ahead of any vulnerabilities that can compromise the safety and soundness of your retail transactions and business operations going forward.

It's the difference between "what" and "why" that separates the two concepts. In most cases, it helps to support your description of "what" the product is with an idea of "why" it will be valuable.

One great thing about solution selling is that it uses a tailored approach to selling. Many times, sales reps try to fit the prospect to the product instead of the other way around.

As for the disadvantages, there are a few to consider. Prospects may feel like the conversation feels more like an interrogation that will corner them into making a purchase. Lastly, some argue that solution selling is less valuable today, as prospects already know what solutions they need.

Because so much information is readily available to anyone online, prospects no longer rely as heavily on sales reps for diagnosing and solutioning.

Analyze your won deals to see which problems prompted prospects to buy your product. Ask them, " What factored into your decision to work with us? With this intuitive, cloud-based solution, everyone can work visually and collaborate in real time while building flowcharts, mockups, UML diagrams, and more.

The most popular online Visio alternative , Lucidchart is utilized in over countries by millions of users, from sales managers mapping out target organizations to IT directors visualizing their network infrastructure. What is solution selling? Follow these six steps of the sales process reframed for the solution selling process: 1.

Prepare This step follows the traditional sales process, with just a slight change of direction. Educate Here is where the real difference between the traditional sales process and the solution selling process becomes apparent.

Focus on elements like these: Return on Investment ROI Reduced operation costs Percentage of savings year-over-year You might even consider preparing an example or a case study of a current or past client to demonstrate your solution in action. Solve Mirror the language and style of communicating that the client has used so far to present your product as the solution to the specific pain points they discussed in step 2.

Close Listen to any remaining objections, counter those objections with benefit-driven responses, and move on to the close or next step. Sign up. Instead, they pinpoint the real-world problem the customer is currently facing and explain how their product can solve the problem in the best way possible. Solution Selling is ideal when selling a product with lots of variables and options as it helps prospects gain clarity on their needs and which solution is best for them.

It can be applied to something as simple as selling a new TV to complex B2B sales. However, to begin to profit from solution selling, you need to master these Four Steps to Solution Selling. Here is the secret process of getting the most from solution selling. Following these steps can help supercharge your sales team. Without in-depth knowledge about the products or services your company offers, it is almost impossible for your sales team to know which is the ideal solution for prospective customers.

Before any member of your sales team approaches a potential customer, make sure he does his homework first.

When meeting with a prospect for the first time, it is critical to ask the right questions to uncover any problems they might be trying to solve. Solution selling pros have a list of pre-created questions to diagnose the needs of the prospect , which positions them as the ideal solution. As we dissect the differences between Solution Selling and Consultative Selling it helps to define Consultative Selling.

The approach focuses on building trust with the customer right from the beginning of the sales cycle. Solution Selling and Consultative Selling are just two of the many sales methodologies available to us as Sales Professionals. Below is a simple visual summary of their fundamental differences:. Sales Professionals who endeavor to adopt the Consultative Selling approach will soon find that they reap the benefits of what they sow; Adjusting to shorter sales cycles, which of course encourages momentum, ultimately influencing the customer to buy faster.