When you made your “big leap” as an independent business consultant, there were several defining reasons why you decided to stick your neck out and become a member of one of the world’s greatest professions.
As time passed however, you realized that the practice of consulting was very different from the act of selling your consulting services. You suffered the agony of having to convince prospects that you and your services were better and more effective than anyone else.
Unless you have a natural talent for sales, and most consultants don’t, this is an all too familiar description of the pain that consulting professionals go through from day to day in order to try and make a living from their traditional sales efforts.
The skills and talents required to perform consulting work are very different from the skills and talents required for your typical salesman. And that’s exactly why why you shouldn’t sell!
Selling is counterproductive to the way most consultants prefer to work and detrimental to the long-term success of their business. The only way not to sell to a prospect is to entice the client to come to you through
Multi-Leverage Marketing and solving their problem using the Diagnostic Sales Process.
Since we’re talking about sales in this post, we’ll start with the Diagnostic Sales Process and the 4 steps to a successful and happy client.
Even though I’ve been using the word “sales” to define the process, it’s exactly the opposite. Your objective is to listen to your prospect and ask questions, make a recommendation, provide a verified diagnosis, and lastly, solve their problem.
The 1st step requires a good ear to listen to your prospect in order to discover the problem they’re facing in their business. At this time the well-established 80/20 rule should apply. 80% listening 20% talking.
The 2nd step is where you get to do most of the talking. You need to let the client know that your expertise lies in helping many others just like themselves. This isn’t bragging but reassurance for the client.
In this step you’ll also be trying to identify the root of the problem. Making any reference to sales at this point is useless and a waste of your time. Remember, if you weren’t born to be a salesman then don’t act like one!
The 3rd step is to prove to yourself and to your soon-to-be client that your diagnosis to their initial problem is correct. There are several behavioral and motivational profiles you can use that will help you get the most out of the Diagnostic Sales Process.
The 4th step is to go back to the original pain point that they initially defined for you. Give them an action plan and a reminder of why this is important to do in order to resolve their problem. If the problem is big enough and your solution will remove the roadblock then the client will more than likely hire you.
Remember that you are best suited to educate and to train but NOT to SELL. As a professional consultant, the DSP allows you to work easily, more confidently, and faster throughout your business which increases your profit with each new client.
To read more about how to become a profitable consultant using the Diagnostic Sales Process, Go here.
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