CONSULTATIVE SELLING: WHAT ABOUT 360 DEGREE FEEDBACK?
Last week’s blog (scroll below) examined feedback— and suggested that the consultative salesperson use it “bi-directionally.” Whenever appropriate, voluntarily play back to the client our understanding of what he/she is saying (especially, apparent needs) and also ask our clients to play back their understanding of what we’re saying (especially, ideas and recommendations). Our goal: preclude potential misunderstandings— an obvious benefit to all. This starts to sound like “360 degree feedback”; should we really go that far?
Broadly defined, 3600 feedback is a mutual exchange of comments, suggestions and improvement opportunities between individuals or groups; frequently, it replaces one-way evaluations of subordinates by their bosses in corporate personnel management settings.
When the 3600 feedback concept is applied to client/sales team situations, an excellent process technique is the “Keep/Stop/Start” exercise— a mainstay of idea-generation and problem-solving projects. Here, everyone contributes to a listing of productive practices already being done (the “Keeps”); unproductive practices currently being done (the “Stops”); and potentially productive practices not now being done (the “Starts”). It’s a democratic, creative and non-threatening way for groups to move forward synergistically.
- Since K/S/S focuses on actions, policies, behaviors and their business consequences, it leaves individual conflicts— personality traits, presumed attitudes, etc.— out of the discussion. Finger-pointing kills 360 degree feedback! Further, K/S/S is always mutually “solicited feedback,” rather than unexpected, unwelcome suggested changes and criticisms.
It’s important to note that 3600 feedback can be implemented at different levels of frequency and formality— matching the needs and comfort requirements of the client team and sales team members:
1. The consultative salesperson casually, informally offers ad hoc playback and requests client feedback, as necessary, to assure mutual understanding. If the salesperson calls attention to the process, purpose and value of 3600 feedback, the client may volunteer her/his constructive feedback more readily. (Otherwise, it’s mostly salesperson-driven, and “not very 360.”)
2. The client team and sales team agree to routinely operate in “3600 feedback mode,” a way of doing business which happens often, is still informal, impromptu, and “unofficial”— but is much more a shared, joint-team process and policy.
3. The 3600 feedback process becomes formal and official: scheduled, systematic mutual evaluations, which may include a prescribed format and may be documented “for the record.” If we choose this level, we should routinely be sharing informal 3600 feedback along the way, too. (Our willingness to recommend this level signals our confidence, professionalism and commitment to providing excellent client service— and invites the client to reciprocate.)
The bottom line: Remember that 360 degree feedback is a team effort— a collegial, supportive, pragmatic dialog, whose end objective is better, more successful business practices and results for the client and consultative sales team alike. It must be designed and conducted to be comfortable for everybody involved, so that they’ll accept (and even enjoy?) the process. How might the 3600 feedback concept work for your sales team?
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CONSULTATIVE SELLING: MAKING FEEDBACK WORK
Generally, it’s fair to suggest that all business feedback is beneficial, in that it lets one party know what the other party is thinking— whether those thoughts are positive or negative. Clearly, one of the biggest threats the consultative salesperson could face in his/her client relationships is ignorance— our ignorance of the client’s needs, and his/her ignorance of what we can do to help. Let’s examine some elements of exchanging client/salesperson feedback that improve mutual understanding.
First, feedback’s cardinal rule: Solicited feedback trumps unsolicited feedback every time. When we invite our client’s feedback, she/he feels encouraged to be forthright and complete. When the client asks us for feedback, we have an opportunity to be forthright, too (in a respectful, professional and decorous manner, of course). Solicited feedback is usually superior in quality and is almost always heard more receptively.
Five feedback rules-of-the-road:
- Always ask for feedback with a neutral question— avoiding the implication that we’re expecting a negative response. Examples: “How does that sound?” “How are we doing?” rather than, “Do you see any problems?” “Are we missing the boat here?” etc. Note that positive implications should be avoided, too— “Sounds right, doesn’t it?” is a transparently leading statement, not a question that seeks information.
- Typically, we should respond to client feedback with at least one question. First, our question(s) signal our genuine interest in understanding what he/she means and feels. Second, it’s very unlikely that we’ll fully understand the initial feedback without some elaboration or clarification. Third, immediately responding with our point of view risks it sounding like a rebuttal, or implies that our opinion is more important than the client’s. Value feedback, and draw it out!
- In presentation situations where premature, unsolicited client feedback greatly interferes with our proposal, it’s fair to ask permission to defer elaboration until a more appropriate time. Make a (conspicuous) written note of the feedback remark, promise to get back to it later— and always deliver on that promise. (Also see our March 5 blog, “Giving Instructions Upward.”)
- Again, beware of “offering” unsolicited feedback, which is often interpreted as an unwelcome, unexpected criticism or complaint, even if intended as a helpful suggestion. A tip: if we ask the client for feedback on our performance, it may trigger his/her request for reciprocal feedback from us. Grasp that golden opportunity ever so gently and constructively.
- When business necessities dictate that we absolutely, positively must offer the client unsolicited feedback: always stress the benefit to the client resulting from accepting our feedback and behaving accordingly. Focusing on the client-benefit directs our perspective, too, as our personal needs rightly take a backseat to meeting the client’s needs.
Bi-directional feedback is the bedrock of good relationships and successful business communications. We should invite feedback often and accept it readily; offer it sensitively and selflessly; and nurture it as the foundation of our counsel and performance.
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CONSULTATIVE SELLING: “HEADLINING”
Business professionals who participate in idea-generation (“brainstorming”) meetings are often asked to use a communication technique called, “headlining.” Quite simply, it means stating our idea immediately and succinctly (even if, occasionally, somewhat imprecisely?)— before going on to set it up, detail and rationalize it. In effect, it’s leading with our “punch line.” Let’s examine headlining as a potentially powerful consultative selling tool.
Leading with our idea or recommendation can seem like an impulsive, disorderly, risky way to sell a proposal; many professionals automatically begin with the “setup”— background, supporting circumstances and elements, etc. — and conclude with the recommendation. Their goal is to “weave a web” of logic and persuasion so convincing that the resulting recommendation seems uniquely appropriate and unarguable. Well, maybe so, and maybe not.
The problem with this sequence is that because the client doesn’t know where we’re going, he/she may misunderstand, forget, or just plain not hear much of our setup and rationale. What’s missed along the way could sabotage our sale. Isn’t a jigsaw puzzle a lot harder to do if we don’t have a picture of it completed, for reference? Three headlining applications:
- Formal presentation: Make no mistake: beginning by reviewing the client’s needs is always right— because it’s always what the client cares about most. After that, consider a 3-part presentation format often credited to the US military: (1) “Tell Them What You’re Going to Tell Them,” (succinct recommendation) (2) “Tell Them” (the detail and rationale) and (3) “Tell Them What You Told Them” (tight summary). If we telegraph/support/review, isn’t it likely that they’ll get it? Admittedly, there’s no suspense or drama here, but do we really need that?
- Email or Letter: The email’s Subject line or the letter’s Title line contains the recommendation; (a review of client needs and) our proposal’s details and rationale follow in the “body copy.” If the client already agrees with us, she/he doesn’t even have to read the body copy— a courtesy from us. If he/she disagrees, our (hopefully convincing) rationale follows; at least, we won’t be making her/him re-read the text, after discovering and disputing our recommendation at the end.
- Verbal Communication: Spontaneous talk is the most challenging application of headlining. Our impromptu spoken headline may not be a precise articulation of the idea; even so, we’re telegraphing the general direction of our proposal. Next, we (review the client’s needs, and then) precisely define and rationalize our recommendation. The client may cut the conversation short if she/he readily agrees.
Clearly, headlining isn’t always the right way to offer a recommendation. Some ideas, if broached immediately, can send the client off into an erroneous inference— and we’ll need to dig ourselves out of the resulting hole. Further, drama and suspense could help us make some sales, despite the risks. Headlining is a useful selling skills tool— a “judgment call” that’s well worth considering.
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CONSULTATIVE SELLING: SEEKING CONFIRMATION
An unfortunate reality of all client/salesperson conversations is that opportunities for major misunderstanding arise often. If we’re lucky, we’ll recognize our confusion and ask for clarification. The biggest threats are the undetected misunderstandings— often the birthplace of disagreement and rejected proposals. Beyond maximizing our listening skills, what can we do to nip potential misunderstandings in the bud?
The key concept here is seeking confirmation; four important examples:
- Confirming Our Review of Needs as Understood: Arguably the “granddaddy” of consultative selling confirmation situations, here’s where we play back the client needs we (think we) heard during the meeting’s situation analysis phase. If there ever was a place where we have to get it right, this is it: our subsequent recommendations will be tied to demonstrating how our product/service meets these perceived needs. Replay the client’s needs thoroughly— then ask if we got them right and got them all.
- Confirming the Agenda and Available Time: These are presumably not miscommunication problems; surprises here usually result from the (client’s) circumstances or needs having changed since we earlier agreed on the meeting’s agenda and length. The benefits of our understanding the new situation— and being able to adapt the meeting content and timing accordingly— are obvious. Ask the client straightforwardly if our agreed-upon agenda and meeting length are still valid.
- Confirming Our Paraphrase of the Client’s Objection: This third step of the Objection Resolution process “reframes” the objection as an unfulfilled client need, and defines a task that we’ll need to accomplish for our recommendation to be accepted. Since our paraphrase opens a new pathway by turning the objection into an objective, it’s necessary to get client confirmation that he/she agrees that our proposed task is the way forward.
- Confirming the sale, itself: our February 5 blog on “Closing” describes a technique for confirming the client’s readiness to buy without pressuring him/her, or resorting to artificial closing “gambits.” After the client’s objections to our recommendation, if any, have been fully resolved, we voluntarily ask if she/he needs to discuss anything else. If the answer is, “no,” we can fairly assume that the client has approved our proposal. This “assumptive close” confirmation tool is uniquely comfortable for both of us.
Although these four applications are especially important, there are many other salesperson/client dialog situations where a confirmation question or statement can be beneficial. When it comes to confirming mutual understanding, “more is more”; we should ask for repetition or clarification often— and always, if we have the slightest doubt.
Importantly, we can improve the client’s understanding of us by replaying what we’ve heard— an irresistible invitation to correct us and, therefore, to get it right. (Could we occasionally ask the client to paraphrase what we’ve said, when full understanding is crucial?)
One of the most important selling skills is knowing when and how to “seek confirmation” in our client dialogs.
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CONSULTATIVE SELLING: THE PROS & CONS OF BEING AN “EXPERT”
Clearly, the term “consultative selling” involves and requires genuinely collaborative, client needs-oriented attitudes and behaviors in all our business dealings. Even so, there are times when we must behave as pure “experts” — essentially dictating recommended client decisions and actions in our product/service area— where he/she simply isn’t qualified to make, or even contribute to the decision. Let’s talk about how “playing the expert card” affects our client dialogs.
Peter Block’s widely-acclaimed book, “Flawless Consulting,” comprehensively defines the often-contrasting characteristics and consequences of our roles as expert and collaborator.
Our challenge is precisely “roping off” that part of our recommendation which is non-negotiable: where we know how to do something, and the client doesn’t; indeed, these are probably the capabilities that caused the client to hire us in the first place. Outside those ropes, we’re true consultants: always collaborative and client-inclusive.
- If we rope off too wide an area, we’re arbitrarily excluding the client from making legitimate, beneficial contributions. If we rope off too narrow an area, we’re allowing the client to override our core capabilities and inadvertently degrade our proposals. A (hopefully-humorous) metaphor: if we’re asked, “What time is it?” even a genuine desire to be “collaborative” doesn’t justify the response, “What time would you like it to be?”
We should always try to draw these lines before making the recommendation; not waiting until the client raises an objection, and then scrambling to decide what’s legitimately negotiable, and what isn’t. Under pressure, emotions and professional egos could cause us to exaggerate what we “own” or, conversely, to abandon some of our expertise while trying to maximize collaboration and make the sale.
As we’ve so often said, the downside risk in doing anything to which the client doesn’t directly contribute is that her/his lack of authorship/ownership could reduce the feeling of shared commitment to the plan. When we must rightly wear the expert’s hat, it’s a price worth paying: first and foremost, we need the program to be as effective as possible.
A caveat: saying “trust me” (because I’m the expert) to a deeply skeptical client asks him/her to make a huge leap of faith; if we’re not proven right virtually every time, the client’s confidence in our expertise is probably permanently damaged. Make an extra effort to persuade that dubious client!
We should never forget that even in situations where, as experts, we rightly dictate client decisions and actions, it’s always the client who judges the success (or failure) of the outcome. Our own opinion about the results will never outweigh the client’s opinion. That means we should collaboratively seek client/sales team agreement, up front, on the criteria for measuring the program’s success.
In a nutshell: the consultative salesperson must walk a tightrope, carefully balancing the expert’s necessary dictates with a collaborative, client needs-driven mindset. We need to map out those boundaries precisely— before team selling goes to work.
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CONSULTATIVE SELLING: THE ART OF DEFINING “NEXT STEPS”
Every successful salesperson knows the elation of closing a big sale— and the desire to “head for the door” immediately. The “Next Steps” process that ends the meeting can seem like anti-climactic “boiler plate” to be quickly dispensed with. Beware the urge to give short shrift to determining Next Steps— a task which has the power to make or break our selling skills triumph.
The bedrock of a good Next Steps determination is specificity and detail:
- Make sure the Next Step is an action or process, not an objective or strategy. It’s not, “Confirm the project’s legality…”; it’s, “Email the corporate lawyer our plan summary and ask for her/his legal opinions, especially regarding our suspected problem areas A and B.”
- Assign responsibilities and actions to individuals, by name. It’s not, “the Brand Group will…”; it’s, “John Smith will…” Try to assign at least one “helper” to any task which appears to be at all complicated or time-consuming; don’t leave Mary Jones with a daunting list of solo Next Steps.
- Always assign a precise due-date to each specific task. It’s not, “Call Jim Johnson…” it’s, “Call Jim Johnson before close of business tomorrow….”
It goes without saying that every individual tasked with one or more Next Steps should feel comfortable and confident that she/he can accomplish the assignment(s). Ask that question in a consultative selling, empathetic manner that encourages team members to volunteer any latent concerns. (Technique: one or two “casual” follow-up questions about a task’s “how to” elements may uncover a worry that could keep someone from pursuing his/her assignment.)
- Often, responsible professionals don’t proactively perform a task simply because they either don’t know how to do it and/or they’re anxious about doing it. Both kinds of reluctance can be sensitively queried and addressed now— rather than after the project has mysteriously stalled. Often, the combined client and sales team can brainstorm and overcome perceived obstacles during the Next Steps discussion, itself.
Get at least three Next Steps, if possible. While there’s no magic in the number “3,” it has a way of signaling a truly substantial, important activity. Further, a list of three tends to readily spark additional suggestions— and a comprehensive action plan builds rapidly and easily.
Make sure the client has at least one important Next Step in moving the project ahead. His/her acceptance of a task is an indication of genuine commitment, and it generates a sense of client authorship and ownership (even if it’s essentially our recommendation and project). Meaningful client involvement reduces the likelihood that the project will be easily stalled or abandoned when (inevitable) obstacles to progress arise along the way.
The meeting’s Next Steps phase is a golden opportunity for the consultative salesperson to facilitate defining both the sales and client teams’ future contributions to the project; let’s make the most of it.
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CONSULTATIVE SELLING: HOW “I-MESSAGES” HELP KEEP OUR EGOS AT BAY
Many thoughtful salespersons are (rightly) aware that using the word “I” too often in client dialogs can be a danger signal— we’re focusing on ourselves and our product/service, rather than on fulfilling the client’s needs. Ironically, an especially beneficial communications device called the “I-message” is a reassuring sign of a client-centered attitude. Here are some examples of how it works:
Reviewing the client’s needs: In the Consultative Selling Skills model, the final step of the Situation Analysis phase is called the “review of needs as understood.” This phraseology is a continuing reminder that, despite our best efforts, we may not have completely and accurately determined client needs through our supportive questioning process. By beginning each perceived needs restatement with an appropriate I-message, we take responsibility for our understanding of what we heard, and also make it easy for the client to correct us or add any needs that we missed. I-messages like, “If I heard you correctly, you need…..,” or, “You didn’t state this explicitly, but I sense that you may need…..” invite the client to help us improve our needs analysis.
Acknowledging the client’s objection: Given that this first step in the issue resolution process is primarily a signal of respect and empathy for the client’s frustration, the I-message is virtually a mandatory component. While a generic statement such as “I know how that feels” is helpful, a more issue-specific response has much greater power, e.g., “I know what it feels like to have cost concerns threaten an important program.” Indeed, any time the client reveals a personal need, an I-message response underscores our own commitment to a mutually trusting relationship.
- An important caveat: beware the temptation to allow an empathetic I-message to ramble on— stealing center stage from the client. Our attempt at making a connection soon produces exactly the opposite effect if the I-message expands into an “I-monolog.”
Reframing the client’s objection as an “unfulfilled need”: This is arguably the most important application of the I-message: when we paraphrase a client objection as an objective to be reached, we are almost literally putting words into his/her mouth. What the client said was a complaint (e.g., “It’ll add to our workload”), but our reframe is a task to meet the underlying need (e.g., “If I understood you correctly, you need to be confident that our plan fits within your existing workload.”) Since we’ve taken the liberty of transforming a brick wall into a goal post, we need client confirmation that she/he agrees with our paraphrase. The I-message spotlights this reframing process.
In a nut shell: far from being self-centered, the consultative salesperson’s I-messages underline his/her conviction that “it’s all about the client.” They do double duty: signaling the client that we’re working to meet his/her needs— and reminding us to “check our egos at the door.”
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CONSULTATIVE SELLING: WHAT’S WRONG WITH BEING “RIGHT”?
Sports historians may remember when the “right way” to do the high jump was to leap vertically over the bar with a “scissors” leg movement. When somebody later jumped highest by rolling over the bar horizontally, that became the “right way.” Dick Fosbury won the 1968 Olympics high jump by vaulting the bar backwards; that’s been the “right way” ever since. Maybe it always will be— or maybe not. And what does all this have to do with selling skills?
Just about everything has a downside, and that goes for being right, too; and we’re talking here about right with a capital “R”— etched in stone, end-of-story, cosmically “Right.”
By definition, being sure that you’re Right means that the quest is done; the destination reached; no further improvement is necessary, or even possible. In selling, it also means that the salesperson takes off his/her innovator’s hat and replaces it with body armor and a spear— defending and protecting his/her Right idea from all “attackers.” Here are just a few consequences of this change of roles:
- It means that we’ll need an excuse (e.g., an outside event or a client dictate) in order to upgrade our existing recommendation; simply saying, “We’ve come up with a better idea” isn’t permissible. (We know an advertising agency chief who used to terrorize any complacent executive with this aphorism: “When you suddenly realize you’re right, that moment is the death of creativity.”)
- It requires shutting the client out of the consultative selling process; since any contribution she/he makes to our recommendation can only degrade it. So much for a “collaborative relationship” and for offering the client any sense of personal ownership in the programs we present.
- It means that if the client doesn’t approve our recommendation in every detail, any changes we make during a successful issue resolution process are necessarily a step in the Wrong direction— for both of us.
- It makes us more vulnerable to competitors who are ceaselessly trying to improve themselves and their product or service, even though they’re already successful.
Of course, even as we avoid the pitfalls of knowing we’re Right, we can and should feel enthusiastic, optimistic and confident about our recommendation. We believe that it’s an excellent way to meet the client’s needs and define a pathway to success. Even so, it’s not the only pathway or the ultimate answer; the door to improvement is always ajar.
This isn’t a “disclaimer” that we must announce each time we make a recommendation— it’s an attitude and philosophy that underlies all of our efforts on the client’s behalf. (There may be times when it’s appropriate to volunteer it to the client, and it’s a good response if we’re ever asked, “Is this the best you can do?”) Maybe, next time, we’ll walk through that open door to improvement yet again.
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CONSULTATIVE SELLING: THOUGHTS ON RAISING OUR PRICE (BESIDES, “UGH”)
Certainly, one of the toughest client conversations the consultative salesperson will ever face is announcing a price increase. In most business “conflict resolution” situations, we’re offering a benefit (our product or service), but the client perceives a problem. Here, we’re offering no (new) benefit, and actually contributing a perceived problem— the higher cost. Our best possible outcome is to mitigate the client’s discomfort, rather than add tangible new value. How do we approach this daunting situation?
By the way, it might help a lot if we could offer any new benefit (e.g., a small service upgrade) along with the price increase. While it wouldn’t rationalize the new price— we’d explain that openly to the client— it could make the proposition more palatable psychologically. Some suggestions on positioning the price increase:
Exhibit the courage of our convictions. We have the same right our clients do: to charge an appropriate price in order to make a fair profit. (Our client knows this, too, although her/his fantasy would be to receive our product/service for free.) We’re not ashamed or defensive about the new pricing— but we sure are caring and understanding about the difficult situation it could create for the client. (How would we feel in their shoes?)
Be open about our own contributions to this situation. For example, should we have done this sooner— when it would have cost less? Taking legitimate responsibility shows our character, courage, professionalism and commitment to the client. Be careful to avoid “playing the victim card” by blaming our management; we’re all in this together.
Probe the client consequences thoroughly. If there ever was a situation where we need to perform in-depth questioning to uncover the client’s job-related and personal needs, this is it! Find out what challenges the client anticipates when he/she has to bring our price increase back to the office. What will she/he have to do and handle? At the least, we can be empathetic; at best, maybe we can mitigate or share some of the consequences. (An example: maybe we should explain the issues to higher-ups.) Yes, it takes a lot of will power to pursue this unpleasant conversation diligently.
Our message, on the bottom line: we’re on your side, we’d like to help and we value the relationship above all— despite the fact that we’ve had to institute a potentially problematical price increase.
Some consultants and selling skills trainers envision a “trusted advisor bank” in which each benefit we provide our client is a “deposit.” By building a substantial “balance” over time, we can sustain an occasional “withdrawal”— perhaps an error we make or a deadline we miss. Our price increase may be perceived as a big withdrawal, but our honor, expertise, commitment and empathy remain intact. We need to have the courage and sensitivity to demonstrate that, and to count on it to weather this storm.
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CONSULTATIVE SELLING: GIVING INSTRUCTIONS “UPWARD”
Previous blogs about making recommendations to clients have noted that the consultative salesperson has “earned the right” to present— after first exhaustively exploring his/her client’s needs in the situation-analysis phase of the dialog. Yes, it’s fair to expect (hope?) that the client will listen to us, now that it’s our turn to talk. Are there selling skills we can use to increase the odds that we’ll actually get the attention we need?
Certainly, the most direct way to assure the compliance we want is to instruct the client on how to behave. The question now becomes: how do we “earn the right” to ask the client to take our instructions?
First and foremost, we’ll need to motivate the client by making it clear that following our instructions will benefit her/him (not just us). In other words, compliance will meet one or more client needs that he/she may not have been aware of. Here’s an example of a client compliance benefit statement from an advertising presentation:
“We’d like to ask you to hold your questions until we’ve completed presenting both the creative concept and the media placement recommendations. The creative executions and the media forms that display them are synergistic and amplify each other’s effectiveness. It’s likely that your understanding of our unified, integrated advertising program will be reduced if we digress into questions before the complete program has been shown. Of course, we’ll answer all of your questions when the time is right.”
Now, the client sees the benefit to him/her of not interrupting us in the middle of our presentation. Some technique supporting this process:
- Always give the instructions up front, before getting into the content of the meeting. If we wait until the client does something disruptive— and only then explain that’s not the behavior we hoped for— we’ve just needlessly blind-sided and embarrassed her/him.
- Confirm the client’s agreement (and “negotiate” our instructions, if necessary). This shows that we have the client’s interests at heart, and it will improve the odds that we’ll get the cooperation we want.
- Having gotten client agreement to comply, it’s fair for us to give a polite reminder— once— if an instruction isn’t followed; e.g., “Again, I’m hoping that you’ll hold your questions because…..” Stated sensitively, this could assure better cooperation later on.
- If the client repeatedly ignores our instructions, we’ll just have to live with it and do the best we can. We’re no worse off versus having given no instructions at all (unless we reveal annoyance about the lack of compliance).
Whether or not the client follows our instructions, we’ve started off by showing that we’re professionals with a thoughtful, client-centered plan for making the meeting productive. That’s a welcome enhancement to our credibility and commitment— and another small building block in a trusting relationship.
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