Increase sales now by selling through your consultant contacts
Posted by Geoff Alexander on Fri, Mar 20, 2009 @ 01:35 AM
Every salesperson seems to be talking about how to thrive in a tough economy, so I'd like to address a sales opportunity that you may be ignoring, but could provide you with a good long-term revenue stream. It's called selling through consultants. Who are consultants? They're people that are probably on the bottom of your call priority list, but have expressed an interest in your solution, generally by downloading a whitepaper, or attending a trade show or seminar. There are two kinds of consultants, those who are working for a client, and those who are trying to find a client. And typically, you know who those clients are, although you may not know it. Unfortunately, most telesales people ignore the latter type of consultant, but maybe they shouldn't. I'll share with you how I made a lot of money by working with them. First, let's differentiate between these two categories of consultants:
Consultants currently working with a client. These folks have been hired for their expertise, and could have a big impact on whether your solution gets sold into the company. Their titles vary, everywhere from CXO to software engineer. If the individual to whom you're talking identifies him or herself as a consultant, take notice! Ask about his or her expertise, and also ask about his or her business. Is he or she working with other companies as well? Has he or she worked with other companies in the past that might need your solution? If so, ask the consultant for a referral name and phone number at the previous company. Ask if the consultant works for a consulting firm that has a number of other consultants. If so, you'll want to get engaged with an exec at the consulting firm to ensure that all appropriate consultants know about your solution. It goes without saying that you should do your qualifying to your original consultant prospect as well, to sell your solution to that particular company. But you don't want to leave expanded opportunities unaddressed, and that's why you'll need to delve into the consultant's world a bit, too.
Consultants not currently working with a client. They're out of work, and actively looking for consulting opportunities. Begin your call by asking if they're working on a particular project right now. If not, they'll be honest with you, and tell you, that's how you'll find out that they're not working. As above, ask about their particular expertise, and about previous clients they've had that could use your solution. Get referral names and phone numbers. Chances are that you've been moving these folks to the disqualified list, but I have another approach. Why don't you ask them if you can help them find work? In the days when I sold software development tools, I kept a list of software consultants in my territory. And often, when talking with a prospect, he or she would tell me that the company was adding headcount to the engineering team (I'm using engineering as an example; insert your target audience instead). I'd ask if they were considering consultants, and if the answer was "yes", I'd put the prospect and consultant together through a fast intro. If the two sides reached an agreement, I'd be embedding consultants that already knew of my solution in a prospect company. Not only had I helped the consultant get work, but I helped my prospect find a candidate. This didn't take much time, either, just maybe a couple of extra questions, and a 30 second call back to the consultant. And I've got to tell you that I made a lot of money this way, because these folks remembered that I went beyond the call of duty to help. It gave me incredible presence in the account, enhanced our brand, and created a vibe, which contributed greatly to my sales numbers. It also made me a real territory expert. Essentially, I created opportunity with a consultant where none previously existed, and these consultants went from company to company promoting my solutions. And this constributed to my paycheck.
In this economy, you've got to think out of the box, and utilize nontraditional ways to sell. We teach this in our inside sales training course. Having other people doing your "selling" for you by helping them is good business and gives you your own personal "feet on the street." It gives you an opportunity to take a sales lead that you thought had little value and make something out of it. Become an expert in the consulting business germane to your solution in your territory, and you'll increase sales this year. Add this sales skill to your Best Practices playbook.