In his book, How to Master the Art of Selling by Tom Hopkins, he writes that Sales is the highest paid hard work and the lowest paid easy work. In my 30 + year career as a professional medical device sales executive I have found this to be true.

Consultative Selling

In this curriculum, students will learn the fundamentals of Consultative Selling. People buy from people they know, like and trust. In Consultative Selling you want to be that man or that women that the buyer knows, likes, and trusts.

When I sit back and reflect on the many highly successful sales professionals that I have come to know in my journey I have often asked ” is Hopkins’ aphorism true because men and women who would otherwise be successful in another chosen field just so happen to choose to be successful in sales. Or is it true that if you are the sort of person who chooses sales and becomes a student of the discipline of sales it will make a success of you!

I believe that both are true. I also believe that they can be true for your life too. Consultative Selling is “The Arena”. And as Teddy Roosevelt, the 26th President of the United States, writes “The credit belongs to the individual who is actually in the arena…”

It all begins with Trust. But if the buyer is to trust you, it is absolutely essential that you be worthy of that trust. You must be Trustworthy. To be trustworthy you must, first, trust yourself. To trust yourself you are honest with yourself. You discipline yourself to a higher moral code. This is the definition of Integrity. And this is where we will begin

Welcome to the first step in Consultative Selling! People buy from people they Trust.

Step 1:The student will learn:

• Sales: Its not what you want from your client, Its what you want for them

• Difference between transactional and consultative sales

• What does it mean to say that consultative is an inside out process?

• What is integrity? How much do I have? How can I achieve it?

• Got Trust?- The imperative in any business.

Step 2: People buy from people they know and like (connect with). The student will learn:

• The Mindset (attitude) you must have to connect with people

• The oil in the engine of human interaction, without it the engine seizes

• 5 Things you must do to connect with people

• 7 Habits that the consultative sales professional does that ensures success

• The 3 deadly sins that will separate you from your buyer

Step 3: Let the Games Begin: Consultative Selling. The student will learn:

• Sales leadership is Influence: Leading your client through the buyer’s journey

• Be sure to diagnose the problem before you prescribe the cure

• Qualifying- Are we still together?

• Leaders are readers

• Follow up and Follow through.

• Its not a close it’s a commencement

• Reflection- What went well? What can be improved? What can be left at the curb?

The content for this curriculum comes from decades of experience and several books put into practice to include,
How to Win Friends and Influence People. Dale Carnegie
The Speed of Trust Stephen M. R. Covey
Becoming a Person of Influence John C. Maxwell
Everybody Communicates, Few Connect john C. Maxwell
How to Master the Art of Selling Tom Hopkins