4. PwC | Redefining Sales
What is selling?
4
Selling is a marketing function where one determines the needs and wants of a client and responds through planned communication that
influences purchase decisions and enhances future business prospects.
A typical sales cycle
Prospect:
• Lead generation
• Product/ service fit
Connect:
• Networking
Research:
• Client wants and needs
• Market insights
Present:
• Sales pitch
• Stakeholder analysis
Close:
• Follow-up processes
• Call-to-action
Spectrum
● The sales exchange involves a
straightforward transaction that
involves the exchange of monetary
assets for simple goods/ services.
● Pre-requisite knowledge regarding
these products is often prevalent.
● As the client’s needs are simple and
straightforward, there may not be
any sales executives involved.
● Hence, there is often little to no
direction or persuasion.
Example: Filling fuel for your car
Simple
Needs
● The sales exchange involves a
structured series of interactions that
are built on manufactured needs and
marketing strategies.
● The void created by lack of specific
pre-requisite knowledge is filled by
sales executives that direct your
needs to a good/ service.
● Various levels of direction and
persuasion are required before
engaging in a transaction.
Example: Buying a car
Marketed
Needs
5. PwC | Redefining Sales
What are the challenges associated with conventional selling?
5
Conventional selling processes include methodologies like non-directed advertising
and calling to engage in an exchange of services in a purely transactional context.
While this methodology has often been tried and tested in the past, its considered
inflexible in this dynamic and highly-competitive landscape.
Targeting
errors
Engagement
issues
Rigid
mindset
Long-term
risks
● Random lead lists
● Limited to internal records
● Frequent blockades:
● Do-not-Disturb
● Spam reports
● Accumulation of useless
data
● Cancellation of projects
● Reduction in client
lifetime value (CLV):
● Loss of client trust
● Client attrition
● Remediation costs
● Damage to brand
● Inaccurate assessment of
client dynamic
● Push-style strategies:
● Inventory dumps
● Creation of “needs”
● Neglection of purchase-
cycle considerations
● High-pressure process:
● Manipulative
● Ambitious promises
● Limitation of relationship
to monetary aspects
● Information asymmetry
7. PwC | Redefining Sales
Why do we need to engage in consultative selling?
7
High levels of ambiguity and complexity in
the business environment create a
tendency to preserve the status quo.
Decrease in
client loyalty
Increase in
skepticism
Need for
customization
Growth in
stakeholders
Information
dissemination
Surge in
supply
Increase in
complexity
Aggressive marketing,
economic instability, and
corporate scandals have led to
mistrust and greater
skepticism among clients.
In a world of unique wants and
needs, clients are increasingly
veering away from generic/
one-size-fits-all solutions.
Clients have unprecedented
access to information and
research even before engaging
a salesperson.
Long-term client loyalty is
eroding due to the dynamic
nature of business and is
diverging from client
satisfaction.
Owing to a saturated market,
clients now have access to a
multitude of solutions to tackle
any issue that they are facing.
The desire for risk-aversion
and collaboration have driven
firms to engage multiple
stakeholders, all of whom
should be satisfied.
Sales
Trends
8. PwC | Redefining Sales
The process behind consultative selling
8
The primary objectives behind a consultative sales pitch is to move from an accurate and transparent assessment of client needs and
goals to the recommendation of a customized mix of products and services to match these expectations, all while maintaining the flow of
information (both ways) in a committed and authentic manner.
Establishment of rapport
• Network with prospective clients in a personalized manner to survey the competitive landscape in the
industry that you’re interested in.
• Demonstrate your credibility by selling your skills, training, and network to prospective clients.
Analysis of client needs
• Utilize information-gathering and probing questions to uncover project-specific information.
• Utilize confirmation and summary-confirmation questions to build client buy-in through the pitch.
• Engage in active listening to incorporate client responses to fine-tune your approach.
Customization of solution
• Assess purchasing motives and match the necessary opportunity benefits of existing solutions.
• Configure a customized solution that utilizes an optimal data-driven mixture of your offerings in a fit-
for-purpose manner.
Value proposition and closing
• Draft a value proposition that utilizes need-satisfaction strategies that focus on the potential
satisfaction of the client in the future.
• Systematically price the components of your solution to mix-and-match as per the needs of the client.
Implementation and service
• Actively align and involve yourself with your client in a cross-functional manner to effectively
generate buy-in and implement the solution throughout the firm.
• Routinely engage in post-sales service to tweak the implementation strategy (if needed) and fix
operational issues through the deployment phase.
Phase 1: Involves pre-
planning methodologies
such as consolidating the
content and internally
reviewing the pitch.
Presentation
Phase 2: Involves deep-dive
processes to iron out the
deliverables and timeline of
the value proposition.
Phase 0: Involves
prospecting clients
though market research
and intensive client-
based checks.
Approach
Phase 3: Involves payment and post-sales
service to implement the project.
Phase 2: Showcases the
demonstration of solution
to match the needs of the
client.
Demonstration
Negotiation
Finalization
9. PwC | Redefining Sales
What are the techniques associated with consultative selling?
9
Shift to a mindset of authenticity and transparency
● Accurately analyze the client’s business challenges, stated needs, and
unknown needs in a transparent manner.
● Attempt to deliver to the client’s specific priority problems through
customized data-driven solutions.
Provide direction to the conversation
● Open with a well-articulated initial hypothesis that
outlines the market challenges and attempts to
solve the core business issues of the client.
● Adjust your approach in case the intended path is
divergent from the goals of the client.
● Address opportunity costs to battle the status-quo.
● Follow a comprehensive framework that covers
most (technical, financial, strategic) benefits.
Align with the client to maintain synergy
● Ensure credibility through practical deliverables in
a consistent manner.
● Eliminate skepticism and obscurity by routinely
engage the client through actionable follow-ups.
● Align yourself with the client by allowing them to
develop their thoughts regarding the value
proposition.
● Foster openness throughout the entire engagement
to build client lifetime value.
Ensure client-centric behaviour
● Refrain from strong-arming clients to purchase generic solutions.
● Accurately diagnose their current-state through methodologies
such as root-cause analysis and value stream mapping.
● Foster trust by putting the client before your interests.
Utilize facts instead of assumptions
● Refrain from anchoring to assumptions by
engaging in fact-finding missions.
● Embrace conflicting information to counteract
anchoring to pre-conceived notions.
● Produce a compelling value proposition by
considering data in a comprehensive manner.
Understand the psychology behind client behaviour
● Protect client-autonomy by engaging in co-creation of solutions.
● Refrain from threatening client competency by maintaining a safe
environment to discuss challenging or sensitive business issues.
● Ensure relatedness by staying connected with the client.
Leverage feedback to build momentum
● Elicit feedback to periodically check your approach.
● Reinforce client-commitment in an incremental
fashion throughout the pitch.
● Build decisive momentum by making each
successive decision easier than the last.
● Showcase self-decisiveness by maintaining a unique
point-of-view on the core issues.
Connect the dots using question-based insights
● Drill down to the core issues by preparing high-quality questions.
● Build client buy-in through collaborative ideation.
● Empower the client to connect the gaps that trace to your solution.
● Deal in transparent specifics instead of false positivity.
Synergy Direction
Feedback
Client
behaviour
Joining
the dots
Client
Centricity
Authentic
Mindset
Fact-based
reasoning
Consultative
Selling
11. PwC | Redefining Sales
Case in focus: Mapping the client’s journey
11
Resolving client’s pain points
Increased Transparency
Pain point: Information ambiguity during the 6-week transfer period
when joining or switching to this company
Action: Implementation of a trial SMS text-messaging solution to keep
the clients informed of the transfer process
Result: 69% improvement in NPS and 22% decrease in client churn rate
Fact-based Decisions
Pain point: Absence of key functionality such as renewal of services and
estimation of meter readings
Action: Implementation of a digital solution to resolve these setbacks
Result: 10% increase in meter readings captured online and 26% increase
in online renewal rates
Client Focus
The company focused on investing in a client journey
mapping exercise, diving deep into every client-interaction
with their company. This map was then utilized to direct
their client experience strategy, redesign the client
journey, and pinpoint specific areas that needed a rehaul.
This rich insight derived from research and feedback is
delivered across the entire company.
Takeaway: The company has sufficiently internalized
this goal and reflects it in almost every key decision.
Data Analysis
The company invested in a Customer Experience Management (CEM) solution
to consolidate and analyze data from the following sources to deliver objective,
quantifiable, and actionable insights in real-time.
Takeaway: These insights were utilized in making more informed business
decisions. This process is updated frequently to reflect the current trends and
prioritize the company’s activities.
Complaints
records
Survey data
Social media
interactions
Product
usage
Client
community
Client
preferences
Phone calls
A utilities company based off of Europe employed a rich customer experience strategy to increase their effective customer satisfaction
levels. Consequently, their Net Promoter Scores (NPS) are consistently above industry average as well. In this case-study, a couple of
relatively low-investment decisions led to sizeable differences. How did they do it?
12. PwC | Redefining Sales
Selling to the C-suite
12
Tricks of the Trade
• Always open with a concise and professional
introduction related to the business agenda
and gradually lead into the personal agenda
of the executive in question.
• Leverage high-quality research and insights
to establish credibility. Focus on the impact
that you’ll be driving through the pitch.
• Contextualize your interactions from the
point-of-view of the executive in question.
Utilize key drivers that affect the metrics
that they use to evaluate activities.
• Transform your conversation from a sales
pitch to a value-added discussion by
introducing different business perspectives
and highlighting your prior experience.
• Involve the executive directly in planning
follow-up activities regarding your value
proposition. Build towards a public
commitment from the executive’s side, even
if it for scheduling a group meeting.
Key Considerations
The single major advantage to selling to a C-
suite executive is operating under a flexible
demand-based budget. When this is coupled
with streamlined decision-making, you not
only increase your revenue but also decrease
the time spent on non value-added activities.
Image
Brevity
Growth
Focus
• Always sell at the top as if you
belong there. View yourself as
worthy of the executive’s time.
• However, refrain from being
overconfident.
• Respect the executive’s time
by cutting the fluff and getting
down to the point.
• Eliminate the fancy jargon
and stay authentic.
• Identify top and bottom-line
value in your proposition and
focus on the bottom-line
projections and results to
appeal to top-level executives.
Research extensively
Plan appropriately
Interact confidently
Close collaboratively
The RPIC Framework
13. PwC | Redefining Sales
How can I practice consultative selling?
13
Consultative selling is just like every other acquired habit: practice makes perfect. With so many factors and techniques to learn, it sure
can be frustrating and overwhelming, if done wrong. Most sales teams take close to a year to hone their skills and fully adopt the
consultative selling methodology. Listed below are a few key exercises to improve your team’s consultative selling skills.
Story-telling
There’s nothing better than a
success-story to motivate a
prospective client. A good
case-study has the following
elements.
• Problem: Explain the
issue that you tackled.
• Solution: Explain the
process by which you
solved the issue.
• Results: Explain the
tangible results that you
delivered and delve into
the processes attached to
quantify its value.
Writing
Often times, its difficult to get
a one-on-one conversation
with a decision-maker.
However, putting yourself
and your skills out there can
get you noticed.
• Market insights:
Regularly publish your
version of market insights
and highlight the
opportunities where you
can add value to a client.
• Case-studies: Build a
portfolio of engagements
that you have worked on to
share a flavor of your work.
Becoming a T-Shaped
professional
A T-shaped professional has
deep knowledge or skill-
proficiency in an area and a
broad base of general supporting
knowledge.
● Evaluate the current level of
skills that you possess.
● Determine scope for
improvement, maintenance,
addition, and depth.
● Mix hard/ soft skills and
focus on what interests you.
● Make it a habit by reading
across subjects and working
on cross-functional projects.
● Regularly evaluate your
progress and adjust your
approach accordingly.
● Do not take emphasis away
from your specialty skill.
● Deconstruct this process
when it gets taxing.
Call Plans
All sales executives benefit
from completing a call-plan
before their meetings. Track
this on a regular basis.
• Foundation: Plan your
calls and pitches around
known client goals and
challenges. Include key
ideas and insights to share.
• Discovery: Plan your
discovery phase to
understand the current-
state and desired future-
state goals of the client.
This can be done through
research/ discussions.
Questioning
Expertise in this domain
comes with practice linked
with creating and asking
insightful questions.
• Drivers: What drives the
client towards their goals?
• Commitment: What
commits the client to their
goals? What are the
consequences of non-
compliance?
• Means: What are the
methodologies and the
budget required for this
transition?
