From Salesperson to Trusted Adviser: 3 Tips for Mastering Consultative IT Sales

George Hope

According to Charles Darwin, it’s not the strongest who survive, but those who are able to adapt and adjust best to a changing environment.

In 2020, we saw this theory tested in the business world, as every company was challenged to consider what technologies, people and skills would help drive progress during such unpredictable times. This is also true for salespeople. Knowing how to sell isn’t nearly enough in today’s world; it’s time to adapt.

In today’s complex, rapidly evolving, noncommoditized IT landscape, customers need guidance from a trusted and objective expert with intimate knowledge of their business; a true, integrated partner who knows the business almost as if they worked within the customer organization.

Adapting for Today’s World

Consultative sales, while always important, is even more vital today as corporate and institutional clients have been forced – quite suddenly – to hasten their once-orderly digital transformations to accommodate work-from-home, emerging market responses and a new set of priorities dictated by the global pandemic.

Even before the COVID-19 pandemic, companies were grappling with how to survive in highly competitive and consolidated markets, as well as optimize customer experience in the new age of customer service, all while advancing along their digital transformation journeys. Today, these challenges are further compounded by the pandemic economy, and the urgent need to transform existing operations or speed up digital transformation initiatives.

It’s no secret that those who can evolve the most nimbly will survive, but they need the right business partner to do so.

I see today’s CIOs bringing increasingly unique challenges to their vendors and channel partners, from siloed or disaggregated IT departments, difficult time and cost considerations, and smaller IT teams, to difficult choices about moving data and apps to the cloud. Customers are in urgent need of partners who are fully immersed in their business and can facilitate their long-term IT strategy, while remaining agile enough to advise on immediate needs.

As organizations continue to tackle the realities of a rapidly digitalizing world, consultative sales will continue to play a critical role. Here are three tips for mastering a consultative sales strategy heading into 2021.

Talk Money

As capital budgets tighten and competitive solutions are considered, customers are evaluating their investments with an outcome-based approach. Partners should be able to provide figures that point to cost savings and significant economic impact years down the line, demonstrate how solutions will optimize existing investments and point to exactly how it can drive tangible business results.

One recommendation is to work flexibly with the customer’s existing infrastructure, and embrace the shift to new business models. Vendors have a broad set of financial services offerings that channel partners can in turn offer to their customers to ensure they can obtain the solution needed. For example, to drive down costs and more quickly close a deal, customers can leverage a buy-back program and put credit toward a new implementation. When partner salespeople are working side by side with customers and offering creative and flexible financial options, it’s a win-win for everyone.

Pay-per-use IT is another fantastic option, which allows customers to switch capital expenses (capex) for operating expenses (opex), and scale capacity to meet demand. The flexibility that this model provides means customers more easily obtain the IT services they need when they need them, without concerns of vendor lock-in and spiraling costs.

Polish Your Crystal Ball

Predicting the future is easier said than done. But customers need partners who can help them invest smartly for the long haul, not just …