Improve Consultative Selling with Mystery Shopping Audits

Products and services are sold through a variety of approaches. While some retail segments focus on product-based selling—highlighting features over benefits—others adopt a more personalised, solution-based approach known as consultative selling. This method not only differentiates a brand but also builds lasting customer relationships by tailoring solutions to individual needs.

Product-Based vs Consultative Selling

In segments where there is significant differentiation in product, price, or service delivery, sales staff tend to focus on product-based selling. This approach showcases the unique features of a product. However, in markets where offerings are homogeneous and competition is intense, sales staff increasingly resort to consultative selling. This method emphasises establishing a genuine dialogue with prospective customers to understand their lifestyle and needs, ultimately presenting a solution that fits seamlessly into their daily lives.

The Power of Consultative Selling

Consultative selling is founded on building a relationship with the customer rather than simply pitching a product. It involves:

• Research: Initiating a friendly, non-product-oriented dialogue to understand the customer.
• Probing: Asking insightful questions to gauge the customer’s culture, opinions, attitudes, and lifestyle.
• Listening: Carefully listening to uncover underlying motives and attitudes.
• Solutioning: Aligning the product or service with the customer’s lifestyle to present a benefit-oriented solution.
• Follow Through: Providing additional resources such as reading material or videos to further educate the customer, and scheduling convenient follow-up communications.

Channelplay’s Role in Enhancing Selling Skills

Channelplay’s customer experience mystery shopping programmes are designed to evaluate the selling skills of sales staff in various retail segments. Our mystery shoppers assess how well staff engage in consultative selling, ensuring that each customer interaction is both informative and engaging. This unbiased evaluation helps brands to:

• Identify strengths and weaknesses in the sales approach.
• Update training programmes to enhance consultative selling skills.
• Improve customer engagement and satisfaction, ultimately leading to higher conversion rates.

Real-World Examples of Consultative Selling

Consultative selling is making waves across various retail sectors. Here are a few examples of how this approach is tailored to different industries:

• Sportswear:
  • Understanding how often customers play sports.
  • Inquiring about the duration of play per occasion.
• Food Service:
  • Discussing world cuisines that customers have tried.
  • Identifying any food allergies.
  • Recommending complementary food and drink pairings.
• Fashion:
  • Determining the customer’s occupation.
  • Gauging the frequency of attending social events.
  • Exploring sources of fashion trends.
• Financial Services:
  • Discussing an overview of the economy.
  • Analysing the implications of government policies.
  • Outlining the outlook on various investment instruments.

Conclusion

With the growing demand for personalised, tailored solutions, consultative selling has taken centre stage in retail. By understanding and adapting to the customer’s lifestyle, sales staff can offer more than just a product—they provide a complete solution that enhances the overall customer experience. Channelplay’s mystery shopping programmes offer invaluable insights that help brands refine their consultative selling techniques, ensuring they remain competitive in today’s dynamic marketplace.