The Future of Consultative Selling

Since the term was coined in 1970, consultative selling has been the most widely accepted—and pursued—sales approach. For the following forty years, advice for how to sell had mostly been a variation on the consultative selling theme.

In the past handful of years, however, selling has changed more than it did in the previous forty. It’s changed so much that some respected selling experts and business journals are calling to replace consultative selling altogether, blow it up and do something completely different. Others claim it’s still relevant today—it just needs to change.

Who’s right? Should we abandon consultative selling?

In this white paper, RAIN Group President Mike Schultz, Vice President Bob Croston, and APAC Practice Director Jason Murray propose a new definition of consultative selling, and take a close look at the future and what you need to do to win in the new sales environment. You’ll learn:

• The 6 major changes between traditional consultative selling and the future of consultative selling
• 5 ways selling, overall, is changing
• The new definition of consultative selling—and what you need to do to win today
• What it means to redefine your buyer’s reality and unleash value
• How to differentiate and move away from the capabilities battle and price pressure
• 4 findings from our research that prove today’s sales winners are embracing the future of consultative selling

Selling like it’s 1987 (or even 2007) doesn’t work like it used to. Fill out the form to the right to download The Future of Consultative Selling and find out what’s working today and what will work in the future.