Consultative selling
22 July 2024
updated at: 6 November 2026
Consultative selling is a sales approach built on a relationship of trust between the customer and the seller. The seller's main task in a consultative sale is to uncover the customer's needs and offer a solution to their problem.
Consultative sales include, for example, deals for cloud infrastructure, ERP implementations, and other products that affect a company's business processes.
Unlike transactional sales, which aim for quick results and sell simple products, consultative selling focuses on long deals and complex solutions.
Consultative vs. transactional sales
The nature of a sale can depend on how mature the market is. At later stages, any product moves toward commoditization, the natural process of a product turning into a mass-market commodity.
In the early stages of a market, consultative sales are more common, and in later stages, transactional sales are. This is because, with commoditization, buyers become more pragmatic: low cost comes first, and the relationship with the seller matters less in the deal.
| Transactional | Consultative |
|---|---|
Short deal cycle: from a few hours to a few months | Long deal cycle: from a few months to 2 years or more |
Lower deal value: a budget that one buyer can usually approve | Higher deal value: a significant budget that requires several levels of approval |
No expert knowledge needed: the customer has a ready solution in mind, knows what they want and understands the product well | Seller expertise matters: the customer has no ready solution and many questions about the product and how it can be used |
Few people involved in the deal: 1–2 decision-makers | Many people involved in the deal: various specialists on both the customer's and the seller's side |
Many potential customers: mainly the SMB segment | A limited number of customers: corporate customers and large enterprises |
All selection criteria are fixed: the customer has defined requirements for the product or solution | Some selection criteria are flexible: the customer has not defined all requirements, and the seller can influence the criteria |
Strategy: automating the sales process, cutting operating costs, making buying easier | Strategy: creating more product value through expert knowledge |
What consultative selling requires
- Knowing and using sales techniques, for example:
- SPIN Selling. A technique based on asking SPIN questions to uncover the customer's needs and problems. Through these questions, sellers gather information to tailor their offer and demonstrate the value of their product or service.
- Solution Selling. Solution selling is a sales methodology that focuses on solving the customer's problem rather than on quickly selling a product or service. It can be defined as a customer-centric sales approach in which the seller acts as a consultant. The seller helps the customer identify their problems and understand the need for change, and then offers a tailored solution that addresses the customer's challenges effectively.
- Challenger Selling. The Challenger Sale is a technique that involves challenging the customer's assumptions and beliefs and helping them make a better-informed purchasing decision. It can be used for new products or services that are unfamiliar to the customer or hard for them to understand.
- A knowledge base for sellers:
- a description of the company's target audience and industry specifics;
- sample SPIN questions for exploring needs;
- case studies with other customers;
- clearly formulated solution benefits (selling points);
- common objections and how to handle them.
- A CRM system
A CRM system built for consultative selling helps put sales methodologies and approaches into practice.