Understanding What, How and When to Qualify
We’ve heard plenty about consultative selling in hospitality in the post-pandemic world. It’s unsurprising. The pre-pandemic roles of millions of hospitality businesses and suppliers has changed forever. And on a broader basis, the way people do business in general has changed forever. The pandemic ushered in a new era of empathetic and compassionate selling.
As a result, your salespeople need more than the transactional selling skills that were perfectly up to the job pre-2020.
Jeffery Aguiar is VP of California-based Aavgo, offering contactless solutions for hotels. He explains, “Selling in hospitality is about attention and personalization. Being honest and genuine with your customers can easily set you apart in the world of over-promise and under-deliver”.
That’s not to suggest that salespeople were running around like a bunch of Del Boys previously. But it underlines how consultative selling in hospitality can catapult your salespeople to stellar levels of success, despite the continuingly challenging landscape.
What is Consultative Selling in hospitality? And how does it help with qualifying leads?
Consultative selling in hospitality equips salespeople to optimise market share across a client’s business, by –
• Establishing mutual trust
• Spotting the signs and responding to them (emotional intelligence)
• Anticipating what clients might want and need before the clients know it themselves
• Customising a tailored service to suit clients, whose needs are as individual and unique as their businesses are
• Bending and flexing products and services – even tailor-making new products and services – as a result of listening to clients and understanding what’s going on in their worlds, how they’re impacted by what’s happening in their sectors, and also by national or global factors.
As a result, salespeople are better placed to navigate the –
• What? – What solutions can they provide to client’s problems? What authority does a client have to buy? What timescales is the client working to? What are the chances of a successful outcome, e.g. is the client prepared to buy from your company, or are they obliged to use you as ‘quote fodder’?
• How? – How good a fit is the client for your products and services? How can you genuinely meet their criteria?
• When? – When to invest time, energy and resources? When to walk away this time? When to return for another try (if applicable)?
At Selling Savvy, our 7 Steps to Consultative Selling course is consultative selling for hospitality #101. It covers everything your salespeople need to know about researching new business, qualifying leads and building lasting client relationships through a consultative and thought-leadership approach.
Sound good? Drop me at line at kate@sellingsavvy.co.uk or head over to our website to find out more.
Source: Keys to Selling In the Hospitality Industry, Jeffery Aguiar, LinkedIn Pulse
