Sales consultants seem to have an unfair rep in the sales industry. You’ve probably heard the familiar line about business consultants. To remind you…
“A consultant is someone who takes the watch off your wrist and tells you the time. Then he keeps the watch”.
But surely Sales consultants must exist for a reason? They have a very valid place in business as they coach and help guide companies to maximise their potential and increase their field of knowledge. Maybe a company has become very set in their ways and needs assistance on bringing their sales techniques into an up to date setting, or maybe they have had a recent shift in employment levels that require a large number of staff to be coached at once.
Sales consultants are there for when you have identified a hole in your own company but are not sure how to proceed in order to fill it. They are not there to tell you how to do what you are already doing, they are there to open new doors of thinking and to suggest new selling techniques that you may not have before considered. They will not just bust their way into your company and tear apart your current selling techniques, they are there to work with you and help you develop further.
They will work with you to cement your strengths and work on you weaknesses. There is no sense in them giving you advice that you cannot follow or implement as that would just be a waste of time. In this sales industry the cost of delay can be terminal. Missing budget revenue projections for a couple of months is painful enough. Missing them for a couple of quarters can dig a hole that is impossible to get out of. Once your have identified a hole in your company you should immediately be looking for a way to seal it. Sales consultants have experience in a wide range of businesses and therefore have more information they can pass onto you, making sure it is the right task for you.
Though the growth stats say that we are now out of recession and on our way to easier trading conditions. Somehow though it doesn’t always feel like that. The selling environment for most businesses has changed, but have your selling techniques changed with it? If you bring in someone with an outside perspective then you can cap into a brand new well of knowledge. Outsiders can sometimes give you a better idea of who or what your company really is, and really highlight what you are really passionate about and where your strengths lie.
So for a take on the myth I mentioned before, Sales consultants follow close to the line of:
“Yes they will use your watch. But will show you how to tell the time in a way you didn’t know possible, and will always leave it safe on your wrist.”
