7 Super Sales Secrets for Consultants

By Elaine Biech and Halelly Azulay, creators of the Building Your Successful Consulting Business online course.

To stay in business, you must sell. So many consultants are uncomfortable with selling and they would prefer to avoid anything that appears to be a sales call. As consultants, our minds are racing with concerns:

How can I stand out? I’m only a solopreneur!

What am I going to have to do to prove myself?

What should I ask?

How should I handle objections?

What if they say no?

Here are seven secrets that will help you overcome these internal objections and nail your next sale. 

1.   Listen, listen, listen. Probably the most important secret is to listen during your sales call. Perhaps you’ve read this in other articles we’ve written. But it is the number one secret of all. Don’t talk. Don’t force your sales pitch on your prospect. Listen. If you are doing more than 50% of the talking, you’ve probably already lost the sale. The prospect is just waiting for you to stop talking so the meeting can end.

2.   Raise your price. Seems like you would want to lower your price to make a sale, right? Wrong. Buyers often assume that a lower price equates to lower quality. Elaine experienced this firsthand in her consulting. In about the sixth year she was overwhelmed with work and decided to raise her rate to reduce the number of projects. It’s a simple supply and demand problem – right? Wrong! The increase in her fee suggested to clients that she was more valuable. 

3.   Be a partner, not a vendor. This tip comes from our good friend and expert consultant, @Bill Treasurer, who says that a vendor does the minimum amount of work for a maximum amount of money. When you are a vendor your clients try to control you with vendor management. It’s better to co-create and be a partner with your clients right from the start. Don’t bring a “you-need-to-do-this” attitude. Be humble and co-create solutions together. Your clients’ ownership will be higher, and it will build your relationships (See “Your Most Important Step to Build Client-Consultant Partnerships”). You will find that relationships matter a great deal in consulting. Do such a great job that they will love to bring you in for future projects!

4.   State the cost of not buying. Research shows that humans are more interested in avoiding pain than acquiring pleasure. This generally means that negative reasons to buy are more compelling than positive reasons. For example, saying, “If you don’t accept this offer, turnover will double this year,” is more compelling than, “You’ll reduce turnover by 50% if you move forward on this work.”

5.   Getting a “no” is good. Whaaaaat? Remember all the times that you followed up and followed up and followed up again with a client that kept stringing you along? That was a waste of your time. If you accept a wishy-washy uncertain non-commitment, you’ll need to chase the client. It is better to just be candid and say, “It doesn’t seem like this is a fit for you. Is that right?” That give the prospect an out and it gives you a final answer so that you can move on to another potential client.

6.   Communicate two things. Of course, you want to share all the features and benefits, your experience, and the expertise you bring – but really all your prospects need to know is:

• What problem you will solve for them and
• What they need to do next.

Be sure that they know what problem they have that you will solve. Sometimes clients state a problem, but it really isn’t accurate, and you may need to help them clarify what the problem is. You also need to make sure they know what they need to do next to engage your services: set up your next meeting, sign a contract, read your proposal, or whatever will take their “yes” to the next level.

7.   Confirm the next step. Before you leave your sales call solidify what happens next. A great way to do that is to ask prospects What date works best on your calendar for our next meeting?” Without a next step you really haven’t closed the sale. Your own next step is a given: a thank you note is a requirement. Follow up is critical.

That’s it. Seven super sales secrets that will help you keep your consulting pipeline filled and business booming. After your first sale you should be focused sale number two. That means you should do such a fabulous job for the client that they will want you back for their next project and that they will sing your praises to other potential clients.

Which is your favorite secret? What would you add? Chime in below in the comments.

About the Authors

Elaine Biech and Halelly Azulay are successful consultants with a combined 50 years of experience. Both are leaders in the talent development field, volunteers for ATD, and mentors and coaches for new consultants. They are the creators of the online course: Building Your Successful Consulting Business. Elaine, ATD’s 2020 Distinguished Contribution recipient, has published 85 books, including two classics for consultants: The New Business of Consulting and The New Consultant’s Quick Start Guide. Halelly produces and hosts The TalentGrow Show podcast where she interviews legends such as Daniel Pink, Beverly Kaye, Jim Kouzes, Dorie Clark, and others.

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