Selling like a consultant — Put That Coffee Down (with video)

They highlight the “Just Say No” and “DARE” anti-drug campaigns of the 1980s and 1990s as marketing strategies that were memorable, but possibly did more harm than good by normalizing risky behavior and reverse peer pressuring their target audience. 

A successful marketing strategy does not just tell an audience this is wrong, it tells them, “Here’s what you can do better instead.”

When thinking like a consultant, it’s important to analyze your clients’ emotions and draft your strategies around those feelings. 

Managing those emotions works hand in hand with developing a successful strategy because it shows your clients you are able to adapt to different customer service situations. 

Hill points out that active listening is 100% key to success whether you are a consultant or a sales representative; you should be listening to understand instead of listening to respond. 

Taking the active listening approach also helps you sell on value instead of price, which is hard to do in an industry like logistics where rates drive the industrial environment. 

Dooner and Hill hosted Jeff Booth, head of product at Opendock, to discuss how Opendock has helped clients increase their efficiency. 

Opendock is a scheduling service that takes the guesswork out of loading and unloading trucks at your warehouse or distribution center. 

Booth echoes Dooner and Hill: Selling to clients isn’t about the tangible product or service you can offer. It is about how you can change the clients’ emotions or feelings toward preexisting problems. 

Booth says he knows that dock scheduling is one of the stickiest points in the freight industry, and he has seen a marked improvement from customers who use Opendock. 

That improvement isn’t just in money or time, it’s in attitudes. 

Booth says that there is measurable value to his product but the real value is the unquantifiable aspects like improvements to team morale, employee/employer relations and company culture. 

The last key to successful sales with consultant flare is to know your worth. 

Booth says that it can be scary to work for big clients and to climb ranks into different corporations, but a good mix of confidence in your product and knowledge of your strengths goes a long way to capture clients for life. 

You can find more Put That Coffee Down and recaps of all our shows here.