Sales Training: Solution or Provocation by Customer Centric Selling

Sales Training: Solution or Provocation:

Sales Training Article: Sales Strategy - Should it be Solution or Provocation?

By Tony Albachiara, Sales Benchmark Index

Time to shift your sales strategy to a provocation based selling strategy to gain a competitive advantage and grow?
Over the last 5 years, the fact is: prospective customers have reduced, frozen or eliminated budgets for new products or solutions. Yet many organizations are thriving in this environment. How are they doing it? What are they doing? Many cite having adjusted their selling strategy from solution based to provocation based. Let's compare the strategies.
Solution based selling typically starts with asking discovery questions to gain insights into what the customer feels is their pain. Then the vendor aligns his offering or services to remove the customers' pain. A thorough demonstration of the solution is done, with a transition to a close. The funds required to make a purchase usually come from budgets already set, or funds that need to be allocated for in the next budgeting cycle. Hence the problem with a solution selling approach; it lacks the compelling "catalyst" that demands that a purchase decision cannot be delayed.
Provocation based selling takes a different approach. It helps the customer see their "pain" points through the larger lens of a competitive or industry view. The customer feels the pain, but has not been able to clearly articulate it. Provocation selling brings the customers critical business processes to the forefront. It uncovers the potential risk, exposure or cost associated with the problem found with the process. As providers of the solution, salespeople develop the explanation as to what's broken, why it's broken and the implicit costs associated. We then connect the customers' problem with the solution that our product or service provides. The customer views the situation with urgency, and "finds" the necessary funds to move forward. Waiting or delaying is not an option.
With provocation-based selling strategy, you must do three things...
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