What is Solution Selling (and How To Do It): Complete Guide
Table of contents
If you consider how sales teams typically work, it involves convincing a prospect to buy a certain product or service.
But not all prospects know precisely what they want. Some might be able to articulate their needs, while others might not even know what challenges are keeping them from reaching their goals.
So, how do you sell to these people?
This is where solution selling comes in. It’s a methodology in which salespeople thoroughly understand the prospect’s needs and then offer a product or service based on what they’ve gathered.
But how do you master this sales approach and more importantly, when do you use it? This guide will walk you through the fundamentals of solution selling, a step-by-step process to perfect this sales method and tips on when and when not to use this approach.
Let’s dive in.
Table of Contents
- What is solution selling?
- How is solution selling different from traditional methods of selling?
- Why is solution selling important?
- The Solution Selling Process
- What are the challenges in implementing solution selling?
- When to use solution selling?
- When should you not use solution selling?
- Examples of solution selling
- Conclusion
What is solution selling?
Solution selling is a sales method that focuses on understanding and addressing a customer’s needs and challenges by offering customized solutions rather than just promoting a product or service.
The goal is to sell a solution that solves the customer’s problem. This may involve combining different products or services to address a customer’s unique situation.
How is solution selling different from traditional methods of selling?
To understand this, let’s take the example of product selling.
Product selling focuses on promoting a product and its features, specifications, and benefits.—rather than a solution. The salesperson aims to convince the customer that the product is the best option. Think of it as selling a drill.
On the other hand, solution selling is about understanding the customer’s problem or need and providing a solution according to those needs. It’s a consultative approach that focuses on solving the customer’s pain points. Instead of selling a drill, you’re selling the ability to create a hole in the wall.
Here are some key differences between solution selling vs. product selling
| Aspect | ProductSelling | SolutionSelling |
|---|---|---|
| Sales Process | Shorter transactions, often one-time sales | Longer sales process. Involves deep discovery and diagnosis. |
| Qualification | Minimal qualification; may skip understanding prospect needs in detail. | Extensive qualification; deep understanding of client problems and business. |
| Pitch | Often involves a scripted pitch | Involves active listening and tailored recommendations |
| Personalization | Minimal; one-size-fits-all approach | High; personalized to the customer’s specific situation. |
| Closing | Harder negotiation focused on price and features | Flexible negotiation focused on finding the best solution for the customer. |
Recommended Reading: A Guide to Customer Acquisition in 2024 [Strategies, Tools, and More]
Why is solution selling important?
Solution selling provides significant advantages to business, including:
- Increased Revenue: By addressing specific customer needs, businesses can often upsell or cross-sell additional products or services, leading to higher revenue.
- Improved Customer Satisfaction: Satisfaction levels increase significantly when customers feel their problems are understood and solved.
- Higher Customer Lifetime Value: Satisfied customers are more likely to become repeat customers and recommend the business to others, increasing customer lifetime value.
- Lesser Price Sensitivity: Customers who see a tailored solution are less likely to focus solely on price and more on the overall value provided.
- Differentiation from Competitors: In a saturated market, solution selling allows companies to stand out by offering personalized solutions rather than just competing on price or features.
Recommended Reading: 7 Tips to Inspire Lifelong Customer Loyalty
Now that we’ve covered some ground. Let’s learn how to sell solutions.
The Solution Selling Process
Solution selling is about understanding your customer’s unique challenges and offering tailored solutions rather than just pushing a product. Here’s a step-by-step guide to help you nail it:
Step 0: Understand your customers
Before you even make contact, dig deep into your client’s business.
- What industry are they in?
- What challenges are common in that industry?
- Are there any recent news or industry-wide trends that might be affecting them?
ProTip: Check out their LinkedIn profile, website, and recent news articles to understand their situation.
Step 1: Identify pain points
Understand your prospects’ challenges. This is important for targeting your audience and effectively presenting your solution.
Create a set of open-ended questions to diagnose your prospects’ specific needs. This will help you establish that you’re focusing on understanding their business rather than just trying to sell your product.
Start broad and gradually narrow to specific details to help build a compelling case for your solution. For example:
- How has this problem affected your daily operations?
- What would change if this issue were resolved?
Here are some more open-ended questions to help you:
Scratching the surface:
- “What are the biggest challenges your team is facing right now?”
- “Can you walk me through a recent problem that caused significant issues for your business?”
- “What’s been keeping you at night regarding your current processes or systems?”
- “In what areas do you feel your current solutions are falling short?”
- “How do these challenges impact your day-to-day operations or long-term goals?”
Probing for deeper insights
- “Can you describe a time when your current approach didn’t deliver the results you expected?”
- “What do you think is the root cause of your issues?”
- “How do these challenges affect your team’s morale or productivity?”
- “If this problem persists, how will it impact your business?”
- “How do you prioritize these challenges compared to other issues your business is dealing with?”
Evaluating current solutions
- “What tools or systems are you currently using, and how satisfied are you with them?”
- “What’s working well with your current setup, and what could be better?”
- “Have you tried other solutions in the past? What worked, and what didn’t?”
- “How do you usually evaluate whether a solution meets your needs?”
- “What kind of support or features do you feel are missing from your current solution?”
Exploring goals and needs
- “What are the top priorities for your business this year?”
- “What goals are you trying to achieve with your team, and what obstacles are you encountering?”
- “If you could improve one thing about your current system or process, what would it be?”
- “What does success look like for your business in the next 6-12 months?”
- “How do you see your needs evolving as your business grows?”
Step 2: Present a customized solution
Now, connect the dots. How can your product or service solve their specific issues? Customize your pitch to show precisely how your solution addresses their pain points.
Be specific. Instead of saying, “Our tool can help you,” say, “Our tool can reduce your customer response time by 30%, helping you handle more queries efficiently.”
How to tailor your pitch and present a customized solution
For instance, in your pitch, you can say, “After discussing your current challenges, we’ve identified that missed deadlines and communication breakdowns significantly impact your project outcomes. Our project management software, tailored to your agency’s needs, can solve these issues.
Here’s how:
Real-Time Collaboration: Our platform lets your team collaborate in real-time, centralizing all communication. Instead of hunting through emails or chat threads, every project update, comment, and file is accessible in one place, ensuring everyone is on the same page.
Automated Task Tracking: We’ve set up automated task assignments and deadline reminders based on your typical project workflow. This means your team will never miss a deadline again, and automatic notifications will keep everyone on track.
Custom Reporting: You’ll have access to custom reports that provide insights into project timelines, resource allocation, and potential bottlenecks. This will allow you to manage projects and allocate resources more effectively and proactively.
By implementing our solution, we expect you to see a 40% improvement in on-time project delivery and a noticeable boost in team productivity within the first quarter.”
Step 3: Demonstrate value
Quantify the benefits. Wherever possible, use numbers or case studies to show the potential impact of the solution that you’re trying to sell. For example, “Our solution helped [Company X] increase their customer satisfaction score by 20% in just three months.”
Focus on outcomes, not features. Customers care about how your product will improve their lives, not just its bells and whistles.
Step 4: Close the deal
When it’s time to seal the deal, position yourself as a partner, not just a vendor. Make it clear that you’re committed to their long-term success. Follow up with a clear action plan, next steps, or a trial period to make it easy for them to say “yes.”
Recommended Reading:The Ultimate Guide to Customer Follow-Up [Free Email Templates Included]
Step 5: Follow up and maintain relationships
Solution selling doesn’t end with the sale.
You must ensure your customer has all the support they need to implement the solution smoothly. You can offer additional resources that align with their needs, like a case study, whitepaper, or demo. This keeps the conversation going without being pushy.
Check in regularly to see how the solution works and proactively offer additional help or upgrades as their needs evolve.
Here are some things you can do:
- Share relevant content, such as blog posts, industry news, or best practices, that align with their interests and challenges. This will position you as a valuable resource.
- Invite them to webinars or events that could help them learn more about maximizing your solution or understanding industry trends.
- Be available for support whenever they need it. Responding quickly to their questions or issues can go a long way toward building a solid relationship.
ProTip: Maintain the relationship by reaching out periodically, even if there’s no immediate need. A quick check-in email or a call can keep you at the top of your client’s mind.
What are the challenges in implementing solution selling?
Implementing solution selling can be challenging for many organizations, especially when you’re new to it. Here are some common hurdles to look out for:
- Sales Team Resistance: Sales teams may need help overcoming the traditional product-focused mindset and adopting a consultative approach.
- Lack of Customer Insights: Quantifying the impact of solution selling can take time, as it involves multiple factors. Traditional sales metrics, like the number of units sold, may need to reflect the success of solution selling accurately. Teams must adopt new metrics such as customer satisfaction (CSAT), NPS, or customer lifetime value (CLV).
- Complex Sales Cycles: Solution selling often involves longer sales cycles due to the need for in-depth customer understanding and proposal development.
- Customer Expectations: As customers become more involved in the solution-selling process, their expectations can increase, requiring more personalized service and ongoing support.
- Organizational Alignment: Solution selling requires collaboration between sales, marketing, product development, and customer support teams to deliver a cohesive solution.
Leveraging customer communication tools to help with explanation selling
As your team starts using solution selling, the right tools can make a big difference. Here’s how Hiver can help you overcome the above challenges and sell more efficiently.
Shared Inboxes: Using a shared inbox ensures that everyone on the team has visibility into customer conversations. This fosters a culture of collaboration and customer-focused problem-solving.
Collaborative tools: Features like internal notes, @mentions, shared labels, and tags facilitate seamless communication and knowledge sharing among team members. Everyone involved in delivering the solution has access to the same customer information and can collaborate in real-time, reducing the risk of miscommunication or gaps in service.
Performance Analytics: Reports and analytics in Hiver allow teams to track key metrics, such as response times, resolution times, and customer satisfaction (CSAT). These insights help teams measure the effectiveness of their solution-selling approach and make data-driven improvements.
Knowledge Base: A knowledge base is a centralized repository of information used to store and manage knowledge within an organization. It typically includes articles, FAQs, how-to guides, troubleshooting steps, and other forms of documentation that help users find answers to common questions. It helps sales teams provide quick access to information about products, solutions, and customer success stories, reducing the time it takes to move through each sales cycle stage. Moreover, it allows customers to find answers to their questions, even outside regular business hours, enhancing their overall experience.
When to use solution selling?
Solution selling is most effective when the customer has complex needs that require a customized approach rather than a one-size-fits-all product. Here are some situations when solution selling is the most appropriate approach:
- Customers don’t know what they need: Take the case of an offline retail store going online. There’s a lot of confusion around which platform to build a website, how to start marketing, and how to accept payments online. As a salesperson, you can help the retail brand understand its goals, such as creating a fast-loading website, reaching new customers online, and integrating with payment gateways, among other things.
- Long sales cycles: B2B sales, especially in enterprise software or industrial equipment, typically involve multiple decision-makers and a lengthy sales process. Customers may require multiple meetings, demonstrations, and evaluations before deciding.
- When the customer wants long-term value, industries like IT, healthcare, or financial services often involve complex products or services that customers require tailored solutions. Take the example of a hospital considering a new patient management system. This investment will impact their patient care and operational efficiency. In this case, it’s critical to identify any inefficiencies or bottlenecks in patient scheduling, information management, or communication with healthcare providers. Therefore, demonstrating how your solution can improve patient flow, reduce wait times, and enhance communication for better patient care is a good place to start. You’ll also need to show how the investment in the new system will increase patient satisfaction and cost savings in the long run.
- Competitive markets: In a market where many companies offer similar products (like beauty and skincare),solution selling differentiates your brand. Instead of just selling individual products, solution selling will require you to assess each customer’s skin type, concerns (like acne, aging, or sensitivity),and goals.
- Complex sales with multiple decision makers: If you’re selling a CRM system to a large enterprise, it’s most likely that multiple stakeholders are involved (e.g., IT, sales, and customer service departments). Factors such as compatibility with existing systems, data migration, employee training, and long-term ROI must also be carefully considered. Here, solution selling helps by identifying the specific needs of each department and customizing your pitch to address those needs comprehensively.
When should you not use solution selling?
Solution selling is highly effective in many scenarios, but there are situations where there might be better approaches. Here are some instances when you might avoid solution-selling:
- Low-cost, transactional sales: Selling low-cost, high-volume products like office supplies or basic software subscriptions. In this case, selling solutions might be an overkill.
- Commoditized products: Selling printer paper doesn’t require in-depth discovery of customer needs. The focus is on price and availability, not on a tailored solution.
- When customers know exactly what they want: When buyers are already well-informed about their needs and the products available, they might find the discovery process redundant or even frustrating.
- Short sales cycles: Products like snacks, beverages, or household items often involve quick decisions and minimal consideration of the underlying problem. Similarly, products bought on a whim, such as items at a checkout counter, rarely require a deep dive into the customer’s needs.
- Price-sensitive customers: In discount stores, where shoppers mainly want the cheapest prices, selling based on solutions rather than deals can take time and effort.
Examples of solution selling
Tesla
Tesla’s success lies in its ability to sell more than cars. The company has created a loyal customer base by focusing on sustainability, technology, and the overall ownership experience. Tesla’s charging infrastructure, energy storage solutions, and autonomous driving features are critical components of its solution-selling approach.
Salesforce
Salesforce is a prime example of a company that has mastered solution selling. Beyond CRM software, Salesforce offers a platform for managing customer relationships across the customer journey. By focusing on customer success and providing tools for sales, service, marketing, and commerce, Salesforce has positioned itself as a strategic business partner for thousands of companies worldwide.
Microsoft
Microsoft has shifted its focus to customer success, emphasizing the value of its solutions rather than the products themselves. Its suite of products, including Azure, Office 365, Dynamics 365, and more, are designed to work seamlessly together.
This integration allows Microsoft to offer comprehensive solutions that address multiple business needs within a single ecosystem.
Conclusion
Don’t sell a product; sell a solution to your customer’s problem.
Solution selling isn’t just a sales tactic; it’s a shift in mindset. It helps you build lasting relationships where your clients see you as essential to their success.
As you refine your solution selling strategy, remember that the key to success lies in inculcating empathy, active listening, and a deep understanding of your customer’s unique needs.
And once you start implementing the strategies discussed above, your sales conversations will transform into meaningful, value-driven engagements.
