Successful sales professionals build strong relationships with their clients, custom-tailor their offerings to fit the needs of those clients, and make a concerted effort to be as helpful as possible throughout the buying process (and beyond). Clients want to know that the person they’re buying from is knowledgeable, trustworthy, helpful, and capable of solving their particular problem(s).
One of the books that I often recommend to Efficiency Sales Professional Boot Camp attendees is Winning the Professional Services Sale: Unconventional Strategies to Reach More Clients, Land Profitable Work, and Maintain Your Sanity, by Michael W. McLaughlin. McLaughlin provides a holistic approach to selling professional services and offers a wealth of strategies for how to give your client exactly what he or she wants.
Here’s a summary from Amazon Books:
“In recent years, professional services providers have had to rethink their sales methods and adapt to profound changes in the way clients buy services. In response, Winning the Professional Services Sale argues for fundamental changes in the seller's mindset and sales strategies. Rather than pressing the sale, salespeople must help clients buy – the way that works best for each client. This new approach gives buyers what they now want in a services seller: a consultative problem solver, change agent, and solution integrator, all rolled into one. Author Michael McLaughlin presents a strategy for winning new business with a holistic approach to each client relationship. Only by fully understanding a sale from every angle, including its impact on the client's business and career, can salespeople thrive in the new era of the service economy.”