Follow these six steps of the sales process reframed for the solution selling process:

1. Prepare

This step follows the traditional sales process, with just a slight change of direction. Instead of researching who your potential customer is, you need to research what your potential client’s biggest problem or issue might be. As you prepare for your first sales call or point of contact, research your prospective customer’s history and try to identify what roadblocks they face.

2. Diagnose

Use the research you’ve done in the previous step to further understand what roadblocks the client faces. Ask open-ended questions that require the client to address weaknesses in their current process. As this line of questioning unfolds, you should take notes on where you see your product or service fitting into their business.

3. Qualify

Use a set of questions or criteria to determine whether your lead is A) interested in the solution you’re offering and B) in a position to make a decision, whether that’s making a purchase, starting a trial, or agreeing to an additional sales call.

4. Educate

Here is where the real difference between the traditional sales process and the solution selling process becomes apparent. You need to give the client tangible reasons for not only why their business needs your service but also how their business will benefit. Focus on elements like these:

• Return on Investment (ROI)
• Reduced operation costs
• Percentage of savings year-over-year
  

5. Solve

Mirror the language and style of communicating that the client has used so far to present your product as the solution to the specific pain points they discussed in step 2. In addition to cementing the effectiveness of your product or service, look for similarities in your new client and existing clients, and bring along any relevant case studies or examples. This step is about really driving home the solution you bring to the table.

6. Close

Listen to any remaining objections, counter those objections with benefit-driven responses, and move on to the close or next step. Take a cue from your potential client and decide whether the situation calls for a hard, direct close or a softer, more informal close. Always bring it back to why this customer needs your service.

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