Content Marketing The Next Step in Consultative Selling

Generating new business and maintaining relationships with current clients is certainly the focus of every organization today.  The best management teams develop strategic approaches which reflect their companies’ philosophies, their sales team’s strengths and most importantly, their clients’ needs.

Over the past several years many forward-thinking companies have formed a consultative selling approach.  In short, consultative selling is solution-led rather than product-led.  The idea is to emphasize customer needs and meeting those needs with solutions combining products or services.  A consultative seller provides information or advice on which solution best meets the clients’ needs.  When properly and genuinely executed, the salesperson becomes a valued consultant in their respective field to their client, which in turn leads to a successful partnership.

Content marketing has several descriptions.  However I think we all can agree that the concept of content marketing is totally focused on customers’ needs and interests.  It’s the art of engaging a target audience by delivering relevant information about a subject of interest or need, and then influencing a behavior. That’s my description.

Content marketing allows organizations to provide current and potential clients with useful information or advice.  In other words, content marketing is a solution-led selling approach.  When done properly, content marketing positions your company as an industry expert (consultant), it builds trust with your customers, it generates leads, and it leads to doing business.  It’s a solution-provider technique.  Sound familiar.

There are many forms of content marketing which companies can incorporate into their marketing and sales process.  The challenge, like with any strategic approach, is execution.

How is your organization handling communications through emerging technologies?  How are you connecting with current and potential clients?