Consultative Selling Training

Why Consultative Selling Matters Now

Buyers are increasingly self-educated, but still need help diagnosing their needs, evaluating options, and justifying decisions. Sellers who can guide this process with credibility and empathy gain a critical competitive edge.

This training empowers sellers to:

• Lead structured conversations that uncover business issues
• Demonstrate real value in the buying experience
• Differentiate based on expertise, not just offerings
• Advance deals with confidence, clarity, and purpose

What Sellers Will Learn

Participants develop the ability to confidently lead high-quality sales conversations and respond effectively to common buyer behaviors. Key learnings include how to:

• Use a structured framework to plan and conduct sales dialogues
• Build rapport and earn the right to ask deeper questions
• Identify explicit and latent customer needs
• Position value persuasively and tie it to buyer priorities
• Resolve objections without defensiveness or loss of momentum
• Apply emotional intelligence to adapt naturally to each interaction

Core Program Components

The Consultative Selling framework gives sellers a repeatable structure for planning, executing, and refining their sales conversations. Each component of the program develops critical skills for communicating effectively with buyers to advance deals.

Rigorous Planning and Preparation

Sellers learn to prepare for every customer meeting with a strategic mindset. In this phase, they gain skills to:

• Set clear call objectives and anticipate buyer expectations
• Identify potential value and risks
• Prepare for objections and rehearse key messages
• Visualize the natural flow of the dialogue

Deeper Understanding of the Customer

Sellers must understand what buyers are trying to solve before proposing a solution. Here, they learn how to:

• Build rapport and develop customer trust
• Ask a full range of consultative questions
• Engage in active listening and confirm understanding
• Co-create clarity around buyer needs and motivations

Positioning Value that Differentiates

To stand out in a crowded market, sellers must communicate value in a way that resonates. This module teaches them to:

• Translate features into outcomes tied to buyer goals
• Use persuasive, insight-driven messaging
• Align solutions to solve both known and emerging problems

Resolving Sales Objections

Objections are opportunities for deeper understanding, not roadblocks. Sellers are trained to:

• Embrace objections without becoming defensive
• Apply a four-step objection resolution model
• Probe for the root cause of concerns
• Reframe conversations to reinforce credibility and value

Six Critical Skills for Selling

These foundational selling skills help sellers apply the consultative framework with flexibility and emotional intelligence. They include:

• Presence
• Relating
• Questioning
• Listening
• Positioning
• Checking

Mastering these skills enables sellers to connect with diverse buyers, tailor their approach, and elevate the quality of every sales conversation.

Building Consultative Selling Skills with Richardson's Sales Training Technology

The Consultative Selling capability building is available as part of Richardson’s Accelerate Sales Performance System. This comprehensive solution combines training, tools, reinforcement, and technology to drive long-term behavior change and measurable results.

By embedding the program within the Accelerate system, your organization benefits from:

• Integrated Learning Journeys: Consultative Selling is supported by structured pre-, during-, and post-training activities to build readiness and retention
• Sustainment Tools: Coaching guides, conversation planners, and reinforcement content that managers and reps can use in the flow of work
• Sales Enablement Alignment: Content and tools that align with your methodology, CRM processes, and deal stages
• Scalable Deployment: Flexible delivery options and digital integration allow for consistent rollout across large or dispersed teams

This system-based approach ensures that Consultative Selling skills are not only learned but also applied, sustained, and measured across the organization.

The video below is an example of one of the learning modules from the consultative selling training content. It shows learners an example of ineffective objection resolution behaviors with coaching tips to explain where the seller in the video went wrong.

Business Benefits of Consultative Selling Training

Clients who implement this program report measurable improvements in both sales outcomes and team confidence. Benefits include:

• Increased close rates with new and existing customers
• Shorter sales cycles and higher momentum in deals
• Expanded deal sizes through deeper customer discovery
• A stronger, more buyer-aligned sales culture across the team

FAQ: Consultative Selling

Q: What is consultative selling training?
A: It’s a structured sales training approach where sellers focus on leading buyer-focused conversations that uncover needs, demonstrate value, and drive confident decisions.

Q: Who should take this training?
A: Sales professionals, managers, and leaders who want to improve how their teams engage buyers and differentiate from competitors.

Q: What are the Six Critical Skills?
A: Presence, Relating, Questioning, Listening, Positioning, and Checking—skills that help sellers apply the consultative framework with authenticity and precision.

Q: How is the training delivered?
A: Through in-person or virtual workshops, supported by the Accelerate Sales Performance System for integrated learning and sustainment.

Q: When should teams take this program?
A: This is Richardson’s foundational sales training offering, recommended as a starting point before advancing into programs focused on prospecting, negotiation, or opportunity pursuit.