Looking to increase your sales success? Stop thinking so much about your product, and instead consider your solution.
 
At first glance, your company’s product and solution may seem like fraternal — if not identical — twins, but a closer examination will show you otherwise. Clients aren’t really looking for a product. Rather, they just want to solve their most pressing issues by any means necessary.
 
Coming to terms with this fact is only the first step in becoming a truly customer-centric sales team, but it’s nonetheless critical. After that, you’ll begin to help customers bring to light and understand their most difficult problems — and how your company is the most obvious solution.
 
Looking Through a New Lens
 
Solution-oriented selling relies on getting to know your customers on a deeper level. You’ll do less product promotion and spend more time looking for ways to help. Reframing your offering from a one-size-fits-all product to a just-for-you solution fosters lasting relationships with clients, who will view you as a trusted partner they can’t live without.
 
It’s more than a sales tactic; it’s creating an unparalleled customer experience. You can show clients that you get their problems and you’re going to help them remedy those problems. This customer-centric approach gives you an advantage over competitors and tells a compelling story about your company.
 
I have a sales rep on my team who models this method to great success. Not only does he work to show clients that he understands their problems, but he also helps them identify additional issues they may not have noticed. Going a step further, he works with them to anticipate future issues and to minimize the challenges of implementing a new solution. His approach helps to position our company, FIS Global, as a provider of lasting solutions, not simply a short-term Band-Aid.
 
That’s not to say that client-focused selling is the sole responsibility of one salesperson — or even just the sales team. It requires companywide buy-in. Making this shift can be tricky, especially if your company has traditionally focused heavily on the product. But every department benefits from seeing through the customer’s eyes. Here are three steps you can implement to rally everyone around this method.
 
1. Encourage Education
 
Traditionally, sales teams have been reluctant to overeducate prospective clients for fear that they’ll use that newly acquired knowledge to shop around. However, the results may be just the opposite. Research shows that educating your prospects can actually give you a leg up. The more educated customers are, the more likely they are to trust your product.
 
You need to take on an active teaching role, positioning yourself as a trusted comrade in a potential client’s quest for a solution. Use channels such as blogs, social media, video, etc., to establish and showcase your extensive knowledge on your targets’ pain points. This solidifies your relationship with potential customers and positions you to introduce your product into the conversation.
 
2. Huddle the Troops to Share Customer Intelligence
 
Companies will have a much easier time selling solutions if internal silos and communication barriers are eliminated. Selling is a companywide effort, after all. Every teammate’s work rolls up into sales as each strives to create value for customers. Even those who don’t work with clients are still contributing to the mission.
 
Salespeople have valuable client insights that the rest of your colleagues can use. Alternately, there’s data about your clients in accounting, customer service, legal, and more. When departments are free to share, you can cull that data and reveal the story behind it. That helps sales anticipate future trends and connect with prospective customers. If a company promotes an open dynamic and provides sales the resources it needs, salespeople will be better-equipped to give customers the solutions they need.
 
3. Embrace Smarketing
 
To truly become a solutions-oriented company, sales and marketing need to work in perfect harmony. Salespeople can and should bring customers’ views directly to marketing, which will allow marketing to better tell the story of your company’s solution.
 
This, in turn, makes selling easier for the sales team. Appointing a liaison between the departments creates a better flow of information. Facilitate an exchange of ideas and manage feedback so the rising tide can lift all boats.
 
When your entire company sees the world from the client’s perspective, every aspect of the business falls in line with customers’ needs — and that’s just the solution they’re looking for.
 
Sona Jepsen is the global head of sales enablement at Fidelity National Information Services (FIS). Her team empowers FIS’s global sales teams with sales content, strategic insights, and world-class learning and development opportunities.