Classic Consultative Selling: A Case Study

by Hal Slater

In this article, we will examine an actual sale of a $120,000 swimming pool project to a homeowner in an upper middle-class suburban development. The point of this article is to examine the process of listening, understanding, researching and recommending in such a way as to lock up the sale before the proposal is made.

The client obtained our phone number and called for a quote on a pool with no prior introduction to our firm. Only the wife was available for the initial interview and a tour of the site was made with a rough description of the elements desired in the pool (spa, beach entry, rock accents, firepit, etc.).

After the initial meeting, the husband, an engineer, called to clarify his request for a beach entry and proceeded to describe his vision of a pool with no coping edge. He had been advised that the best means to accomplish this was through the use of a gutter and tank system. He also indicated that he wanted a pool that was unique and original and would be agreeable to artificial rock if the workmanship was exceptional.

The key to making this particular sale was in the research. Following several hours on cross-country calls with the gutter and tank manufacturers, the parameters of that design were established and it became obvious that this approach would be expensive and become unreliable over time. A lower cost, more reliable alternative was proposed and, because the client's original ideas were taken seriously and thoroughly researched from the beginning, he was willing to agree with the alternative.

In fact, he was so impressed by the research and the proposed alternative that he made a declaration at the beginning of the presentation of the proposal that he had selected our firm to build the pool and he wanted to add an element that would raise the cost by 50%, before he ever saw the bid. He subsequently added other elements that increased the cost by another 25% resulting in one of the largest, most profitable projects the company ever undertook.

The lesson in this sale is to listen for the result the customer wants and take his or her ideas seriously, then do your homework. The customer may think they know what they want you to do but all they can really know is what they want, and they may not be the same. You are expected to be the professional, act like one and use all of your talent, knowledge and creativity to propose better solutions that achieve the desired objective.