Motivational speaker Francis Kong launches new sales concept

Francis Kong. Photo taken from franciskong.com

MANILA, Philippines – Sales people should step up their craft and offer more than the traditional way of selling. They need to be consultants.

This was suggested by motivational speaker Francis Kong last week, where he introduced the concept of consultancy selling at “Be the Best Seller Program + Putting the Wow in Your Customer Service Program” at Crowne Plaza Manila at the Robinsons Galleria.

Kong, also a corporate trainer with high profile clients, facilitated the program attended by about 300 people, along with Ed Patron, Head and Director for Sales of Sky Cable and Merril Yu, an international hotelier and also a motivational speaker.

“Nakita ko na yung need ng market [I’ve seen the needs of the market]. An organization needs to raise up a new army of consultants rather than sales people,” he told INQUIRER.net.

He said a typical salesman should be knowledgeable of his product, find out the needs of the clients, offer solutions and make a sale.

“My proposition now is that today the client probably knows more than the sales person so the consultancy selling is not there to offer solutions. The consultancy selling is there to offer insight, add additional knowledge…make him realize that he probably has needs he hasn’t realized yet and then offer consultative advice,” he said.

In this day and age of the Internet, Kong said the customer has now access to information, which used to be an exclusive domain of a sales person.

“It is now incumbent upon the salesperson to get a macro picture of other things that the client needs,” he said.

Kong said that way, the consultant triumphs over the sales person.

“If you are there to offer your products, sell your benefits and offer solution to your needs, you are a salesperson. But if you are there to offer insights partner with the client and to trigger them with the additional things they need  to do, you are no longer a salesperson but a consultant,”  he said.

It was the first time that Kong has launched the concept of consultancy selling, which he added could have been known by sales people but which has not been concretized.