'Consultative selling' rewards the talented

The National Sales Awards 2003 show that a career in sales is more demanding than ever

Gone are the days when all careers in sales involved a series of quick transactions in order to meet demanding targets. "Consultative selling is the fastest growing trend in the profession today, which involves building long-term partnerships with customers and offering them a service as well as the product," says Don Hales, organiser of the National Sales Awards, held last month.

You might, for instance, work with your customer to show them how they can best sell the product on – how they can best price them and market them. You might send in an accountant or marketing expert as part of the process. You'll also need to be capable of multi-tasking, as well having good risk assessment skills and be naturally competitive.

Fiona Smith, a finalist in the Sales Professional of the Year – Telecommunications category of the National Sales Awards, is a case in point. With her degree in Japanese from Cambridge, she landed herself a job at Siemens Communications as an account manger. In the last year, one success was a managed serviced deal for a global professional service firm. "Someone of Fiona's ability probably wouldn't have gone into sales a decade ago," admits Hales. "But today, people like her are keen to sign up."

Also contributing to the growth in consultative selling is the increasingly competitive marketplace, believes Hales. "Nowadays, clients are often as well informed as the salespeople, not only about their products, but about alternative products. This has forced salespeople to come up with other benefits than the inherent quality of the product."

Because the added value provided by sales consultants often involves a range of specialist services, you are likely to find yourself working in what are known as "virtual teams".

Alistair MacLeod, who works for Pall Biopharmaceuticals and was winner of the Account Manager of the Year category, explains: "My job is about forming long-term relationships with pharmaceutical companies, and to achieve this, I co-ordinate virtual teams. This can be on a local basis or global scale and involves co-ordinating teams of specialists when they are required. This is because we're not just here to sell the product to customers, but to provide support to reduce their costs within the supply chain."

Paul Church, winner of the Strategic Account Manager of the Year category, agrees, adding that account management is a role with huge responsibility. Handling three key but diverse accounts, he works for Siemens Communications, which has been transforming its strategy from that of a product vendor to solutions provider. Change of that nature, he points out, requires the client to have great faith in the account manager.

"You are involved in creating solutions, not just a product that you need to sell, which is ultimately much more exciting and challenging," he explains.

However, the key to success in sales is still closing the deal. The overall winner of the National Sales Awards 2003 was Darren Laverty, 36, a founder partner at the Millfield Partnership, who last year produced almost £500,000 of income against a target of £350,000.

"My area of work is employee benefits and it's my job to go out to the client and sell them the service we can deliver," says Laverty. "The reason I believe we get more business than other companies is because whilst they provide a product and allow employees to get on with utilising it, I've set it up so that we can provide individual advice to staff.

"Before I changed the way I work, my sales job involved a bit of everything – canvassing on the telephone, administration, advising and closing the deal. Now, I just focus on closing the deal and delegate the other jobs to other members of the team. As a result, each of them has become an expert in their field and does it better than I ever did.

"I believe the reason I won this award is because I've been provided with a platform to operate as a salesperson with freedom and creativity. Secondly, whilst most people are panicking about the state of the market and financial industry, I see it as an opportunity. Other people are running away, but I'm more motivated than ever. It's a case of survival of the fittest and I'm determined to be the fittest."