If you’re going to develop a sales program for your brand, you need to decide whether you’re doing consultative or transactional sales. This is not a mere preference – if your decision doesn’t fit your business model, your sales program fails.
Transactional selling is appropriate when your business is based on one-time purchases, and the customer is unlikely to develop a lasting relationship. The sales process literally revolves around the transaction.
Consultative selling is right when an ongoing relationship is key to your business. The client is on a recurring plan or subscription model, or is likely to buy more products from you over time. The role of the salesperson is like that of an ongoing consultant.
If one of those sounds like a fit, but you don’t know how to facilitate it in your company culture, you need an external sales director to help.
You don’t need to burden your program with a full time presence, but if you just hire salespeople and start contacting leads, you’re likely to spend a lot of money, lose a lot of time, and burn the leads you have. Get a seasoned leader w/o the overhead of benefits and a company car.
