🧠 Mind Map of the Month: Consultative Selling

Admin BSF.company

Hello 👋

I wanted to share a use of MindMeister I’ve found to be very helpful with a thing I struggled in the past, which is the act of selling something. Actually, this post is about a way of selling that I've learned to love and enjoy over time: Consultative Selling.

Consultative selling is a sales technique that involves gathering information about the customer's needs and using that information to create a customized solution that meets their specific requirements. It's about trust and building a long-term relationship with the customer and providing them with expert advice and guidance.

Since consultative selling involves gathering information, analyzing the customer's needs, and presenting a personalized solution, one tool that can be used to maximize its effectiveness is a mind map.

There are plenty of lists on the internet about steps-by-step guides to do consultative selling or rules to follow while you're at it. Instead of adding one more list to the bunch, today I'm sharing the framework I use, which involves a technique called mind mapping.

A mind map is a graphical representation of ideas and concepts, often used to organize and visualize information. Mind maps can be used to break down complex issues into manageable chunks, making it easier to understand and analyze.

Here are 4 ways that a mind map can be used to maximize the effectiveness of consultative selling:

1. Brainstorming: Use a mind map to brainstorm ideas and potential solutions to the customer's needs. Start with the customer's needs, then branch out into subtopics (potential solutions). This can help you generate more ideas and explore different possibilities. 💡 Tip: write down as much as possible, my motto is "write down first, organize later".

2. Organizing information: Use a mind map to organize the information gathered during the discovery phase of consultative selling. Start with the customer's needs, then branch out into subtopics (pain points, desired outcomes, etc.). This can help you better understand the customer's needs and identify potential solutions. 💡 Tip: In MindMeister, organize topics quick and easy by using the keyboard shortcut "Ctrl + Arrows ⬆⬇"

3. Presenting solutions: Use a mind map to present solutions to the customer. Start with the customer's needs, then branch out into subtopics (proposed solutions). This can help you present the information in a clear and organized way, making it easier for the customer to understand and evaluate the solutions. 💡 Tip: enable Focus Mode for distraction-free presentations using the keyboard shortcut "Ctrl + ."

4. Addressing objections: Use a mind map to address any objections or concerns the customer may have about the proposed solutions. Start with the objections, then branch out into subtopics (potential solutions, additional information required, etc.). This can help you address the objection in a clear and organized way, making it easier for the customer to understand and evaluate your response. 💡 Tip: objections are opportunities for collaboration and finding common grounds. Embrace them and treat them as a blessing!

Overall, a mind map can be a powerful tool for performing consultative selling. By using a mind map to organize and visualize information, you can better understand the customer's needs, generate more ideas, present solutions in a clear and organized way, and address objections in a structured manner.

Get yourself a copy of this consultative selling mind map 💾

Click here ⬅ to clone and edit it. 💡 Furthermore, make sure to follow me on MindMeister's Universe to get updated versions of this and other business related mind maps.

Note: This is a constant-evolving framework, so feel free to add your suggestions in the comments section below.

Best regards.

Andrés D'Andrea

Joerg Koper

@Andres D'Andrea

Thanks a lot for this awesome Mind Map Andres 🙏🙂

I like the lean structure of the Mind Map and by the way...

...everything you told about Consultative Selling and building a Mind Map for those use cases is a further interesting gift for every user.

Especially the hint on the Focus Mode, related to presentations, is very valuable for all those who do not yet know this function in the new editor.

Great 👏

Rooster McNugget

@Andres D'Andrea

hey thx a lot for this great Mind Map mate!👏

I like the easy way to go step by step and it's easy to get a good overview!

Have a good one!🌞

Andrew Lapidus

Amazing, @Andres D'Andrea, thanks for sharing! I love the map both as a pragmatic guide (it could function as a procedural checklist) and as an educational resource for learning about consultative selling.

I'm also going to tag @Matthias_Lass from our sales team, who'd surely be interested in this!

Best,

Andrew

Admin BSF.company

Hello friends! @Jörg Koper, @Rooster McNugget and @Andrew Lapidus 👋

I'm glad you liked it, I've got a mission to share more stuff like this in the coming months, so thanks for the motivating comments 📈 ✅

I tried to make it as general as possible, so it can be adapted later to each use-case.

Enjoy, best regards 👍

Miša Hennin

Hey @Andres D'Andrea,

Thanks so much for sharing this month's Mind Map of the Month!

I've just read through it and found it super interesting. I can really see the benefit of using the mind map during a sales call. My boyfriend has just started a role in sales so this was particularly relevant!

Although it's a very basic feature, the possibility to expand and close topics is really useful here - It really allows you to focus on the relevant material as you pass through the stages.

Definitely looking forward to more of these. Thank you Andrés!

Best,

Miša

Admin BSF.company

Hey @Miša thanks for sharing your thoughts. I'm glad you folks can put it to practice, the ideal is to customize it to each use-case for better results.

That's the beauty of having these templates, one can “clone and edit” so easily 💾

Enjoy! 😉

Andrés

CL Webb

Well done, @Andres D'Andrea! Thanks for your contribution.

Admin BSF.company

https://community.meister.co/discussion/comment/3605#Comment_3605

Hey thanks for the props CL Webb, I'm glad you liked it.

Best regards 👋

Andrés

Miša Hennin

Do you work in Sales @CL Webb just out of interest?

Best,

CL Webb

Well, in a sense, everyone is in sales — whether they know it or not.

I am not in professional sales; meaning it's not my primary occupation. Though, at one time, I was in sales.

Hope you're enjoying the day,
CL Webb 🙂
—-

Beata Mertyn

thanks a lot, Andrea. I really like that customer-oriented approach so the summary of it is a great gift for interested people!
PS I like your quote "write first, organize then" and the key shortcut to organise the mind map branches (earlier I was moving it with the mouse and sometime it was really struggling :/)

Admin BSF.company

https://community.meister.co/discussion/comment/4118#Comment_4118

Hello @Merbe thanks for your words. I'm glad you find it useful!

Welcome to the community, feel free to edit that template as much as you can to customize it for your personal use 😃.

Additionally, you can use the @mentions here in the community to call the attention and interact with other users like asking questions, commenting about something specific, or sharing fun facts.

Best regards, stay in touch 👋

Andres

Miša Hennin

Hey @Merbe, it's great to hear you learned something from @Andres D'Andrea's mind map! That's always our goal 😊.

Best,

Miša

Dieter Hofer

Hi @Andres D'Andrea,

I´ve seen just now this great map. I take it very thankful and translate it to German for my own use cases. Thank you so much

Best regards

Dieter