This is the first video of a series on how to sell software to businesses. This is a big subject that we are going to dive deep into, and in order to do that, we are going to divide the subject across many different videos.

 

The Common Sales Strategy

I believe that the sales strategy for how to sell software to businesses that many salespeople use can be stripped down to trying to talk about the software to as many businesses as they can. Which sounds pretty logical, right? We refer to this approach as product selling.

The problem with that approach is that it makes the salesperson sound like a salesperson who is trying to sell something. And since prospects are approached by many salespeople every day, giving off this impression will trigger guardedness. That will lead to increased objections and rejections.

 

Our Approach

In this video on how to sell software to businesses, we actually outline an approach that is the opposite of this one, and it involves talking less about your product and possibly talking to fewer businesses.

The way this works is that instead of talking about the product and what it does, we recommend focusing on the improvements it can deliver and the pain points it can help solve. And to make conversations more about the prospect than about the product. To do this, we recommend asking good questions.

By asking good questions, you will identify prospects who need the software you sell and those who do not. When you learn more about the prospect, you will be able to identify which prospects need the software and those that don’t. This will prevent you from wasting valuable time trying to sell your software to prospects with a very low probability of purchase.

We refer to our approach as consultative selling because you operate more as a consultant, finding solutions to problems rather than talking businesses into buying software.

 

Which Approach is Easier?

One reason that most salespeople use more of a product selling approach for how to sell software to businesses is that it could be viewed as being easier. Since all you are doing is talking about your product, there is less to think about when figuring out what to say, since you likely already have a lot of product knowledge in your head.

With consultative selling, it is a little more sophisticated because you are talking more about benefits and pain points and asking good questions. To do this, you probably need to stop selling and take a moment to organize your thoughts so you can figure out what to say.

At first glance, product selling might seem easier than consultative selling. But product selling is not easier in other ways because you are likely to face more objections and rejections every day. So, with that, you might be able to skip the step of organizing your thoughts on what to say, but every day will be a little more difficult.

When using the consultative selling approach for how to sell software to businesses, you might have to spend a little extra time on the front end, but after that, the day-to-day selling experience is easier because you will face fewer objections and rejections.