Solution Selling: a step-by-step guide to implementing the methodology in B2B sales

Solution Selling methodology is transforming the approach to B2B sales – the specificity of the approach is in recognizing that customers approach purchases strategically, carefully assessing the long-term implications of their decisions. Salespeople act as consultants, helping customers identify hidden needs, assess potential benefits, and develop comprehensive solutions.

Let’s consider the key principles of Solution Selling, stages and tools necessary for successful implementation of the methodology in a company.

What is Solution Selling

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Solution Selling (or “solution selling”) is a sales methodology that focuses on identifying, amplifying, and solving specific customer problems or pains. The key feature of this approach is that the salesperson first helps the customer recognize and clearly articulate their problems, and only then offers a solution.

This method is particularly effective in the B2B segment when selling complex products, such as IT solutions, where simply listing product features often does not produce the desired results.

In Solution Selling, the salesperson acts as a consultant or “diagnostician”. His or her job is not only to identify the customer’s obvious problems, but also to help uncover hidden pains that the customer may not have even been aware of. The salesperson then develops and presents a personalized solution that directly addresses those specific problems and needs.

“The solution selling methodology represents a system of interaction between the sales team from different departments of the company – the salesperson with the customer’s stakeholders (LPRs) to create a value proposition.

The value proposition is based on the system of key concepts of PPVVC from New Solution Selling: problem (pain), decision-making power (power), customer’s vision of expected results (vision), value proposition (value), seller’s control (control).

– Tatiana Kornilova, B2B Complex Sales Expert, Pragmatic Sales

Key Principles of Methodology

Focus on solving customer problems:

• Prioritize understanding the customer’s problems over promoting product features.
• The salesperson strives to find the best solution, even if it doesn’t fully match the company’s original offering.
• Success is measured not only by closing the deal, but also by the degree of customer satisfaction with the proposed solution.

A deep understanding of the client’s business:

• The salesperson conducts thorough research on the client’s industry, competitors, and market trends.
• The manager asks questions to uncover hidden needs and problems that the customer may not be aware of.
• The salesperson dives into the client’s business processes to find areas where the solution can benefit.

Creating value through a consultative approach:

• The vendor acts as a trusted advisor, not just a product provider.
• The customer receives expert knowledge and insight from the vendor to help them understand the problems and solutions.
• A focus on long-term partnership and creating value for the client’s business, rather than short-term gains from the sale.

Ongoing training and skill development for salespeople:

• Developing the skills of active listening and asking the right questions.
• Learning to analyze the client’s business processes.
• Practice in creating persuasive White Papers and presentations.
• Regular trainings on new products and solutions of the company.

Working with existing clients:

• The company regularly analyzes the business of current clients to identify new pains and opportunities.
• Salespeople apply the accumulated knowledge about the customer to better customize solutions.
• The sales team applies up-selling and cross-selling techniques based on an understanding of the customer’s business processes.
• Sales team applies up-selling and cross-selling techniques based on an understanding of the customer’s business processes.

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When implementing Solution Selling, it is important to track specific success metrics:

• increase in average deal size;
• reducing the sales cycle;
• increase in customer satisfaction;
• increase in the percentage of repeat sales to existing customers;
• increase in the percentage of won deals.

The solution selling methodology will be particularly useful to companies in solving three problems:

• Transform the sales system from simple b2b products to complex ones and get real results as quickly as possible.
• Boost sales by increasing the number of TOP-30, TOP-100, TOP-250 and TOP-500 customers.
• Facilitate complex deals with large clients that are hanging in the pipeline.

– Tatiana Kornilova, B2B Complex Sales Expert, Pragmatic Sales

Stages of Solution Selling and what it takes to build the process

1. Assess the deal potential

What is needed for the phase: Develop and implement an evaluation system based on the IMPAC model.

In this stage, the salesperson evaluates the potential of the opportunity using the IMPAC (Ideal Prospect Profile, Matched Paper, Paper Process, Aligned Concept, Compelling Reason to Act) model, which is a key tool of the Solution Selling methodology:

• Ideal Prospect Profile: determine how well the customer fits the ideal buyer profile;
• Matched Paper: assess the fit between the customer’s pain and the proposed solution;
• Paper Process: analyze the decision-making process on the customer side;
• Aligned Concept: check if the solution concept is in line with the client’s vision;
• Compelling Reason:
• Compelling Reason to Act: find compelling reasons for the client to act now.
2. Pain Qualification

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What you need for the stage: Tools to identify and document client problems, such as Pain Sheets.

In this stage, the salesperson talks to the customer and asks extractive questions to identify explicit and implicit needs. The key is to help the client recognize problems that they may have previously overlooked or underestimated.
This process requires active listening skills and the ability to apply an important Solution Selling tool, the Pain Sheets, which helps analyze the client’s needs. The document includes a description of the customer’s problem, the consequences of the problem (financial, operational), the causes of the problem, potential solutions, and the value of the solution to the customer.

3. Vision Creation (Vision Creation)

What you need for the stage: tools and techniques to help show the client the state of their business after implementing the solution.

In this stage, the salesperson helps the client create a clear vision of what their business will look like after implementing the proposed solution. This includes discussing specific improvements and how those improvements will impact business processes and results. Visualizing the solution helps the customer better understand the value of the proposal and motivates them to take action.

4. Value Proposition

What you need for the stage: tools to calculate and present the value of the solution.

Here the salesperson formulates and presents a value proposition based on the problems identified and the vision created. The focus is on specific benefits to the customer’s business.

5. Solution Definition

What you need for the stage: case studies with other clients, research so that managers can tailor the solution to the client’s needs.

Based on the identified needs, the salesperson develops a customized proposal for the client. It is important that it is not just a set of products, but a comprehensive solution to the business problems of the company-buyer.

6. Presentation of the solution

What you need for the stage: prepared White Papers articulating the benefits of your solution (Selling Points) so that salespeople can justify the benefit and value of the product to the customer.

At this stage, the salesperson presents the developed solution to the client using the concept of White Paper, a tool in the Solution Selling methodology. A White Paper is a detailed document that:

• describes the client’s problems identified in the previous stages;
• presents the proposed solution;
• explains how the solution addresses the client’s specific pain points;
• demonstrates the value of the solution to the client’s business;

The salesperson uses the White Paper as the basis for the presentation, focusing on how the solution can improve the client’s bottom line, such as increasing ROI, reducing TCO, or optimizing key business processes. This approach allows the solution to be presented not just as a set of features, but as a comprehensive answer to the customer’s specific needs and challenges.

7. Overcoming Objections

What you need for the stage: a list of possible objections and how to work through them so that employees can respond to the client’s doubts.

At this stage, the salesperson works with the doubts and objections of the client. It is important to see objections not as obstacles, but as opportunities to explore the customer’s needs and demonstrate the value of the solution.

8. Closing the Deal

What you need for the stage: tools to automate approvals and paperwork.

The deal closure stage is the logical conclusion of the process, when the client decides to implement the proposed solution. Here it is important to discuss implementation details, terms and conditions of cooperation. Successful deal closure is based on built trust and a clear understanding of the value of the solution for the client.

9. Support after the sale

What you need for the stage: tools to collect feedback and opportunities for additional sales to the same customer.

This stage plays a major role in developing a long-term relationship with the customer: it includes assistance in implementing the solution, training the customer’s staff and ongoing support. Quality after-sales service not only increases customer satisfaction, but also creates opportunities for new sales, e.g. the customer may buy additional system modules or a solution for another department from you.

The role of CRM in supporting Solution Selling processes

Once the sales team has learned the theory of solution selling, you need to let them put it into practice. Without the right tool, it will be difficult to track the nuances of complex sales and dive deep into customer needs, so it’s important to select the right CRM system to manage the processes.

Here’s how CRM helps at different stages of customer interaction:

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SimpleOne B2B CRM as a tool for implementing Solution Selling

SimpleOne B2B CRM is a comprehensive solution for effective application of solution selling methodology in corporate sales. The system is tailored for complex B2B deals and can support every step of the Solution Selling process.

Overview of SimpleOne B2B CRM features for Solution Selling

1. Methodological sales support: functionality for applying modern sales techniques (SPIN, Solution Selling), elaborate lead qualification methodology, tools for managing cold call strategy and deal lifecycle visualization.
2. Features for deep customer understanding: contact mapping for customer attitudes to different areas of influence, fields for capturing pains and selection criteria.
3. Management of complex deals: customizable kanban boards, support for parallel work on different sales activities within a deal, forecasting and planning tools.
4. Integration with marketing: automatic loading of content into the customer’s card depending on his pains or criteria – content helps the salesperson to better understand the customer, planning and management of marketing campaigns, end-to-end analytics for management decisions.
5. Content Management: all marketing content is stored inside the CRM, allowing you to quickly refer to it for any issue during the deal.
6. Flexibility and scalability: the system can handle thousands of active users, visual Low-code process editors allow you to quickly implement changes to the system.
7. Advanced data manipulation: dot-walking fields for linked tables, powerful data sampling interface, create any custom reports and dashboards in two clicks.
8. Ii-Automation: Smart Filling helps in automated filling of cards based on calls and emails, which frees up salesperson’s time for face-to-face interaction with the customer, call quality analysis is available.
9. Partner Sales Support: CRM allows you to track complex sales processes involving multiple parties, such as vendor, integrator and customer.
10. Integration and mobility: A rich API for integration with other business systems allows you to create a unified ecosystem for customer relationship management.

Example: implementing SimpleOne B2B CRM to implement Solution Selling

The company vStack sells a complex technical solution for enterprise-grade virtualization, so the deal cycle takes 3 months to 2 years. To track customer interactions at different stages of the funnel, the company switched from Excel spreadsheets to the SimpleOne CRM system.

The system allowed the company to implement a solution selling methodology and build new sales processes:

• Create and maintain deals – vStack’s commercial managers track leads and customers using CRM, supported by content.
• Use of new tools – with the implementation of CRM, vStack’s sales team has become more systematic with sales methodologies: salespeople utilize deal boards and an elaborate customer qualification process within the CRM.
• Advanced analytics and control – the company now has end-to-end analytics of marketing and sales, thanks to which the needs of customers have become more detailed, the effectiveness of communication with customers has improved.

As a result, the transaction cycle was reduced by 10%.

The full case study is in the blog article.

Summary

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Developing a Solution Selling approach is a strategic solution to strengthen a company’s position in the B2B segment. Below are brief conclusions on the methodology:

1. Solution Selling focuses on customer needs rather than product features.
2. The process consists of eight stages: from research to post-sales support.
3. Effective implementation of the methodology requires a CRM system that supports all stages of the process.
4. CRM, customized for solution selling, simplifies the implementation of the methodology and increases the efficiency of sales.