A 3rd Alternative to Solution Selling and Insight Selling

Last year, the Harvard Business Review featured a spotlight on 'smarter selling', and one of the articles it featured by the Corporate Executive Board drew a distinction between solution selling and insight-based selling

Traditional solution selling is based on the premise that salespeople should lead with open-ended questions designed to surface recognised customer needs. Insight-based selling rests on the belief that salespeople must lead with disruptive ideas that will make customers aware of unknown needs. 

Adaptive reps, who seek out customers that are primed for change, challenge them with provocative insights and coach them how to buy, will become indispensable. They may still be selling solutions - but more broadly they're selling insights. And in this new world, that makes the difference between a pitch that goes nowhere and one that secures the customer's business.

This focus on providing insights is something we recognise, especially in our conversations with clients operating in IT & Professional Services, who work with customers on large, complex projects. However, while the observation from the CEB above is sensible, and while sharing provocative insights can undoubtedly be valuable for clients, our experience is that if sharing insights represents just another form of 'telling' clients what they should do, then it won't provide them - or the provider - with the optimal solution.

The distinction we would draw - and the 3rd alternative approach we refer to - is to consider the provision of insights as part of a mutual exploration (rather than a 'telling' process), and is based on the principle that "you can't truly communicate with me until you understand me". What we recommend (and what we develop in people with client facing responsibilities) is the ability to structure their interaction with a client so they move away from what may be the initial or obvious need and explore behind this for issues, impact, context and constraints. When done well, this can expand understanding of the client’s challenges, highlight for the client challenges that they had not been fully conscious of and enable access for the provider to other stakeholders with differing views.

The opportunity is that this process of mutual exploration can then inform a provider's perspective on the insights they then offer. They can take what they are observing in the sector, combine this with an expanded understanding of the client’s reality and then share insights in the context of that understanding. In a marketplace with others follow the 'tell' model of providing insights this alternative (or 3rd alternative) approach not only provides the chance to be 'more insight-ful', but it also distinguishes the provider in the collaborative approach they adopt and the level of trust they build with their customers in the process.