SALES PROFESSIONALS
You Think You're Consulting. You're Not.
ARTICLE June 9, 2025
Many sales professionals assume that honesty, product knowledge, and transparent recommendations amount to consulting. While these are qualities of an ethical sales person, they do not constitute consulting. What they represent is what we refer to as “honest selling”, a respectable and necessary practice, but one that remains firmly within the realm of pure sales.
Selling, even at its most transparent, is transactional. It involves offering known solutions in exchange for time and money. Consulting, by contrast, is generative. It does not start with answers but with questions. True consulting surfaces problems the client had not articulated and creates solutions that did not exist before the conversation began. It is collaborative, strategic, and fundamentally different in both process and outcome.
Where the Misunderstanding Begins
The confusion often stems from experience. As sellers become more competent, they grow more confident in their product, their market, and their delivery. They learn to listen closely and tailor their recommendations. They stop pushing and begin advising. But this advice is still based on known variables. It is still a translation of what they know into what the client might need. This is honest selling, but it is not consulting.
Consultants operate differently. They do not assume; they inquire. They create space for discovery, challenge client assumptions, and remain open to the possibility that the right answer may not be obvious to either party at the outset. Consulting requires the humility to admit you might be wrong and the discipline to seek clarity through conversation. The value emerges from the interaction, not the inventory.
Put simply: if our time with a client is only to convince them of what we have to offer, we’re not consulting.
How to Recognize Consulting When You See It
There are clear signs. Consultants serve clients. Salespeople sell customers. Clients are buying with the consultant, not from them.
In a consulting interaction, both parties are learning. The dialogue is adaptive. The consultant may begin with a hypothesis, but the direction evolves based on what is uncovered. The consultant brings preparation and perspective, but not a preloaded solution. The result is a tailored plan, specific to that client, and shaped through mutual engagement.
If a conversation leads to new realizations on both sides, especially when the consultant adjusts their view based on the dialogue, then consulting is taking place.
Clients Know the Difference
Clients can sense the distinction, even if they can’t articulate it. An honest seller may offer full transparency and immediate pricing, often in response to the buyer’s request. A consultant, by contrast, resists the urge to quote prematurely. They understand that until the problem is fully understood by both sides, no proposal can be truly relevant.
Occasionally, a client will insist on paying even when no transaction occurs. Not out of politeness, but because they recognize they received something of value. That is consulting.
The Demands of Consultative Selling
Consultative selling is not a middle ground. It is a paradoxical combination of two concepts that on the surface seem opposed to each other – the need to consult and the need to get paid. The trick is to maintain the practices of a consultant while trusting enough in your product or service that the value of it will come out in the end. This is made especially challenging because buyers will initially assume every insight is a veiled attempt to close the deal – we have to recognize this.
To be effective, consultative sellers must overcome that assumption. They must earn the right to advise by demonstrating detachment from the outcome. They must prioritize the client’s clarity over their own convenience. They must show that their thinking is independent of the product.
True consulting cannot be faked. It is proven through presence, listening, and insight that would hold value whether a sale follows or not. This must be emphasized, if we’re consulting then we’re leaving the client better than we found them, even when there is no sale.
A Real Example
At Atlante Partners, we once engaged with a prospective client through a discovery process that included multiple meetings, team interviews, and in-depth analysis. We did not discuss pricing until our understanding was complete. Shortly after receiving our proposal, the company informed us they were being acquired and would not be moving forward. We acknowledged the news and respectfully stepped away. In spite of this, the CEO insisted on compensating us for the work, which was all simply part of our sales process. Not because we had requested it, but because he believed the insight we provided had shifted how they thought about cultural issues and execution priorities. That conversation created something they did not have before. That is the hallmark of consulting.
Why It Matters
Sales is about applying a proven solution. Consulting is about developing a unique solution. Sales leave the buyer with something they could buy anywhere. Consulting leaves the client with something that only the consultant could draw out.
The goal is not simply to inform, but to transform. Not to present, but to co-create. That is where lasting trust is built and where meaningful business begins. We like to say, “the less you sell, and the more you consult, the more you will sell.”
A Note to Leaders
If you want your team to consult, do not just ask them to be honest or know their product. Ask them to prepare for client interactions in a way that will allow them to bring value through questions, conversation, and insight. Teach them to be patient in proposing solutions and to focus first on learning. Give them the confidence to slow the process down with a prospect so that trust can be built and the work can be done right. Recognize and reward shifts from a sales mindset to a consultative mindset.
A Note on Using the Atlante Sales Tool
The Atlante Sales Tool is purpose-built to support consultative selling, where staying organized is critical. This sales approach demands that reps always keep a high volume of detailed prospect information readily accessible. Atlante’s intuitive design and interface make this possible. Visit www.atlantesales.com to try it today.