When I say “trusted advisor,” what words come to mind?
Relationship?
Helpful advice?
Strategic alliance?
Consultant?

DEEP THOUGHTS: Do you believe you are a trusted advisor? Do your customers perceive you as a trusted advisor?

Before you begin this lesson, take a moment to list your current accounts in which you feel you’re a trusted advisor. List the people who rely on you, and your trusted advisor status. How many are there?

When you complete this list, the first thing to do is compare it with your entire customer base. Are you a trusted advisor to more than 20% of your customer base? Take heart, most salespeople and managers are less than 10%.

And let me clarify before we get too deep into this concept – trusted, and trusted advisor are not the same – not even close. The status of being trusted is one small part of being or becoming a trusted advisor.

CONSIDER THIS: If you work for a great company, they are trusted. If your products are GREAT, they are trusted. The only variable is YOU.

Do you believe that you are a trusted advisor by your customers? I hope you do. But a bigger question is: What do your customers believe?

It’s not what YOU think you are. Rather, it’s where does the customer place you in his or her mind? How do they see you? How do they regard you? How do they refer to you? How do they talk about you? How much do they respect you? And how much do they trust you?

Here are the levels of competence you can rise to as a salesperson:
Salesperson
Consultant
Advisor
Strategic advisor
Trusted advisor
Trusted advisor and resource

NOTE WELL: These are NOT titles. They’re roles you play, and positions you are regarded as by the customer. If your card says “consultant,” that doesn’t mean you are one. The proof of title is that the customer PERCEIVES you as one.  

The customer’s perception of you is your reality.

The biggest questions to ask yourself are what am I doing to ensure my status of trusted advisor in the mind of the customer? and what can I do to improve my relationship to earn and keep the status?

These elements also beg the question: Am I doing my BEST for ALL my customers, ALL the time?

Understand that becoming a trusted advisor is much more than just having a great relationship. Trusting is just the beginning.

What are the elements of a trusted advisor? CAUTION: These elements are as tough to achieve, as they are strategic to your success.
• Trusted advisors are value providers, not suppliers or vendors.
• Trusted advisors concentrate on business building – not just business seeking — on behalf of the customer.
• Trusted advisors considered friends by their customers.
• Trusted advisors are liked, believed, respected, and trusted.
• Trusted advisors are valuable information providers.
• Trusted advisors are able to combine trust and valuable information.
• Trusted advisors understanding the situation their customers are in, and they’re willing to risk being right.
• Trusted advisors are empowered by their customers to act, and they’re willing to take action.
• Trusted advisors help customers profit, not just save money.
• Trusted advisors figure out a way to get more face time.
• Trusted advisors make decisions based on the relationship, not the quarter, or the quota.
• Trusted advisors are always invited in.

A trusted advisor displays professionalism, friendliness, competence, product knowledge, and expertise. Not just an expert, but also an expert communicator.

REALITY: Those elements are GIVEN – they are the basics that qualify you for the status of trusted advisor.

To earn the status, these basics must be COMBINED with your knowledge of the customer, the customer’s business, and how they use, produce, benefit from, and profit from your products and services.

Trusted advisors keep competitors at bay. And they bridge the gap between a satisfied customer to a loyal customer.

MAJOR CLUE: The customer must PERCEIVE that you have these qualifications, or you will allow your competition to get in the door and establish some sort of position.

Remember the list I asked you to make at the beginning of this lesson, but you probably didn’t? For those few of you that did, I wonder if you still have the same people on the list? And for those of you who did not make a list – I venture to say that after this information, I dare say there are fewer people in the “they consider me a trusted advisor list” than you were thinking.

Well, if you’re a bit shaky right about now, let me assure you, if you invest the next few months doing things for your customer, you’ll get a clearer idea of what you must do to establish your position, your relationship, and your reputation.

There is a little test that professional buyers give to every salesperson. It is a test to see if they are confident in the price they presented. They call it the flinch test. This is the test Procurement Agents and other professional buyers give to salespeople when they provide pricing. “Wow! You are 25% higher than your competition.”

These pros are trained to react with surprise so that they can see if the salesperson is confident in the price they have put forward. It is nothing more than a straightforward negotiation tactic. Often times, they overstate the price difference such that you can do some quick math and see that the differential is bogus. I can recall a time where I was told that we were 50% higher than the competition. When I reviewed the numbers, this meant that the competitor was losing 18% based on fixed costs that we both had. It was highly unlikely that the competitor was signing up for this kind of an account. When I asked the Procurement Agent about that figure again, he flinched and we ultimately won the business.

The key to passing the flinch test is to respond with confidence in your price. If you don’t believe you are providing a fair, competitive price for the solution, my question is why are you presenting it anyway? One would hope that you have integrity so why present something you don’t believe in?

Some responses that cause you to fail the flinch test.

What price were you looking for?
I’ll ask my manager if we can do better.
How about if I take 10% off?

The reason these are failed responses is that they create trust issues with the prospect. Were you trying to rip them off with the price you presented? One of two things is true. Either you were trying to rip them off or you believe you provided a fair price. What other option is there? Some will say that they were preparing for a negotiation. That’s a fair point; however, it is a terrible negotiation strategy to give the appearance that you will drop your price first moment someone balks. That approach gives the impression that you sought to gouge them.

Most negotiations end at the middle ground. They wanted 5; you wanted 10 and settled at 7.5. That seems logical. However, if you lower your price early, the middle ground is lower. In the same scenario, if you dropped to 8 right off the bat, the middle becomes 6.5. As I mentioned, you have to manage the negotiation such that the middle is not lower than an acceptable price for your company.

Successful salespeople have a planned, or dare I say “canned,” response for the flinch test. They don’t expect a prospect to respond with excitement about a price. They anticipate shock and have a process to handle it.

Here are their secrets…

1. They set expectations upfront. Early in the buying process, they set the expectation that they are not the low price provider. “To be clear, our company is rarely the low bid, does that mean that we won’t be working together on this project?” If they say no, you are set for the later phases of the process. If they say yes, at least you haven’t invested a ton of time in an account that you won’t win. If you are going to lose, lose early.

2. They don’t flinch! “I’m not surprised by your reaction. I get that a lot. As I mentioned at the outset, we are rarely the low bidder.”

3. They seek to understand. “When you say that you are shocked by the price, which part is surprising? This is the subject of another article of mine which addresses the importance of understanding the prospect’s perspective of price.

4. They reinforce their position. “Since we are rarely the low price provider, what do you think our 1000 clients see that leads them to pay a little more to have us?

To share a little secret, I use the flinch test all the time when I buy. It’s amazing how quickly sales people drop their price. I bet I’ve saved my family 20% across the board for all of our spending just with that test. It’s no wonder that professional buyers use this. I often wonder how many commission dollars were lost just because they flinched. How may commission dollars have you lost because you flinched?

I just read a 500-word article from some consulting firm to a Fortune 10 company on one point – “managers say that relationships are important.”

Well gohleee!

Where is Gomer Pyle when you need him?

Boy, what a non-surprise.

Relationships are important?

Now you tell me!

What was I thinking all these years?

This non-information is typical of money wasted on one-dimensional consultants who tell you what you already know, but not ONE THING or ONE WORD on what to do about it.

These are the same people who think it’s important to “measure” customer satisfaction. This is not just a waste of time and money; it’s a total joke. Relationships are about loyalty, not satisfaction.

There are two words that are missing from this “relationships are important” drivel that would clarify the issue, and save hundreds of thousands on consultants who have no concept of what to do and managers who continue to focus only on symptoms or desired outcomes, rather than deal with real-world problems. The two words are: REAL ANSWERS.

Many companies tell me that they have GREAT relationships with their customers.

Many salespeople tell me that they have GREAT relationships with their customers.

Those SAME PEOPLE lose orders on PRICE to the customers they have a GREAT relationship with. WHAT?

COLD HARD FACT: If you lose an order to an existing customer because of price, you have NO RELATIONSHIP.

Let me help them – indirectly. All they have to do is read this.

But first let me help you. Because you don’t care about them.

In fact, you hope they never find out how oblivious they are, so you can continue to clean their clock. And they can continue to blame loss of customers on price,

and a bunch of other wrong reasons. Blaming instead of taking responsibility.

Here, for YOUR benefit, are 17.5 elements that will make relationship happen, instead of telling you how IMPORTANT it is:

1. Relate to me. Know my needs and issues. Engage me by showing me customers who are benefiting from doing business with you.

2. Prepare for me. Show me you have done your homework about my situation, not just yours.

3. Don’t waste my time. Don’t ask me what you could have found out on your own.

4. Tell me the truth. Truth leads to trust. I need to trust you in order to have a relationship with you.

5. Tell me how I use your product or service to build my business. I want to know how I produce in my environment.

6. Tell me how I profit from the relationship. I want to know how I profit from buying. And I want to know that you know.

7. Show me the value, not just how it works. What are the elements of value attached to your product or service that relate to me? 

8. Make it easy for me to do business with you.

9. Make service available when I need it.

10. Be friendly to me. If I’m going to establish a relationship with you, I want it to be a friendly one.

11. Respond quickly. If I call you, it’s because I need you, and I need response now.

12. Deliver on time. When you tell me it’s going to be there, I expect it. And it helps reinforce my feeling that you know and meet my expectations.

13. Have answers for me when I need them. I have questions about how your product works.

14. Stay in touch with me. Keep me informed on a proactive basis. Make your messages more about me than you.

15. Let me know when things or technologies change. Keep me informed about how I can stay ahead, even if it means buying more.

16. Keep your promises. If you tell me something will happen, make it happen.

17. Be a partner, not a vendor. Tell me how we will work together. And then prove it by your deeds.

17.5 Serve me. I need to feel that service after the sale is more important than the emotion leading up to the order.

In 1998 I wrote the book, Customer Satisfaction is WORTHLESS, Customer Loyalty is Priceless. I didn’t do it for shock, I did it for the reality of what builds a relationship: loyalty.

And in order to get loyalty, you must first give it. That’s the basis for a relationship.

And for the record – relationships are not merely “important,” they’re the foundation of a strong, successful business.

Now you know what to do. Do it.

Being authentic in business is WAY more interesting than being fake.

Ever heard an ad that sounded like it was too good to be true? It probably was. And there are lots of people who probably feel the same way about YOUR message.

Are you being real and honest, or are you trying to be somebody you’re not?

Most businesses try to present themselves as the company they hope to be someday, instead of the company they really are. The truth is people WANT to know the truth about you.

Look at the popularity of ‘reality’ television shows. American Idol, Survivor, The Bachelor, The Apprentice, The Biggest Loser, and the others are all based on people being real. It’s unpredictable, and millions watch because they want to see how these people react to the different situations. It reveals what people are genuinely like on the inside.
 
And that’s what customers now want from the people they do business with.

They want to know your authentic story. Who you are, what you stand for, and what makes you different from everyone else.

Do you sound like everybody else, or does your voice stand out in the market you’re in? What are you doing about it?

We created the Four Laws of Authenticity to help you discover – or re-discover—that wonderful, powerful, and TRUE story that people want to know today. These Four Laws — The Law of Freedom, The Law of Originality, The Law of Transparency, and The Law of Repeatability – are critical for you to learn and understand if your business is to be perceived as one that others can trust.

If you’ve ever heard a business shout about their ‘fast, friendly service,’ and you discovered as a customer that it wasn’t fast, friendly, OR service, you know what we’re talking about. You can’t afford to be thought of in this way.

Your genuine story is way better than anything you could possibly make up about yourself. The hard part is that most people are too close to their own story to be objective about it. It’s like being in a beauty contest where you’re the contestant AND the judge.

Today, people are smarter and more discerning than ever. They want to know who you are, what you stand for, and what makes you the right choice for them. They want to do business with people they know are giving it to them straight. The good news is that once they find you, they’ll tell everyone they know about you.

The Benjamin Franklin Close (also known as “The Balance Sheet Close”) is one of the classic old time sales tactics used to close a sale. Never heard of it? Shame on you. Not enough sales training.

The scenario is this: You’ve made your presentation, but the prospect is on the fence and won’t make up his or her mind. You’ve tried everything, but can’t get them to budge.

Then you say, “Benjamin Franklin was one of our wisest citizens. Wouldn’t you agree, Mr. Johnson?” (Get prospect’s agreement.) “Whenever he was faced with a decision, and he had some pretty big ones back then, he would take a plain piece of paper, draw a line down the middle, and put a plus (+) on one half, and a minus (-) on the other.”

“In his genius he discovered that by listing all the positive elements on the plus side of the paper, and the negative things on the minus side, the decision would become obvious. Pretty sound concept, agreed?” (Get prospect’s agreement.)

“Let me show you how it works. Since you’re having a tough time deciding, lets list the benefits — some of the reasons you may want to purchase. Then we’ll list the negatives. Fair enough?” (Get prospect’s agreement.)

Now you list every good thing about your product or service. Get the prospect to say most of them. What the prospect says will be the main points of interest to him. Take your time to develop a complete list. THEN YOU SAY: “Okay, let’s list the negatives.” Hand the pen to the prospect and push the list towards him. Don’t say a word. The prospect will typically think of responses having to do with price or affordability.

In theory, this sounds like a good way to close a sale.

There’s one big problem with the Benjamin Franklin Close. Its old world selling that doesn’t work AND annoys the buyer. Try that close on someone who has ever taken a sales course, and it’s an insult.

The reality of the sale is — the prospect has already made up his mind — he’s just not telling you.

Should you forget it and never use the Ben Franklin Close? Heck no! Just use the Ben Franklin principle in a different way. Do what Ben would have done. Figure out a new way, a better way, and use it.

Here’s a powerful new way to re-use this classic close. Use it on yourself — before you make the sales call. Use it as a preparation tool. Use it as a strategizing device. Use it to get ready to make a big sale.

Get a plain piece of paper (or your laptop), and draw a line down the middle of the page.

On the plus side…

• List the prospect’s main needs.

• List the questions you want to ask.

• List the benefits and main points you want to cover.

• List one or two personal things in common to discuss.

• List the decision maker(s).

• List why you believe they will buy.

On the minus side…

• List the reasons why the prospect may not buy — and your responses.

• List the obstacles you may have to overcome.

Now you’re ready to make the sale, and Ben helped you.

If you use the Ben Franklin Close on yourself before you go in to make the sale, then you can ask the buyer intelligent closing questions. Questions that might lead with the phrases: What are the major obstacles… or What would prevent you from… or Is there any reason not to proceed with…?

Try this new version of an old classic. Close yourself before you make the sale. Ben would be proud. So will your boss.

I think it was Franklin who said, “A close in time saves nine - objections,” but history has distorted it for the people who knit. Pity.

In late May, Bill Caskey, founder of Indianapolis-based sales training firm Caskey, hosted a seminar on building a sales “Dream Team.” In the days leading up to that seminar, Caskey published a series of videos exploring five major areas in which he consistently sees sales reps struggling and his tips for addressing those challenges. Here’s a brief look at each of the issues along with Caskey’s recommendations for dealing with them:

Creating an atmosphere for the truth. It’s a rare prospect who willingly opens up and shares details of his or her organization’s problems with a sales rep, particularly one just met. Instead, reps find themselves face-to-face with lies, half-truths, and omissions as buyers guard against giving away too much information. Caskey’s tip: Stop selling and start inquiring. Stop persuading and convincing the prospect to buy and instead engage in a dialogue aimed at understanding. Let selling come second to a genuine desire to help solve a problem and prospects will begin to naturally open up.

Stumbling through discovery. Most reps are “rotten” at discovery, says Caskey. They struggle to find out the real problems or pains their customers are experiencing, instead relying on stale, generic questions like, “What keeps you up at night?” Caskey’s tip: At your next sales meeting, create a list of all the problems your product or service solves. It might be five things; it might be 30. “At subsequent meetings, don’t talk about your forecast, talk about how your salespeople are dealing with some of these problems,” says Caskey. Are they finding them? Is the prospect admitting them? What questions work well to get the prospect to open up?

Calling too low. Many sales reps call too low in an organization, resulting in longer sales cycles, an incomplete understanding of the organization’s problems, and frequent no-sales. Sure, your reps ask about the decision making process but you may as well not bother because you’re going to get a standard answer that’s not entirely true. Caskey’s tip: It’s not about the organizational chart or the title; its about the problem and the people who care directly and indirectly about that problem. From now on, when your reps come back from a call, ask them to draw a chart showing the relevant problems in the center and, working outward in rings, the people affected by those problems.

Getting mired in price discussions. “Your price is too high!” “Your competitor is 10 percent less.” If you can shave off 3 percent we’ve got a deal. If you’ve been in sales longer than an hour, these phrases should sound familiar. The problem is, many reps get sucked in and start competing on price, not value. Caskey’s tip: Monetize everything. Define the problem in its entirety, and then convert it to dollars to show prospects the cost of their problem. Often, they don’t know. Once you do this, conversations tend to move away from the cost of the solution and on to what the prospect will save. Need help in this area? Ask a finance expert in your organization to come in and talk to your team about how to monetize problems.

Keeping the funnel full. A funnel full of high quality prospects usually translates into reps making quota. Few reps, however, have a defined plan for keeping their funnels full and so the amount of potential business in their funnels tends to fluctuate considerably. Caskey’s tip: Ask everyone on your team to write a Personal Business Plan. Write it by the year, by the quarter, and by the month. It should include actions they will take (not outcomes they expect) to ensure their funnels are constantly full. It should also include numbers how many cold calls they will make, how many referrals they’ll ask for, which trade shows they’ll attend, and so on. Sit down with each rep and review his or her plan, then follow up to ensure it’s being followed.

You need to be paying your employees 20% more than your competitors if you want to retain them. But here’s the good news. The 20% more doesn’t need to be in cold hard cash. It can be in many other areas which when added up clearly show your salespeople that they’re getting at least 20% more with you than they would anywhere else.

Here are a few examples:

Training. Employees are concerned not so much with being employed, but more so on being employable. In essence, this means that the more stuff you give them to add to their resume, the longer they’ll stay with you.

Set realistic goals. For goals to be embraced, they must be agreed upon together. Sit down with each of your employees in advance and decide together on targets that are attainable while also being a stretch.

Listen. You can’t listen if you’re always talking. Frequently ask your employees for their feedback and take action on their suggestions. When talking to your employees, make eye contact, ask clarifying questions, and observe body language.

Resources. Lackluster back-office procedures, inadequate support systems, and unnecessary barriers are the main reasons for mediocre sales performance. Ask your team what’s impeding their ability to perform well – and fix it.

Job satisfaction. The key in job satisfaction is to use your natural talents as much as possible. So if your salespeople are spending more time completing paperwork than they are meeting with clients, change it. You’re wasting their talents and skills.

Careers. Most employees don’t want jobs – they want careers. Each of your salespeople should be on a career development plan. It’s all about mentoring. Figure out where they want to go, what they need to attain to get there, and then help them get it by providing on-the-job experiences so that they develop the skills they need to progress.

Balance. The smallest effort can really show your employees you care. Identify each salesperson’s personal needs and see if you can accommodate them, and be on the lookout for any employees that are especially looking exhausted or overworked.

Recognition. Catch your employees doing things right. The best recognition occurs as soon as the positive action is witnessed, using language that’s as specific as possible so that the behavior is repeated in future, and it’s delivered sincerely and personally.

It all comes down to this. If you give your employees what they can’t get anywhere else, why would they ever resign?