Earning Trusted Advisor Status—and Benefits

By David Yesford（傅大卫）, Michael Leimbach, PhD

#Articles#Sales

Many sales leaders urge their salespeople to become trusted advisors—but just telling them to do so doesn’t work, obviously!

And the stakes are high. A Salesforce study showed that 95% of customers say that if they trust a salesperson and company, they’re more likely to become loyal clients.

So what does it take to achieve trusted advisor status—and the rewards that come with it? Let’s explore three key principles that point the way.

1. Creating the Trust in Trusted Advisor

We’ve all seen the pronouncements that “relationship selling is dead,” but salespeople know that trust—the very foundation of relationship selling—is the foundation of strong advisory relationships with customers.

Building trust requires both a mindset and a set of actions. As a mindset, salespeople must truly believe helping customers solve problems is their job. Customers can sense when a salesperson is more focused on making a sale than on the customer’s needs and priorities.

In addition to the right mindset, trusted advisors know how to demonstrate their sincere interest in helping the customer—showing empathy, demonstrating credibility and competence, and anticipating and addressing concerns that the key contact, and his or her stakeholders, have.

In fact, building trust starts before the meeting. The Salesforce study showed that 78% of B2B buyers seek salespeople with knowledge of their industry and needs. The biggest mistake a salesperson can make is asking a customer, “What keeps you up at night?” Customers expect salespeople to do their research and at least have a sense of what their primary concerns might be.1

These actions and mindset help salespeople approach the buy/sell process with authenticity, passion, and positive intentions. Building trust is about who the salesperson is and what he or she does—how the salesperson communicates through actions focused on customers and their needs.

“”Customer behaviors seem to be saying that they don’t trust salespeople’s intent and don’t see them as credible advisors.

2. Facilitate the Customer’s Buying Process

Sales executives have drilled into salespeople the importance of following a systematic “sales process.” What gets lost in translation is that selling is about helping customers buy—in a way that works for them.

Salespeople who blindly adhere to a specific five (or seven or nine) sales process steps are the antithesis of the trusted advisor. Trusted advisors help customers navigate their own internal buying processes and committees. In short, they help customers buy the way they want to buy, not in the way the salesperson wants to sell.

Furthermore, the customer buying process has changed. Forrester’s “The Birth of the B2B Consumer” report shows that 68% of B2B buyers prefer gathering their own information online before contacting a salesperson.2 A McKinsey study revealed that, on average, B2B customers use six different interaction channels throughout the decision journey, including online sources and communication with sales team members. The McKinsey research showed that as a result of these multiple influence sources, two-thirds of B2B deals are lost before a formal RFP process even begins.3

Facilitating the customer’s buying process as a trusted advisor helps salespeople bring value to the customer while avoiding the downsides of this shifting dynamic in the buy/sell process. Doing so often includes helping the customer:

  • Address the urgency behind their high-priority business issues and defining the problem that needs to be solved
  • See new potential solutions to the problem
  • Determine which elements of any given solution have value for them and which don’t
  • Obtain support for the solution within their own organization and create alignment for action

A seller-centric sales process does not help customers navigate their own complex internal buying processes. Guiding the buy/sell process requires a multi-directional conversation between the trusted advisor and customer stakeholders to understand their key issues and act with urgency.

“”The best ‘selling process’ does not sell; it enables the customer to buy.

3. Making Sense of Complexity

Since buyers have an infinite—and overwhelming—volume of information at their fingertips, the trusted advisor role becomes helping them make sense of complexity, cutting through clutter to find answers.

Gartner Group research found that customers who perceive the information received from suppliers as helpful were 2.8 times more likely to experience ease in making a purchase. They also were three times more likely to buy more while experiencing less regret. More specifically, customers want sales teams to provide information focused on helping them make the buying decision—as opposed to sharing everything the salesperson knows about every potentially relevant topic.4

“”While all salespeople take action, many take the path of least resistance, doing what is comfortable or what they think is necessary to make the sale.

Summary: Achieving Trusted Advisor Status and Advantages

A trusted advisor is a coveted position that provides greater business value to customers and to selling organizations. Achieving it means going beyond what is necessary and expected and taking the time to ensure you are advancing the customer’s business, every time.

Ensure your sales teams earn trusted advisor status by bringing business value to every customer conversation, facilitating the customer’s buying process, and helping customers make sense of complexity. Their efforts will produce ongoing, long-term relationships that lead to additional ongoing opportunities and success.

1 “New Research Uncovers Big Shifts in Customer Expectations and Trust,” Salesforce, https://www.salesforce.com/blog/2018/06/digital-customers-research
2 Forrester, https://www.pathfactory.com/blog/forrester-report-b2b-consumer/
3 “Do you really understand how your business customers buy?” McKinsey, https://www.mckinsey.com/business-functions/marketing-and-sales/our-insights/do-you-really-understand-how-your-business-customers-buy
4 “The New B2B Buying Journey,” Gartner Group, https://www.gartner.com/en/sales/insights/b2b-buying-journey

David Yesford（傅大卫）

作为Wilson Learning 全球资深副总裁、亚太地区董事总经理，傅大卫有着30多年在全球范围内发展和实施人力绩效解决方案的经验。 傅大卫先生总能以其宝贵经验、策略方向和全球视角为客户和团队带来价值。多年来，他在Wilson Learning的核心领域——销售、领导力、e-learning和策略咨询业务上扮演着重要的角色。

傅大卫先生是多部书籍的合著者，其中包括《双赢销售》（Win-Win Selling），《灵活多变的销售人员》(Versatile Selling)，《社交风格手册》(Social Styles Handbook)，《销售培训2》(Traning Book 2)等。并在美国、欧洲、拉丁美洲、亚太地区的商业出版物中发表了多篇文章。他经常被邀请在国际性会议上做有关销售、领导力、员工和客户参与度提升、品牌和战略实施的演讲。

Michael Leimbach, PhD

Michael Leimbach, PhD, is a globally recognized expert in instructional design and leadership development. As Vice President of Global Research and Development for Wilson Learning Worldwide Inc., he has worked with numerous Global 1000 organizations in Australia, England, Germany, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, and throughout the United States. Over more than 30 years, Dr. Leimbach had developed Wilson Learning’s diagnostic, learning, and performance improvement capabilities, published over 100 professional articles, coauthored four books, been Editor-in-Chief for the highly acclaimed ADHR research journal, and is a frequent speaker at national and global conferences. He also serves on the ISO Technical Committee (TC232) on Quality Standards for Learning Service Providers and on the University of Minnesota College of Education and Human Development Dean’s Advisory Board.