A term that I am not a big fan of is “Trusted Adviser”, mainly because I hear it too often in a sales context. Optimistic sales people, sales managers, trainers and even Presales proclaim, “Our goal is to become a trusted adviser to the CIO”. If only it were that simple.
Building a trusted relationship is an excellent goal and there are people who clearly do become “Trusted Advisers”, but think about any given customer stakeholder, whether they are a CIO, a VP or a Manager. They deal with vendors, consultants and thought leaders (often self-proclaimed) from many different companies and not all of them can become trusted advisers. In fact, you might be lucky to get one such person who becomes substantially trusted and listened to by the CIO, moving beyond the basic buyer-seller relationship.
I want to propose that “Trusted Adviser” has the wrong emphasis and instead, the goal of Presales should be to become a “Trusted Therapist”.
To give advice involves the act of telling and it also subtly signals a sense of superiority – that you have the answers and know more than the person you are advising. A therapist, on the other hand, spends a lot more time listening and asking questions. Therapists encourage clients to reflect on their situation, to open up about their challenges and to reach their own conclusions about the solution and actions they need to take. They might challenge assumptions with their questions and may offer some advice, but any telling comes later in the process.
So consider the concept of Presales as Therapy and how that might change your interactions with customers (and even Sales People). Getting customers to open up about their current situation, pain points and dreams (or goals) is exactly what we want. To do that, we can employ our therapist skills to ask open-ended questions, practice active listening, listen more than we speak, explore how the person feels about a topic, and discover what they place value on. If we understand these points about our customer and what the core problem is, we are in a much stronger position from which to propose a solution and to be persuasive. And instead of making a statement to offer advice, try using questions to challenge someone’s thinking and lead them to a conclusion.
It’s still critical to build rapport that develops into trust over time and whether you prefer “Trusted Adviser” or “Trusted Therapist”, the important word is “Trusted”. One key element that builds trust with people is listening and making an effort to understand them. A person who feels listened to feels valued, which builds trust. The more comfortable someone is with you, the more likely they are to open up further about their challenges, which can be insightful for you and therapeutic for them. In turn, a stronger relationship with someone means they will be open to listening when you do want to give them advice. And from what I’ve heard, people who like their therapist tend to keep going back to them for conversation and guidance.
In your next customer interactions, try to approach it as a therapy session, where your job is to ask, listen and learn, rather than tell. See if this small change in your internal language alters the experience and level of engagement with the customer.
(I’ll add a quick disclaimer here to acknowledge that my thought experiment is an oversimplification of the therapist role and practice. I’m not intending any disrespect, nor to undermine the role of either a trained therapist or a professional adviser.)
Fill in the blank: I want to be a Trusted _________ to my customer.
Thoughtful Presales 