“Trusted Advisor” - this buzzword has lasted a little too long. It’s like labeling yourself as an “influencer” - you are either trusted (or influential) or you’re not. You can’t determine it yourself or append it to your title and simply become it.
So how do you actually get people to trust your advice, especially when you advise that they buy your product?
This is something Jeremy Leveille has been doing for years, including recently as a successful Account Executive at LeadIQ. In this webinar, he shares his proven ways that he brings value to prospects that end up closing competitive deals.
Key takeaways:
- Learn 4 ways to give your prospecting the competitive advantage
- Understand how earning trust helps you book more demos and close more deals
- Get Jeremy’s playbook for standing out while prospecting (includes ideas you can implement NOW)
What does being a “Trusted Advisor” mean?’
If salespeople actually took the time to research what their prospect’s needs were and gained a deep understanding of their buyer’s world so that each interaction with them provided value, their title would still be “salesperson”. Being a “Trusted Advisor” is what you should be, not necessarily your title. It is being someone who has naturally earned trust from prospects by consistently providing value to the prospect, regardless of what it does for you.
How to gain the qualities of a “Trusted Advisor”
It takes a mentality shift to always be in your buyers’ shoes. Although every salesperson is trying to reach a quota (and all the more when leadership is pressing down on them), there should be a balance between “always be closing” and building your personal brand by providing value to your prospects.
Having the “Trusted Advisor” mindset is recommending a great hire for a connection on LinkedIn that is looking for a good fit for their company. It’s knowing the market and being able to recommend other tools and services besides your own that can benefit your prospects. As Jeremy states, “There’s your direct market, who you compete with, then there’s an indirect market with everyone else in your ecosystem.” Those indirect tools and services are the ones you can recommend to add value to help relieve prospects’ pain.
The “Trusted Advisor” framework
- Awareness - Know what’s out there in your space. Be educated on the tools and services in your direct system, but also in your entire ecosystem.
- Credibility - Gain knowledge about other products. You should not only be aware of the tools and services in your ecosystem, but be educated on the various options and know how you stack up to the competition, so you can provide an educated opinion.
- Recommendation - Making an unbiased recommendation. This should naturally happen as you listen to your prospects as they’re trying to figure things out, such as a technology integration and how to fix their problem.
- Above & Beyond - Making an intro. Taking it a step further than a recommendation, going above and beyond would mean making an introduction to an individual at a company that could help your prospect.
Providing value to your prospects doesn’t only mean recommending a tool or service. It can also be providing advice or a valuable tip. Have you had first-hand experience trying to integrate a product they recently bought? Go the extra step and help them out. A valuable follow up might be sending over a playbook, guide, template, or article. Jeremy shared one of his experiences where he found a podcast from a prospect, found value from it, then shared it on LinkedIn. Even though he sent emails to this prospect before and hadn’t heard back, after this share on LinkedIn, he heard from them the next morning (and now they’re a customer!).
Conclusion
Adopting the “Trusted Advisor” mindset is necessary when you want to break through the noise and sound different than the dozens of other salespeople trying to go after your same prospect. It’s taking your career a step further and self-educating yourself beyond the “nine to five”. Take Jeremy’s advice and listen to podcasts on the way to work, read books, or consume content during a break to brush up on a particular area or space you need to know more about. The extra lengths you go to in order to educate yourself, will help you stand out all the more to your buyers.
Jeremy developed a playbook with all of his best prospecting tips and advice from LinkedIn. It’s always being updated with his latest content. Just login or signup for free here. Under My Playbooks, you’ll see “TSD Partner: Stand Out While Prospecting”. Contact us here if you have any questions or need help signing up.
Additional Resources:
For more sales advice, follow us on LinkedIn here or Jeremy here.
