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Salespeople tend to spend a lot of time, energy and money
on prospecting, marketing and selling. Salespeople pursue clients. Trusted Advisors tend to spend very little time,
money and energy on prospecting, marketing and selling. Why not? They simply
don't have to. Trusted Advisors attract
clients. Whether you feel like you are pursuing or attracting is a
good clue as to whether you are a salesperson or a Trusted Advisor.
People refer Trusted Advisors to everyone they know. The hallmark of the
Trusted Advisor is the unsolicited referral. If you don't get many unsolicited
referrals, your clients probably perceive you as a salesperson. Whether you are a rookie or a veteran, the sooner you
behave like a Trusted Advisor instead of a salesperson the sooner you will enjoy
the benefits of the Trusted Advisor: Trusted Advisors spend less time and money on
prospecting and marketing, make more money, and get lots of referrals. The purpose of this article is to help you clearly draw the
distinction between the salesperson and The Trusted Advisor™, by using the
history and the evolution of selling as a guide, so you can have these benefits,
too. Old-School Sales Techniques Conventional sales training began in the 1930s with the
development of a “scientific” approach. It focused on probing for
problems and hot buttons, making features and benefits presentations to meet a
need or solve a problem, handling objections and closing skills. Why do salespeople have to be skilled at handling
objections? Because people object to salespeople. Their training focused them on
negative emotions, which by definition are unpleasant. The primary emotion
taught for use in financial services is fear: fear of dying prematurely, fear of
living too long, fear of not having enough money to retire or send our
kids/grandkids to college, fear of being a burden to our family, and so on. Who wants to work with someone who makes them afraid?
My personal belief is that more people seek Internet options to avoid
being bludgeoned by salespeople. Of course, another negative emotion we were taught to
appeal to is greed. Yet when you sell to greed you end up with greedy clients.
The typical salesperson tooting his own horn and promising more than he can
deliver: "Work with us because we are smarter and our experts are the best,
which means you'll get a better return on your investment." I heard this comment recently: "I know about financial
‘consultants.’ They are like car salespeople who dress nice."
What do people say about salespeople in your industry? Of course the ultimate negative emotional sales technique
is guilt. “What would happen to the people you love if something where to
happen to you tomorrow?” “People
don't plan to fail, they fail to plan.” “If
you don't plan now you could spend your golden years working at the golden
arches.” Old-school salespeople
also sell to fear and greed (negative emotions). The cliches weren’t reserved just for clients. This generation of selling spawned some common slogans:
In the 1980s, the consultative or relationship-selling
approach was born. It's really just the same old-school sales techniques in
sheep's clothing. Most counselor or relationship models promote the pretense of
a friendship to avoid the impression of manipulation. But what could be more
manipulative than pretending to be someone's friend in order to get their
business? The salesperson/counselor initiates superficial chitchat to find some
"common ground" and then moves on to a series of "probing"
questions to find the need, make it hurt, and close, close, close! Yes, there's plenty of psychological research selectively used by sales trainers to justify that people take action when they are in pain, have a problem, or are incensed by greed. Sales techniques do produce results. However, the Trusted Advisor recognizes that most people would rather be inspired to
act rather than be scared to act. How about you? Would you rather be scared or
inspired? Moving On to the New School The Trusted Advisor focuses on finding the right fit, not
making the sale. The Trusted Advisor inspires people with positive emotions
about the great future they will have and how the Trusted Advisor will be their
coach to help them make it happen. Today there are specific methods for building high-trust
client relationships. Trust-building
methods are 180 degrees from sales training because the fastest way to cause
someone to distrust you is to behave like a salesperson. As a Trusted Advisor, gone are the days of manipulation and
high pressure; with trust, you can forget your old school sales training. You
attract new business with the great relationships and excellent service you
provide to clients. New business will approach 100% from referrals because
getting introduced to family, friends and colleagues is natural. Don’t be a traditional ‘old-school’ salesperson; be a Trusted Professional. |
