Trusted Advisor, a key competence of a salesperson

What does it take to be recognized by customers as TRUSTED ADVISOR? 

Interpersonal and soft skills determine whether we succeed in our role as Sales Representative or Key Account Manager. In the past, knowledge was a USP and differentiator. AI has eroded and will further diminish the value of specific knowledge. In this VUCA world, salespeople make the difference rather than the products or services sold. Selling is increasingly about influencing, encouraging, helping, challenging, consulting, and accompanying the customer along the entire selling cycle and beyond.  

HOW WE SELL has become the key differentiating success factor.   

In essence there are 3 different buyer requests and corresponding selling types: 

• Selling a product 
• Selling an adapted solution 
• Selling a strategic project 

We need to be able to sense what type of buyer we are dealing with, what the customer’s ultimate needs and expectations are and we have to adapt our sales approach accordingly. Increasing complexity in customer demands requires different skills, knowledge and expertise. When we ask participants at the beginning of a sales training what they sell, hardly anyone responds “product”, many respond “solution” and some say “strategic project”. But initial exercises in our training programs are usually an eye-opener, that “selling a strategic project” and reaching the TRUSTED ADVISOR level is not really where they are today.      

What we offer 

We help companies to design and optimize their business-specific sales processes according to their challenges in a highly competitive business environment. We offer special concepts to train the required selling skills to reach the TRUSTED ADVISOR level. 

If you like to learn more about our TRUSTED ADVISOR training, please connect with us via email info@s-iba.com.