Who do you trust these days? With economic uncertainty and the dangers of unemployment on the rise, knowing who to turn to for the best business advice can be difficult. Naturally, you want to partner with those customers and suppliers who understand the value you can provide to them, whether it be products, services, or both. However, if you’re thinking of yourself these days as a supplier, a business that your customer turns to just to purchase products, think again. In today’s relationship-focused culture, you have to improve your game. Cut through the crowd of the ordinary, those who just meet expectations, and stand out. Become a trusted business advisor.
If you look at those people you put your faith in when it comes to your finances (although the list may be dwindling a bit these days), you will want to turn to a trusted financial advisor, someone who has the knowledge, experience, and judgment. to give you the best possible advice. Yes, the financial advisor can take your money and offer suggestions on where to invest it. He can carry out the transaction for you. But the value of the provider goes further. Your advisor stays at the forefront of the financial curve, watching the markets daily, sometimes hourly or even minute by minute, in order to provide you with information to guide you through your next steps. It is not limited to executing the transaction; It informs you of your options and then makes a recommendation based on your wisdom and knowledge. To stay ahead of the competition, you must do the same for your customers.
Now more than ever, your customers want the complete package. Best products are expected to meet your specific needs and solve your detailed problems. More than that, they want someone to put the solution to work and offer training and support to keep products or services up to date. And then they want turnkey tools that allow them to sell them to their end users. And if you can help them with lead generation, you’ll get high marks on the trusted advisor scale.
So how do you do it? How do you create the complete package and then leverage it as a trusted business advisor? Clearly, much of your success will depend on your follow-up. But here are some tips to keep in mind as you begin to position yourself in a brighter new light for your clients:
– Know the current situation and the objectives of your clients. Again, it’s about listening to your customer. Tune in to find out how they are surviving now and what tools they need to achieve their goals and objectives. Gather as much detailed information as you can as brain food to nurture your creative thinking.
– Identify the needs of your end users. It is important to remember what your end user is looking for. To be that trusted advisor, you need to have a solid read on what your clients’ clients want and provide ideas and recommendations to meet those needs. By doing so, you will provide excellent guidance and support as an advisor to your clients.
– Provide a thoughtful plan that serves the nuggets of the future. Your customers turn to you to be their business assistant, to magically guide them in the right direction. If you can provide invaluable information over and over again that successfully guides them down the path to success, they will keep coming back. Create a step-by-step solution that addresses your needs with current and future trends in mind. Then put the plan into action.
– Measure and track ROI. Time and again, we develop solutions that look good on paper, but once implemented, they fail. If you are looking for a way to lose the trust of your customers, this is it. If you can’t measure results that go back to the programs and initiatives you launched, your clients have no proof of your success. If the tree falls in the forest with no one around, does it make a sound? If you can’t measure it, don’t. It’s that easy.
Your customers need strategic ways to show your customers the benefits of doing business with them, rather than choosing your competition. And they are looking for profitable and profitable ways to do this. Everyone needs guidance, and whether they realize it or not, your clients really want someone who can provide cost-effective solutions to implement in their day-to-day business operations. They need and want a trusted business advisor to show them the way. So stop writing orders and start creating solutions.