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I refer often to the term Influential Advisor.  In the selling game there’s a hierarchy:

• Salespeople - seller of products and services
• Trusted Salespeople - a relationship in which you’ve established yourself with a client as a trustworthy supplier of needed products and services
• Trusted Advisors - a sales relationship with a client in which you are a trustworthy supplier of needed products and services, plus knowledge and information about the aspects of the clients business that are directly affected by the products and services.
• Influential Advisors - a sales relationship in which you are a trusted source of products and services and knowledge about those things, plus an influential source of advice and information about the impact of your products or services on the client’s entire organization.

Most have heard of the term “Trusted Advisor”, where your clients and prospects turn to you because they trust you for advice.

The influential advisor doesn’t just sell products and services or advise on solutions to problems and needs. The influential advisor is a valued resource for the client - a source of knowledge about products and services, and an influential source of input about the current and future effects of those products and services on every aspect of the client’s own business. 

What is Influence? - the ability to alter or impact thoughts, ideas, behaviors and actions.  The goal of the influential advisor is to exert real influence on those business decisions made by the client which affect the influential advisor’s own business.  What characteristics make you an influential advisor?

Here’s a formula for Influence:

Knowledge + Experience (expertise)= Credibility

Credibilty + Track Record= Trust

Credibility + Trust = Influence

Acquire enough knowledge and experience or expertise to become credible, then build trust. Buyers in the executive suite don’t buy products and services - they buy ideas, thoughts, actions and solutions that impact the entire enterprise. You have to talk about things that matter to them and talk to them in their language (Executive Messaging).  More importantly, you need to make it quick. I know you’ve heard of the elevator speech… well every conversation with a senior level executive needs to be clear, crisp, relevant and compelling.

Transform from trusted salesperson to trusted advisor to influential advisor. Leverage knowledge and experience to establish credibilty, build trust and influence thoughts, ideas, behaviors and actions.

Go make it happen - Identify a prospect… what knowledge and expertise do I have that will help establish my credibilty?  How can I organize my pitch to be interesting to them?

Happy Selling!

Gain the support of senior-level management and designate a “sales culture leader” to champion initiatives. This leader will ensure the adoption of a cultural transformation and assume the role of visionary, facilitator, coach and mentor to the sales organization.

A well-defined sales process needs to a) direct sales people to the best opportunities and b) provide sales people with the discipline (and the behaviors) that will best allow them to pursue those opportunities. When a sales force adheres to this process, all other selling approaches, reporting and forecasting follow. It also requires a consultative selling approach, a compelling capabilities presentation and the ability to effectively coordinate across your organization so that your customers say you are easy to buy from and your salespeople say that you are easy to sell for.

And, communicate it precisely and comprehensively throughout the sales organization. Your sales force needs to understand the strategy, as well as the part they play in its execution. Tier your customers continually through a screening process for both their current and future value. Ask yourself whether you have deployed the appropriate sales resources to the appropriate channels. Utilize a data rich and fully integrated enterprise-wide information system (CRM/SFA) for pipeline/forecasting, client relationship development and account planning. Create detailed account plans that are aligned with clients’ top initiatives for strategic accounts. Finally, communicate to the sales force the economic benefits of retaining and sustaining deep relationships.

Concentrate your recruiting efforts on hiring stars by screening for the known characteristics of high performance within your organization. Do not compromise based on availability. Employ an intense on-boarding process to get new hires up to speed quickly so that they can effectively interact with clients and produce results within a few short months. Define and update competency models for sales roles. Consider “up-skilling” and certification that involves targeting training to address assessed skill gaps. Evaluate the effectiveness of these programs based on business outcomes, not on inconsequential metrics such as attendance or knowledge testing. Differentiate between low, middle and star performers. Aggressively retain your star performers and move quickly to manage out underperformers. Develop outstanding sales managers who achieve desired behaviors/results from their sales teams through effective deal strategizing, coaching and leadership. They should be accountable to apply and certify your sales effectiveness program. And, finally, don’t forget the value of individual and group sales coaching to help your leaders achieve even better results.

The rewards should be based on quantitative and qualitative results and should be aligned with your corporate strategy and sales effectiveness objectives. Measure the results of your sales effectiveness program beyond quota attainment by including metrics such as increased sales pipeline, improved close rates, shortened sales cycles and reduced non-selling time.

The percentage of salespeople that attain quota usually is not usually much more than 50%. And, the super stars usually carry the load on overall quota attainment. Most salespeople typically work harder and longer to attain quota, but not necessarily smarter.

We worked with a company that completed a three-plus year effort to build a true sales culture, in which the following results were achieved: a 41% increase in total contract value, a 19% increase in pipeline opportunities, a 25% decrease in sales cycle time, an 76% improvement in close ratios, a 46% improvement in forecast accuracy, a 39% sales success in first six months by new hires and a 33% reduction in non-selling time. All in all, the company achieved a return-on-investment of eleven times. It’s hard work, but establishing a pervasive sales culture really does pay off!

How can you increase the effectiveness of your existing sales force? For starters, skill gaps can be successfully addressed with targeted orientation sessions (instead of expensive training events) by utilizing your sales managers as coaches to support sales representatives in the field. The effectiveness of this approach is based upon business outcomes, not inconsequential metrics like attendance or testing normally associated with training events. Orientation sessions are much more affordable using technology to hold “webinars” than flying in salespeople from across the country for a two or three day training event with little accountability. Using meaningful content within the framework of a sales coaching program will solidify learning and change behavior through activities that will drive greater business results. The results are measurable and can be significant. For example, a company that adopted this method increased their total contract value by 41% and reduced their sales cycle by 25%. There are no silver bullets to obtaining and developing high quality sales talent. It can be difficult, time consuming and complex at times, but the payoff can be high for companies that are dedicated to developing a high performance sales culture.

Recruiting high quality sales talent is universally viewed as the most important attribute to achieving world class performance; however, a tight labor market for top sales talent compounded by many companies increasing the size of their sales forces this year requires a more rigorous approach to recruiting. New methods and channels will be required to attract sales talent in today’s competitive market. Innovative approaches such as identifying passive candidates through online recruiting strategies and advanced search techniques can yield a greater candidate-to-hire ratio, increase the quality of hire, and reduce the time it takes to find the right candidate(s) by as much as 20%.

Reducing the time to close a deal is certainly top of mind for any sales executive and has a huge impact not only on the success of the business, but also on the organization’s ability to develop what is commonly described as a high performance sales culture: one of winning, confidence and efficiency. I will share with you five initial ways to affect the sales culture in a positive way by reducing the time it takes to sell a product or a service.

SALES STRATEGY
Make every sales call purposeful.

This depends, to a large extent, on whether your sales organization has a defined sales process. Many don’t and most that do fail to organize their sales education, process and tools around it. More discipline and coaching by sales managers on activities and best practices throughout the sales process can shorten the sales cycle and provide more consistent results.

Conditioning your sales reps to always be thinking about the next step is key, but first they need to know what that step is. Many sales organizations focus solely on opportunity planning versus territory and account planning. Stepping back and looking holistically at the account or territory for more strategic and purposeful selling can pay big dividends with increased pipeline, larger contract values and shorter sales cycles.
Quarterly account planning for high potential accounts and annual (or semi-annual) territory planning can yield results IF those sessions are focused on developing a sales strategy aligned with your clients’ top strategic initiatives and economic value creation.

VALUE MESSAGING
Establish the right intent.

One of the fastest ways sales people slow down a sales cycle is to communicate “me issues” or demonstrate behaviors that are not focused on the client. Symptomatic of this are poor listening skills (or not listening to the client’s real issues and objectives) and jumping too quickly to a feature, function or product presentation or demo. That is why it is critical to establish the right intent from the beginning of relationship. The most successful sales people focus everything they say and do on it. The intent must be quickly backed up with value messaging — clear, relevant and compelling statements to support intent, generate interest and communicate economic value to the client. It goes without saying that value messaging must also include differentiators.

SELLING APPROACH
Take an “influential advisor” approach.

How do you create influence and establish an advisor relationship with your client?
Communicating a clear and compelling capabilities presentation to stimulate discussion is important to becoming an influential advisor. Look for ways to share thought leadership, ideas, case studies, white papers and business acumen. Your selling approach, as well as your actions and behaviors, supports your intent and can create a competitive advantage for your sales organization. Today’s influential seller spends time earning trust and credibility. That leads to a more effective understanding of needs that, in turn, leads to an on-target solution and a faster close than the traditional product sales model.

ASSESSMENT
Conduct a needs assessment.

The best way to qualify an opportunity, prove that a client’s issues exist and show the economic impact of solving those issues is to recommend and conduct an assessment or evaluation. This can be as simple as a 20 question online diagnostic or as complex as a business process preliminary assessment…or something in between. The objective is to prioritize the issues, quantify the issues and present the findings from the assessment with your recommendations to the client.

The best way to qualify an opportunity, prove that a client’s issues exist and show the economic impact of solving those issues is to recommend and conduct an assessment or evaluation. This can be as simple as a 20 question online diagnostic or as complex as a business process preliminary assessment…or something in between. The objective is to prioritize the issues, quantify the issues and present the findings from the assessment with your recommendations to the client.

The assessment allows the sales person to confirm their understanding of both current and desired states (along with the corresponding client impact) with the client. In addition to an on-target recommendation, the sales person will most certainly uncover other opportunities for account growth during the assessment. If the client is not willing to do the assessment, that sends a key signal to the salesperson to de-select, remove that opportunity from the pipeline and move quickly to other higher potential situations.
Poorly qualified opportunities without a substantial economic impact clog the pipeline, lower the close rate, lengthen the sales cycle and increase the cost of sale.

DEVELOP A WINNING BUSINESS CASE
Create a compelling case.

One of the most critical elements in reducing sales cycle time is presenting a compelling business case. Simply put, a business case is a tool that supports executive planning and decision making. It answers the question: What are the likely financial and business consequences if we take (or don’t take) this action? Many sales organizations have difficulty quantifying metrics that demonstrate whether their services or any solutions are worth the extra cost.

Providing proof of demonstrable economic impact — and having the financial acumen to communicate that impact in business terms — is key. In fact, according to IDC research, a cost-justification report and business case increase the likelihood of a project’s approval by 60% and reduce the sales cycle by 30-40%. Strategically, providing a detailed ROI analysis gives decision makers confidence that the seller is also a partner, committed to the realization of promised economic value — reducing risks, increasing returns and improving the bottom line.

These five ideas can help your sales organization achieve tangible results in a short period of time. One of my clients reduced its sales cycle by 25% while increasing the close rate, pipeline and total contract value.