What role should I be playing in the customer’s decision making process?

I was chatting with some friends of mine the other day (over the phone because, well, Covid) and the conversation naturally evolved to work and the economy. One of them asked me, “So, what exactly do you do all day?” 

I was a little taken aback at the question thinking that sales consulting was self-explanatory. To someone who has never been involved in sales, it’s a fair question. Then it got me thinking - what the hell is our role? I tried to recall a previously memorized canned explanation of what sales is all about. It was a mish-mash of corporate buzzwords and sales lingo (at some point I think I said “envisioneered”, whatever the hell that is). 

After ending the conversation in a weakly veiled effort to save my last shreds of dignity, I decided that I need to re-think that question and use some good ol fashioned brain juice while I’m at it. After many hours of pondering and some good scotch, I finally came up with a defining question that helped me to focus on an answer. The question was: 

As a sales professional, what role should I be playing in the customer’s decision making process? 

Stupid brain… making me think. Do I become a trusted advisor? Perhaps an influencer? Problem solver? Those all sound great and were answers that I desperately wanted to choose, but they didn’t feel… right. Then it clicked. 

Pat Lencioni is a smart man, and he wrote a book or two on business consulting. “But wait Ryan, that’s not the same as sales!” Ohhhh you couldn’t be more wrong. So, so wrong. The common denominator in any client-facing role is… the client. Mr. Lencioni wrote a book or two about business* and in one of my favorites he wrote about the three fears. 

1. Fear of losing the business

2. Fear of being embarrassed 

3. Fear of feeling inferior

If you haven’t felt at least one of these sitting around a client’s boardroom table, or in a Zoom call, then you haven’t really been in sales. Let’s go back to the original question: As a sales professional, what role should I be playing in the customer’s decision making process?

Here’s my answer: You need to be the fearlessly vulnerable professional. Once you move past fear and begin focusing on finding and solving the real problem(s) preventing the client from achieving greatness, you will become the greatest asset to that client during the entire sales process, and they will come back for more. Trust me. 

 

* Sarcasm