Become a Trusted Advisor

Ed Albertson
Vice President - National Accounts
Carew International, Inc.

“See, when we first started letting customers review books, some publishers were startled by this, because, of course, customers give both positive and negative reviews. I got letters from publishers in the early days, some quite hostile, saying, ‘Don't you understand your own business? You make money when you sell books. Why would you allow negative reviews?’ The reason is because it's helping customers make a purchase decision, which creates real value for customers. You know, making a bad purchase decision isn't just a waste of the money you spent on the product; it's a waste of your life. If you buy a book, you may spend $20 on the book, but you're going to spend ten hours of your life, that's a big deal.”

Business Week interview with Jeff Bezos (founder, president, CEO and chairman of the board of Amazon.com) on March 16, 1999 (http://www.businessweek.com/ebiz/9903/316bezos.htm)

I felt it was worth committing an entire paragraph to this decade-old vignette about Jeff Bezos and Amazon.com because the story captures the true spirit of selling in the 21st Century. The irony of that story appearing during the last year of the twentieth century could not have been more significant, unless it had appeared on New Year’s Eve, 1999. With the arrival of the new century, the art and science of selling fundamentally changed forever and there is no going back.

To be effective and successful, sales professionals must become that trusted advisor to their customers. Sales professionals need to be singularly focused on helping their customers make wise buying decisions. Such a focus earns us the right and privilege to be consulted on customer buying decisions in a way that yields more than short-term profits. Such a focus delivers long-term, healthy relationships.

Trusted advisor sales professionals will find themselves in Preferred Position with their customers, able to influences customer specifications and decision criteria. Trusted advisor sales professionals also find that their customer typically comes to them first as the source of choice. And in the inevitable event of a problem or mistake, the customer of the trusted advisor sales professional is more likely to give them the benefit of the doubt or a second chance. Finally, as a trusted advisor sales professional, you’ll set the standard by which all other competitors are judged -- a truly enviable position.

Best wishes for a happy, healthy and successful New Year!