The Trusted Advisor – David H. Maister

June 30, 2012

Devon Sampson Business, Social Dynamics , , , , , Leave a comment

A Trusted Advisor places a higher value on maintaining and preserving the long-term relationship than on the outcome of any individual transaction.

David Falk, the agent of Michael Jordan, reduced the size of his commission without even being asked because he sensed that it was bothering him.

The client’s specific context and emotions should affect the advice you give; great advice is never one-size-fits-all.

Go first: visibly demonstrate your willingness to invest in the relationship to gain the client’s trust.
 
Listening is essential in order to earn the right to comment on – and be involved with – the client’s issues.

Trust is both rational and emotional.

Trust is a two-way road – you cannot build a trusted advisor relationship solely through your own effort, you need the client to participate and reciprocate by their own will.
 
Big mistakes many advisors make when listening:

1. Overly rational listening – listening is both rational and emotional; take the time to “absorb what you hear” and use it to build the relationship – this demonstrates a high level of caring that is essential to becoming a trusted advisor.
2. Overly passive listening – good listening is a back-and-forth process that makes both people feel heard and understood
 
The step that comes after uncovering a problem is NOT solving it – it’s envisioning a future without the problem (basically Need-Payoff Questions, see: SPIN Selling by Neil Rackham).

Build a shared agenda – show that you have a “we”, not a “me” agenda.

The Psychology of Selling – Brian Tracy (Principles)

June 29, 2012

Devon Sampson Business , , , , Leave a comment

While my number one book recommendation for sales is “SPIN Selling” by Neil Rackham, “The Psychology of Selling” remains a classic book in this field. This is part one of my notes on “The Psychology of Selling”, part two will cover the specific tactics and techniques he advocates using for sales calls.
 
 
Proof of fear of rejection: if you had a list of prospects that would be guaranteed to buy from you today, you would start calling as soon as possible. Yet most salesmen only start calling at 11:00 in the morning.

It’s difficult to get people to buy from you unless they’re confident that you are their friend and that you’re acting in their best interest.

Tracy claims that 51% or more of closing ability comes down to enthusiasm.

The top 3% of salespeople all consider themselves self-employed. They take full responsibility for their results.

You can never make your customer believe in your product more than you do.

If you’re into concrete things, you won’t have the same amount of passion for intangibles; if you’re into intangibles like psychology, philosophy, and metaphysics then you’ll be better off selling intangibles rather than concretes.

Tracy states that 90% of all sales books are sold to less than 10% of salespeople.

Tracy urges people to constantly read and listen to tapes; he even goes as far as to say that if you’re listening to your car radio instead of tapes, you’re not taking your profession seriously enough.

A psychological habit that stifles most people’s productivity is that they think about their lives in terms of days or hours; so if they accomplish a lot in a short amount of time, they’ll just write the rest of the day or the hour off. Instead of falling into this trap, think about your life in terms of MINUTES.
 

The basic law of all of human destiny is the law of sowing and reaping: you will always reap exactly what you sow, but you must do the sowing first.

-Brian Tracy

The Speed of Trust – Stephen M.R. Covey

June 5, 2012

Devon Sampson Social Dynamics , , , , Leave a comment

Trust is based on character (integrity, motive, intent) and competence (capability, skills, track record).

Competence is situational, character is universal.

Still, it’s very common for competence to be undervalued in the trust equation.

1st wave – Self-trust (personal credibility)
2nd wave – Relationship trust (consistent behavior)
3rd wave – Organizational trust (professional relationships)
4th wave – Market trust (reputation)
5th wave – Societal trust (contribution)
 
Four Core Pillars of Credibility:

-Integrity
-Intent
-Capabilities
-Results

Integrity is about following rules that you are internally motivated to follow.

You need to declare your intent in order to actively influence the conclusions other people draw about your behavior, or they’ll come to their own conclusions.
 

Violating a character behavior is the quickest way to decrease trust, demonstrating a competence behavior is the quickest way to increase trust.

 
Behaviors that build relationship trust:

1. Straight talk (communicating so you can’t be misunderstood)
2. Show fundamental care and concern for people (has a disproportionate impact on building trust)
3. Create transparency
4. Admit wrongs (and then right them)
5. Show loyalty
6. Deliver results
7. Growing and improving (counterfeit: the eternal student – always learning but never producing)
8. Confronting reality
9. Clarify expectations (counterfeit: being vague)
10. Practice accountability (in yourself and others)
11. Listen (teaches you which behaviors will produce dividends)
12. Keep commitments (the quickest way to build trusting relationships)
13. Extend trust to others (counterfeit: unsolicited micro-managing)

Closed, low-trust communities pay many taxes. They relinquish the dividends of shared knowledge, technological advances, and economic partnerships.

Inspiring trust is the main difference between a manager and a leader.

Choose to prioritize the enormous long-term dividends of trust over the temporary satisfaction of breaking trust, justifying low-trust behavior, and holding grudges.