Throughout Will’s career of working in retail technology, he has attained the status of “trusted advisor” to many of our clients and we want to share some of the ways that he has developed this relationship. He recently wrote an article on this topic for some fellow advisors and this is very enlightening for clients too. It’s a good benchmark to use when choosing an advisor. Here is an excerpt:
There are three phases of a Trusted Advisor: pre-sale, implementation and post-sale. The pre-sales phase is where your relationship with the customer is often made or broken. That always means doing what is best for the client. Your solution may be the best fit, but make sure you know that before you recommend a product. If a client is too big for your solution, or has too many items, putting them into a product that is a bad fit just to get the sale will cost you BIG in the end.
During the implementation phase, you need know what you are doing. A long established technology firm sold one of their first POS systems last month. They tried to do everything in-house with disastrous results. They are a very solid company but they didn’t understand retail or POS and made all the rookie mistakes. They got experienced people involved after the fact, but will never regain the position as the “Trusted Advisor” because of how the install was handled.
How you handle the post-implementation phase will once again, set you apart or terminate your position. We recently got a call from a disgruntled POS customer who was looking for a new dealer. They big complaint wasn’t service. They wanted a new dealer because the sales rep wouldn’t return calls. Everyone in your firm is representing you! Make sure someone on your staff doesn’t undermine all your hard work by handling a request poorly.
To recap, learn your craft! Make sure you understand the product you sell, how it works and who should be using it. Develop your skills in the retail industry. When I teach, I tell my students that it will take at least 10-20 installs before you should feel comfortable in the product. When you start, you don’t know what you don’t know. The more comfortable you feel with the process, the more your clients will trust you and therefore listen when you make recommendations.
Author: English, William S., President of English Management Solutions, Inc. March 2014.
Contributing Author: Lombardi, J., Contessa of CounterPoint, Soft Intelligence, Inc. March 2014
Stay tuned for the remaining portion of the article where you’ll learn 3 great takeaways!
Read it here.
