Saying you're customer-focused is easy

I've noticed that better sales conversations tend to have people looking in the same direction

Salesperson and customer both looking at the problem.

Both trying to work out what's going on

Both thinking about what a good outcome might look like

Quite different from sitting opposite each other with one person desperately trying to flog their stuff

I know which conversation I'd rather be in

And I suspect most of my connections would say the same

(Well I like to hang out with smart people 😉)

So the question for us to consider is HOW

How are you actually positioning yourself alongside the customer?

Not just the admirable intention (though it does begin with mindset)

But as actual repeatable sales activity

From the start of their buying process to the outcome they're trying to achieve

Helping them think and make sense of things

Supporting their decision making

It's a question I've spent quite a bit of time thinking about.

The VALUE Framework gives me a structure do this 

🔸 Validate = right opportunities

Work out whether there's actually something worth pursuing

🔸 Align = right research

Understand their world before getting too excited about yours

🔸 Leverage = right conversations

Explore problems, implications and possibilities together

🔸 Underpin = right solutions

Connect what you do to what they've said matters

🔸 Evolve = right outcomes

Stay alongside them beyond the decision and focus on what happens next

None of that is particularly radical

It's putting practical sales activity around the idea of 'thinking like a partner'

Because saying you're customer-focused is easy

Actually selling as though you are... that's the interesting bit 

hashtag#OrangeHatThinking

(Pic: Oscar and Luna aligning curiosity on a mysterious object)