Buyers Want Sellers Who Have Opinions. Here's How to Best Share Yours.

Paul Petrone

Marketing @ LinkedIn

September 26, 2023

Buyers Want Sellers Who Have Opinions. Here's How to Best Share Yours.

Oh, the internet.

Because of it, frankly, it’s harder to add value today as a seller than it was in years past. Years ago, a seller could just provide product information to add value.

But now, that’s not the case. Just ask LinkedIn COO Dan Shapero.

“(Buyers have) read the information that's on the internet,” he said in his recent How I Sell interview. “They know what your product can do.”

So, how do you add value? It’s something The Challenger Sale documented a decade ago, and it’s only becoming more true – you need to not just share what your product can do, but act as a strategic advisor with a strong perspective on your area of expertise.

“What (buyers) want to know is how you can help them unlock value for their organization — and them personally,” Dan said. “So, I think a more opinionated perspective from sellers is one thing that buyers want right now.”

This is likely not news to many of you – it’s something sales leaders have been talking about for some time. What makes this article unique is, in it, Dan shares a practical guide from a COO’s perspective for sharing your opinion with a buyer.

1. It all starts with deeply understanding the problem you’re helping your buyer solve.

One point Dan made in his How I Sell interview is that great sellers are often successful not because of what they do in meetings, but because of what they do outside of meetings.

“Some of the most successful salespeople I've seen are incredibly operationally sound,” he said.

That applies in this case as well. Before you can have a conversation where you are sharing any opinion with your primary buyer, you need to have a deep understanding of their problem.

That means:

You are already an expert on the industry you sell into, because you regularly invest time learning about that industry and you regularly speak with customers with an open mind.
You’ve done great discovery coupled with active listening, so you clearly understand the pain that specific customer is looking to solve.
On top of that, you’ve done your own research about the organization, so you understand their larger priorities and connected how this fits in.

In other words, there’s no substitute for putting in the hard work. That’ll set you up to have success in every call you enter into.

2. When meeting with your buyer, share facts before you start sharing your opinion. Ideally, facts they don’t already know.

Okay, it’s go time. You’ve done your research and you have the meeting set where you plan on sharing your opinion with your buyer.

Dan’s warning – don’t go right for it. Instead, start with facts about what you know about the customer’s problem, as that’s key to building the credibility necessary for them wanting to listen to your opinion.

“What are the set of facts you can share to build credibility?” Dan said.

“Maybe it’s, ‘I've read your usage data and see the following trends emerging…’,” he continued. “So, I'm not going to tell you what to do, but I'm going to show I really know how your team operates and what your business challenges are. Or, ‘I've talked to your team members and this is what they say.’ That's interesting. Now you're bringing me facts that I don't know. Or, another one is, ‘I've analyzed your peers and this is what they do that's different from what you do’.”

Again, this goes back to doing the work ahead of time. To Dan’s point, find something about your buyer’s business your buyer doesn’t already know.

If you do that, your buyer’s ears will perk up, as this is now a learning opportunity for them. That brings us to the next bullet.

3. When it’s time to share your opinion, make it count by leaning into your unique expertise.

Okay, you’ve built credibility with your buyer. Congratulations! You’ve earned the right to share your opinion.

Except here comes the really hard part – because you have to make it good.

“You have to say something that I haven't heard before,” Dan said.

Say the buyer you are meeting with is someone like a Dan, i.e. an executive at a large corporation. Meaning, a person who (maybe just maybe) has a lot more business experience and expertise than yourself.

What can you share that’ll possibly be of interest?

It comes down to your niche. Chances are, you aren’t more of an expert in your buyer’s business than they are, or in their specific focus. But you could know far more about the niche you sell into.

Examples:

You are meeting with a CMO selling a social media tool. You might not know more about marketing than that CMO, but you could know more about social media – and the latest trends and algorithm changes – than they do. Share your opinion on how that company can increase the effectiveness of their social media efforts.
You are trying to get a large retail bank to offer your specific energy mutual fund. You might not know more about investing than they do, but you can share specifics around the energy industry and what will decide winners and losers moving forward.
You sell hurricane clips to a large construction firm. You might not know more about construction than they do, but you could know more about upcoming hurricane regulations and where specific states are headed. Share your opinion on how you can make them compliant ahead of time.

There are riches in the niches. And when you share your opinion, keep it succinct, data-backed, and provocative.

4. If there’s pushback, lean in, instead of pulling away.

If you share your opinion, you might get pushback from your buyer. They might feel like what they are doing is working just fine. Or that you are wrong. Or maybe they are just a bit defensive.

“I think salespeople early in their career get nervous about that kind of pushback,” Dan said. “The best sellers lean into it.”

Why?

“The best salespeople embrace tension in conversations with customers because behind that tension is an opportunity for a breakthrough in thinking — either in your own thinking or in the customer’s thinking,” Dan explained.

Here’s the point: if you’ve done your research, and you really know your industry, you should feel confident in the opinion you’re sharing. So don’t abandon it the minute your buyer pushes back against it.

That can be scary, as it flies in the face of the old sales adage, “The customer is always right.” Of course, do it respectfully, and listen with an open mind – you could be wrong.

But if you really want to be seen as a strategic partner, lean in here. If done respectfully, it invariably will lead to a better outcome.

The takeaway – this isn’t easy, but the payoff is a lasting, trusted relationship.

It’s hard to be a seller today. To build trust and provide value, it’s critical to not just know your product, but also your customer’s business – and have an opinion on how they can improve it.

You can do that following the plan Dan outlined:

Know that buyers want sellers to have an informed opinion today, as that’s key for you adding value.
Before forming your opinion, do deep research and deep discovery, so you truly understand the pain your customer is looking to solve.
Before sharing your opinion with your buyer, share facts they (ideally) don’t yet know, so you build credibility.
Share your opinion on your particular area of expertise, and keep it short, succinct, and provocative.
If your customer pushes back on your opinion, lean into it. That’s where breakthroughs can happen.

Easier said than done. But adopting that playbook will lead to the type of relationships you want to build with your buyers.