Behaviors of the Top 1% Salespeople in the Complex Business to Business Selling World: Client-Champions

(EXCERPT FROM A MANUAL THAT IS BEING PREPARED FOR PUBLICATION)

Behaviors of the Top 1% Salespeople in the Complex Business to Business Sales World

By John Westman

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Part One:?Selling Was Never Meant To Be This Hard

1.???????????First, The Bad News

2.???????????How The Client-Champion(TM) Mindset Came To Be (Excerpt)

(Note: Chapters 3 to 14 are not included in this article, and they are included in the manual)

3.???????????Overview of 10 Client-Champion traits

Part Two:?Inspire Yourself

4.???????????Develop Consistent, Relentless Passion For Your Professional Purpose

5.???????????Articulate A Career Strategy Instead Of “Just Seeing What Happens”

6.???????????Continually Accumulate Client Knowledge While Deepening And Broadening Relationships

7.???????????Design And Live Your Own Client-ChampionTM Culture

Part Three:?Inspire Your Clients

8.???????????Match Your Sales Process To Your Clients’ Buying Processes?

9.???????????Create The Most Value For Your Clients By Monetizing Benefits

10.??????Become An Inspiration Expert By Creating Your Most Effective Questions

11.??????Rigorously Manage Your Time And Use Coaching To Set Priorities

Part Four: Inspire Your Organization

12.???????Link Colleagues With Your Clients

13.??????“Lead Up” To Increase Your Organization’s Overall Performance

14.Final Thoughts:?Should We Continue The Conversation?

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Part 1- Selling Was Never Supposed to be This Hard

Chapter 1: First, the Bad News

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I’ve got some bad news for you.

The people whom you most want to believe you, to trust you, to like you—well, they don't believe you. They don't trust you. And even though they don't know you yet, they still don’t like you.

You've spent your whole career becoming great at what you do—helping business-to-business prospects to say yes to complex purchases. You're well-trained. You're highly experienced. When you have been given the chance to meet with skeptical buyers, you usually brought them around to your side because they could tell that you were sincere, genuine, and you cared more about their own interests than you did about closing a deal.

But most of the people with whom you're now trying to do business don't know that about you.?

All they know is that you're a salesperson. And they don't like salespeople. In their minds, most salespeople are liars. ?They can be smart and helpful, but they will exaggerate or stretch the truth or leave out important information to close a sale.

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So, their guard is up. Way up. So much so that they aren't listening to your voicemails, and they are deleting your emails or even marking them as spam before they read the first sentence.?

This is unfortunate for both parties, because while you are missing sales, your potential clients are missing out on solutions. They never get the chance to learn that you, as an expert in the field, can meet with their entire C-suite, with their engineers, with their supply chain people, with everybody in the building, and answer any question about the product or service you offer. You know your stuff inside and out, and you know how to help them. That's why you're successful.?

It's frustrating because you're just trying to do your job: helping them satisfy their needs. When they thrive, you thrive, and vice versa. But the fact that they know that you only make money when they buy from you raises suspicions and impedes them from trusting you. All salespeople must overcome an ingrained resistance to or mistrust of people in the sales department or function. People balk at being “sold to,” even if what you are selling can benefit them tremendously—even if your and their interests are ultimately aligned.

So that's the dilemma that faces the salesperson specializing in complex B2B sales: how do you get people to trust you when they are deeply biased, not just against you personally, but against your function as a whole?

Most salespeople enter the profession with good intentions. The truth is that far too many of our brothers and sisters in sales are unscrupulous. It’s not always necessarily their fault. Unfortunately, many salespeople work for companies that train and reinforce selfish, company-centric behaviors. This puts those salespeople in a bind. Their companies trained them to prioritize getting the sale over making long-term friends of their clients. They are under extreme pressure to close deals and meet their quota or else they will earn less money or even get fired. Unfortunately, a lot of folks in sales will rationalize this unethical behavior by saying, "This is just the way it is," or "If I don't do it, they'll just hire somebody else who'll do the same thing." So, they compromise on their integrity for short-term gains, but the long-term damage is severe. They have a short-term and fearful mindset, and it shows. ?They all too often reinforce the distrust embedded in the title “Sales Representative.” They poison the well give the sales profession a bad name and make things difficult for honest folks like you and me.

Unfortunately, this mistrust leads to a lack of candor on the part of clients, who tend to hold back from giving salespeople the full picture or divulging information that can benefit both parties. As a salesperson, how can I assess your needs and give you a proposal that solves your problems if you're withholding vital facts, opinions and emotions? The client's time is valuable, but all too often they feel compelled to squander it on the emotionally and intellectually laborious task of gauging the veracity – honesty and trustworthiness- of the salesperson.

It’s a mess—an awful culture of mistrust and Machiavellian suspicion that inhibits all parties from getting what they need and doing business together.

But it doesn't have to be this way.

In my career in the world of complex B2B sales, being a salesperson, leading sales teams, and teaching and researching in graduate and undergraduate programs at Harvard University Extension School and Professional Development Program and Boston College’s Carroll School, I’ve been fortunate to work with hundreds of highly successful salespeople of unswerving integrity. Their success offers valuable lessons. I’ve studied their habits and mindset diligently to figure out how they’ve made it work without compromising their principles. The great teacher and motivator Tony Robbins puts it very simply: success leaves clues. I wanted to understand what separates the most successful salespeople from the rest of the pack. Can you imagine… ?clients pick up their calls, their voicemails are listened to, their emails get read, and their proposals are accepted. What behaviors lead to their success? What are their mindsets and approaches?

Some people argue that great salespeople are born that way. Zig Ziglar, the master motivator and sales trainer, countered that great salespeople are not born as expert salespeople. They master the relevant skills. They choose only to work for high integrity firms. They aren't trying to put one over on the client. They realize that the bigger the deal, the higher the stakes, the more people will be involved, and the longer the timeline. And they're good with that because they aren't trying to get in and make a quick buck. They're trying to understand the needs of the client better than anyone else ever could. As a result, they make more money than they first imagined and make lifelong friends every step along the way. High performing salespeople come in all shapes and sizes. They're men and women of every background, ethnicity, age, physical characteristics and geography. Some grew up wealthy; some did not. Some are introverts and some are extroverts. Traits that are out of one’s control are not what matters.

What does matter are the habits you choose to create. After years of research, refining, teaching, and discussing these concepts, I’ve boiled down everything I know about the behaviors of high performing salespeople, the most trustworthy and most client-minded and most successful, into ten characteristics. Whether you’re an experienced sales professional already or have only recently embarked on the mastery of your craft, those ten behaviors can be studied and adapted to vault/catapult you to the top of the pack, allowing you to thrive, delivering to your clients what they need, and, in the process, restoring the public’s faith in sales as a worthwhile, trusted function and salespeople as professionals.

That's the purpose of this manual.

Ultimately, it boils down to this: the most successful salespeople in complex B2B sales put the client first. Not themselves, not their commissions, and not even their employers. They are all about the client. They are honest and trustworthy people—but that's simply table stakes. The top 1% revenue creators are Client-Champions. First, they do their homework to make themselves confident, knowledgeable, reliable, trustworthy, and skilled. Second, they champion their clients; they listen, empathize, praise, demonstrate confidence in, recognize, ask clarifying questions, encourage, appreciate, share information freely, and support them. Third, they make their clients champions in their organization and communities.?The standouts of our profession are those who earn the trust of their clients, help their clients comprehensively understand their own needs, and guide clients to realize the full value of potential solutions. They create clients who advocate for the salesperson, and their offerings, within their organizations. And these top salespeople choose to work for companies whose cultures support client-oriented, trustworthy behaviors... and professionally dismiss organizations that don't share in the ways of the Client-Champion.

To grasp this concept, let’s first redefine the very job title at the top of our resume or embossed on our business card. The title of “Sales Representative” (“Account Executive” or “Sales Consultant” or “Territory Manager,” etc.) has many negative connotations. Let’s reframe it and start with a clean slate. Let’s consciously choose a better way of describing who we are, how we behave, and how we sell. I'm going to call it by another name: Client-Champion. A Client-Champion is a trustworthy, highly effective value and revenue creator who uses science-based strategies and tactics that work across the widest possible range of companies and industries.

Several competitive advantages flow from being a Client-Champion. What's in it for you, what's in it for your client, what's in it for your employer, and what's in it for your paycheck and your net worth?

First, being a Client-Champion is a noble pursuit. Many salespeople are nervous to reach out to prospects. In contrast, when you come at complex B2B sales from the position of being a Client-Champion, everything changes. You can hold your head up high. The honesty that you demonstrate is contagious and typically brings out a much higher level of honesty in the client. This is obviously good for business – your clients’ and yours.

If you're a Client-Champion, then you are proudly living your values. You are demonstrating your sense of decency, ethics, and fair play with every action you choose. Sometimes, salespeople feel as though they have to check their integrity at the office door if they're going to provide for themselves and their families. Not so the Client-Champion. Client-Champions only do win-win deals. If it's bad for the client, it's bad for the Client-Champion, and it's bad for the Client-Champion's organization. Client-Champions don't do bad deals. They adhere to the words of Napoleon Hill in Think and Grow Rich: "I will not enter into any transaction that does not benefit all whom it affects." Ever heard that phrase at a sales training meeting? Probably not, and it is what the Client-Champion knows to the core and keeps top-of-mind.

Being a Client-Champion is not only profitable, it is also noble. The grandfather of marketing, Phillip Kotler, PhD, considered marketing as methodologies to meet current and future needs of society and to create a utopian world. Client-Champions are on the vanguard of this quest.

The material in this manual consists of proven concepts[ML1]? and methods that I've taught and continually refined at Harvard University and Boston College. These methods are grounded in neuroscience, tested in the field, and embraced by high performing revenue creators in dozens of industries in over 50 countries. This manual contains only the proven methods taught at Harvard.

But this is not just pie-in-the-sky, ivory tower theorizing. These ideas have been battle-tested in the field. I've worked with more than seven hundred revenue creators in dozens of industries and over 50 countries over the past ten years, who have found success by following my program. I've also implemented these same ideas with documented success in every company I have worked at.?I eat my own cooking and I am excited to share what I have learned with you! For the last 36 years, I've been a student, high performing practitioner, and instructor of the exact ideas I'll be describing for you in this manual. I've used every technique I'm demonstrating in this manual, and I've used them to great effect. They've worked for me, they've worked for the salespeople I've managed, they've worked for the many consulting clients I've served. If you are a revenue creator for complex B2B sales, then I promise you that they will work for you also. The manual can also tremendously benefit marketing and sales managers, educators, and even clients (by de-mystifying sales and equip clients with the knowledge needed to work better with salespeople).

Not only will you learn the ten behaviors of the people who are the most successful in our field but reading the manual will complete the first step toward becoming an authenticated Client-Champion (insert check emoji here) yourself, a distinction that will further enhance your reputation in the eyes of your peers and clients.

In Chapter 2, I’ll talk a little more about what exactly it means to be a Client-Champion, and why we need to turn the tired old archetype of the “untrustworthy salesperson” on its head and reclaim trust, and trustworthiness, as a hallmark of the way we do business.

Part 1- Selling Was Never Supposed to be This Hard

Chapter 2: The Champion Mindset

“And this is what I want to tell you: Words are the most effective weapons of death in man’s arsenal. But they can also be powerful tools of life.” – Paul Rusesabagina, real-life Hotel Rwanda Manager & Human Rights Advocate, An Ordinary Man

“Whatever words we utter should be chosen with care for people will hear them and be influenced by them for good or ill. And, yes, words matter.” – Buddha

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In the first class session of each course, I invite my students, many of whom are experienced and successful sales professionals, to repeat after me three times, ‘selling is helping, Selling is Helping, SELLING is HELPING.’ Our raison d’etre is to make our clients’ lives better. That is the essence of our profession. It’s really that simple.

???????????Each time I do this exercise, I learn that many find this self-evident fact that “SELLING IS HELPING” to be news, though it’s really not a novel idea. Sales experts have stressed this maxim for decades. Maybe it is because many companies have created training and management practices that make it almost impossible for salespeople to adopt the paradigm of “selling is helping” (as opposed to “selling is how I get a commissions” or “selling is how I keep my job”).

???????????Over time, it became obvious to me that the most professional B2B revenue creators 1) were champions of their clients because they encouraged, supported, and bolstered them, 2) made their clients champions in their organizations and communities, and 3) became long-term friends with their clients.?

Research reveals that B2B buyers want sellers to

·?????‘praise them for a job well done,

·?????demonstrate confidence in their abilities and decisions, and

·?????recognize, encourage, appreciate and support’ them.[1]

Ultimately, over the long term, it’s about human connection and human relationships.

Our language shapes our mindset and intentions, which in turn influences how we talk with clients, the actions we tale and how clients perceive us. ?For example, Mark Hunter, author of Mind for Sales, reframed ‘closing a sale’ as ‘opening a financial relationship.’ Would you like to be ‘closed’? Would you like to be the person ‘targeted’ by a salesperson who is trying to ‘close you’? Or would you prefer to work with someone who tries to help make you live even better? Who is looking to, when mutually beneficial, broaden and deepen your business relationship? ?This “close” reframe changes the in-the-company language so that what we talk about among ourselves can be overheard by, or seep out accidently to, our clients and lay bare our true intentions. Selling is helping.

This reframe changes the nature of the sales function, and also highlights the value of “reframing” as a technique we can naturally employ that changes the game in our favor. This is similar to replacing “Sales Representative” with Client-Champion which redefines the nature of our occupation. In Hunter’s insightful and accurate view, the word “close” misrepresents the nature of signing an agreement, implying that it’s an end where we should be thinking of it as a continuation or beginning of a mutually important business relationship.

With Client-Champions, Trust Is Part of the Package

Pushy. Sleazy. Annoying. Dishonest. Difficult. Such adjectives are conjured when one hears the word “salesperson” or “salesman” or “saleswoman.”[2] Even the dictionary defines the word “sell,” among the many meanings of the word, as “to cheat, betray or hoax”.

Reframing is the first step toward regaining the public’s trust. In general, clients do not trust salespeople. Distrust has permanently tainted the job title “Sales Representative.”

???????????Instead of trying to change the perception of “sales representative” and salespeople in general, we have created a new job title. This job title needs to accurately defines the function of a professional person who is responsible for creating revenue, and who deserves to be trusted to grow the long term relationship with the client: that’s the Client-Champion. One Client-Champion has noticed how people within his industry are intrigued when he tells them he is a Client-Champion. Once explained, interest is piqued simply by these new words, and trust starts to form through authentic and helpful conversations.

???????????Remember: words have power to change minds and thus change behavior. A subtle tweak in phrasing radically alters how an idea is perceived, which translates into new meaning and real-world change. In this case, the first word in the job title is now “Client” rather than “Sales.” The word “Sales” implies a transactional mentality, a focus on the company, an orientation on the “self,” as in “I want to sell you something.” The word “Client,” in contrast, is other-oriented; it implies focus on the other person, a human, you, the client. Already we’re changing the whole dynamic by swapping out a single word.

???????????The second word in the new job title is now “Champion,” not “Representative”. “Representative” implies speaking on behalf of a product or company. “Champion” implies someone of high quality and someone who would be the champion of another, cheering the other on to win. In this case, this professional is the cheerleader and advocate of the client, fully vested in making the client even more successful. “Champion” is also a tier of performance or recognition of excellence. This professional does all possible to make the client a champion in their organization and communities. The two-way hyphen ( ??) symbolizes the human to human connection that is required between the Client-Champion and Client. The Client-Champion and Client need a mutual and genuine connection. The Client-Champion needs the connection to fully understand needs and wants, empathize, and integrate information and solutions into the context of the client. The Client needs the connection so there is a complete flow of information.

As Frank Luntz wrote in Words that Work, “it’s not what you say, it’s what people hear.” It is critical to be mindful and intentional about how the listener will interpret the words you employ. “Client-Champion” declares your intent to throw your energy and enthusiasm behind the client’s causes, to meet her needs, to uplift her and to cheer her on.

In just two simple, powerful words, the title “Client-Champion” embodies “words that matter”:[3]

·?????Consequences: you will help the client and be their champion

·?????Impact: your focus is on the client, not your sales

·?????Dialogue: you will learn enough about the client to understand exactly how you can help them most effectively and efficiently

·?????Reliability: champions are reliable

·?????Mission: to learn about and help your client

·?????Commitment: you can promise to advance the well-being of the client

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???????????A study in Stop Selling and Start Leading[4] asked B2B buyers to state what they want from salespeople (see chart below). These buyers want salespeople to demonstrate five traits:

1.????Enable them to act,

2.????Model trustworthy and professional behaviors,

3.????Encourage and praise them,

4.????Challenge the process, and

5.????Inspire a shared vision.

“Encourage the Heart” captures the emotional core of the Client-Champion. This is the kind of emotional or even spiritual stuff that one might think does not figure prominently in the business world, but the evidence indicates that it is present in top performers and is a key element of every salesperson-client engagement. This is a clear request from clients for ‘praise of themselves and others for a job well done, confidence in my abilities and decisions, creatively recognizing people for their contributions, encouragement about the good work we are doing, and appreciation and support for me and my team for the work we do together.’ These are cheerleading behaviors and clients want to see them from the people they buy from.?

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With that in mind, we can contrast the old approach of the stereotypical “Sales Representative” with the client-centric approach of the Client-Champion.

OLD APPROACH

Sales Representative??????????????????Persuades client to buy???????????Short-term or long-term commercial ??????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????engagement

NEW APPROACH

Client-Champion?????? ?????????????????Guides clients to?????????????????????????Lifetime business ??????????????????????????????????????????????????????deeper understanding????????????????friendship ??????????????????????????????????????????????????????of current & future situations

Client-Champions distinguish themselves from other revenue creators because they have internalized the idea that only a client decides for herself, and that thoughtful questions can help or inspire the client discover emotional and rational reasons to change her mind. Client-Champions have a high level of leadership and emotional intelligence skills and superior depth and breadth of client understanding.

???????????In summary, Client-Champions are skilled at 1) guiding the client to deeply understand needs and implications (rational, monetized, and emotional), 2) defining a compelling vision, and 3) easily attaining that vision.

Client-Champions are experts at meeting new people and making

“business friends.” What is the prevailing view of differences between “business friends” and traditional “friends”? Heidi Weitz explains how much of the business world views the differences between ‘friends’ and “business friends” below:

1. Business friends may leave: When you start out in business, other businesspeople encourage you, and you may think that you are everybody's best friend. And you are until your business friends figure out how they can make more money working with someone else. And then they move on.

2. Business friends are in flux: Business friends, like business relationships, are always in flux depending on who gets what from the relationship. They are certain times when business is very good for both of you. You have good business friends, and you can't do enough for each other. But unlike real friendships, things can change in a heartbeat.

3. Real friends are for keeps: Business friends have a mission to make a profit and will leave when that is no longer possible. Your real friends will stay with you no matter what your mission is.

4. You still need business friends: Business friends are important and being able to trust them is important. Having suppliers who will help you become successful and have your back is important. You can have cordial relationships with your business friends. But remember that when your mission changes, your business friends are likely to disappear.[5]

When I was just starting out, I met a successful overseas businessman who was much older than me. I described to him how excited I was to be working with suppliers whom I considered friends. He counseled me to “never mistake business for friendship.” Another way of saying this is “never confuse your business friends with your friends.” It was good advice then and now.

Client-Champions look at the client relationship process ?differently. Client-Champions see “business friends” as “friends”. Definitions for ‘friend’ have varying degrees of connectedness – from a “contact on social media” to “a person whom one knows and with whom one has a bond of mutual affection “or an “ally” and include:

1.?a person whom one knows and with whom one has a bond of mutual affection, typically exclusive of sexual or family relations. "she's a friend of mine". Similar words: companion, confidante, confidant, classmate, schoolmate, workmate, ally, associate, pal, buddy.

·??????(often as a polite form of address or in ironic reference) an acquaintance or a stranger one comes across. "my friends, let me introduce myself"

·??????a person who acts as a supporter of a cause, organization, or country by giving financial or other help. Similar words: patron, backer, supporter, benefactor, benefactress, sponsor, well-wisher, defender, champion, benefactrices, benefactrix

·??????a person who is not an enemy or who is on the same side.

·??????a contact associated with a social networking website.

2. Other definitions include:

§?A person whom one knows, likes, and trusts.

§?A person whom one knows well and is fond of; intimate associate; close acquaintance.

§?A person whom one knows; an acquaintance.

§?One who supports, sympathizes with, or patronizes a group, cause, or movement.

§?A person on the same side in a struggle; one who is not an enemy or foe; ally.

§?To friend is defined as to add someone to a circle of communication, especially in social media.

§?Friend is defined as a person that you are fond of, with whom you talk or spend time.

§?An example of a friend is the person you have known a long time and trust.

(Source: https://www.yourdictionary.com/friend)

Client-Champion behaviors – what they say and do- , are the same for friends as for ?business friends, as for clients. A friend and a business friend are:

???????Trustworthy

???????Honest

???????Kind

???????Respectful

???????Dependable

???????Loyal

???????Able to and does express empathy?for others

???????Non-judgmental

???????A good listener

???????Supportive in good times, celebrates you

???????Supportive in bad times, comforts you

???????Self-confident

???????Able to and does see the humor?in life, laughs with you

???????Fun to be around, enjoy their company

???????Tolerant, doesn't judge you

???????Able to and does make you smile

???????Keeps in touch

???????Keeps confidential information

???????Skilled with sensitive conversations that strengthen the relationship

???????Real: laugh, cry, serious, silly & still feel a true connection

???????Able to and does share the balance of power – generous amounts of giving & receiving

???????Able to and does, when conflicts arise, work through it and forgive each other

???????Able to and does help you grow and develop

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Of course, there are differences in how often you connect, what you talk about, how much detail you share about your lives in each friend that we have. The business friendship has the added component of exchange of money for products or services which can bring additional challenging conversations. However, just like many friendships, business friendships navigate sensitive topics and can endure. Client-Champions often maintain friendships over decades. Clients who are friends tell Client-Champions things that they do not tell other salespeople. Clients care about Client-Champions and coach them on how they can be even more successful in their jobs and in their lives .

To help make it easier to understand the degrees and dimensions of “friend” as it relates to creating friends in the complex B to B world, the table below was created to better define degrees or intensities of “friends”.

Intensity of Friendship (Scale of 1 = low to 100= high) Table

Score??Description???????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????

1?????????- this is the lowest intensity of Friendship. This level represents a friend as

???????????designated by social media, such as a Facebook friend. This friend could be one of

???????????100,000 of your friends. You may never meet them. At this level, you may

???????????immediately trust the friend and you will be alert to look for confirmation of their

???????????trustworthiness.

25???????- you have had a phone or video or in person conversion, you are interested in

???????????seeing the other person again. You immediately trust this friend, and you also look

???????????for behaviors (what they say and do) that verify their trustworthiness

50???????-?you have had many phone or video or in person conversations, you are in regular

???????????contact for a time (days, weeks, or months) where each of you have done behaviors

???????????(what you say or do) that has helped the other person. You enjoy each other’s

???????????company and want to see each other again. You have complete trust that the other

???????????person’s intentions are positive toward you. You both can ask favors of each other,

???????????and often. You know a lot about each other’s work and personal life.

75 ??????- you are in regular contact and completely trust each other. You have many shared

???????????experiences and regularly plan to get together. You know a lot about each other’s

???????????work and personal life. Your families and friends may know each other.

100????- this person is always welcome in your home, you would give them money if they

???????????needed it, you would fly across the country if it would help them. You have many

???????????shared experiences with each other. Many of these people can be related to you and

???????????that is not a requirement. Everyone at this level is someone who you consider to be

???????????an extremely important part of your life. Your families and friends likely know each

???????????other.

For example, I worked in the dialysis business from 1987 to 1997 for Baxter Healthcare. Due to the nature of my job, I served and became business friends with many nephrologists. I worked in other industries from 1998 to 2005, and then in 2005 joined a company that served nephrologists. Much to my surprise, I found that every single nephrologist – dozens of people- who was a friend in 1997 picked up the conversation as if we had seen each other the week before – the familiarity, the goodwill and the trust endured. We were happy to re-connect. We were and are friends. This is simply another example of Maya Angelou’s insight: “people will never forget how you made them feel.”

Methods in Action

Throughout this manual, I’ll share stories of Client-Champion actions and results. Please see below ?a few examples that demonstrate the effectiveness of Client-Champion approaches.

One of my former students, Blair Hamer of Intricate, embarked on a new sales role with a pretty intimidating annual target: $300,000 in sales. In six months, after enrolling in my program (and ordering up new business cards with the right job title), Blair generated $2.5 million in sales.

“My clients and I generated win-win deals worth over $2.5M with another $3M being collaborated on,” says Blair[ML2]?. “It is a privilege to authentically champion for my clients as many have become my closest friends.”

???????????Another former student, Frederic Prandecki of Bob’s Repair says, “At the start of the pandemic, I was heading to bankruptcy, just like 2008. I adopted Client-Champion ideas and implemented “trust calls” which were the catalyst to many client focused activities. ?Instead of closing my doors in 2020, I grew revenue from $750k in 2019 to $2.9M in 2020 and continue to expand.”

Another former student, account executive-turned to Client-Champion employed by Intricate, Keith Runco, applied these lessons and was able to generate hundreds of thousands of dollars of new business. Keith used “the Inspiration Equation” to open a broader dialogue with his client, asking ‘what is going well’, ‘what could be improved’, and so forth, a questionnaire that probes his client’s needs, wants, and impacts. Keith adapted the Inspiration Equation questions to the needs of his clients and credits the system with landing a $85,000 deal within 1 month, with another $65,000 project within 6 months, and a recurring $200,000 relationship starting in 2022—best of all, he’s established a relationship of trust that is likely to bear fruit for all parties involved for years to come.

???????????Each revenue creator described above is the hero of their own story. Each decided to say and do behaviors that were focused on helping their client, which directly increased their revenue.

It’s About Trust

Let’s take a look at what we can learn about people and trust from the field of neuroscience and from the analytic framework of the “Trust Equation”.

(The rest of this chapter has many graphics that do not upload easily to this LinkedIn Article format. Please contact John @ [email protected] for more information. Thank you.)