Trust: The Key Ingredient to Sales

Happy Friday!

We are having so much fun with The Next Gig newsletter and are grateful for all the positive feedback. Thank you!

In Week 1 we discussed MBO Partner's 11th Annual State of Independence Report: The Great Re-Shuffling: The Next Gig Volume 1

In Week 2 we talked tech platforms within the gig economy introducing the “User Trust Hurdle” and how it would shape the role of Tech Labor Platforms in the Future of work:?The Next Gig Volume 2

This week’s newsletter is all about one word:?

Trust

As a reminder, this newsletter is focused on helping independent professionals find more joyful work, faster.

We analyze trends, read loads of gig/freelance/contingent related news and digest it through the lens of an experienced independent professional (15+ years experience, >$85k/year, indy by choice).

Whether you work in nursing, IT, finance, marketing, operations, logistics or engineering, we distill information down to a common denominator where the fundamentals are the same.

In the case of finding meaningful work faster, it all comes down to the layers of trust around your clients.

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The Trusted Advisor

When I transitioned my career from being a consultant in a large public accounting firm to hunting work for independent workers I truly had no idea where to start.

The last thing I sold professionally?????

Burgers and onion rings at Hackney’s on Harms in Glenview, IL…

After speaking with a few mentors in my life, my number one mentor (Dad) shared a book with me that changed how I thought about my role in sales:

(You can purchase here: The Trusted Advisor by David Maister)

The Trusted Advisor challenged me to think about the ecosystem around my Target Buyer when they are looking for council in good times and bad.

It is a must read for anyone looking to sell a service, idea, or simply influence a target audience in business and in life.

As an independent consultant (or honestly anyone in sales), you MUST take time to think about your buyer and who they will reach to when they are looking for help.?

In 95% of the scenarios when a client is coming to market for independent talent, it is a fire drill scenario:

• Someone quit abruptly
• A deadline is coming way faster than expected
• An event like landing a huge client of M&A deal stressed the internal workforce beyond their capacities

And when there is a fire, who do you call?

Some person you hardly know with a fire extinguisher?

Or the fire department who have the required skillset and tools to put out your fire immediately...

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Selling Short Cut for Independent Consultants

While shortcuts in life are not always the best move, this mindset shift is going to put you on a shorter path to more gigs.

The following steps are going to sound absurdly simple when you hear them, but they require your full attention and effort if you want to get more closable opportunities in your pipeline:

• Step 1 – Identify your Target Buyer (CEO? CIO? CMO? CFO?)
• Step 2 – Figure out their first level of trust

Quick thought exercise for you using a castle analogy because I was just watching Lord of the Rings with my kids and it is resonating with me…

Having fun with this analogy, your Target Buyer is sitting safely inside the castle working with their team to accomplish the company’s goals.?

Your Target Buyer has a short list of people they talk to when challenges arise and these Level 1 trusted advisors have likely spent years developing relationships and/or been in the trenches with your Target Buyer.

• If your Target Buyer is the CHRO, perhaps it’s a vendor who provides payroll studies or a lawyer who focuses on HR issues.
• If your Target Buyer is the CFO, perhaps it’s their commercial banker or insurance provider.

So what’s outside the castle walls?

The entire vendor community (see pic above) emailing, calling, LinkedIn-ing, mailing, sneaking into offices and advertising trying to get through/break down the thick walls protecting your Target Buyer.

Do some of these vendors get through over time??

Absolutely.

Do you know how you or a vendor can get to the Target Buyer faster?

By an intro from someone in the Level 1 trust circle.

Even if it’s via an intro by the court jester who’s known your Target Buyer since youth and likely has some pretty fun stories...

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Good News / Bad-ish News

Now that you understand who surrounds your Target Buyer you likely already have people in your network that are Level 1 with your Target Buyer and that’s the good news!

The bad-ish news is you are going to have to invest some solid networking time with these Level 1 providers to make sure they know what business triggers create demand for your services.?

This bad-ish news should not scare you if you are serious about making a career as an independent professional.

In fact, it should energize you!

Training people to hunt for you takes time and it may be months before you get a killer lead from this passive business development channel like this:

• You are a ninja at new product advertising campaigns
• A Target Buyer is having coffee with your buddy who is a Level 1 advisor and says “Holy cow am I swamped… We just launched a new product line and I don’t have the time ensure our marketing department is holding up their end of the bargain.”
• Your buddy goes “Well, while I can’t help you personally, I know the exact person for this job and will connect you right away.”

Client is introduced to you over email, you hop on a call to discuss their need and boom…?

Sale!

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Bringing it Back to Trust

When it comes to business development, there may not be a stronger ingredient than trust.

Most independent workers do not have a brand to lean on when selling (e.g. “Trust us, we're Deloitte”) and thus have to work hard to overcome resistance in the market.

If you are struggling with business development as an independent, take some time to think about where you can develop and/or leverage existing trust in the market to get more time with your Target Buyer.

Next week we are going to explain the three business development channels independent professionals should be working at all times to generate opportunity.

And sneak peak:?Trust plays a huge part!

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Thanks for reading and if you have any comments, questions, or witty commentary (!) please let us know in the comments below.

Here’s to a great week!

~?Roger

Roger Lumpp?spends his working hours hunting opportunities for independent workers in the Chicago market. He is the creator and host of?The Next Pro Gig Podcast?which empowers independent/freelance workers of all disciplines with the tools, frameworks, knowledge and ideas to help them thrive in their careers as independent prof.?He firmly believes WORKERS will gain more and more control over the independent employment conversation as we move into the “future of work” and is fully committed to helping aspiring, new and tenured independents maximize their go-to-market strategies to find their next gig, FASTER.?