If your value proposition is centered around process, systems, advocacy, and advice one of the key tenants is to be positioned with your clients as an investment, as opposed to a cost of doing business. Your value proposition is unique and the solution you are offering is tailored to the client.
If you have a great client relationship the tendency may be to assume that you are firmly entrenched as an advisor and your platform is as key investment to their growth, rather than a cost of doing business. Likely that assumption is true in some (potentially most) cases. However, there may be clients or, at a minimum, key influencers within your client’s organization that would challenge where you fall on that spectrum.
Demonstrate how your platform has impacted their organization by quantifying their return on investment. If you understand how your client keeps score (hint- if you’re on the advisor end of the spectrum, you should), your role is to identify how you’ve impacted those numbers and clearly communicate the results. Avoid the cliché of assuming they “feel” the impact that you “see.”
“We all judge ourselves based on our intentions and others by their behavior.” – Stephen M.R. Covey, The Speed of Trust: The One Thing that Changes Everything.
Consider your key relationships. With each, where do you fall on this spectrum? How can you re-position (if necessary)?
Join the conversation.
