During my career, I have learned that no matter what one is selling, the account executives and sales leaders who win together most often are those who consistently stay in sync. And they do that by maintaining what I call a “partnership mentality.” I use this with my own team, and by doing so, we enjoy success as individuals, as a team, and as a company. Let’s look at what a partnership mentality looks like, and the rewards it can bring to your team and organization.
It starts by being aware of, respecting, and supporting each other’s personal and professional goals.
What does a partnership mentality mean?
At the most basic level, a strong partnership requires a solid commitment from both sides. Those two sides could be between an account owner and a customer or prospect, or it could be an internal partnership between two colleagues on a sales team. In any partnership, it cannot be overstated how important it is for both parties to understand the other’s motivations, goals, and challenges.
What results is your partner looking to achieve? How can you and your product(s) make that possible? It’s important that I know these motivations and expectations, and it’s just as important for them to know yours.
This is where a partnership mentality comes into play.
How to create a partnership mentality
Let’s take a look at what creating a partnership mentality requires between sales team members and customers and prospects. You’ll also be able to apply these same strategies to the partnerships you form with your own sales colleagues.
Encourage real-time, face-to-face interactions: Slack and email obviously work great for quick answers to non-time-sensitive matters. However, prioritize in-person or virtual face-to-face conversations with customers and prospects whenever possible—especially when working through complex issues or other challenging scenarios where your full, real-time attention is warranted. This level of interaction leads to more meaningful dialogue that facilitates clarity in discussion, helps prevent misunderstandings, and enables immediate feedback and faster decision-making and problem-solving.
If you and your customer or prospect text each other, texting can be an effective communication channel, given the ubiquity of smartphones and each of your abilities to communicate on-the-go, away from your desk. Engaging through more personal channels enables you to respond more dynamically to a customer’s needs and to form a stronger, more reliable relationship with them.
Be present/leverage social cues: During virtual interactions, ensure your camera is on. This creates a more personal connection and allows you to pick up on non-verbal cues that enhance your understanding of the customer’s situation. These cues can be invaluable in understanding a customer’s feelings and attitudes, and which might not be effectively communicated in written or verbal communication. A customer may appear disengaged or disorganized due to a challenging morning getting their kids off to school. Understanding these signals can enhance empathy, promote trust, and will lead to more effective communication. You’ll also be better positioned to move deals forward more quickly, enable larger wins, and increase the likelihood of renewals
Lean into difficult conversations: One of the easiest pitfalls that can derail new and experienced sales team members alike are blind spots. Many times, those blind spots exist as the result of avoiding difficult or uncomfortable discussions. Furthermore, when partners avoid diving into blind spots together, they miss out on valuable growth and learning opportunities that can be found within them. Difficult conversations promote progress for all. To tackle difficult conversations head-on, make sure it’s face-to-face, and not via chat or email, so nothing is lost in translation. Ideally, choose the right time and place with no interruptions or time constraints. Be prepared with what you want to communicate, and then be sure to utilize active listening to seek common ground. And it’s always best to end the meeting on a positive note.
Understand the level of priority: Work together to evaluate the urgency and importance of different issues or projects. Start by determining if the project is revenue generating. I challenge my team to constantly ask themselves the question, “Is this going to help me move my business forward?” This allows for effective prioritization, ensuring that high-priority items (like those tied directly to revenue, yours or theirs!) get necessary, immediate attention. By distinguishing between high and low-priority tasks, you can better manage your time, avoid burnout, and ensure each task gets completed in a timely manner.
Open, honest, mutually respectful conversations are critical in this endeavor. You as a salesperson and your customers and prospects will work together as true partners as you share challenges and status updates, consider current and future resource availability, or conduct urgency assessments.
Seek win-win solutions: Whenever possible, look for those that benefit you and your customer. Sometimes that means brainstorming multiple options. Sometimes these solutions will provide an immediate ROI, while others may be more geared toward long-term value. Win-win solutions won’t always be possible, but remember, your customer or prospect’s desired outcomes are your desired outcomes. Make sure your partner knows that you’re prioritizing their needs just as much as your own.
Restate what you’ve heard to confirm understanding: At the end of each conversation, recap what you understood and confirm that you accurately understand your customer’s needs and concerns. This ensures that both parties have the same understanding and helps assure customers that their needs are understood and will be prioritized and addressed.
Ask More Questions: After covering your primary questions, ask a follow-up. These types of questions often shed more light on a customer’s concerns, unveil valuable information, and show that you are genuinely interested in their situation. This then enables you to go find and then offer targeted and effective solutions. Some great follow-up questions include:
- What would it mean to you personally and professionally if this initiative is successful?
- Help me understand your motivation behind this project.
- Can you elaborate a bit more on how this challenge is impacting your business or other initiatives?
- How have you attempted to address this challenge in the past?
- What timeline or deadlines are you working with in addressing this challenge?
- What specific goals or outcomes are you aiming to achieve in relation to this challenge?
Lastly, and only after you’ve successfully gained all of the information you need to fully understand your customer or prospect’s primary challenge(s), consider asking, “Can you share any other related challenges or pain points that your organization is currently facing?” There very well could be another looming challenge in their organization that your company offers a solution for as well. You might uncover an opportunity for a later cross-sell or land-and-expand initiative that you didn’t know was there until you asked.
Prioritize smaller issues, too: Even if smaller, less-time-sensitive customer issues can’t be handled right now, let them know that these, too, will be addressed, and then make good on that promise. This demonstrates your commitment and shows you value your customer’s entire experience, not just their major concerns. This level of effort, understanding, and willingness to tackle all issues reflects a genuine partnership and can pave the way for deeper and more valuable relationships.
“What’s in it for me” includes partner goals
With a strong partnership mentality, when I think about, “What’s in it for me,” I notice that it’s not just my own goals in that list. Helping my customers (and colleagues) reach their goals is right there alongside mine. A quality partnership mentality is about motivating and inspiring one another each and every day. Not just through the good times, but also while exploring the uncomfortable and the unknown. This is how progress is made for our customers and prospects, our colleagues, and in our own personal lives. We form new partnerships and continually strengthen existing partnerships to be able to solve big problems, accelerate careers, and build great companies. Our adoption and buy-in to the partnership mentality has allowed our team to win together consistently and continue striding toward our personal, professional, and company goals.
