The Core of Advisor Alliance Selling a.k.a. "Lead Nurturing"

Brian Carroll, author and CEO of Intouch, Inc., gets it.  In his post, "Lead Nurturing as trusted advisors with the Human Touch," dittos 4 vital points which are essential to team selling and effective alliance partner promotion. 

• Start, nurture and consumate the relationship with your prospect even before the opportunity for a sale is identified
• Create value by being of service and providing free resources
• Engage in consistent, information exchanges and thought provoking communication
• Derive credibility as a trusted advisor and expert

In his follow-up post, Brian referrences, Mike Volpe, VP of Marketing for Hubspot, and a recent post about lead nurturing and developing the relationship first to support the sales process.  Again, key points were identified as to how important it is, in this age of social media and automation, to develop a interpersonal relationship.

• Relationships are strengthened by helping people solve problems, if only with information. 
• Bonds are created through sharing and trust
• Personal conversations strengthen associations.

There is no substitute for personal contact to facilitate the relationship and sales process.  Even if a sale doesn't happen now, the foundation has been laid for fulfilling a future needs.  Referrals and introductions can blossom.  It starts happening by personally helping as an advisor. 

Imagine if, 8 to 12 times a week, you were the "help" other people were offering to strengthen their relationships with their clients and prospects? 

• How easy would it be to quickly develop your new friend's trust? 
• What would that do for your prospecting and lead generation? 
• How would you support such activity?

Sure, It can all start with social media such as blogging or email exchange.  But it best ends up the old fashioned way, personal conversation whether it be over the phone or in person.

We'll find out if Brian Carroll really gets it when I ask him to be my guest as a thought leader for an upcoming teleseminar.  Stay tuned.

Comments

[Travis Turner]

I liked the part where you mentioned the point of "gaining a new friends trust". Our leads need to feel that they are important to us and not just another number. In order to do this we need to give them that personal touch and not just a mass email etc. If you actually take the time to contact your leads in a personable way it will produce positive feedback. This positive feedback may not lead to a direct sale with this lead but the experience will be shared with others. So the important thing to note is that that one positive experience in turn can produce several leads and perspective deals.