Becoming A Trusted Adviser

How you establish customer relationships can have a significant effect on your competitive advantage. There are three key ways to help build that "trusted IT adviser" relationship with customers beyond just good day-to-day interactions between your sales and technical staff and the customer:

1. Customer Executive Briefings
These are about keeping senior IT executives up-to-date on the latest and greatest technology as it relates to their goals.

The key to successfully delivering an executive briefing is to first demonstrate an excellent understanding of the customer's business, goals and installed technology. Second, speak to the IT executives about long-term strategies and how they might tweak their existing technology and/or use new technology to gain a competitive edge.

2. Account-Management Teams
When a customer knows that you have a dedicated account team just for them, it goes a long way toward establishing partnership and trust. Each account team typically consists of four functional roles:

A representative from the customer side (a senior IT exec).

Keep in mind that one person can fill more than one role, and more than one person can fill a single role. The key to this approach is that it shows a deep commitment on the part of the solution provider toward the customer.

3. Advisory Councils
Advisory councils are typically used by larger solution providers. Whereas account teams are centered on individualized customer "hand-holding," advisory councils are larger efforts that are part of a solution provider's overall customer relationship management.

These methods will help you significantly establish yourself as a trusted IT adviser.

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Jeff Baker is the president of Sedona, Ariz.-based Development Resources.

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