Nick Frank, Co-Founder and Managing Partner at Si2 Partners, discusses how companies can successfully integrate knowledge and data into their business processes in this new article for Field Service News.

While the vast majority of organisations recognise that managing Knowledge and Data is a key source of competitive advantage, how many equip their team members with the understanding to effectively integrate these solutions into their operating processes?

Within the Service Leaders Network, we recently ran a collaboration project with a small number of Service Leaders to look at this challenge. The result has been the development of a pragmatic framework and self-assessment tool, that all service professionals can apply in their day-to-day working environment. A simple management blueprint that encourages managers to ask incisive questions that will increase the likelihood of success of their Data or Knowledge projects

The conversation came about when we asked a group of service leaders about their Knowledge and Data challenges. The topics included access to expert product knowledge, sharing specialist competencies, knowledge retention, competency management, knowledge transfer... The list was indeed long and many of these challenges you no doubt can relate to.

As the collaboration project progressed, the group realised they needed a framework to judge what was good practice across different solutions and approaches. They recognised that most managers understand WHY knowledge and data is important to them and they know WHAT they need (hence the long list). But where there is a big hole is HOW to get there. Through a slow process of virtual meetings, one-on-one interviews (this was the time of COVID) and supporting analysis by a facilitator, we moved towards the framework you can see. A simple tool developed by managers, for managers that helps them take actions that will increase the likelihood of success for their data or knowledge solution.

The thinking framework consists of four interdependent factors that should be considered when integrating a data or knowledge solution into an organisation’s processes:

• Purpose
• Data Architecture
• Process and Tools
• People

For a business process to leverage data and knowledge to the full, all four factors should be considered and where necessary planned for. This is especially important where investment is made in specialist tools and technologies such as a Service Management Software, Human Resource IT solutions and Advanced Analytics Data Solutions. Let’s look at these four areas in a little more detail:

Purpose:

This is the “Why” of the data solution and can be articulated in different ways depending on where the project lies on the Strategy – Operations continuum. Purpose of the data solution should contain some, but not necessarily all the following components:

• Fit with the vision and strategy of the company
• The KPI’s or performance measures to be influenced
• The risk to be managed
• Value created, costs reduced, or loyalty created

Without a well-defined purpose, the project is likely to lack direction and so disappoint or fail in its return-on-investment objectives.

Common mistakes: A company who invests in SharePoint with a generic goal to ‘share data in the business’, without understanding the KPI’s being influences or the data being collected. They are often disappointed with the results.

Data Architecture:

With a clear understanding of Purpose, it is possible to define the data/knowledge to be collected by the process, or the data/knowledge required to support the process. Knowing whether this data is structured (numbers) or unstructured (text/words) is key to defining how it is collected and analysed within the business process.

Common mistakes: Defining Key Performance Metrics indicators without understanding if the data can be collected and analysed in a sustainable fashion.

Process & Tools:

The next component is to define how data/knowledge fits into business processes and the tools required to ensure it is presented in such a way such that decisions can be made. Often managers will jump to this step without understanding Purpose or Data Architecture resulting in sub-optimal data/knowledge solutions. Common mistakes: Remote Data Capture is a common data solution, but it does need to be built into the Service process if it is to deliver sustainable value. Too often it is seen as just another activity we do.

People:

Without people’s willingness to engage in the Knowledge management process, initiatives will fail. The key is to design this factor into the Knowledge/Data Project at the start, whether that is building a culture where knowledge is shared, developing the skills required to support the process or simply good old-fashioned change management to ensure engagement. This is the component that many business leaders miss when implementing knowledge management solutions.

Common mistakes: Within the Service CRM processes, users do not update master-data, or worse still, simply bypass specific data entry requirements to save time, as they do not understand the implications of their actions.

 

Want to know more about your own skills, take this very short 4 question self-assessment using this link: https://si2partners.outgrow.us/si2partners-3

If you want to know more the Knowledge and Data Implementation framework, then you can contact nick.frank@si2partners.com and he can support you with engaging workshops that will help you and your team identify how to integrate data into your business processes. Si2 also have run a series of workshops that help service professionals to become more data savvy. To date more than 200 professionals have participated in these programmes which aim to raise their bar in terms of how to use data.

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Further Reading:

• Read more about Leadership and Strategy @ www.fieldservicenews.com/leadership-and-strategy
• Read more articles by Nick Frank on Field Service News @ www.fieldservicenews.com/nick-frank
• Find out more about Si2 Partners @ si2partners.com
• Connect with Nick Frank on LinkedIn @ www.linkedin.com/in/nick-frank
• Follow Si2 Partners on Twitter @ twitter.com/servitisation

• Contact Nick Frank by email @ nick.frank@si2partners.com

 

Nick Frank, Managing Partner and co-founder of Si2 Partners, tackles some of our perceptions around the understanding of how we can interpret data within our teams and puts forward some important questions field service managers must consider as we enter an age of digitalisation... 

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We assume that young people know about data because they are digital natives. Many of us believe senior managers understand all the information around them because of their experiences. But are these perceptions true? Maybe one reason that many organisations struggle to truly incorporate digital into their DNA, is that they are not challenging these assumptions as to how data savvy their people really are. To be successful in the modern data age, we believe that many organisations should go back to basics and equip all their people with the fundamental skills that enables them to turn data into insight into action.

In 2015, the World Economic Forum who organise the Davos conference, published an article “Are digital natives really good at using technology?” Their conclusion was that so called digital natives may be adept at communicating via social media, texting and using apps, but   “……they were basically clueless about the logic underlying how the search engine organises and displays results”.

This is just one example of getting confused between technology and the data outcomes of technology.

Another example we are living through is the current COVID pandemic.  How often have you heard our political leaders tripping up over the statistics they are using to guide their actions?  So bad has it got that many journalists have begun to specialise in explaining the statistics to citizens who are frankly confused.

It’s not just leaders and millennials that have these issue. Over the past 18 months Si2 has been running workshops for over 150 mid-level business professionals on how to turn a ‘business problem in a data solution’.  It does not matter on the sector whether that be banking, financial or industrial, perhaps 70% of participants had a very basic level of data problem solving. By this we observed that they did not have a structured approach to analytics and were very limited in their understanding of data visualisation, basic statistics and storytelling. The result was a tendency to:

1. Jump to conclusions based on gut feel and not data
2. A very passive approach to the use data and a lack of critical thinking
   
   

The important thing to understand is that these are well educated professionals, but very few appear to have been taught skills around working with data or understand how to integrate knowledge management into their work environment.

The remaining 30% of participants had a good grasp of data, but again no formal education in how to use data. They had picked up techniques and understanding as they grew into their jobs, or professionally they have a numerical background such as engineering, sciences or software. And within this group, maybe only 1-2% had developed the skills and vocabulary to talk to a Data Scientist about how to develop sophisticated analytical solutions such as machine learning.

The point is that if leaders really believe that ‘data is the new oil’, then they need people who appreciate and understand how to use data to drive insights and then action. 

So what should organisations do?

Perhaps they should take a leaf out of the technology companies playbook and make data competency a fundamental capability that each employee must exhibit. For example, in many the job descriptions even for non-technical roles you will often find reference to experiences with data tools (beyond excel) and data driven problem solving.

These successful companies work hard to ensure that their employees are supported in four key areas:

1. Mindset: Many businesses have leaders who are ‘talking the talk’ on data, but how many actually know how to use data themselves. The data driven mindset is one which goes from the very top of an organisation to the very bottom and embedded in the organisations culture.
   
   
2. Process & Statistics: Most people do not know how to move from identifying a business problem to solving that problem with the data they have. They need guidance and training in how to define the problem, the data they need and how to view it to gain insight. A basic understanding of how numbers work also helps.
   
   
3. Storytelling: is crucial in turning ideas from the creative data thinking process and turning it into real actions that make impact. Often the most data proficient professionals reduce the power of their analysis through failing to clearly communicate impact and required action.
   
   
4. Tools: Everyone uses Excel, however often lack of knowledge of other types of tools that can create great visualisations, save enormous amounts of time during the data cleaning process or are the basic building blocks of analytics.

The good news is that most of us have picked up some of these skills informally, as we progress through our working and professional lives. With a little reflection, some basic frameworks and practice, it is possible to dramatically improve our use of data in creatively solving business problems.

At Si2Partners we have a series of On-Line and face to face workshops that can help your people understand data, drive insight and make an impact. If you would like to learn more on this or the or the Service Leaders Network, then contact Nick on the links below. 

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Further Reading:

• Read more about Digital Transformation @ https://www.fieldservicenews.com/blog/tag/digital-transformation
• Read more exclusive FSN articles by Nick Frank @ https://www.fieldservicenews.com/blog/author/nick-frank
• Connect with Nick Frank directly on email @ nick.frank@si2partners.com
• Connect with Nick on LinkedIn @ https://www.linkedin.com/in/nick-frank-2756a51/
• Follow Si2 Partners on twitter @ https://twitter.com/Si2Partners
• Find out more about the Service Leaders Network @ https://serviceinindustry.com/service-leaders-network
• Find out more about the work of S12 Partners @ https://si2partners.com/

 

Nick Frank like many has been spending more time with his young family during the pandemic and says there is much to learn from a child's perspective as we move through and beyond Covid-19 in service.

 

"You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes.

You can steer yourself any direction you choose..."

 - Dr. Seuss

 

Dr Seuss children’s books are famous the world over and as many of us mix work with home schooling, we can appreciate there is so much to learn from a children’s view of the world. Maybe you are now getting to the point where you can start to learn the lessons from your pandemic experience. Maybe you are now getting to the point where you can start to learn the lessons from your pandemic experience.

 

5 LEarnings the Field Service Sector Can Take From the Covid-19 Crisis

Here are the top five lessons learned we have heard, which I am sure will be added to in the coming months: 

1. We can move fast when we want to!

It has been amazing at how fast companies have adapted to working remotely and in a new operating reality. One manager we talked to told us how a major equipment manufacturer rolled out an Augmented Reality Solution in 3 days, taking risks that they never would have thought in the pre-COVID 19 world.  It just goes to show what organisations can do when they have clear vision and purpose.

Talking to a cross section of managers, it also becomes clear that the most successful had already been building a culture of flexible working and innovation. This has allowed them to react effectively to the challenge. One hopes these successes should re-enforce companies’ ‘can-do’ beliefs and increase the pace of innovation. Although the road has been tougher for those conservative companies who have been slower to embrace digital technology, the cliff edge nature of the crisis has created the ‘burning platform’ required to drive change. For these companies it will be a real leadership test if they can take the bold decisions required to increase their dynamism and not revert back to type.

2. Communicate, communicate and communicate is a vital success factor

Research has shown that those organisations that are most successful at thriving in difficult situations, do so because they have the support of their stakeholders. In this crisis, we continually hear leaders talk about the importance of communication to employees and customers. Remote working has forced managers and team members to review not only how they talk to each other but recognise why communication is so important!

It has also forced many companies to think more deeply about their customers success and even the success of their industry. Working with their stakeholders to make tough decisions about what can and cannot happen. For example, how to solve customer issues without having and engineer on site. We even spoke to an Aerospace Maintenance Solution provider who decided to offer free of charge their Helpline to their competitors’ customers, because they had the capability and these customers needed support.

 

3. Flexibility and Agility are key to survival

What has surprised me is how many industrial companies have somehow kept moving ahead and utilising their field resources. Although most are running below capacity, many have been agile and fortunate enough to maximise resources. Some examples:

• Print equipment manufacturer switching service resources to priority industry such as food packaging
• Switching field staff to technical support roles
• Using down time for product training and even role out of new service systems
• Working with employees around using vacation time to minimize the economic impact.

A challenge for many is how to incorporate this new found agility into the culture of the company in a sustainable way.

 

4. Gaining a true understanding of the value of digitalisation

Many companies have had a crash course in Digital. Not so much in the technology itself but the value of the technology. For many OEM’s it is understanding how it is possible to solve customer problems through remote/digital access, having a 360 degree view of the customer situation from the home office or simply how to work collaboratively as a team.

From the customer side there is a greater appreciation of how technology can be used to keep their plants running or become more effective. Where IT security was a concern, perhaps now greater effort will be made to allay these worries.
For all parties a new openness to the use of technology presents a great opportunity to change the way we work together.

5. The best prepared have naturally built resilience into people and organisations

One of the major lessons learned has been to see the difference between a fear driven reactive approach to dealing with crisis, to one that comes from an inner resilience and is more step by step. Those with the latter mindset, in a strange way welcome the crisis as it has reinforced what their companies have to get right to survive. They perceive the change in attitude to risk, digitisation and people as a tremendous opportunity to be grasped.

As we speak, we are seeing new commercial and leadership learnings starting to evolve. However, it is clear that the companies that build on these lessons will emerge from this pandemic crisis stronger, fitter and more agile. NOW is an exciting time to be in business as we must scale new heights in innovation and effectiveness in order to survive.

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Further Reading:

• Read more articles by Nick Frank @ https://www.fieldservicenews.com/nickfrank
• Read more articles about digitalisation in service @ https://www.fieldservicenews.com/digitalisation
• Read more articles about management in service @ https://www.fieldservicenews.com/management
• Read more about Si2Partners @ https://si2partners.com/
• Read more about the Service Leaders Network @ https://serviceinindustry.com/2019/12/03/why-we-created-the-service-leaders-network/

The chaos that we all found ourselves thrown into during the global pandemic has meant a lot of introspection from both a personal and corporate perspective for all of us. Yet as we move forwards into the new realities of a post-Covid-19 world Nick Frank outlines where we can find the resilience to not only rebuild, but improve...

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Organisational Resilience: "The ability to survive a crisis and thrive in a world of uncertainty. Resilience is a strategic capability. It isn't just about getting through crises. A truly resilient organisation has two other important capabilities - the foresight and situation awareness to prevent potential crises emerging, and an ability to turn crises into a source of strategic opportunity."

Source: www.resorgs.org.nz

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If there is one thing that we will learn from the current Coronavirus chaos, is that it is resilient people and organisations who survive and thrive! Technology, infrastructure and education can help. But it is the determination of people to do the right thing and not be afraid of adversity that sees families, companies and nations through tough times.

After the fire fighting will come the rebuilding, where Service Leaders will have to decide the future shape of their organisations in a challenging world. Not only will they have to contend with meeting pent-up demand with depleted resources, the challenges of digital disruption and climate change will not have gone away. Companies' survival will depend on how well they can adapt and evolve in a world even more economically constrained. I believe developing personal and organisational resilience will be the key to developing processes, technologies and ways of working that will enable us to overcome the significant obstacles in our path. As I sit in ‘home isolation’ with my family, I can feel a mix of emotions. On one hand fear and confusion. On the other determination and love. These are amplified by the news, social media and radio reports where we see memes on toilet role or rants on social distancing, as well as the odd grand patriotic political speech.

Service Management's GREATEST Challenge

I find myself asking, what do I need to do to move through this? It is certainly not to give in to fear, which is there in some shape or form in all of us. It is more to focus on the what we can do, what we can control, what we can influence. The good news is that these are all aspects of our personality and the mindset we nurture for ourselves. Indeed, this ‘growth’ mindset comes way before we think about technology, processes or even organisation.

Maybe test this assertion for yourself by thinking back to a challenging time you have faced. What got you through it and most importantly what did you learn? For myself this was the birth of our second child. My wife had a very complicated pregnancy with early contractions, which resulted in us going to A&E on multiple occasions, driving to hospital, not knowing whether our baby was alive or dead.

"I would suggest that now is the perfect time to build resilience in ourselves and our organisations..."

My biggest learnings were to be able to live in the moment, acknowledge the fear then move forward, take one step at a time, to focus on what we could control, and not all the other stuff. We were lucky that it was a happy ending, that on reflection helped us to become more resilient and able to handle adversity.

Back to the present days question, “Where do we go from here?”

I would suggest that now is the perfect time to build resilience in ourselves and our organisations, as we move into what hopefully will be more fruitful times. It starts with leaders who recognise that their people are key to current and future profitability. Those who have let fear enter their hearts and pre-maturely downsized their teams to fit the perceived economic reality, will lose the trust of their employees. Their road to resilience will probably be longer and harder than those that retain the goodwill. Indeed, research shows that organisations that survive and flourish after hardship are those that have a committed and motivated staff.

"Build resilience in your people, and the resilience of your technology, processes and organisation will evolve as well..."

The benefits are not just people and organisations who are faster to adapt to changing circumstances, there is a solid economic rational as well. Studies such as this one from PWC in 2014 show “initiatives and programs that fostered a resilient and mentally healthy workplace returned $2.30 for every dollar spent — with the return coming in the form of lower health care costs, higher productivity, lower absenteeism and decreased turnover”. So, resilience does pay!

As we live through the COVID crisis and start to come out the other end, we have a great opportunity to build resilience into ourselves and our organisations. There are many models for individual & organisational resilience, but from a Service Leaders perspective, there are three key messages I would recommend to focus on:

• Self-Belief
• Focusing on solutions
• Always Learning
  
  

Self-Belief

If you or your organisation do not have a strong sense of purpose, then whatever models or philosophies you choose to follow are unlikely to succeed. At a leadership level this means being able to truly role model the values that most modern organisations espouse such as respect, integrity and accountability. Teams respond to how they see their leaders communicate and demonstrate these values and behaviours. But good values are only part of the story.

People need to understand that the organisation has a clear direction so that they can readily identify with its “Purpose” and “Culture”. If all these messages are coherent, then self-belief will grow and flourish. Perhaps one of the simplest actions you can take is to practice the art of delegation. The more people can influence the what and how of their jobs, the more they are engaged, own and believe in what they can do.

Focusing on Solutions

People and companies who can focus on solutions are constantly moving forward. These are people who can recognise and articulate problems, but do not dwell on who to blame for a situation, but rather how to move forward and solve the challenges. Build this into all your communications.

"The huge customer problems that your teams have faced means that they must have focused on finding new ways to operate and deliver to customers..."

Emphasising this step by step approach towards the goal, encourage appropriate risk taking and reward teams for finding solutions. Encourage collective responsibility but hold individuals to account. You will know your organisation is moving in the right direction when you hear your people using the phrase “Yes, And….” rather than, “Yes, But”.

Always Learning 

The organisations most likely to adopt new ways of doing things or those where learning and change is embedded into the way of life. These are the organisations where people seem to have new roles every 3-4 years. Although too much change can be disruptive, it is a very good indicator of how good an organisation is at taking on and running with new ideas. We have heard many service managers talking about how they have had crash courses in remote diagnostics or augmented reality technologies.

What an opportunity to learn! To build on these experiences, make sure you re-iterate the importance of always reviewing lessons learned? Indeed, the recurring themes from companies that demonstrate resilience are: Communicate, Communicate, Talk, Listen, Take Action and Communicate again!

These three behaviours allow us to face reality in the present, pulling on past experiences and others to find the best solutions. Whether they are applied in personal situations such as a difficult pregnancy, or in our professional lives, there is always an opportunity to grow. In the current crisis, all business people I have spoken to have had these three fundamental beliefs well a truly shaken. Just surviving should show the importance of self-belief in overcoming adversity.

The huge customer problems that your teams have faced means that they must have focused on finding new ways to operate and deliver to customers. I would be very surprised if your people have not got some learnings and ideas out of these experiences. If you can now build on these three behaviours, then the challenges of digital disruption and global warming may be transformed from threat to opportunity!

 

If you would like to know more about how to take your team on this journey, then contact Nick at nick.frank@si2partners.com 

 

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Further Reading:

• Read more about resilient organisations @ www.resorgs.org.nz/about-resorgs/what-is-organisational-resilience/
• Read more about building personal resilience in the workplace @ hbr.org/2016/06/627-building-resilience-ic-5-ways-to-build-your-personal-resilience-at-work
• Read more about the The Ken Ginsberg's 7 Cs @ - www.portlandpediatric.com/console//page-images/files/building-resilience/All%20Ages/Seven%20Cs.pdf
• Read more about the impact of Covid-19 on the field service sector @ www.fieldservicenews.com/covid-19
• Read more of Nick's articles for Field Service News @ www.fieldservicenews.com/blog/author/nick-frank
• Read more about Nick's work with Si2 Partners @ si2partners.com
• Follow Nick's work on Twitter @ twitter.com/si2partners
• Connect with Nick on LinkedIn @ www.linkedin.com/in/nick-frank-2756a51

Nick Frank previews the next event.

The Service Community is holding its next event at the Henley Business School’s site near Henley on Thames on the 31st March.  

 

The event is being hosted by MCFT (McFarlane Telfer), a maintenance provider of commercial kitchen equipment who have a Royal Warrant for Services to the Queen. We are really excited that MCFT stepped forward to host the event as it is a chance for a successful UK SME with a customer base in the UK and Middle East, to show case their approach to Services.  

 

Chris Craggs, MCFT CEO will will talk about their vision for leveraging  technology to more effectively integrate with Customers as well as suppliers. He will talk about the key challenges in ‘opening the eyes’ of key stakeholders as to the mutual value that can be delivered, as well as the integration challenges that SME’s face in connecting to different ‘things’ in the value chain.  

Then Veronica Martinez from Cambridge University will share recent research on how blockchain technology is being used to enable customer order management. Veronica who has spoken at previous Community events and is a recognised thought leader from the Cambridge Service Alliance and the Centre for Digital Built Britain.

We will hear from two other practitioners. Chris Leather from €3.6bn Gauselmann Gaming Group will share how IoT Technology and thinking has been integrated into their service model to achieve maximum uptime of their gaming equipment.

As a buyer of services, Tim Bennet from Rolls Royce will provide a manufacturing perspective on why he buys services and perspective as an Asset User. This will provide excellent insights for any manager looking to develop their Service Sales function.

And between these conversations, we will run a 60mins “Discussion Cafe” on the topics raised in the Community meeting.

 

So the 31st promises to be another excellent opportunity where 30-40 service professionals have a chance to learn from colleagues in a unique community environment  There are no sponsors, no sales people, no fees, just professionals who volunteer to share their experiences, facilities and time.  

You can sign up for this unique event through this link  https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/mcfarlane-telfer-at-henley-business-school-tickets-78879652163 or by contacting us at info@service-community.uk

 

Nick Frank outlines the PAS280, a British standard aimed at improving service business.

Nick Frank shares his thoughts on how to implement a successful customer portal...

Whilst there has been a lot of hyperbole around the impact Artificial Intelligence will have on field service operations, Nick Frank points out that it is not the answer to life, the universe and everything and we should understand our own potential use cases before rushing to implement such solutions...

The Trusted Advisor mindset is not only a core to service technicians, it is also fundamental to those that sell services and integrated solutions. Nick Frank explains why...

Many people perceive that the Trusted Advisor is a mindset for companies to leverage technician relationships to deliver “more” value to customers. Typically, the types of behaviours these service leaders want to encourage are:

• Listening to customers about their challenges and desires • Working together with their customer to co-develop new solutions and ways of working;
 
• Creating trust by DOING what they SAY, and SAYING what they DO • A solution focused approach which moves customers nearer to their goal(s) at every interaction:
 
What many do not appreciate is that it is also an essential mindset for sales people of product-service solutions to be more effective in the selling processes.

Research by RAIN group studied 700 business-to-business purchases made across industries by buyers who represented a total of $3.1 billion in annual purchasing power. They identified a number of factors that separated the winners from those in second place. The most important was the salesperson’s ability to bring new ideas and perspectives to the table. 



What was really interesting is that if we look at the top 10 factors they listed, nine are covered by the Trusted Advisor mindset. And it is really a mindset and not skills we are talking about. How we THINK influences very much what we SAY and what we DO. The right mindset helps us make a habit of doing and saying the things that build this special thing we call trust.

As René Brown, a well know researcher in the area of trust observes, “Trust is built in many moments”. This probably explains why in the last 10 years we have seen technology companies re-organising and re-inventing their sales teams as customer successes organisations.

At a recent Service Community meeting at Oracle, we heard how Software-as-a-Service business models have transformed their market such that customers can switch products more easily. No longer is selling a product so critical to their business, but more important is retaining customer loyalty, so that every month they renew their service contracts.

Oracle’s focus has moved away from closing product deals, to Customer Success Managers ensuring their products and services are delivering more value for their customers. In the Industrial and B2C sector, we now see the same philosophy being introduced. For example Husky Injection Molding Systems will be talking about how they have transformed their service team into a Customer Success Organisation at the next Service Community Event being held at Atlas Copco on the 16th October 2019.


     "How we THINK influences very much what we SAY and what we DO..."


In businesses such as medical and high-end research instrumentation or complex capital equipment, the very high level of technical and application expertise is a key differentiator that makes these companies leaders. These are the companies that have
already embedded the Trusted Advisor Mindset into their Service Technicians so that they can talk to customers and add more value. Increasingly we see these same companies taking the same concepts and embedding them into their own sales processes whether that be Miller Heiman, Solution Selling or more home grown methodologies.

They do this because they recognise that a sales process in itself does not develop trust with the customer. They see that these well qualified technical sales people find it challenging to have engaging conversations with their customers such that they are able to collaborate to develop valuable solutions. They want these specialists to develop the customer communication skills that move the customer effortlessly towards making decisions and closing deals.

These companies put in place programmes that develop a Trusted Advisor mindset, the language and the tools that complement the company’s sales process in order to make them more successful. Essentially this is improving on their active listening and using solution focused language that fosters collaboration and working on personal authenticity that drives the THINK, SAY, DO cycle.

These programmes are not a one-off event but require sales leaders to act as role models and mentors. The companies that understand this process, often develop sales guides that provide useful tips and tangible examples of how to sell value. Regular refresh and practice is required and the whole process might take a period of one to two years. Embedding the Trusted Advisor mindset into your business is a change journey which will bring value in terms of sales and margin.

If you are interested in enhancing you service sales team with the Trusted Advisor mindset, then contact Nick at nick.frank@si2partners.com.

Nick Frank is Managing Partner at Si2 Partners.