One of the first tasks I had when starting my own business was getting insurance.  Having worked in a corporate environment where I had access to great planning resources (including a personal financial advisor), I had a pretty good idea of what I needed.

I went to a local agent and told him what I wanted.  He suggested that we schedule a meeting to discuss my needs, do an assessment of my financial situation and come up with a plan.  Ugh.  I didn’t need an assessment or a plan.  I already had those.  I needed insurance and I needed it fast.  Needless to say, we never had that second meeting. 

I then called another agent and told her what I needed.  She said, “It will take me about a day to get all of the forms together.  I’ll fill them out with all of your information and we can meet in two days so you can sign them.”  Two days later we met.  I signed the forms.  I got insured.  She is still my agent eight years later.  She is my trusted adviser when it comes to financial planning.  Not only do I have life and disability insurance through her (which were the two original policies that I needed), I also now have my wife’s life policy and three IRAs through her.

In his attempt to add value, the first agent got in the way and ultimately lowered his value.  The second agent got it right.  I had a need that she quickly dispatched.

Whether personally or in business, people want their problems solved as quickly and painlessly as possible.  The greatest value that anyone can add is in making that happen.

Yet, too often, in the name of adding value, we place obstacles in the way.  For example, I used to work directly with one of my clients to schedule consulting projects.  She’d provide me with the timeframe in which they needed the work done and I’d respond with my availability.  It usually took less than a day to finalize a date.  Then the company centralized its vendor management process. The new process required the client to complete a vendor request form which included the project, problem, business case, and expectations.  The extra steps and associated reviews by the vendor management team increased scheduling time to two weeks.  Yet, they added no value since, in the end, the wound up scheduling me.  The client knew that she wanted to work with me. We had a positive history together.  We had done similar projects in the past so she knew I understood and had context.  She didn’t need help finding the right consultant.  She needed someone to secure that person for her.

I’ve seen this occur with training functions as well.  An executive will participate in one of my workshops and decide to run it for his or her team.  However, when he or she makes the request to the training department, the training team often wants to schedule a meeting to discuss the executive’s needs so they can help him or her find the right solution.  This frustrates executives more than anything.  The executive has already seen the training.  He or she knows that it is the right solution.  They just want to make it happen.

Internal departments and sales people often fall victim to the trap of trying to add too much value or of adding the wrong kind of value.  Everyone wants the coveted role of “trusted business adviser”.  No one wants to be an order taker.  So individuals and departments develop process to create opportunities to “add value”.  However, in many cases, those processes backfire, frustrate the customer and ultimately decrease the amount of value the department or individual is adding.

I’m not suggesting that individuals or departments abandon any attempt to add value or help ensure that their customers are getting what they need (as opposed to simply what they think they need).  However, it is important to be smart about how that is done.

If a customer cannot clearly describe his or her need or problem, then a consultative approach adds value. Or, if the customer understand the problem but can’t find the right solution, a good consultant can be a great resource.  However, if a customer already knows what they want, a consultative approach gets in the way.  At that point, your expertise and value should come from expediting the process not slogging through it.  Don’t assume that your customer doesn’t understand his or her needs.  Find out and act accordingly.

Ask yourself if working with you or your department creates more or less work for your customer.  Does it speed up or slow down the time it takes to resolve their needs?  If it creates more work and slows them down, they aren’t going to find value in what you do.

The way to become a trusted adviser isn’t by forcing people through your advisory process –   it’s helping to break down the barriers to solving their problems.  Once you do that, you will begin to build trust and will eventually be sought out for your opinion and advice.  Until then, focus on creating the most simple and direct path from your customer’s need to a resolution. When you do that, you’ll be adding value.