Building Trust Through Value-Added Conversations

The biggest mistake I made in business development? (And the one I see others make every week…) Asking for the business before I gave any value. ❌ I’d pitch. ❌ I’d present. ❌ I’d try to impress. But it rarely worked, and never felt right. What I finally learned was this: You don’t earn trust by selling. You earn it by giving, long before you ever make an ask. So, if you want to become the kind of advisor clients  seek out… ✅ Start with value.  ✅ Lead with generosity.  ✅ Then let trust do the rest. Here are 8 of my favorite ways to offer value before  asking for business: 1. Make a Strategic Introduction → Connect them to someone helpful. Your network  becomes part of your value. 2. Ask for Their Perspective → Curious questions create more respect than pitch  decks ever will. 3. Send a Thoughtful Surprise → A book, a note, a resource. Relevance shows you’re  paying attention and that matters. 4. Share Tailored Insights → Generic = forgettable. A timely idea, just for them, can  open big doors. 5. Invite Them to Something Exclusive → Roundtables or niche events. Scarcity adds value.  Inclusion builds connection. 6. Host a Problem-Solving Session → Brainstorm a real issue together. Let them experience  your thinking in action. 7. Offer a Mini-Diagnostic → Spot something they didn’t know was broken. It  reframes you from seller to solver. 8. Provide a Sample of Your Service → No pressure. Just a preview. Let them feel the value  before the ask. Here’s the shift: Don’t try to close a deal. Try to open a relationship. Give first.  Then give a little more. And I promise the results will take care of themselves. 👉 Which one will you try this week? ♻️ Valuable? Repost to help someone in your network. 📌 Follow Mo Bunnell for client-growth strategies that don’t feel like selling. Want the full cheat sheet? Sign up here: https://lnkd.in/e3qRVJRf 

Sales folks, take note! Spamming a target company's employees with your services and requests for meetings will result in your company making its way onto a buyer's blocklist. As a buyer in the localization industry, I receive dozens of emails and LinkedIn requests every single day from vendors looking to showcase translation, AI, QA services, and more. It's not humanly possible to give personal replies to every outreach. When vendors can't get through to me, they often reach out to everyone on my team... and sometimes to many others across my company. I'd love for this practice to stop. It wastes valuable company time and makes a vendor appear desperate and non-strategic. Here's what to do instead: 1. Appeal to ego! Invite a target company’s decision-maker to a panel, or start a vlog series and ask buyers to appear and discuss industry topics. It’s also a great opportunity to reposition your company as a thought leader. 2. Offer genuine insight, not just services. Share a case study, white paper, or benchmarking data that’s actually useful to the buyer’s role, and do it without a sales pitch. 3. Build a reputation before you build a pipeline. Comment thoughtfully on posts. Contribute to community conversations. If you consistently show up with value, you’re far more likely to get noticed. 4. Target smarter, not broader. Don’t shotgun your message to an entire company. Learn the org. Understand the buyer’s scope. Then send one well-researched, personalized note that shows you actually did your homework. 5. Focus on mutual value. Can you help solve a known pain point or offer perspective on something changing in the market? Frame your outreach around collaboration, not consumption. 6. Use timing to your advantage. Keep tabs on when companies are hiring for roles associated with your offerings, launching in new markets, or attending conferences. That’s when buyers are more receptive to new solutions. 7. Lead with generosity. Offer a no-strings-attached resource, intro, or suggestion that doesn’t benefit you directly. Reciprocity is a powerful trust builder. And please! Don't ever ever call me on the phone! ;)

I've been in sales for over 25 years and I still flinch when someone tries to sell me something. Sales has a trust problem—and it's well-earned. Too many salespeople chase commissions before clarity. They pitch before they understand. They talk more than they listen. They treat every buyer the same, hoping something sticks. Great sales isn't about persuasion— It's about creating value before capturing it. It's about curiosity, emotional intelligence, and the courage to challenge assumptions— (including your own). Being a trusted advisor means helping people think sharper, not just feel better. It means making the problem clearer than it was before you showed up. Sometimes that means walking away, because a misfit deal is a slow-motion failure for everyone. Red flags I've learned to spot: • Pitching before listening • Gimmicks dressed up as solutions • Manufactured urgency • Dodging hard questions • Rushing to value without clarity on pain • Needing to "win" the conversation What I aim for instead: • Ask sharper, more uncomfortable questions • Deliver clarity before asking for commitment • Invite skepticism and pushback • Customize deeply • Walk away with integrity when it's not the right fit In a world full of charlatans and hucksters, I want to earn trust by earning the right to challenge. If you've ever worked with someone who felt like a real advisor—not a pitch machine— you know how rare (and valuable) that is. Let's raise the bar.

I interviewed 150+ B2B buyers in the last 6 months. Here’s the most surprising thing I learned: AE's asking for a 30 minute demo call kills pipeline For a buyer, 30 minutes is a HUGE ask. And if you are using a scheduling link and making them wait 2 weeks for that call, you're dead on arrival.    There are over 1,000,000 sales reps in the United States. These 30 minute demo calls add up to millions of decision maker hours every month. You need to use your buyers time (and attention) more responsibly Buyers want instant answers. They do not think 30 min is fair ask just to get clarity on a few questions The problem isn’t the demo but how and when you do it. Here’s what's actually working for sellers today: 1. ChatGPT: Get the answers to your qualifying questions on ChatGPT and spare the buyer with obvious questions 2. Trust : Use the time to build trust and “really” understand the buyer needs. Ask “What value can I provide you with today to earn the right to another call?” 3. Actively Listen: Let the buyer speak. Listen between the lines. Record the call and listen to it again. 4. Reduce time: Reduce the time for discovery calls to 15 min but try to do it within 24-48 hours 5. Solve problems : 30 minutes isn’t enough to build trust. Trust develops over repeat interactions through consistent problem-solving. Get the process started. 6. Many 15 min calls: Try to do multiple 15 min calls with emails or slack. Use the cadence that works best for the buyer to get immediate value. 7. Provide Micro Value: In every call try to deliver something of value - content, free demo, insights, recommendations or introductions. Ask how you can be useful. When buyers reach out they are often looking for expertise and not a demo Sooner they get the answers, the faster they can move through the buyer’s journey Don’t try to slow them down with relentless qualifying questions or irrelevant demos. The future of sales will not be driven by 30 min demo calls It will be won by sellers that respond fast, solve real buyer problems and earn trust in every interaction.  At Zeer AI, we are building research tools that make this future possible. Until then review your content for the 30 min demo calls and keep earning the right to your buyers time.

“I don’t take sales calls.” 🦗🦗 Honestly, I probably would say the same thing. People aren’t dodging you — they’re dodging the 38 other reps who treated them like a number. Because no one wants to be prospected. But everyone wants to feel understood. So how do you go from “another cold call” to “someone I actually want to talk to”? Here’s what’s worked for me: 1. Use your first touch to earn a second one. That means your message can’t sound like everyone else’s. Drop the pitch. Lead with a relevant insight or ask a question that actually sparks curiosity. 2. Give before you ask. Send a link to a resource they’d care about. Mention something helpful that has zero strings attached. The goal? Show up with value before you ask for time. 3. Stop treating discovery like an interrogation. Make it feel like a conversation, not a qualification checklist. Prospects can feel when you’re rushing to get to your pitch. 4. Ditch the “just checking in” language. Follow up with new energy: — “This made me think of you…” — “Curious if this is still on your radar…” — “If timing’s off, I’ll revisit — but wanted to put this on your map.” 5. Play the long game. Not everyone is ready right now. That doesn’t mean they won’t be soon. Stay helpful. Stay visible. Stay human. You don’t build trust with a new friend by giving them a cold call pitch… think about it! Understand what’s relevant in your prospects life/priorities! #SalesDevelopment #SDRTips #ColdCalling #ProspectingWithPurpose

A few weeks ago, a friend messaged me. She had just started a new role as VP of Marketing at a Series B startup. From the outside, it looked like a big win. Great company. Exciting product. But she was already drowning. No onboarding. No strategy. A CEO asking for results now. And an inbox full of cold pitches from people who saw her LinkedIn update and pounced. She said, “I just wish someone had said congrats and asked if I needed anything” That stuck with me. In B2B, we’ve trained ourselves to treat these moments like lead scores. - Someone changes jobs? Sell to them. - Company raises money? Sell to them. - They visit your pricing page? Definitely sell to them. Clay just launched a feature called Signals that tracks all of those moments. Job changes. Fundraising. Site visits. New tech in the stack. Hiring trends. Etc. Most teams will use it to go faster. More outreach. More pipeline. That’s fine. But there’s a better way. Use signals to actually show up well. To build trust before there’s even a sales conversation. Here’s how: → Job change: Don’t pitch. Just say congrats or share something helpful for a new leader. → Funding news: Offer insight, not a deck. What might they be walking into? Where do they need support? → Tech added: Send something relevant. Help them get more out of the tools they already chose. → Hiring surge: They’re likely buried. Be useful. Be brief. We’re doing this ourselves. We built a Clay table of past buyers who brought in Refine Labs. Marketers who know how we work. Then we track the signals: → Who just landed somewhere new? → Who’s hiring? → Who joined a company that raised a round? We’re not blasting them. We’re waiting for the right moment to reconnect - with context. Sometimes it’s a congrats. Sometimes it’s a helpful resource. Sometimes it’s just being there. Because these aren’t just leads. They’re relationships. This is brand. Not logos and taglines. It’s how you show up when nobody’s watching. Signals give you awareness. But presence is what builds trust. And trust is what compounds. Use signals to see people. Not just to sell to them. Clay can help. #claypartner