Trust comes from helping others reach their promised land

Selling today is the opposite of how we buy.

Today, we listen to people who have been to the places we want to go. That’s who we trust to inform how/what we buy.

We seek help from someone who has done the thing we want to do.

If we buy a new pair of running shoes, it’s because our favorite runner just broke a record in them.

But when we sell, we sell as people who haven’t been to the places our customers want to go.

If we sell to a CIO, let’s be real, we probably haven’t been the CIO our customer wants to be, or one at all.

Sales is focused on numbers, calls, pipelines, demos, methodologies, objection handling, product knowledge, follow-ups, and chasing the close.

Guess what isn’t on the above list? Doing the actual job our customers want to do. As sellers, are we experts in achieving the outcome our customer wants, or experts at selling how we want our product to be bought?

Today, we buy more now than ever based on trust. We buy from people who are living in our ecosystem and have already been to our promised land.

If we’re looking to buy a car, are we seeking out a seller, or are we going to talk to people who own the models we’re looking at?

Vacation? We’re not booking a travel agent, we’re planning the trip based on our favorite Insta/TikTok follows or close friends/colleagues who’ve been there.

Heck, we’re not even using review sites anymore. Everything is 4.7 stars. Restaurants. Hotels. Attractions. All games get gamed.

We don’t trust the ones who offer a promised land.

Instead, we trust the ones who have actually been to our promised land.

They are like us. They did the thing we want done. And they help. That’s who we trust.

Politicians. Pundits. Old world personalities and celebrities. They’re all selling us something they want. Their promised land.

But they haven’t been to ours. They don’t know how to guide us to where we want to go, much less lift a finger to help us arrive.

They’re not like us. They don’t act like us. They sell us.

They lose our trust, day after day.

Just like the sales profession does.

We are overwhelmed by noise fueled by data for sellers, not data for us. We’re tired of being sold their promised land pitched as if they understand ours.

We want people who have been to our promised land.

We want help.

We need trust.

If we want to influence someone, we must be a reliable guide on their journey to their promised land. Or partner with someone who is.

Trust comes from helping others reach their promised land.

When Isaac and I launched PartnerHacker, we had a conviction that Trust is the New Data.

Since then, tens of thousands of us have read the PartnerHacker Manifesto.

Thousands of us have read the PartnerHacker Handbook and made it the #1 Bestselling New Release on Amazon in Marketing, Sales & Selling, and Business Strategy.

Thousands of us gathered at events to bring ALL of the B2B departments together at events like the PLX Summit, the largest event dedicated to the partnerships profession ever.

And thousands of us read the largest newsletter in partnerships, PartnerHacker Daily (PhD). Every. Single. Day.

This PhD marks #200.

Two hundred newsletters that all started with an idea:

Trust is the new data.

And a mission:

Do better together.

And a movement:

Take the partner ecosystem mainstream.

We believe that if we are to make it to our promised land as a movement, we’ll have to help first.

Not sell first.

So here’s to you, PhD reader. Thank you. From the bottom of our hearts. We don’t matter without you.

Thank you for advancing a world that’s not merely a reflection of how we buy vs. how we sell but, more importantly, how we want to live.

We’re honored to share the moment with you.

We have so much more to give together.

Let’s reach our promised land and help those seeking theirs.

Happy 200.

-- Jared, Isaac, and the PartnerHacker team: Ella, Will, Sophy, Alex, Aaron, Ademola

Back to the future

The year is 2025, and you are being congratulated by your boss during a stellar performance review. What did you get so right? It’s all because you decided to double down on the GoToEco Referral Flywheel.

In Allan Adler’s latest column, he encourages us to try a new direction that could lead to big gains in the future. Check it out:

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