Don’t Act Like a Seller, Think Like a Buyer
Chapter 2: Building Knowledge,
Communicating Information,
and Building Relationships
Where there is attention and effort,
there will be results. – T. Harv Eker
What separates great salespeople from mediocre salespeople
when they’re in front of customers?
Great people start with the right mindset
– that’s the pure intention I mentioned
– but what they say
and what they do in front of their potential clients
will ultimately determine them,
effective or not.
A salesperson’s effectiveness in face-to-face situations
is a function of three variables:
knowledge, communication,
and relationships,
called KMR,
which salespeople believe they need to master.
If you believe that to be true,
you need to put in the effort
to become proficient in all three areas.
If you believe that KMR is important,
your way of thinking forces you to make a decision:
what will I do to achieve this?
It’s important to realize right away that the right knowledge,
or the right communication,
or the right relationships make all the difference.
Sales success requires combining all three
and keeping them in mind.
Knowledge,
communication,
and relationships are not just three key concepts;
They are also related to your way of thinking.
In this chapter,
I focus on both factors:
way of thinking and thinking,
because they are inseparable.
In Chapter 1, I shared the Laws of Sales Intent.
This way of thinking permeates everything we do,
especially how we respond to Laws 5, 6, and 7.
Master your knowledge,
prepare for all customer visits,
and use language that makes sense.
Efficiency plays an important role in the success of KMR,
because without the right mindset,
you won’t behave differently enough
to have a far-reaching effect.
Most companies focus on only one
or two of these factors,
as if they were separate issues,
but the truth is that KRM
– knowledge,
communication,
and relationships
– blends with closely together.
People who have a good relationship
with you often receive your message
with a more positive attitude than
if you don’t have a relationship with them.
You can also get more information from them,
because through a good relationship,
they will trust you more.
If you have extensive knowledge,
you can present your message better.
If you have a good message,
people will want to have a good relationship with you,
and give you more information.
Because all three factors are intertwined,
the more successful you are with one,
the more likely you are to succeed with both.
For maximum effectiveness,
you need to be aware of
and develop all three of them.
“If you work just for money,
you’ll never make it,
but if you love what you’re doing
and you always put the customer first,
success will be yours.” – Ray Kroc
*********************
KNOWLEDGE THINKING: WHAT DO YOU KNOW?
Many salespeople don’t have the knowledge necessary
to demonstrate excellence,
or let customers
or potential customers see them
as trusted advisors.
I’m very concerned about this,
because it shows they don’t really understand,
or believe in,
the importance of having the knowledge needed
to achieve sales excellence.
Here’s the other side of the equation:
there must be enough knowledge for the client
or prospect to appreciate your suggestions and advice.
You cannot present things that you do not know.
The other side of the equation is what knowledge can give you.
Once you have mastered all the core knowledge of the job,
you are fully qualified
to stand in front of customers or potential customers,
and such a level of knowledge will give you confidence
and confidence with self-respect.
Many companies define knowledge as product knowledge,
or technical knowledge,
and spend a lot of money on training programs
to communicate the features
and benefits of the product (or service).
Real knowledge is much more than that.
In addition to what we discussed in previous chapters,
it also includes understanding yourself
and your ability to interact with others
through your communication style and personality.
In addition,
knowledge is not simply data but also expertise.
As I said, having accurate information is not enough;
That’s just the price of the input.
You also need to know how
to apply this information to be successful.
You should know
and understand the broader context of the area
in which your customers operate.
If you demonstrate that you understand your customers in a broader,
more complete way,
you will be more successful.
Meanwhile, most other salespeople lack this knowledge.
In contrast, my friend Mike Accadi,
who sells packaging materials and equipment
for Wurzburg Inc. in Memphis, Tennessee,
spent more than 30 years honing his knowledge.
Mike points out:
if you are a real partner of a customer,
you don’t have to sell,
the customer will still buy from you.
He said: “If you have become a partner,
you will become the source of the customer’s supply.
You are no longer a peddler,
you are part of the system.”
For example, Mike says that one of his biggest customers
to whom he ships thousands of packages a week
is experiencing a period of constant volatility.
He said: “The building was constantly in disarray
and the delivery man kept changing routes all the time.
Three years ago,
they went through a big change.
They hired a consulting firm
to help with the restructuring
and introduced me to the company;
and since then,
I see that consulting firm almost every day.
Consultants ask me all kinds of things
– things you think they shouldn’t tell a packaging specialist,
they keep calling me to discuss.
So I became a consultant of that consulting company,
even solving the work for them,
or looking for someone to help them solve the problem.
That’s what I mean about sourcing.”
To give you another example
to show you how powerful knowledge can be:
I was once the regional sales manager of the diabetes medicine business
for a pharmaceutical company in Alabama.
We have a competitor that sells the same product,
and our customers say that
they decide based on the asking price.
We claim our drugs are cheaper,
our competitors also say theirs are cheaper,
and both are right.
Depending on how customers buy,
both companies can claim that
their products are cheaper.
I told the sales rep that I wanted them
to survey all the retail stores across Alabama
and ask the question:
“When a patient has to pay for a 30-day oral prescription,
what drug is it?
cheaper?
Don’t ask how much they cost.
You have no right
to ask pharmacies how much they charge their customers.
But you have the right to know whether
or not there is a price difference.”
I said I wanted to record the prices at the pharmacies they visited,
because I wanted to know exactly
where we had a price advantage
and where we didn’t.
I would also like to know the difference in price
between pharmacies that are willing
to provide the information,
as some will agree to say
but some will not.
We found that:
at 70% of pharmacies in Alabama,
if a patient pays in cash,
our 30-day prescriptions are cheaper than other drugs.
That is reality.
So when I visited a doctor,
I asked,
“How important is price to your patients for identical drugs?”
As you can guess,
the doctor replied,
“That’s the most important thing.”
Then I asked again,
“What kind of price are you interested in?
The pharmacy delivery price
(the price both companies are charging)
or the price the patient has to pay?”
A hundred times as one,
the doctors all said:
“I don’t care about the prices the drugstores pay;
I only care about what the patient has to pay.”
Again I said to the doctor:
“This is what I want from you.
Tell someone in your office
to call the ten pharmacies your patients frequent.
Ask those pharmacies,
‘Which of these drugs is cheaper
when the patient buys a 30-day dose?’
When he got the answer,
he did a market research on small grapes,
and he will know the result.
Now, I don’t need you to hear me say our products are cheaper,
and you don’t need to hear my competitors say the same.
But here’s what I know, sir,
because we’ve done our research:
our drugs are cheaper
for patients than in seven out of ten pharmacies in Alabama.
If you let someone call ten pharmacies
to find out for themselves,
I’ll treat that person to lunch.
If our drugs aren’t cheaper than others in seven of those ten pharmacies,
I’ll treat everyone in your office to lunch.”
By the end of the year,
we were the only region out of the 70 regions of the whole company
with sales exceeding our competitors.
Our competitor’s Alabama sales team was twice as large as ours,
but we were the only area of the company in the United States
with a larger market share than them.
We achieve this
because we know what is important to our customers.
We can go to the doctors’ offices with confidence,
because we know that our drugs are sold
to patients cheaper
than at seven out of ten pharmacies.
We also know price is the distinguishing factor
and the primary concern of our clients.
We are perfectly ready
to let that doctor call ten pharmacies,
and if our medicine is not cheaper,
for whatever reason,
we are willing to accept the loss of customers.
There is another reason in this story.
There are no equal products.
Even products that are identical in chemical composition,
or in properties,
or in uses,
or in price,
or in convenience,
or in service…
there must be something unique,
to attract certain customers.
Ideally, a product should have some unique elements,
and also
The idea is that the marketing department must recognize these factors,
and promote with unique marketing information
to its potential customers.
But because this is not a perfect world,
it is up to you
to discover these unique elements yourself
and promote them to customers in your market.
I’ll talk about that in Chapter 7,
trying to weave these elements into a compelling story.
Salespeople need to understand the big picture,
as well as the problems and challenges
that customers are facing in their own business;
And to do that,
salespeople need to get customers
to talk about their own problems.
To have a special way of thinking,
you must strive for this level of knowledge.
That’s especially relevant
when you sell a wide variety of goods.
Most clients are happy
when you show interest in their field;
They want to believe that you know more
and care about more than just your products and services.
Several Laws of Intent emphasize the importance
of preparing the questions you will ask,
or the environment you will create
when interacting with customers.
Knowledge is essential to make you well prepared.
Good questions encourage customers
and prospects to express their business problems more clearly.
Your ability to ask insightful questions depends largely
on your knowledge,
because the more you know the situation,
the deeper your questions will be.
Your knowledge allows you to focus your energy on prospects,
listen to them more effectively,
and respond with more empathy.
You will master yourself
and the aspects of successful sales negotiations,
because you no longer have
to worry about being asked questions you don’t have,
let alone a good answer.
Then you take all the information
and use it in your sales transactions when appropriate.
Knowledge can come from many sources
– from coaching,
from things learned on the job,
from other people,
or from what you learn yourself.
You also gain knowledge through your own passion and curiosity.
It is your way of thinking
– and only your way of thinking
– about knowledge that motivates you to seek
and obtain the information needed to grow,
regardless of the possible “sacrifices”.
Those sacrifices, as the saying goes,
“wake up early,” are the key factors
in determining your success.
To master your knowledge
and become a customer base,
you have to be willing to pay the price,
which can be as painless,
as limiting TV viewing,
or as agonizing as a college course.
The mastery of knowledge acts as a “catalyst”
to help you have good messages
and valuable relationships.
Try to perfect your mind
to develop your erudition.
“Spend a lot of time talking to customers face to face.
You’d be amazed how many companies don’t listen to their customers.” – Ross Perot
*******************
THINKING TRADE INFORMATION: HOW YOU EXPRESS IT
The second element of effective sales
to customers is communication
– what you say and how you say it.
As the writer Mark Twain once said,
“The difference between a true approximation
and a true statement is a big deal
– it is the difference
between a firefly and a flash of lightning.”
The ability to present your message effectively is also a function
of how well you understand your customers
and your relationship with them.
Ideally, what you say will motivate customers
and prospects to think about topics in ways
they haven’t thought of before.
Communicating here is giving information effectively,
to encourage buyers to want
to know more by sensing,
through your words and actions,
that you can help them achieve a something important to them.
They want to know your opinion,
not just suffer
from your pitch and impatiently count the seconds
until you stop talking.
Communicating doesn’t require memorizing
and delivering a well-thought-out sales message,
or repeating the same script over
and over to every prospect.
Effective communication involves thinking about the big picture
before talking to the other person.
It’s about preparing a message
that encourages thinking and dialogue,
while creating an atmosphere
that makes customers feel comfortable,
not pressured.
It includes some or all of the elements:
questioning,
pre-questioning,
observation,
request,
presentation of information,
and sometimes opinion.
(The fact that the BMW salesman told me
to choose the Infiniti was also expressing his opinion.)
This kind of preparation allows you
to craft a tailored message
for each potential customer
or partner you’re targeting.
Many companies make the mistake
of throwing their reps out
with a standard scenario that they will repeat over and over
to many people; this
is a dangerous approach because it can sound like a pitch.
Dan Weilbaker,
a professor of business at Northern Illinois University,
told me that he and his faculty colleagues told sales students
about standardized scenarios like these:
“They don’t look good,
because they do not meet the needs of each individual customer.
But on the other hand,
I think we all have a lot of little ‘tape receivers’ in our heads
and they are like audio ‘bites’,
little messages that are already recorded
and always come out differently.
If it’s a subject you know well
and you say everything is convincing,
then that persuasion comes from practice,
because you do these things over
and over again even though the words aren’t quite right.
It is not an old script.
It’s something you get so absorbed in that
it just comes out quickly and succinctly,
even though you don’t really think about it.”
An effective message must sound natural.
Whether you choose
to write articles or take notes,
you should make it your own,
and customers will want to listen to you.
If we don’t take a close look at the customer’s situation,
or don’t think about the environment our message can create,
there’s a good chance we’ll prepare the wrong message.
Mike Bradley gives an example of perturbation in the message to warn us.
Mike is the CEO of Derse Exhibits Pittsburgh
and the Vice President of the parent company that designs
and organizes trade shows.
Some time earlier,
Mike joined a new company
as a salesperson and said to the Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) that,
“If I were a potential salesperson
and I wanted to know more about the company,
can our sales tools help?
What do we have to say about the company?”
The Marketing Manager
showed Mike a 250-page Power Point company presentation.
The presentation included the company’s history
– with material that had nothing to do with the customer’s
thoughts on buying the company’s products.
It mentions the company’s dedicated employees
the awards the company has won,
the background of its leadership,
the list of customers,
and the number and locations of offices around the world.
Mike said to the Marketing Manager:
“Are you kidding me.
You want people to sit and listen to all 250 pages of summaries
and hope that there is something hidden in that mess that interests them?
No way.”
Mike believes that,
unfortunately,
many sales organizations still operate
as if outsiders care deeply about the company’s history,
its achievements, and its successes.
“I think sales effectiveness is a combination of the right relationships
and tools to help salespeople introduce the company.
By the time I made my first presentation,
the other 250 pages had been cut down to just 18 pages.
Selling means understanding the customer
and what he cares about,
even before you walk in the door,
especially during an official launch.”
Mike doesn’t just think like a shopper,
thinking that communication
is the key factor has pushed him
to make changes in the way he presents.
Use words that resonate
with your customers.
This includes asking questions.
Think of the questions you need to ask,
and what you need to gain from the discussion
before you meet a potential client.
Create prefaces before entering questions
to put yourself and the customer at ease, such as:
“Do you mind if I ask…?”
or “Is it convenient now to talk about…?”
By organizing your questions and their content,
and by creating an atmosphere that fosters trust and cooperation,
you’ll be able to deliver messages in a highly effective way
– which is what will happen
to make customers want to know more (about your product).
Once in a while a salesperson says to me,
“I’m very nervous about how to deliver my messages.
I have knowledge,
and I’m trying to build relationships
[or I already have relationships],
but people don’t want to listen to me.”
I asked the person:
“Why do you think that?
Tell me how you communicate.
Give me an example of what you say
to people when you meet them.”
Most salespeople have a salesperson’s way of communicating:
“Today I want to talk to you about…”
or “Have you ever thought of…?”
When you sound like a typical (too bookish) salesperson,
the person you’re talking to will act like a buyer.
That’s the first problem,
and the big one.
Second, if you’re not good at communicating,
you can rely on your ability to build relationships.
If your relationship is solid,
some people may condone poor communication.
However, salespeople need to understand
that without meaningful dialogue,
there will be no sales.
Only
It could be a purchase, not a sale.
Effective communication means engaging in a meaningful dialogue.
I define meaningful dialogue
as an exchange of truth between mature people.
My business partner,
Mike MacLeod,
defines it
as a really smooth flow of meaning.
In both of the above definitions,
it means a dialogue
– two people talking.
It’s not a monologue.
It’s not one person talking
and the other just listening.
The point here is that the words
you use are very important in creating dialogue,
and you have to believe in that.
However, every time I go into a sales contact,
I almost always hear the salesperson say things
that could have been said much more effectively.
Ordinary salespeople don’t give much
thought to the words they should be exploiting.
It seems that they are often not well prepared
to have a clear wording
to make the customer story lively and positive.
The 7th Law of Sales Intent says,
“I intend to use words
and find words that are relevant
to the customer and persuasive.”
When we persist in saying the right things at the right time,
in the right way,
we’ll be more persuasive,
we’ll make more sales,
and we’ll be more effective.
But what is true?
How do your words always have the effect you want?
In sales messages, the so-called right is motivated
by a synthesis of the right intention (discussed previously)
with the right content
– and this synthesis can only be best done,
by thinking like a buyer,
not like a seller.
Most salespeople’s intentions are to be honest,
rarely openly lying.
But even if what they say is true,
in the eyes of the customer not 100% of what they say is true.
Go one step further;
not 100% of what they believe is convincing.
An easy way to see what percentage of what you say is persuasive is
to look at market share:
wherever a customer buys,
that’s where you’ve convinced them.
Words are important!
It makes an impact,
and so if you prepare your words for each exposure
to that kind of thinking,
you’ll make more sales.
Your message is not about your product or service,
but rather an attempt to find out if there is a good fit
between what you offer
and the needs of your customers.
What should you say in this meeting,
and how do you predict what it will be like?
If you can predict,
you should spend enough time finding the most persuasive words.
Often, however,
salespeople are not prepared
to have the most impactful questions,
stories, and examples possible,
because they don’t elaborate every word.
Often we are not used to doing that,
and so we need to practice.
It’s almost like improvisation.
The actors get a situation and a character;
they have to invent lines
to suit the character
and develop the situation.
When you watch talented improvises perform,
you’ll notice that they’re so natural,
they look like they haven’t rehearsed
– that’s because they’ve practiced before.
Maybe they didn’t exactly pre-rehearse the situation
and the character,
but they’ve practiced it hundreds of times
through other plays,
and so they’re always ready.
As you develop ideas unconsciously,
through active rehearsal,
concepts are no longer mere words on a page,
but the ideas in your head are transformed
into effective communication. effective.
Salespeople need to think not only about the information
they seek through questions,
but also about the atmosphere,
environment,
and state they want to create along with the words they use.
Use the right words to create a positive mood,
a positive transformation,
a positive atmosphere,
a positive situation, and a positive feeling.
Only by thinking it through can you choose the right words
to create an effective message.
The most essential in sales is to have a two-way dialogue,
if you want the customer to buy.
Often, sales contacts don’t create meaningful conversations,
and salespeople often get a passive listen
– which would be a blessing if they did.
Usually, salespeople bring up the main ideas
and assumptions
and talk about them during the conversation.
On the other hand,
you want the other person to respond positively.
Keep your mind focused on the other person
and on having a conversation using appropriate language,
and listening.
When you’re ready for that level of engagement,
you’re sure to make a sale.
If you only get passive listening from your customers to your monologues
– no matter how smooth your words are
– you’re probably going to have a hard time selling.
“If you just communicate, you can get by.
But if you communicate skillfully,
you can work miracles.” – Jim Rohn
*******************
THINKING IMPORTANT RELATIONSHIP: HOW YOU CONNECT
The third leg of the “chair” we are building is the relationship.
A relationship-centric mindset is
to see building relationships
as something important to you personally.
If you don’t believe that a positive business relationship with a customer
or prospect is important,
you won’t put in the effort to build it.
Most people in the business world understand
that good business relationships help them succeed in their jobs.
Most salespeople know they will be more successful
with customers if they build strong relationships.
In fact, the more diverse
and good relationships you have,
the more effective you will be at the tasks you undertake.
Almost all of us have a casual
or passive approach
to relationship building.
We tend to let them happen.
A more effective
and professional strategy is strategic relationship building,
not because you want to make a lot of money
(although that’s not a bad thing),
or because you want to make a lot of money
and succeed in whatever way you consider meaningful,
but because you want to live a fuller
and more enjoyable life.
In many ways,
it is the quantity and quality of relationships
that determines the quality of your life.
Most people still build relationships indiscriminately.
If you have a relational mindset
that thinks relationships are important,
you should organize your relationships
(we call it relationship design) in a conscious,
balanced way.
Remind and strategize
with the following four groups of people:
“It is not your customer’s job to remember you,
it is your obligation and responsibility to make sure
they don’t have the chance to forget you.” – Patricia Fripp
******************
1. The people in the company are important to your success.
You need these people to get your job done.
They may include customer service staff,
storekeepers,
finance staff
– people who can make your job easier… or impossible.
They can be a diverse group of people,
not simply colleagues in the same sales department,
but also colleagues in other departments.
The more variety,
the better.
“A satisfied customer is the best business strategy of all.” – Michael LeBoeuf
******************
2. People outside the company have an important role in getting your job done.
They can be customers,
salespeople,
regulators,
or anyone
– as long as they’re not in the same company as you.
“Every company’s greatest assets are its customers,
because without customers there is no company.” – Michael LeBoeuf
******************
3. People who are important to your career success.
These people may include your boss,
human resources director,
mentor,
or others in the same company.
You need to meet and develop relationships
with these people,
if they can help you understand the implications
of a future opportunity,
or help you seize an opportunity.
They can also be people outside the company such as consultants,
friends,
or wives and children.
They are the people who share insights
and experiences with you,
tell you when they think you’re making a mistake,
or offer a solution you might never have thought of.
“How you think about your customer influences
how you respond to them.” – Marilyn Suttle
******************
4. People with whom you need to improve relationships.
You know them
– they are a customer (or former customer)
that you or your company ignore (often unintentionally)
and you want to improve or are forced
to improve the relationship
with them to do the job effectively.
It’s lucky you don’t have anyone in this group,
but these people are,
even if you can’t identify them,
and you’re more likely to succeed
if you know who they are.
The goal of relationship building is to understand
and convince others to listen to you differently.
It’s because you know how to give yourself a unique,
reliable,
trustworthy,
and professional look.
Also remember,
everyone is important (Shari Kulkis platform);
There is no such thing as a “small person”.
I still cringe every time
I hear someone use this phrase.
They refer to house cleaners,
record keeping clerks,
receptionists,
administrative staff;
they do not refer to the “class” of management.
Anyone with that attitude,
they mostly see others in terms of caste,
and that’s a negative way of thinking.
A relationship-building mindset is a long-term investment aimed
at delivering short-term
as well as long-term benefits.
People say to me,
“You keep talking about relationship building,
but it actually takes a long time to get it.”
My point is that it doesn’t take too long
to build relationships with people,
and you’ll get the benefits of a relationship
as soon as you start reaching out to others.
From the first minute of being personable,
you’ll find that more people like you,
more people want to help you,
they want to listen to you,
and not in the long run, but right now.
But if you’re selfish
and think building a relationship is a waste of time,
you won’t be able to
– and you won’t get anything.
It’s just a pity that few of us know how
to build and maintain
consciously,
systematically,
and regularly cultivate positive relationships.
Most of us don’t know how to build
from scratch a positive relationship
with someone who is important to our business,
or how to improve a relationship that has faded,
or change a relationship
in which the partner does not like you,
or develop in a positive direction a relationship
that has traditionally been antagonistic.
Positive relationships are the starting point for all businesses
– good relationships with customers,
suppliers,
and employees.
Compared to other industries,
businesses such as management consulting,
accountants,
and lawyers rely more on personal relationships with clients.
However, every business considers relationship building important.
The more complex the business and the problem,
the more important the relationship becomes.
If you have a great relationship
with your customers and prospects,
then almost automatically you have a better chance of success,
provided you have the necessary knowledge
and communication skills.
On the contrary,
when you have a bad relationship with your customers,
your business will be adversely affected.
The key words to remember here are:
conscious,
systematic,
and regular.
Building good relationships is a skill that anyone can learn.
It requires a process that you can master,
because you instinctively know what the process entails.
Practice the simple steps
I’ll discuss in detail in Chapter 9,
and your business (or personal) relationships will improve.
Anthony Yim said that in the early days of his business
in telecommunications equipment
and services,
he happened to read an article in Time magazine about a famous,
influential Wall Street person who had left
and own company
and set up a financial trading firm.
This manager has a vision and a big plan.
“It’s in my area of sales,” says Anthony,
“but I share market share with other sales reps.
I researched it because it was in my field,
and because it sounded good
– different from what I usually do.”
Anthony studied the executive,
his new company,
and the entire business to get himself up
to speed in the area the company was trying to do,
and the challenges it was facing.
One day, Anthony finally knew exactly where he planned
to set up headquarters for the start-up
– a town next to his office.
He started visiting the company
and eventually met the person in charge
of the telecommunications department.
“We were the underdogs,
but because I had been thinking about his business for months,
I figured I would take this one,” says Anthony.
When we met,
I believe he sensed that I knew
and cared about his business more than any other sales rep.
of that helped build our relationship,
and in the end,
our company won the networking contract for their overseas offices.”
Then came the time
when the network that Anthony’s company maintained
across the Atlantic crashed.
The backup system was only 30% efficient,
so the service quality of Anthony’s new customer suffered a great deal.
“Our competitor,
bigger than our company,
had lost this contract before
– was at the new client’s office every day.
But I was there, too,
because we served well,
and we didn’t force them to sell in the first place
– we care,
we listen,
we want to do the right thing,
and We continue to support them
– so it’s impossible for others to capture this customer,”
Anthony said.
As Anthony demonstrated
that he understood his client’s operations well,
he built a solid relationship.
He added: “I went and looked at every detail
of the equipment that the company had just purchased.
I heard the manager explain each thing he did and why he did it.
I always show care,
even if it’s a little over the top at times.
But by being there
and emphasizing the important role of the administrator,
he later protected us
from his superiors and gave us more time.”
After three and a half weeks,
Anthony’s company was able to recover
from system failures
and compensate customers for losses
when service was just cut.
“Actually, we did more
or less damage to them,” he said.
Fortunately, they’re still with us, and that showed me that,
if you don’t build a good relationship in the first place,
if there’s no trust or the level of trust isn’t high,
or you don’t consciously care about your customers
– if they perceive you as more interested in their ability
to pay than in what they are doing
and how you help them
– then you are always at risk .
People understand that everyone can make mistakes,
and if you create
relationship, they are willing to let go.
I was promoted and left my position about a year and a half later.
I transferred my business to another salesperson,
who developed the aforementioned client into a major one.
But if we didn’t have a good relationship
from the beginning,
there wouldn’t be any customers to grow with.”
Sean Feeney,
President and CEO of Inovis,
says that his company often does a thorough analysis
of all the failed deals.
Inovis provides a system of software
and synchronization services
that primarily help large retailers
and manufacturers get orders to their suppliers
exactly the way they want
– ideally without errors.
Sean said:
“The first reason our contract went to someone else was:
either they had a better relationship,
or we didn’t have a pre-existing relationship.
We spend a lot of time building a relationship,
and often the hardest part for companies
and for salespeople is building a long-term relationship,
when the deal far into the future.
With more and more pressure
to work from quarter to quarter,
building a lasting relationship and trust becomes even harder.
We run into this problem all the time.”
Both Anthony
and Sean’s stories speak to the power of business relationships for success.
They also describe the importance of preparation
and time in building relationships.
Anthony’s success is directly related
to his preparation before going to the client.
His above-average knowledge has helped
him build strong relationships,
overcoming even difficult situations.
That is the beauty of a strong business relationship.
Sean talks about the concept of building relationships
before the business takes place.
His success lies in the preparation.
A mindset that recognizes the importance
of building a long-term relationship
is clearly beneficial.
Only when you have that mindset can you invest in building relationships
in the right way.
“You don’t earn loyalty in a day.
You earn loyalty day-by-day.” – Jeffrey Gitomer
*****************
BUILD CONFIDENCE AND PASSION
Here are two more related benefits.
If you have good communication skills
due to a strong academic background,
and if you also build good relationships,
combining these skills will give you confidence.
Confidence is an invisible thing that
magically increases your effectiveness.
It helps you practice the principle of “the less you care about selling,
the more you can sell”.
You really don’t care because
you’re prepared for everything,
and if this product,
service,
or offer doesn’t work for this potential customer,
that’s okay too.
There are other potential customers.
The second benefit is when you have knowledge
and it makes you believe strongly in the product
or service you are recommending, in addition,
you also have the ability to communicate
as well as build relationships,
then you will become not only confident
but also passionate about what you are doing.
Most customers respond positively
to salespeople who show a passion for what they sell.
If you want to verify this,
visit an Apple computer store
and talk to a salesperson;
Every person I meet is an avid fan of their product,
and their passion shows in the way they talk to their customers.
There is no combination in the field of sales
that is more powerful than extensive knowledge,
excellent communication,
and good business relationships
– factors that lead to confidence and passion,
and at the same time to promote effective communication.
Don’t make the mistake of focusing on just one
or two of those factors
as if they were separate issues.
Again, all three factors are closely related.
They are closely intertwined
– each factor affects the other.
Nothing is more powerful than professionals
with confidence
and passion for who they are
and what they stand for.
Now let’s talk about a few proven techniques
and a process that develops the customer’s interest,
engaging them in a meaningful,
research dialogue.
(Learn) the situation, present (Tell) your topic,
and ask (Ask for) commitment
(called the DELTA process).
Your money management habits are more important than
how much money you have. – T. Harv Eker