Good morning everyone,
I originally wanted to write about my past bloopers for this blog as a funny gift for you, but I had a great conversation with a business owner yesterday that struck a chord with me. He used to own a pretty large company that was sold to an organization with a Chief Operating Officer that said he hated sales people. This COO also believed anything done by sales people could automatically be done through a business transaction from an internal call center.
This same CFO also discussed that business school professors from some of the elite universities even teach that relationship building outside of the professional transaction are not a good idea. People that are scholars in theory, but unfortunately not application.
Golf outings were not allowed, meals with customers were frowned upon, and basically anything that was not transactional was not allowed. I have also worked for companies that the focus was purely transactional and there was no focus on growing relationships that did not have purchase order attached to them. Now I am not just saying you have to validate a golf outing with this blog, but the fact that relationship building is important. Breakfast, lunch, dinner, coffee meetings, learning about their personal relationships outside of business is needed.
Some of the most successful business people that I have had the chance to sit with state that it is imperative to build the relationship as well as the business. I have also been able to visit some of my old customers that I have not called on in years and they will smile, ask me out to dinner, and sit with me for hours to discuss the good ole days and where they are at with their current business situations. They even ask for insight on what I might recommend today. It is a great feeling that I was able to influence individuals enough that they will take time to catch up.
These conversations would not have happened had I not worked on the personal side of the business relationship as much as the transactional side. Knowing your customers on a personal level and understanding their dreams and aspirations is a huge benefit. People want to know that they matter and we all strive for community. Building that relationship is extremely important.
It is almost an art form watching an old sales person work the personal relationship and send birthday cards for the customer’s family, as well as celebrating wins that the customer has had. Meetings on the golf course have transacted in large business deals that cannot be instantaneously measured. Looking back on the sales process and building relationships will allow your business to grow with your customers. The transactions do happen, but after a lot of work on the personal side. People will not buy from you if they do not know you, like you, or trust you.
I encourage you to leverage the personal side of business along with the professional side. If learning about people was not important than why does Amazon listen in on your conversations and Facebook track as much information about you as possible. With that said, I would beg to differ with the professors of theory and those in management rolls that do not believe in having sales people that engage in personal relationships. When there is a relationship in place between organizations a great deal of growth has happened as a result..
Send a card for your customer’s birthdays, kids’ birthdays, weddings, anniversaries, etc. I have even been invited to customer’s children’s weddings because of the relationships formed that have landed my past company with new business. It is a great feeling to celebrate with your customers and form lasting relationships.
Sincerely,
Kevin Sidebottom
P.S. If you would still like to learn more about the sales process feel free to review my programs and ask questions. I am here to help you win!