Good morning everyone,
I remember a story of a successful business owner that had sold his company and stayed on to support the transition. This owner had a pretty large company that was sold to an organization with a Chief Operating Officer that hated salespeople. This COO also believed anything done by salespeople 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 life application.
Golf outings were not allowed, customers meals were frowned upon, and basically anything that was not transactional was outlawed. I have also worked for companies that the focus was purely transactional and there was no focus on growing customer relationships, unless they had a purchase order attached. Now I am not saying you have to validate a golf outing with this blog, but the fact that relationship building is important.
If you are not meeting with customers regularly to learn about their needs, then how are you going to build influence? Sales is influence and the more influence you have the more sales you make. A lack of influence will quickly turn you and your product into a commodity! The only differentiating factor for a commodity is price. Then starts the race to the bottom where there is no margin and likely no quality.
Some of the most successful business owners that I have had the chance to sit with state that it is imperative to build the relationship with the customer. I have also been able to visit some of my old customers that I have not called on in years. They will smile, ask me out to dinner, and sit with me for hours to discuss where they are at with their current business situations. They even have asked for insight on what I might recommend still to this day! It is a great feeling that I was able to influence individuals enough that they will take time to catch up as well as look for my advice.
These conversations would not have happened had I not worked on the personal side of the business as much as the transactional side. Knowing your customers on a personal level and understanding their aspirations is a huge benefit. People want to know that they matter to you. Building that relationship is extremely important.
It is almost an art form watching an old sales professional 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 work on the personal side. People will not buy from you if they do not know, like, and 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 do Amazon, Facebook, and your smart phones listen in on your conversations as well as track your searches? Statistics have shown that when there is a relationship in place between organizations a great deal of growth has happened as well.
Send a card for your customer’s birthdays, kids’ birthdays, weddings, anniversaries, etc. It is a great feeling to celebrate with your customers and form lasting relationships.
Remember the first buying decision a potential customer makes is the Salesperson. Grow that relationship!
Sincerely,
Kevin Sidebottom