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