Sales POP - Purveyors of Propserity
3 Ways to Build Sales Relationships That Last Forever
Blog / For Sales Pros / Sep 18, 2017 / Posted by Roy Osing / 5436

3 Ways to Build Sales Relationships That Last Forever

0 comments

Effective sales depends on building deep relationships with your customers.

Intimate relationships. Trusting relationships. Long term relationships. Mutual benefit relationships. Cherished relationships. Memorable relationships. “Gaspworthy” relationships.

The end game is to establish such a strong bond with a customer they will never EVER think of doing business with someone else.

Customer intimacy results in barriers to customer exit; a far more effective approach that worrying about what the competition may be up to and over which you have little control. If they want to attack you they will.

Try these three things to get make sales relationship building integral to your sales culture.

1. Declare that bonding is in; flogging is out as an element of the organization’s value system. Relationship building requires that a new strategic context be struck and communicated to the organization.
Make relationship selling matter. If you don’t declare that relationships are a key element of your strategy and a key success factor for the organization, no one will pay attention and nothing will change.

2. Make relationship building a critical component of the sales performance and compensation plan.
Outline it as an expectation and include it in the sales bonus plan. That’s the only way sales people will pay attention to it.

As everyone knows, sales is probably THE most compensation-driven function in any organization. Show a salesperson the compensation plan and watch them deliver the expected results. There is no doubt what their priorities and focus will be. Their actions will be DIRECTLY aligned with what they are getting paid to do.

With this in mind, make relationship building the focus of compensation. Define no more than 6 key elements of relationship building that you feel are critical to your success.
You could adopt proactive solution presentations, listening and engaging, follow-up, keeping promises and internal advocacy as behaviors you intend to hold sales accountable for. Don’t make it complicated to start; refine it as you go.

In year 1 of the new compensation plan make relationship building 20% of sales compensation and increase it every year thereafter at a pace and to a level you are comfortable with. To make it really matter to each salesperson, relationship building should comprise at least 50% of their bonus pay.

3. Engage customers in rating the performance of each salesperson. How do you measure relationship building behavior? Introduce a customer report card and get the customer to rate how the person is doing on each behavioural aspect of building deep relationships.

This approach will not only change sales behaviour, it will also bond you closer to your customer. Being open to customer input and actually caring about what they have to say will endear them more to you.

Moving from a product flogging culture to a relationship building one is a major change.

Be patient. Stick to your guns.

But get started.

How have you built long-lasting sales relationships? Leave a comment and let us know.

Pipeliner CRM empowers sales teams to build great relationships. Get your free trial of Pipeliner CRM now.

About Author

Roy Osing is a former president, CMO and entrepreneur with over 40 years of successful and unmatched executive leadership experience in every aspect of business. As President of a major data and internet company, his leadership and audacious ‘unheard-of ways’ took the company from its early stage to $1 Billion in annual sales. He is a resolute blogger, keen content marketer, dedicated teacher and mentor to young professionals. As an accomplished business advisor, he is the author of the no-nonsense book series ‘BE DiFFERENT or be dead.’ He is devoted to inspiring leaders, entrepreneurs and organizations to stand apart from the average boring crowd and achieve their true potential.

Author's Publications on Amazon

Leaders require context for what they do and how they spend their time. A philosophy that guides their behavior and the things they treat as a priority. Without context, leaders tend not to lead. They flit. They simply follow their nose and spend their time…
Buy on Amazon
It's getting tougher to develop a winning formula in today's business world. Competition is fierce. Customers are demanding, fickle and unpredictable and employees are looking for insightful and caring leadership. In response, extreme energy in most organizations is spent on trying to develop the "perfect"…
Buy on Amazon
Marketing 101 is in serious trouble. Its effectiveness is extremely limited. If you are practising traditional text book marketing, this book is your wake-up call. You are subjecting your organization to extreme risk.
Buy on Amazon
The challenge facing a leader in today's highly volatile economy is formidable. It is to create an organization to Stand-Out NOT Fit-In. Companies that fail to break away from The Competitive Herd and establish themselves as Unique, Distinctive and Remarkable to their Fans fade away…
Buy on Amazon
BE DiFFERENT or be dead: The Audacious ‘Unheard-of Ways’ I Took a Startup TO A BILLION IN SALES provides practical and proven ways for organizations and professionals to be unique, stand out from their competition in a compelling, relevant way and achieve staggering success.
Buy on Amazon
Selected by Soundview Executive Book Summaries as one of the top business books in the USA. The Challenge for any Business Leader is to harness the energy from all parts of their organization to work in unison to win in their market. In practical and…
Buy on Amazon
Want to take your career to another level? Achieve greater success in a world where the competition for a fast track route to success is fierce? Roy Osing’s 30+ years in business taught him one simple truth: if you are not DiFFERENT, if you are…
Buy on Amazon
Comments

..
..
.
Sales Process Automation
.
This website uses cookies. By continuing to use this website you are giving consent to cookies being used. For information on cookies and how you can disable them, visit our privacy and cookie policy.