Posted May 5, 2009

I saw a quiz that got me thinking about the thousands of sales people that I’ve met over the years. It went something like this…

Which is most important to sales:

1) knowing what the customer wants and your competitive advantage

2) get to work early and make more sales calls each day

3) learning your competition and your competitive advantage

4) build relationships, then build accounts

So, which is it?

I can tell you that over 50% of people chose #1, but what do you think?

How does #4 strike you? It is the correct answer, but not the one that I see practiced most often, even by many seasoned sales professionals.

In real estate the mantra is Location, Location, Location.

I’ll suggest to you that for sales it should be Relationships, Relationships, Relationships.

Think about how you like to be treated when you are the prospect. Would you rather deal with a sales person that gets to know you a bit before getting into the various details of the latest wonder product? For non-commodity products, I am much more comfortable interacting with someone that has shown an interest in me, who I think is making an effort to understand my needs so that they can recommend the right product for me. However, what I’m really talking about is a bit deeper than product spec questions. Given the choice, folks usually interact with people that they like. Are you a likable sales professional? Do you give your prospects the feeling that you care about them as a person as much as you care about the sale? That would be a good start. Care about them more than the sale and I think you are well on your way to crafting a good relationship.

I’ve said before that the sales process is not about socializing, it is about making your product fly of the shelves. If you honestly develop good, trust based relationships with your prospects, and then look for opportunities to solve problems that they have, you will  have set yourself up well for success. While there is no magic formula for sales success, it is hard to go wrong if your customers trust and like you. Once you have achieved this, talking openly and honestly about your products is far more comfortable and productive.

Jeff Cress, the Sales Guy

twitter: AffiliateMgt

PS I think the  quiz was on Jeff Gittomer’s website, but can’t find it at the moment.