As I began my career in sales, I quickly realized the importance of building relationships and surrounding myself with a network of supportive, repeat, long-lasting customers. I knew how difficult it was to find and develop new customers. There were days when I pondered where I would find the next customer and the next one after that. As a salesman, you learn to appreciate all customers and their importance in our success. They mean everything to the business and our careers. While we constantly try to find and cultivate new customers, it is crucial that we make every effort to retain the ones we have. It has been said many times by many successful sales leaders that it is easier to keep a customer than to find a new one.
The more customers we have, the more potential sales exist.
Throughout my career, building a long-lasting relationship with customers has always been a top priority. The relationship is not for just one sale but for many more subsequent sales. The relationship begins during prospecting when the prospect is “qualified.” Asking questions that help to reveal the prospect’s concerns or needs is the beginning to this relationship. Asking and more importantly, listening to the prospect develops trust and confidence in the relationship as it shows the salesperson’s care and interest.
Understanding the prospect emphasizes the desire to help find a solution.
As the sale and relationship development, the pitch is designed and customized to address the prospect’s concerns and is presented as a solution. A successful salesperson performs with eagerness, enthusiasm, and a great deal of “empathy.” With empathy, the salesperson projects his willingness to “be in the prospect’s shoes,” to fully understand and respect the prospect’s needs. The pitch is usually the second building block in developing the relationship. While eager to make the sale, the prospect’s interests are always a priority to the salesperson.
Successful salespeople will always celebrate the closing of a sale.
While this conclusion represents a successful sale, income, commission, and business for the company, it means even more that the product was a solution for the prospect. It is this that is celebrated even more passionately. It means that the prospect is satisfied with the solution presented and he has developed trust and confidence in the salesperson. The prospect is now a customer. The salesperson is pleased with building the relationship through the sale, and the customer is equally pleased with the relationship he has developed with the salesperson.
Moving forward, this relationship is nurtured, supported, and protected by consistent communication to ensure it is maintained and grows in strength. This is the beginning of a bond that is valued by both parties.
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