Be Different or be dead

June 27, 2011

3 simple ways sales can build the greatest customer relationships

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3 simple ways sales can build the greatest customer relationships.

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.

Try these three things to get you on your way:

1. Declare that bonding is in; flogging is out

The business plan of the organization must include customer relationship building as a key strategic imperative in order to make it matter for sales.

Relationship building requires that a new strategic context be struck and communicated to the organization.
Make relationship selling matter. If you don’t make relationships a key element of your sales strategy and a key success factor for the organization, nothing will change.

2. Pay on relationships

Make relationship building a critical element 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.

Sales is the most compensation-driven function in any organization. Show a salesperson the compensation plan and watch them go. No question what their priorities and focus will be. Their actions will be directly aligned with what they are getting paid to do.

Introduce relationship building as the metric. Define no more than 6 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, but implement it.

Year 1 make relationship building 20% of sales compensation and increase it every year thereafter at a pace and to a level you are comfortable with.

3. Engage customers in rating sales performance

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 behavior.
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. Count on it.

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

Be patient. Don’t expect results overnight. But stick to your plan.

And get started.

Cheers,
Roy
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• Posted 6.27.11 at 11:00 am by Roy Osing
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