Did you know that it costs more than five times as much to get a new customer than it does to keep an existing customer? That goes to show you the value of building a true
relationship with your prospects.
Selling is the world's oldest profession, if you really think about it. There have been thousands of books written about the "latest" way to make the sale, but when you come right down to it, selling is all about building relationships. If you thought selling was all about cold hard cash that would explain why you haven't been too successful up until now.
Relationship selling is about building a friendship or relationship with your prospects and listening to their needs. Once you've built that relationship, shown you care and earned their trust, you are on your way to making them a customer. And not just for this one sale but for years to come.
The best salespeople today honestly listen to their client's needs and show an interest in more than just business. Today's selling is low-pressure, open and honest-an approach that makes your clients want to buy from you, instead of you having to twist their arm to make the sale. In fact, if you're pressuring anyone to buy from you, get out of the business now-you're obviously not cut out to succeed in the new marketplace.
In relationship selling, you are a form of support for your clients and they depend on your products and services to make their lives easier. Building solid relationships is important if you work for a company that offers something similar to what others offer in the market-the only difference between you, Salesman A, and your competition, Salesman B, might be the rapport you have with a prospect.
Before you can begin to build a relationship with a prospect, however, it's important to understand the reasons why someone might not buy from you. There are five basics reasons why prospects keep their wallets closed-the sooner you learn these reasons, the sooner you can get the sale.
The first reason is so simple, it's scary: You're not getting the sale because you haven't qualified those buyers who can afford your product or service. You haven't found the ideal customer yet. Until you talk dollars and cents with a prospect, you don't know if they have the money to buy from you. Many salespeople put off talking cash until they're done presenting their pitch, but this is backwards. Find out from the beginning if there is any money left in the budget for new purchases or if the prospect even has any idea how much your product or service costs. If they can't afford what you have to offer, cross them off your list and move on to someone who can. You don't have time to waste on tire kickers when there are thousands of others out there with money to spend. It is critical to determine early in your sales call what your prospect's financial limitations are. Once you have this knowledge, you can decide to move forward with some sort of financing deal or cut your losses and bail.
The second reason is also deceptively simple: You're not making the sale because you're not offering your product or service to people who would actually use it. On any given day, your prospect list is inundated with telemarketers, email solicitations and direct mail packages. The question is-do they even want what's being offered in the first place? Instead of blindly making your way through a purchased contact list, take the time to figure out who you ideal customer is. Are they middle-management corporate accountants looking for ways to cut costs and improve productivity? Then they might be a good prospect for your handy-dandy 3-in-1 accounting/payroll/tax preparation software. If you don't have a list with corporate titles included, either buy a better list or take the time to make preliminary calls and find who you should be talking to in the first place.
The third reason people don't buy from you: They don't trust you. You haven't built a relationship yet. Hurtful but true: most people still think of salesmen as slimy, self-serving jerks who are going to rook them into buying something they don't really want. Instead of sitting there, licking your wounds, start building a relationship to last. Take baby steps-you're never going to make a sale on the first call anyway. Repeated interactions are the way to go here. A phone call one week, a follow-up email the next, plus a sample sent by mail. By taking your time to get to know your prospect, you will uncover their true needs and be able to meet their objections with ease. Always do what you've said you will do for a prospect and if you don't know the answer to one of their questions, admit it and get back to them. Just as important-if your product can't deliver what they're looking for, be honest and even suggest a competitor's product that would suit them better. They will appreciate your honesty-in fact it will shock them-but you've gone a long way for building integrity and trustworthiness, which can never be replaced.
The fourth reason you don't make the sale: You haven't taken the time to create a relationship with your prospect. They don't know you or like you yet, so why would they buy from you? The most successful selling relationship meets the emotional needs of the buyer-people buy emotionally and then justify their decision logically. The buyer has to care about you and believe that you truly care about him as well. Sales success doesn't just come by being likeable and nice though. Your company's product must be high-quality and really worth the money in the first place. If it's not, no amount of likeability is going to help you. Find a different company to sell for, one that's worthy of your representation and start over. Your personal credibility is on the line here.
The fifth reason you aren't making more sales: You haven't taken the time to learn the internal political forces at play in your prospect's company. You've got to know all the players in order to strike the deal. Some people think it's enough to target the "key decision maker", but often times, this person isn't the one with his hand on the purse strings. Research, call, and dig, dig, dig, to find out who really has the power in any organization. Make friends with many people in a prospective client's company and outright ask who makes the final decisions on purchases. Is it the CFO, the VP of Sales or the Purchasing Manager? When you finally know who's really in charge-because honestly, whoever controls the money controls the business-you can start building a relationship with them and get them on your side. With the check-writer on your side, you have a much better chance of making the sale.
Now that you know the main reasons why people don't buy from you, you can turn your sales techniques around and apply your new knowledge today. Selling is learned skill, so forget about the cliche of the "born salesman"-take what you've learned and put this information to good use building a re-vamped, invigorated and more profitable sales career.
