“Get
sale at any cost.” “Make more calls.” “Tell them what they want to hear.”Sales professionals in virtually every industry are under tremendous pressure to close sales. It is not uncommon for them to hear comments similar to ones above from their sales manager, supervisor, or boss. But this approach does not create trust with customers and does not encourage repeat business or a lasting relationship.
A more effective approach is to develop a partnering relationship with your clients. This means working with them to help them achieve their goals and objectives. Simple in theory, this strategy requires a completely different approach. Here’s what I mean.
In majority of sales meetings, sales person looks for ways to position his or her product/service so that prospect will buy it. However, a partnering approach means putting your goals and objective aside. It means focusing 100% of your attention on your customer. It requires a self-less mindset because there are situations when best solution is not yours. In fact, it may mean telling your customer to contact a competitor. I experienced this just a few days before writing this article. A subscriber to my e-zine contacted me about delivering a particular service. Although I may have been able to help her, I knew someone who could better meet her requirements. It was mentally difficult, but I made decision to refer her to my competition.
Partnering also means that you provide exceptional follow-up to ensure that your customer is completely satisfied with their purchase. This does not mean you make just obligatory follow-up call. It means you explore their actual use of your product and/or service and help them maximize its full potential.
A client of mine was experiencing less than favorable results after implementing a new program into their business. We scheduled a follow-up meeting with management team, because as vendor, I knew that answers lay in execution of program. During meeting we explored several ways to improve their results and one of solutions required me to provide additional follow-up. Although I could have charged this client for my time, I knew that it made good business sense to absorb cost of this follow-up because my primary objective was to help my client achieve best results possible. Subsequent meetings indicated that this investment was worth it as my client began discussing how we could take this initiative to next level.
The challenge with this concept is that most sales people want some form of instant gratification. But this approach does not offer a direct or immediate payoff for sales person. However, from a business perspective, it makes good sense.
