RELATIONSHIP SELLING – PART II (TYPES OF RELATIONSHIPS)
RELATIONSHIP SELLING – PART II (TYPES OF RELATIONSHIPS)
A sales professional can only have one of two types of relationships with their clients. They are:
- A Transactional Relationship or
- A Trusted Advisor Relationship
Some of the statements that I have made in the previous chapter might lead you to think that I believe transactional relationships are bad or inferior. I am not trying to imply that at all. Both types of relationships have their appropriate place in the world of sales.
However, for most corporations and consulting firms, the transactional relationship is not conducive to the longevity and success of the sales professional. For the purposes of this book, I am going to focus on the trusted advisor relationship, as this is the cornerstone of relationship selling.
Once again, I stress that every client-facing individual in a corporation, and especially in a consulting organization, is a sales professional. Because of their actions and the relationship they establish or do not establish with the client has a bearing on whether your organization will secure the follow-on work of the current project and/or the next opportunity that comes along.
The classic example of a transactional relationship is one that you find in grocery stores, supermarkets etc. You go there to buy a certain commodity, and you do not particularly care who sells it to you as long as they are fast, accurate and courteous.
The classic example of a trusted advisor relationship is a good insurance agent. If they are truly good, you will never buy any type of hazard insurance from another company, regardless of the difference in price.
I have that relationship with my insurance agent, Steve, and his co-agent Joanne. They have been my agent for everything for more than a decade. They know everything about my life. They insure my life, my house, my vehicles, my yacht, my business, and everything else. Ask me if they are the cheapest in all cases.
The answer is most definitely ‘NO.’
However, they are always there when I need them. They understand my needs and my personality. They know most of my quirks, at least the insurance related ones. Believe me, when I say that I have many quirks.
For example, even though I know my blanket policy covers any vehicle I purchase, I will not drive a car off a lot or a yacht out of a marina until I have proof of coverage for the new purchase in my hand.
I know it is silly, but it is a personality quirk; what can I say? I cannot count how many times Joanne has faxed or emailed me paperwork at odd hours just because I asked for something.
A trusted advisor relationship is very hard to attain. It requires a lot of patience and constant effort. It requires absolute and unquestionable integrity on your part. Moreover, it can be lost or compromised in the blink of an eye.
A trusted advisor does not try to sell a product; he/she always tries to solve his client’s problems. There is never one solution to any problem. The solution is usually a combination of one or all of the following: strategies, processes, technologies and people.
You need to achieve the ability to collaborate with the client and help resolve business problems affecting the organization as a whole.
Easier said than done, you say. You are right. I never said this was easy. In fact, I specifically stated that this would take a lot of patience and constant effort.
I would also like to stress that a trusted advisor relationship is not the same as a “buddy” relationship. Sure, I rely on my friends to provide me with ad hoc advice. In fact, we all do. However, would you let your buddy diagnose your health problems or do you go to a trusted source (a qualified doctor). Now think about how you select a new doctor. You very rarely go to the first doctor you stumble across unless it is an emergency or an urgent matter that cannot wait.
You typically ask your friends, neighbors, or relatives for their experiences with various doctors, and try to go see the doctor who they recommend. The point I am trying to make is that you use your friends and buddies for advice. However, you rely on the trusted and qualified professional (the doctor) to help resolve your problem.
Therefore, it is most important for the client to perceive you more as the person who they can trust to provide the appropriate solution and less as the person who is their friend or buddy.
The modern sales professional, especially one that wants to follow the doctrine of relationship selling, must move away from the traditional transactional sales solution.
The client should view you as someone on whom they can rely to help them succeed, no matter what the circumstances. You need to evolve from a person who recommended and sold systems or devices to a person who collaborates with the client and helps resolve business problems affecting the organization as a whole, or a specific problem that affects that client personally.
When you achieve this, you will have morphed in your client’s eyes. He/she will no longer view you as a sales person but as a trusted advisor.
Additional information on Relationship Selling can be found in Relationship Selling – The Fine Art of Consultative Sales. ISBN: 1432715003.
RELATIONSHIP SELLING PART II TYPES OF RELATIONSHIPS - To learn more about this author, visit Atul Uchil's Website.
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TYPES OF RELATIONSHIPS
A sales professional can only have one of two types of relationships with their clients. They are:
- A Transactional Relationship or
- A Trusted Advisor Relationship
Some of the statements that I have made in the previous chapter might lead you to think that I believe transactional relationships are bad or inferior. I am not trying to imply that at all. Both types of relationships have their appropriate place in the world of sales.
However, for most corporations and consulting firms, the transactional relationship is not conducive to the longevity and success of the sales professional. For the purposes of this book, I am going to focus on the trusted advisor relationship, as this is the cornerstone of relationship selling.
Once again, I stress that every client-facing individual in a corporation, and especially in a consulting organization, is a sales professional. Because of their actions and the relationship they establish or do not establish with the client has a bearing on whether your organization will secure the follow-on work of the current project and/or the next opportunity that comes along.
The classic example of a transactional relationship is one that you find in grocery stores, supermarkets etc. You go there to buy a certain commodity, and you do not particularly care who sells it to you as long as they are fast, accurate and courteous.
The classic example of a trusted advisor relationship is a good insurance agent. If they are truly good, you will never buy any type of hazard insurance from another company, regardless of the difference in price.
I have that relationship with my insurance agent, Steve, and his co-agent Joanne. They have been my agent for everything for more than a decade. They know everything about my life. They insure my life, my house, my vehicles, my yacht, my business, and everything else. Ask me if they are the cheapest in all cases.
The answer is most definitely ‘NO.’
However, they are always there when I need them. They understand my needs and my personality. They know most of my quirks, at least the insurance related ones. Believe me, when I say that I have many quirks.
For example, even though I know my blanket policy covers any vehicle I purchase, I will not drive a car off a lot or a yacht out of a marina until I have proof of coverage for the new purchase in my hand.
I know it is silly, but it is a personality quirk; what can I say? I cannot count how many times Joanne has faxed or emailed me paperwork at odd hours just because I asked for something.
A trusted advisor relationship is very hard to attain. It requires a lot of patience and constant effort. It requires absolute and unquestionable integrity on your part. Moreover, it can be lost or compromised in the blink of an eye.
A trusted advisor does not try to sell a product; he/she always tries to solve his client’s problems. There is never one solution to any problem. The solution is usually a combination of one or all of the following: strategies, processes, technologies and people.
You need to achieve the ability to collaborate with the client and help resolve business problems affecting the organization as a whole.
Easier said than done, you say. You are right. I never said this was easy. In fact, I specifically stated that this would take a lot of patience and constant effort.
I would also like to stress that a trusted advisor relationship is not the same as a “buddy” relationship. Sure, I rely on my friends to provide me with ad hoc advice. In fact, we all do. However, would you let your buddy diagnose your health problems or do you go to a trusted source (a qualified doctor). Now think about how you select a new doctor. You very rarely go to the first doctor you stumble across unless it is an emergency or an urgent matter that cannot wait.
You typically ask your friends, neighbors, or relatives for their experiences with various doctors, and try to go see the doctor who they recommend. The point I am trying to make is that you use your friends and buddies for advice. However, you rely on the trusted and qualified professional (the doctor) to help resolve your problem.
Therefore, it is most important for the client to perceive you more as the person who they can trust to provide the appropriate solution and less as the person who is their friend or buddy.
The modern sales professional, especially one that wants to follow the doctrine of relationship selling, must move away from the traditional transactional sales solution.
The client should view you as someone on whom they can rely to help them succeed, no matter what the circumstances. You need to evolve from a person who recommended and sold systems or devices to a person who collaborates with the client and helps resolve business problems affecting the organization as a whole, or a specific problem that affects that client personally.
When you achieve this, you will have morphed in your client’s eyes. He/she will no longer view you as a sales person but as a trusted advisor.
Additional information on Relationship Selling can be found in Relationship Selling – The Fine Art of Consultative Sales. ISBN: 1432715003.
RELATIONSHIP SELLING PART II TYPES OF RELATIONSHIPS - To learn more about this author, visit Atul Uchil's Website.
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Dave KurlanDave Kurlan is the founder and CEO of Objective Management Group, Inc., the industry leader in sales assessments and sales force evaluations, and the CEO of David Kurlan & Associates, Inc., a consulting firm specializing in sales force development. Dave has been a top rated speaker at Inc. Magazine's Conference on Growing the Company, the Sales & Marketing Management Conference and the Gazelles Sales & Marketing Summit. He has been featured on radio and TV, including World Business Review with General Norman Schwarzkopf, in Inc. Magazine, Selling Power Magazine, Sales & Marketing Management Magazine and Incentive Magazine. He is the author of Mindless Selling and Baseline Selling – How to Become a Sales Superstar by Using What You Already Know about the Game of Baseball. He created and wrote STAR, a proprietary recruiting process for hiring great salespeople, and he writes Understanding the Sales Force, a popular business Blog and is a contributing author to The Death of 20th Century Selling and 101 Great Ways to Improve Your Life, Volume 2. - Visit Dave Kurlan's Website |
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Linda RichardsonLinda Richardson is the Founder and Executive Chairwoman of Richardson, a global sales training and performance improvement company. As a recognized leader in the industry, she has won the coveted Stevie Award for Lifetime Achievement in Sales Excellence and she was identified by Training Industry, Inc. as one of the “Top 20 Most Influential Training Professionals.” Ms. Richardson is credited with the movement to Consultative Selling and is the author of ten books on selling and sales management, including Sales Coaching — Making the Great Leap from Sales Manager to Sales Coach, and Stop Telling, Start Selling. She teaches sales and management at the Wharton Graduate School of the University of Pennsylvania and the Wharton Executive Development Center. Linda is a frequent speaker at industry and client conferences, has been published extensively in industry and training journals, and has been featured in numerous publications, including The Wall Street Journal, Forbes, Nation’s Business, Selling Power, Success, and The Conference Board Magazine. Learn more about Richardson's sales training and performance improvement solutions at http://www.richardson.com web - Visit Linda Richardson's Website |
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George LudwigGeorge Ludwig is a recognized authority on sales strategy and peak performance psychology. An international speaker, trainer, and corporate consultant, he helps clients like Johnson & Johnson, Abbott Laboratories, Northwestern Mutual, CIGNA, and numerous others improve sales force effectiveness and performance. Though it's George's strategies and processes that help corporations increase productivity and performance, it's his tremendous energy and dynamism that spark the transformation. Again and again, clients remark on his amazing ability to unleash human capacity and inspire men and women to break out of their comfort zones. The result is a whole new type of salesperson. His customized presentations teach achievers to make stunning advances in their lives. From helping salespeople realize cherished dreams to helping corporations exponentially accelerate revenue streams, George Ludwig leaves audiences and individuals empowered, emboldened, and clamoring for more. George is the best-selling author of Power Selling: Seven Strategies for Cracking the Sales Code and Wise Moves: 60 Quick Tips to Improve Your Position in Life & Business. - Visit George Ludwig's Website |
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John PowerJohn Power, founder of Biltmore Franchise Consulting, has extensive experience developing and marketing franchises and business opportunities. He has been in and around franchising for over twenty years. From 1980 through 1990 he conceptualized, organized, and developed the American Video Association. He grew AVA to 2,000 national members, before selling the company it 1990. It was later merged into another home video marketing company. From 2000 to 2005 he worked as a contract marketing and human resources consultant to several local and national companies. In 2005 Mr. Power began working as a franchise development consultant on a full-time basis. Since that time he has helped more than three dozen companies initiate and develop their franchising program. He notes that there are many companies interested in developing a franchise program, and who need his specialized assistance. Mr. Power is a “hands-on” franchise consultant. He said, “I am the ‘nuts and bolts’ person who tends to the details for my clients.” Mr. Power holds a B.S. degree with a major in Marketing. See: www.biltmorefranchise.com You may contact Mr. Power at: jpower@biltmorefranchise.co - Visit John Power's Website |
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Staging DivaDebra Gould, aka The Staging Diva®, is President of Six Elements Inc., an internationally recognized home staging company. Inspired by many requests from aspiring home stagers wanting to start similar businesses, Gould created the Staging Diva Home Staging Business Training Program. Gould has trained over 1000 Staging Diva Graduates worldwide to start staging businesses. Buying decorating and selling six of her own homes in four years lead to an interest in real estate staging which she turned into a career with the launch of sixelements.com in 2002. Since then she has staged hundreds of homes in addition to teaching home staging training. Gould is the author of several home staging resources including a series of popular ebooks made up of a Design Guide, Color Guide and Portfolio Guide. For more information about Debra Gould visit stagingdiva.com. - Visit Staging Diva's Website |
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Jay Kubassek(Jay's Full Bio: EvanCarmichael.com/jaykubassek) In five years, Canadian-born entrepreneur Jay Kubassek went from selling mufflers at a Midas franchise to revolutionizing Internet marketing with the 2004 launch of CarbonCopyPRO, a online marketing education company, now worth over $20 million with customers in over 160 countries.
As an independent film producer, his upstart film fund Aliquot Films is currently producing a films with Spike Lee and Abel Fererra (starring Ethan Hawke and Dennis Hopper.)
Jay's entrepreneurial spirit is irrepressible. He’s the owner of five companies, a professional speaker and trainer, international real estate developer/investor, extreme sport enthusiast and emerging philanthropist. Jay resides in NYC with his wife Jamie, son Milo and dog Cooper. Visit Jay's official website: www.JayKubassek.com - Visit Jay Kubassek's Website |
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Atul Uchil Video - Atul UchilDo not sell products, services or commodities. Just establish strong relationships with clients and achieve the coveted status of a trusted advisor. Then, your clients will elect to buy services and/or products from you. Never try to sell them.
I know that this sounds deceptively simple. Almost as if one could just sit around and wait for things to happen. Establishing and maintaining trusted client relationships without trying to sell them anything, requires a lot of patience and a constant struggle against the temptation to start selling.
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