Successful selling is a creator of relationships; relationships aren’t a creator of successful selling. So what is a relationship? Many sales people think that a relationship is a friendship. They think they need to give their clients sports tickets or take them fishing. It’s nice to make friends; however, that’s not going to determine whether or not you’re going to get the sale.
People don’t necessarily buy from friends – they buy from people they trust to deliver. Especially if risk and hassle are on the table and they need to make sure that the person they just endorsed for their project is not going to let them down or get them fired or cost them political capital in their organization. So how do you build a relationship? By producing results, acting professionally, and demonstrating your value from the get-go. A friendship may form as a result of the sale, but it’s your reliability and performance in the sales setting that are going to win you the next sale.
Love one of our blogs? Feel free to use an excerpt on your own site, newsletter, blog, etc. Just be sure to send us a copy or link, and include the following at the end of the excerpt: “By Mark Jewell, Wall Street Journal best-selling author of Selling Energy: Inspiring Ideas That Get More Projects Approved! This content is excerpted from Jewell Insights, Mark Jewell's daily blog on ideas and inspiration for advancing efficiency. Sign up at SellingEnergy.com.”
Want our daily content delivered to your inbox? Sign up for the Jewell Insights mailing list!
