We've all heard that "customers buy from people they like", but how do you get people to really like you? How do you build and maintain relationships?
Building great personal relationships is a key factor in long-term sales success. And it's something that won't happen overnight. Like most things in life, you need the right training and then you need to practice that training. Over time, you will improve your ability to solidify business relationship by strengthening personal relationship.
So, we know that we’re usually willing to do business with people who we like, get along with, and feel comfortable getting to know. How does that translate into a sales relationship? It really boils down to trust and respect. People buy from people they trust and respect.
Here's a few tips from just one of our courses on building and maintaining sales relationships.
How to build a sales relationship
Small talk: Small talk is fine but it’s not going to build a great customer relationship.
Be prepared: When you walk into a sales call, do it in a way that shows you’ve thought about things.
Be useful: In other words, it’s doing your job as a salesperson. Have resources on hand to answer questions.
How to maintain a sales relationship
Follow up: When you say you will do something, do it. And in a timely manner.
Be positive: That means smiling (even when you're on the phone), being cheerful, and being pleasant.
Don’t complain: Don’t show negativity about anything.
You are not the customer’s priority: Take care of what you need to and regroup when you have time.
Be sensitive: When the customer opens up, follow their lead. Don’t try to push rapport-building questions if they’re not responding warmly.
We hope that these tips provided some insight into building and maintaining a sales relationship. These are just a few of the things that you can learn in our sales training series.
Call to Action — Improve Sales
The tips above are just a few of the ways that sales people can improve their selling.
But sales training is more than a few tips. To really achieve long-term sales success, you need to provide your sales team with the right training.
Ability Platform offers a number of sales learning paths covering sales skills that give your sales team the knowledge they need to become top performers.
Want to evaluate our library of award-winning sales training? Simply send us an email or call us at (800) 868-8039.
