A good pitch, handling objections, closing the sale; all of these things scream ‘successful salesperson’ on paper. But a modern approach to selling has seen relationship building and genuine connections coming to the forefront of successful sales strategy.
To help you build better relationships and therefore increase your sales performance, we’ve put together a list of 7 ways of doing so to keep in mind.
1. Building customer relationships with communication & conversation
Everyone needs to know what’s going on. In an active sales process, it’s important to be frequent and relevant with your communications. You should be proactively reaching out to customers with updates and recommendations so that they don’t have to chase you to understand what is happening.
It’s also tempting to talk all about your product or service, but it’s useful to first get to know the client a bit better and make things about them – not about you. Build rapport before trying to get your product out the door!
2. Be honest & establish trust
Honesty is the best policy! When you encounter issues during a sale, you need to be upfront and open. While it might cause some disappointment now, the relationship will be stronger in the long term as a result.
3. Build relationships with customers through empathy
Take the time to get to know and understand your clients. Showing empathy towards their needs and their situation will go a long way and make sure you can serve them in the best possible way.
4. Enhance and add value
If you are adding value, you will be remembered and even recommended. Sharing your expertise and acting as a guide will get you known as a trusted resource. One way to do this is by sharing relevant content that educates your client, even if it’s not directly about the current transaction.
5. Reward loyalty to build relationships
Sometimes customers become repeat clients or even refer others to your business – it’s nice to show your appreciation in some way. This could be through a gift or a special offer, but whichever way you choose make sure you’re saying thank you as well as just contacting your clients when you are trying to make a sale. If customers feel appreciated, they will be much more likely to stay loyal to your business.
6. Keep in touch even after you’ve finished providing a service
It’s important to think long-term during customer relationship building. The relationship doesn’t need to end just because a transaction is over – the conversation can keep going! One way to do this is by keeping track of important milestones – such as six months since your last communication or the anniversary of their close date. Then you can reach out with personal touches, reminding them of your expertise and keep you top of mind.
7. Building relationships with customers through feedback
You need to show your customers that you are actively invested in giving them the best experience possible and that you really care about the feedback they give you. When asking for feedback, make it easy for them to give it to you. You could include a link in your email signature directing to a short survey, or ask for feedback on social media. When customers see that you are making changes based on the feedback they provided, their respect for you will grow even more!
Building strong relationships is crucial, and requires giving your customers reasons to emotionally connect with you and your brand. Beyond tools like CRM, maintaining relationships requires a balance of improved customer satisfaction and mutually beneficial partnerships. Talk to us today to see how we might be able to work on your next project together and strengthen your sales process! We work with businesses in a variety of industries to help them improve lead generation, appointment setting and account-based marketing efforts.
