FEATURE | RELATIONSHIP SELLING
DON’T DASH OFF! Don’t just close a sale, because this is the best time to build a relationship, explains ROBERT SPENCE
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am sure you have heard the saying: “It’s not what you know, it’s who you know.” That’s all well and good, but what if we turned that on its head slightly. “It’s not who you know, it’s who knows you.” For my past two articles in Winning Edge, I have reminded you all of the importance of business relationships – the reasons why we must remember that the person we are selling to is in fact a human being just like us, with their own emotions and their own problems waiting for us to solve. I have also given you simple ideas on how to develop these relationships and earn that trust early on in the sales cycle. But one thing is still missing – it’s all well and good having plenty of friends and being the most likeable in a prospect’s address book, but that’s not going to help you hit your sales targets, is it? ALWAYS BE CLOSING Closing the sale is the ultimate end game for all of us. Our jobs really are to open a prospect up, tease them with a solution to a problem, and then go on to encourage that prospect to turn into a fullyfledged customer. There is no point in going into detail on the best ways to close a deal – we all have our own ways to do so and, in my eyes, these techniques will vary from business to business. However, it is key to point out that you must never forget this part of your job. I have worked with many people who have been excellent relationship builders and will work tirelessly at discovering
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07/03/2018 13:38
