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Confident & Caring Sales HOW TO CREATE TRUSTING PARTNERSHIP RELATIONSHIPS
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BY JAMES OLSEN
hat is the demeanor of the Master Seller? If we ask 100 salespeople what kind of seller they are, 99.9% will respond, “I am a relationship seller,” but 82.50% of them won’t know what kind of relationship they are attempting to develop with their customers or how to do it. Many sellers try to be as agreeable as possible and hope the customer likes them best. Others are only interested in getting the order. On the surface it appears that the first strategy is the best, but both strategies are flawed and lead to poor treatment by customers and poor results for the salespeople who employ them. Obsequious sellers send the message they are not experts. This cloying approach puts off buyers because it’s obvious they aren’t being sincere. They are just boot lickers hoping for the best. Do some buyers want a master/servant relationship with salespeople? Yes. But they are a small percentage of the total and are not the strongest buyers. Great buyers want strong, confident money-making partner relationships with the salespeople they work with. “If two people agree on everything, one of them isn’t necessary,” observed Churchill. Great buyers feel the same way. The best approach is a mix of confidence and caring.
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