I have a favorite question that I build into most of my initial sales interviews with prospective clients.

“What do your best people do that you wish everyone would do?”

In the last two weeks two sales executives have answered, “Build relationships.”

What are some of the ways that I and others use to build relationships?

• Develop trust with people by showing genuine interest in them.

• Responding to prospect or customer requests promptly is a relationship builder.

• Look for ways to let customers know you are thinking about the needs they revealed to you.

• Follow up promptly with commitments you have made or problems a customer has told you about.

• Avoid obviously self-serving contacts. Make contacts about them and their business.

• Be interested in their needs. Ask lots of “how, who, what, when and where” questions that can’t be answered with a word, but with information.

• Talk about your products or services only as solutions to needs they have agreed they are looking to resolve.

A colleague in Nashville, TN, Harriet Butler, is a master at relationship building. She is uses voice mail after hours to leave short messages letting a client know she is working on something in which they expressed interest.

These little messages often take less than a minute, including the dial time, and they help build trust because she is thinking about them and their business needs.

Building People to Build Business

J. Mark Walker

I look for ways that I can save the client money when they make commitments to larger purchases.

I sell training sales and customer service training programs. A few years ago I saved client thousands of dollars over a three year period by asking, “How many people do you think will be going through this program in the next 12 months?”

When they told me, the number was significantly more than needed to get them into our highest discount bracket. I simply asked for a letter of commitment stating their expectations, and my boss extended the highest discount immediately to this valued client.

You can also offer to do “leg work” for a client.

I used my schedule flexibility when working with a large client to travel all around the state giving executive and supervisory overviews. These helped the client achieve their training goals at virtually no additional cost to them, and I got to know their people all over the state.

Perhaps the best question you can ask yourself to develop trust relationships is, “What would I want me to do if I was this customer?” Then figure out a way to do it.

Whether you are selling, or serving after the sale, these ideas can be relationship builders for you!

Building People to Build Business

J. Mark Walker

When my oldest son was a teenager, he had a hard time meeting his Saturday night curfew time. Whenever I asked, “Why can’t you get home on time?” he was put on the defensive. An argument usually resulted.

When interviewing a customer or a prospect to find out what they want or need, a “why” question is used to get more information—to delve more deeply so you can learn all you can.

But it can also put another person unnecessarily on the defensive. This is especially true if the question is perceived as manipulative by the other person.

“Why are you buying from them?” or “Why do you set the spec up this way?” or “Why didn’t you call me for a quote?” are questions that might be perceived as trying to get the other person to “admit to something.”

Why questions are better for getting opinions or information about a third party or a situation. “Why do you think that is seen as a problem?” asked after your prospect has told you about a problem, can help you get information about the root cause.

“Why is xyz material specified rather than the more common abc material?” is asking for clarification.

“Why do you think that happens?” is asking for an opinion.

When “peeling back the onion” with a prospect try substituting the phrase, “Tell me…” for the word, “why.”

If the prospect says, “The engineering department thinks that material will be a problem,” you can say, “Tell me more about that,” instead of “Why do they think that?”

Rather than asking, “Why didn’t you call me for a quote,” you could say, “Please tell me what I need to do to insure that my company is always asked to submit a bid when you make a purchase.”

It is important to find out why, and to keep asking “why-type” questions until you are satisfied that the real answer is on the table. However, the word “why” does not have to be used to draw out that information.

Building People to Build Business

J. Mark Walker