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
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