Relationship Selling: Nine Tips To Closing The Sale

Relationship Selling, or consultative selling as it is often called is simply about building relationships. Building relationships are imperative to success in small business today. Without a good, solid relationship with your customer, chances are your business will fail miserably. Following a good guideline when building those relationships and carrying it throughout the entire sales process will help to increase profits, retain customers and almost always guarantee repeat business.

So what is the anatomy of a good sales process in relationship selling?

1. Opening statement - your opening statement is your door into the building. If the door closes, you never enter. It’s that basic. It is so important to make the most of these few seconds with your customer/prospect. Be cognizant of their time, needs and your ability to resolve their problems with your product/service. As you move through the sales process, keep your customer wanting more. In other words, keep the door open.
2. What is your Offer/Product and The Benefits - It’s important to remember in this step that this is all about your customer/prospects needs. Keep your focus on the emotional triggers from your initial conversation and remind them of their pain/problem. Help them to understand that you are going to present solutions that will resolve these problems for them as you gradually move into introducing your product/service as that solution.
3. Prove it - It’s not enough to tell them you have the answer to their problem and your product is the solution. You need to prove it with real life examples which apply directly to the core of your customer’s situation. Be sure to do your homework before you meet by matching your product/service with a solution. Make a list of benefits they will receive from using your solution and be sure they align with the problems and key triggers you should have taken note of in your first conversation with them.
4. Special Guarantees/Bonuses - this is always a winner. It is a feature, not a benefit of using your product. A 90 day money back unconditional guarantee takes away RISK. This immediately puts your customer at ease and helps them to move forward without stalling at the prospect of getting “stuck” with something they do not want or cannot use.
5. Price - sometimes a stumbling block but only in your mind. People are driven by emotions. This is important to remember. People buy what they want, not what they need. They explain it away with logic later but if you hit the right triggers up front by the time you get to price, they will be ready to sign on the dotted line without blinking an eye. Done correctly, price will not be an issue; done incorrectly it will stop the sales process in its tracks.
6. Call to Action - Ask for the Sale - so many people literally drop the ball at this point. They hesitate when it comes time to ask for the sale. You don’t get what you don’t ask for and sales is the exact same as anything in life. Your build up is effortless and flawless and then you blow it when it comes time to ask. No excuses, please. The results will be amazing if you just do it.
7. Objection Resolutions - As you move along through the process these become easier and easier to handle properly. The important thing to remember with objections - and you will get them - is they are not a bad thing. They are actually a good thing. It simply means your customer/prospect is giving you their permission to continue moving the process forward. They just need to have more clarity and understanding. All of your hard work and homework now come into play. Ojbections will be welcomed instead of dreaded if you learn this and apply it properly.
8. Call to Action- Close the Sale - Show me the Money! This is it. This is the reason you have started on this journey and hopefully, it will end in a sale and win-win for both you and your customer/prospect. Again, relate their problem/pain to your solution and close the deal. Book the appointment, get their information and then make the sale. That’s it. You’re finished.
9. Follow-Up - Last but not least. It is imperative that you have a good follow-up system. This is what separates relationship selling from traditional selling. The gold is in the follow-up. Whether it be a phone call, an e-mail, a card (my favorite) in the mail…It really doesn’t matter as long as you have a good followup system in place for 5 days, 14 days, 30 days and on-going to be sure your customer/prospect is satisfied and happy.

Following these 9 steps when building those relationships and carrying it throughout the entire sales process will help to increase profits, retain customers and almost always guarantee repeat business.