Relationship and trust may be two of the most overused phrases in the sales profession. Are they both critical in the sales process? Absolutely. So what’s the problem with relationship selling?
The biggest problem comes from what most people think ‘building a relationship’ even means.
The biggest challenge the traditional sales rep has is the failure to understand a Business Relationship vs a Personal Relationship. No one buys from you because you are their friend.
A true relationship is established when the other person receives value from your interactions. This is not based on time, the number of donuts/swag/magnets you drop off, knowing what their favorite meal is or what their golf score was last week.
How many of your people are out building personal relationships when they believe they are building business relationships? Is it an awareness problem or do they lack the skills to actually create value before a product or service is delivered? Anyone can be seen credible once results from purchasing a product or service happen. Highly skilled sales professionals create and build value before an order is even placed and use their personal relationship as a final tipping point in the process.