by Tom Woodcock, Seal the Deal

The core of any sales effort is the ability to build productive, interactive relationships. Regardless of what some may tell you, relationship is still the preferred method of gaining customers. It develops loyalty, brand extension and strategic advantage. Many discount the effectiveness in this age of electronic selling—a concept I find dubious in its scope. Reducing the sales process to numbers and digital images negates the claims of workmanship, service level and efficiency so prevalent in the construction industry. Having the opportunity to successfully communicate a company’s differentiation in these areas requires a level of relationship that allows them to be communicated—not just mechanically, but persuasively. Just stating factual data about what you and your company bring to the table is not enough. People have to believe it. That takes trust. What is the core of relationship? Trust! If a customer doesn’t trust you, you’re sunk. This is where we start.

Once you realize trust is the No. 1 buying motive, your sales approach begins to shift. Now you can begin take your personal inventory of assets and start incorporating them into your sales approach. What are those assets? Items such as education, work ethic, passion, experience and likeability come to mind. Understanding these are attributes most customers expect from their business relationships, you can incorporate them into your regimen. I know, it sounds like manipulation, doesn’t it? Truth be told, you already use these aspects in your everyday life. If you’re wondering how, let me ask you a question. “Can you make a friend?” Before you laugh too hard, this is your process in developing business relationships. Why try to force a sales system that is completely contrary to who you are? If you can make a friend, you can develop business relationships. Use the same process. In everyday friendships the goal is to find common likes and experience them together. In business relationships, the goal is to find common ground and turn that into a fruitful business opportunity. Not a lot of difference.

The issue is that many people treat their personal assets with platitudes such as; “I give great service” or “I have a ton of experience.” That’s not enough. Everyone says they’ll give great service and experience doesn’t automatically guarantee you’re the best choice for my project. How do you service differently than the competitor down the road? What about your experience makes you the best option on this particular job? See, you have to quantify those assets to the point I prefer them on my project. I also need to trust you’re shooting straight with me about those assets. If I recognize and believe in the value they represent, I’ll choose you as well as pay more to use you. This is not nearly as complicated as some make it out to be. How do you achieve this level of influence? Great question, but there’s a very simple answer—time and commitment.

Often people give a tacit effort toward sales. They invest a small percentage of their time and money toward cultivating relationships. They look at golf tournaments, happy hours and association events as unnecessary spending. If they don’t get immediate business from a couple events, they throw their hands up and discount the value. It doesn’t matter that they met new people, continued relationships with past connections or increased their influence with that group of people. They want a Point A to Point B result. Relationships are too much work and the ROI isn’t there. Now there’s an attitude I want to connect with! The more approachable you are personally, the more approachable you’ll be perceived to be professionally. This is just the fact, folks! If you seem to be too put out to get through the awkwardness of initial introductions, you won’t ever have to worry about developing deeper connections. I even run into people who claim certain contacts know them well and I find out they’ve simply overestimated the interest that potential customer has in them personally. It takes more than two lunches a year to move the influence bar. You can’t expect to secure the inside track on such a feeble effort to develop relationships. I often run into people in our industry who are dead set against using company funds and precious time in developing relationship with customers that result in having their number shopped anyway. They even state that no matter what they do, the job still goes to the lowest bidder. Well, I’m here to tell you the cold, hard truth. Most of the time it’s not the customer, it’s you. Sorry, the truth can hurt sometimes. I hear from the customers and often the easiest way to get someone they don’t particularly have relationship off their back is to tell them their number was beaten. This frustrates the bidder, but they don’t know how to fight it. The reality is, the source with the best relationship most likely received inside information that positioned him- or herself to secure the project. You’d be shocked how often I run into this scenario!

I’ve even been challenged to my face in seminars by these folks and you can see just by the way they approached me why people don’t want to do business with them. Normally, after those particular exchanges occur, someone else walks up to me and says the challenger has no idea what they’re talking about and that they get business through relationship development all of the time. It’s the struggle to accept the fact not every connection can provide the opportunity they represent or you assume. You go all the way down the road of relationship and there’s no pot of gold. That doesn’t mean you give up on the process. You keep plugging and making business friends. Expand that group as wide as you can. You’ll have people who know you and even promote you when you’re not around. It expands your sales influence tremendously. Growing an active, structured network with relationships that helps put you on top of deals is critical as well. Those who are doing business with the same customer base as you and will help you get a foot in the door with those customers, are invaluable. Though they may not directly give you projects, they can help you get in position to do just that. These relationships are often the most overlooked. It can cause people to skip an event or drop out of an organization because there isn’t an obvious cash register. This is a huge mistake. Any trainee I work with must develop a lead generating network. Usually, it’s the first external place I point them. If they can’t cultivate these types of relationships, how are they going to cultivate customer relationships?

Doing the necessary work to develop good, solid business relationships is far from easy. Having strong people skills and a thick skin usually helps. If you’re easily offended or hate working a room, it’s going to be tougher for you. Getting past those roadblocks can be your biggest challenge. Doing so will ignite the fuse and get in the game. All of us have a level of apprehension when initiating a relationship to some degree. Overcoming that apprehension can actually be a bit of an energizer. Setting a template that puts you in as many people-contact situations as possible will begin to break down those walls. It will also put you on the path to building projects!

Tom Woodcock, president, Seal the Deal, Manchester, Mo., is a speaker, trainer, and author of the book You’re Not Sellin’, They’re Buyin’! He can be reached at (314) 775-9217 or www.tomwoodcocksealthedeal.com.