One of the most powerful strategies you can develop as a sales consultant, is the ability to manage, and effectively lead, the relationships with your clients. And if you adopt a strong profile with your best clients, it opens up so many avenues for you to identify further opportunities where you can assist them. When you manage customer relationships well, you prove yourself an  invaluable asset to your client. Here are some ideas you might want to consider in driving forward the long-term business relationships you have:

Understand who has the power in the company. This isn’t just the hierarchy that exists, but the people who actually make decisions. And who are the people who are coming through the ranks?

Get to know how these people make decisions. Do they require long-term strategies explained to them, or are they looking for quick wins?

Make sure you have lines of communication open with these people, and you know how they want to be contacted

Build the relationships with these people by showing how much value you offer them, in every aspect of the relationship

If someone in the client business leaves, make it your business to check in and see if there’s anything you can to help the new person create a good impression by dealing with you

Assess how your company image is being perceived within their business, and manage expectations closely and carefully

Be aware of which competitors your client is dealing with and consistently be ahead of the game by planning your future with them

By being consistent in your relationship-building with your clients, you won’t find yourself panicking if they start courting other companies as well as you. You will always offer something that others can’t, if you manage your customer relationships proactively and efficiently

Happy selling!

Sean

Sean McPheat
The UK’s #1 Authority On Modern Day Selling
MTD Sales Training

Have you downloaded my latest report “The Sales Person’s Crisis”? Over 10,000 sales pros have.

Click on the image below to find out why you’re very existence as a sales person is in doubt…

Of all the skills you probably need to develop most as a successful salesperson, but actually practice least, is the skill and art of negotiating to a collaborative conclusion. This may be because you think it has to be done in front of the client, and any practice would never prepare you for the real situation.

But you can prepare yourself effectively to improve your negotiation skills by concentrating on some salient facts:

Firstly, what are my realistic expectations during the negotiations? Set yourself LIMITS. These are (L) things you’d Like to achieve, (I) things you Intend to achieve and (M) levels you must not go beyond. If you can achieve a result between these three positions, then IT’S a deal! It gives you room to move when you are working with the client on positions, without having to worry about giving things away.

You want to enter the negotiation with equal power. One way you can do this is by knowing what the competition are offering. If your client tells you what offers they’ve had, make sure you have benefits that offer more value than they could get elsewhere.

Ensure you approach the negotiation from a position of collaboration. This means you will both mutually succeed by adopting your solutions.

Make yourself different from the competition by being in a unique position to assist your client. What can you offer in the long-term relationship that no-one else can?

Prepare for your client to try to negotiate from a position of power. It’s known as win-lose, and it often happens when you look desperate for the deal. If you are asked to move positions during the negotiation, make sure it’s a trade rather than a concession. If you give away everything, you won’t be in a strong position to help the client in the future.

Remember, special deals or individual arrangements with clients do have a habit of biting you where it hurts, especially if you are negotiating again in the future.

If they come back with demands at the last minute, look for the real reasons behind it, and make it so that you collaborate with them, rather than give in to these seemingly trivial demands.

If you give in, what does that do to your credibility as a company and as an individual? It means that, at a subliminal level, the client can’t trust you, because you were going to agree terms at one point and then you move easily to another. They are thinking ‘what else could I have got?’

So, if you can prepare yourself effectively before the negotiation, it will give you the confidence and credibility to improve your negotiation skills and approach it from a position of power rather than weakness. Practice with a colleague. Write down objections you might encounter. Be vigilant as to the tactics the client might use on you. And determine that your client will benefit enormously by having you serve them in the future.

Happy Selling!

Sean

Sean McPheat
The UK’s #1 Authority On Modern Day Selling
MTD Sales Training

Have you downloaded my latest report “The Sales Person’s Crisis”? Over 10,000 sales pros have.

Click on the image below to find out why you’re very existence as a sales person is in doubt…

Howard Feiertag is a leading writer in the hospitality industry. He wrote that there are six main reasons why a company will lose a customer and why that customer will never return.

The six reasons he lists are death, the fact that they move away, they buy from a friend, they prefer a competitor, they are dissatisfied with the product, or they experienced an attitude of indifference from the supplying company.

Now these reasons will naturally affect you and your customers, too, but which reason do you think is the main reason for the defections? And what percentage applies to all these reasons.

Feiertag’s research shows that, in the hospitality industry, one of these reasons stands out by far. And I would guess that these figures pretty much apply to most industries. Let’s take a look:

Death – Sadly, some of our clients will meet the reaper sooner than we would like, but they only make up 1% of the total defectors.

Move Away – Our clients may move their businesses, or the main buyer may leave the company and the new buyer may not use you. According to research, this accounts for about 3% of clients

Buy from a Friend – Some other clients may actually buy from a company because they know the supplier personally. You might be a friend, too, but 4% will still leave you for this reason

Prefer a competitor – Your competition may come up with a special offer to lure your client away. If you haven’t built up a close relationship with them, the last you may hear from them is their answerphone, as they don’t pick up the phone to your calls any more. This accounts for 9% of the defectors

Product dissatisfaction – We can’t please everyone all the time. Sometimes our products are simply not good enough, or something happens that causes them to be dissatisfied with our offerings. Another 14% leave because of this.

That leaves one last reason. And you’ll probably notice that the previous reasons, in the majority of cases, are outside of our control. However, this main reason is certainly within our control, and it’s the attitude we show to the client. A whopping 68% of clients, according to Feiertag, leave because of apathy by the supplier.

O, brother, that’s more than 2 out of 3 of your lost customers!

What can you do to ensure you don’t suffer from this experience?

Ensure you know the level of service your customer expects. Some customers want you call every other day. Some want only new updates. Others want a visit every three months. Find out what your clients’ expectations are in this area of contacts. Then match them.

Be the first port of call when your client has a problem. You might not be involved in shipping, but you want to know when your customer’s delivery hasn’t arrived. It saves you having a big shock on your next visit.

Use personal follow-ups, thank you notes, phone calls or other ways to make sure your customer knows you appreciate their business. These personal touches can mean a lot. Find out the buyer’s birthday and send them a personal card, not an email. It will make an impression.

Remember: Your clients want and need reasons to keep the partnership going. Don’t neglect them while seeking out new clients.

Your attitude is contagious…is yours worth catching?

Happy selling

Sean

Sean McPheat
The UK’s #1 Authority On Modern Day Selling
MTD Sales Training

Have you downloaded my latest report “The Sales Person’s Crisis”? Over 10,000 sales pros have.

Click on the image below to find out why you’re very existence as a sales person is in doubt…

Have you heard of symbiotic selling?

Symbiosis is a cooperative relationship between two dissimilar organisms in which both organisms receive beneficial reinforcement (mutualism).

Like a shark and a remora fish. The remora will enter the shark’s mouth and clean out debris, getting food and protection. The shark gets clean teeth and gills, allowing it to swim in new waters more efficiently. That’s in the biological world. What about our world?

A cooperative relationship between the sales person and a customer is the foundation for building a profitable partnership.  Just like the relationship between the shark and remora, you need the customer and he or she needs you.

Symbiotic selling harmonises your products and services with your customer’s needs. It delivers a level of service that makes you indispensable to your customer. It creates a relationship with your customer that is far beyond a transactional arrangement. And it develops a loyalty to your brand that is hard to break.

How will the customer benefit if you establish a symbiotic relationship with them?

Just as the shark will be able to swim in new waters, your customer will be able to enter new markets and identify new opportunities.

How will you benefit from the arrangement?

You will enjoy the special relationship that preferred supplier status will create. And you’ll help develop new markets for yourself as your customer will refer you to prospects you wouldn’t have known about without your new relationship.

By building this close consultative partnership with your customers, you reduce the emphasis of pricing for your products and services, as your client becomes an advocate of your company. This develops trust and builds mutual respect.

Help your customers swim in new waters. Become their remora by offering the kind of service your competition can’t match. Then watch the business relationship (and your profits) grow.

Happy selling!

Sean

Sean McPheat
The UK’s #1 Authority On Modern Day Selling
MTD Sales Training

Have you downloaded my latest report “The Sales Person’s Crisis”? Over 10,000 sales pros have.

Click on the image below to find out why you’re very existence as a sales person is in doubt…