Relationship selling at its best

CRM software may be all the rage, but it takes more than technology to build meaningful relationships with your customers

Tom Reilly -- Industrial Distribution, 9/1/2006

There is much written today about Customer Relationship Management, CRM for short. Software providers brag that their software brings high-tech to high-touch. But there's more to your relationship with customers than software can provide. As humans, we are hard-wired for personal contact. We crave the presence of others.

Relationship selling is about personal contact with your customers. It is less about technique and more about trust. I recently surveyed 100 top salespeople and asked them how much of their sales success they attribute to their relationships with their customers. They responded with an astounding 79 percent.

When asked how they build this relationship, they responded: “I make it personal.” It goes beyond business. They develop warm, personal relationships with customers based on common interests and goals. They build trust by following up on their promises. They communicate openly and fully with customers. They keep customers ahead of the curve by bringing them information that affects their business. They are accessible to customers; many of them offer 24-7 availability. They help their customers succeed.

These salespeople partner with customers. One customer told us that his salesperson was more like one of his own employees because of the value he creates. Another said that his salesperson knows that, “When we have a problem, he has a problem.” Problem ownership and customer intimacy are ways salespeople create value for customers.

When studying these top-achieving salespeople, I interviewed their sales managers and asked how they saw their salespeople build relationships with customers. One sales manager said it best: “When I have a rep that is struggling, the first thing I look at is his expense reports. Taking customers to lunch is no big deal—everyone does it. I look for how much time the rep spends with customers off the clock. If there are no ball games, golf, hunting trips or spouse dinners, I know why the rep is struggling.”

This is sound advice. In my study, 71 percent of top achievers use entertainment as a way to get closer to customers. One purchasing agent said he liked entertainment because it gave him a look at the person with whom he was dealing. Watching how salespeople treat waiters in a restaurant or beer vendors at a ball game is an insight that you don't get in a business setting.

Relationship selling is more than buying customers a meal, but that's part of it. Building this personal and professional relationship is a prerequisite for sales success. If two people trust each other, feel a loyalty to each other, and want to seal their business future because of this friendship, they will work out the details.