Relationship Selling Demands a Proven Sales Process
Relationship selling is just that.
Using relationships to achieve your goal to increase sales.
How you establish, develop and nurture those relationships must be directly aligned to a proven sales process.
A proven sales process is a systematic way to move your prospects through your marketing and sales funnels.
Knowing who your qualified prospects are should be within your strategic sales plan within your overall strategic business plan.
However for a quick review, your qualified prospects have 4 qualities or characteristics:
The sales process is a combination of all marketing skills and selling skills necessary to take your qualified prospect from that initial introduction to that final follow so that you can ask for a referral.
There are many sales processes out in the market place with a plethora of acronyms.
What I have discovered is that the following 7 steps do not leave anything out nor do they create unnecessary actions.
You will not jump into selling behaviors when you should still be demonstrating marketing behaviors and the respective skills associated with those behaviors.
Remember, relationship selling is all about connecting with your prospects and truly demonstrating that the relationship is important through all of your behaviors.
Using relationships to achieve your goal to increase sales.
How you establish, develop and nurture those relationships must be directly aligned to a proven sales process.
A proven sales process is a systematic way to move your prospects through your marketing and sales funnels.
Knowing who your qualified prospects are should be within your strategic sales plan within your overall strategic business plan.
However for a quick review, your qualified prospects have 4 qualities or characteristics:
- Need for your products or services
- Budget to buy your products or services
- Authority as the decision maker to make the purchase
- Sense of urgency to take action
The sales process is a combination of all marketing skills and selling skills necessary to take your qualified prospect from that initial introduction to that final follow so that you can ask for a referral.
There are many sales processes out in the market place with a plethora of acronyms.
What I have discovered is that the following 7 steps do not leave anything out nor do they create unnecessary actions.
- Introduction - Get the attention - Marketing Skill
- Establish Rapport - Build the relationship - Marketing Skill
- Discover Wants & Needs - Focus on the prospect - Selling Skill
- Presenting Consequences & Benefits - Showcases your expertise and understanding of prospect - Selling Skill
- Gain Commitment - Make the sale - Selling Skill
- Deliver the Product or Service - Confirm sale is completed - Selling Skill
- Follow-Up - Confirm customer is happy camper allowing you to ask for referral - Marketing Skill
You will not jump into selling behaviors when you should still be demonstrating marketing behaviors and the respective skills associated with those behaviors.
Remember, relationship selling is all about connecting with your prospects and truly demonstrating that the relationship is important through all of your behaviors.
