Close Deals Faster – LONG TERM RELATIONSHIPS
Sales training seminars worth their salt do not teach transactional selling but rather relationship-based or consultative selling. The reason for this is the consultative approach leads to a greater return in the form of repeated business, referrals, and bigger deals.
In my book, Close Deals Faster: The 15 Shortcuts of the Asher Sales Method,I go into depth on establishing long term relationships with customers. I will cover a few of those points here, but I encourage you to buy the book to learn more. Or better yet, attend one of our professional sales training seminars to go even deeper into the subject!
Existing clients drive growth
According to multiple surveys of firms selling B2B products and services, about 90 percent of their revenue comes from existing customers. 90 percent!
Its smarter to focus on current customers rather than new ones because the cost of a new customer is high. It’s about six to ten times the effort and expense to get a new customer compared with getting that same revenue from an existing customer. If you are not focusing on your existing customers, you are missing out on a potential fortune in revenue.
This is why the best sales training seminars focus on getting repeat business and upsells from existing clients.
Show them you care
In my book, I explain that most customers leave because they feel ignored, rather than because of bad service or a lousy product. Sales training seminars should emphasize keeping in touch with the customer, because there is no surer way to lose one than by failing to communicate.
Nowadays, this is extremely easy to do with CRM software and automation. The least you can do is send an annual birthday greeting. A step up would be to stay in touch through regular emails, social media mentions, sharing blog posts, etc. Even better is sending handwritten notes and scheduling periodic personal visits.
Anticipate their needs
I estimate60 percent of customer loyalty comes not from delivering an excellent product or service, but by anticipating future needs and offering solutions for them.
As an example, say you have a customer who has bought software from you, but you note their workstations are a few years past their prime. You introduce them to a trusted computer wholesaler who can get them a great deal on upgrades. Now you are more than a vendor, you are approaching business partner status – and have them set up to seamlessly acquire your next software iteration which requires more powerful computers!
The best way to anticipate needs is to keep your ear to the ground. Pay attention to chatter when you are on site, or follow news in the customer’s industry by subscribing to business journals. Act like you are part of the customer’s organization, anticipate their business pains, and solve them. That’s an excellent foundation for a long-term relationship.
The above is just the tip of the iceberg of technique’s I’ve taught in decades of sales training seminars. To find out more, please buy and read my book Close Deals Faster: The 15 Shortcuts of the Asher Sales Method which is published by IdeaPress and available on Amazon.
