You must dare to question the obvious to become a good salesperson!
All sales organizations realize the importance of enjoying strong relationships with their corporate customers. And of course, a high level of trust.
The traditional reasoning around this tends to be that if we, as a selling organization, show our customer, in words and actions, how good we are, and deliver according to agreements based on our promises, then the customer will gain increased trust in us.
Which automatically leads to a stronger relationship.
This reasoning has always bothered me; I believe it does not align with how we humans function when it comes to relationships.
Compare it with friendship and love, which are often based on your friend or partner making you feel good and comfortable with yourself.
“I like you, not just because you are you, but because I especially like myself when I am with you.”
If you agree with this reasoning – shouldn’t the same be true in a B2B relationship?
Then the crucial question becomes: How can we get our customers to not only appreciate us, but also like themselves more in the collaboration with us?
So how can you make the customer feel better about themselves when they interact with us?
Well, by for example:
Organize their thinking: Create a framework around complex decisions.
Ask the right questions: Provide guidance throughout the entire process.
Make the customer feel safe: Confirm that they are on the right track.
By strengthening the customer’s self-confidence and helping them make informed decisions, it is easier to create a deeper and more meaningful relationship.
They will see the salesperson as a partner in their success, and that is a good foundation for a long-term and mutually successful business relationship.
Here you can read more about how to conduct a needs analysis of your customer.
