The Key To Your Success: Relationships vs Transactions

I spoke with a client recently about their sales process. Based on their data, their top-notch sales team has a high percentage of prospects end up becoming paying customers. I wanted to know where they get the 'juice' that makes their sales effort so effective.

The Methodical Art of Marketing

I am a student of the "methodical art" of marketing. It is a combination of two things. The first is the science side, a set of methodical actions geared toward ratcheting the organization toward its strategic goals through a series of tactical steps, all measured in finite units of impressions and clicks and engagements and conversions.

Marketing is also made up of soft skills that can be difficult to measure but easy to spot when you see it. It is the ability to turn a phrase or turn heads almost on a whim, like some kind of super power.

The famous faces of marketing make it look easy.

There are those who can sell sand to someone dying of thirst. They have this super power. When you ask them how they do it, they likely won't be able to tell you — it's entirely possible they've never given it any thought. They've never undertaken a course of study at a prestigious university or even received some noble and holy dispensation from a guru high upon a mountain top.

This marketing super power is something they just have. I call it juice.

When working with this company on their marketing campaign, it was obvious where the juice lies in their sales funnel. The wonderful people who take the call when a prospect rings them up clearly have the juice.

I interviewed one of their top sales people and asked them about their process. What is a typical call like? What are the prospective customers looking for? What turns them from curious to enthused to say, "Sign me up!"

What I learned from this interview surprised me, but after some thought, it seems perfectly natural.

"They aren't great at sales — in fact, they aren't selling anything."

These individuals don't sell, they focus on building a relationship with the customer so they can better solve their problem.

The customer calls because they have a problem that needs to be solved, and the sales person starts to build that relationship by first seeking to understand what the problem is.

The interaction between sales person and customer is not fake or contrived. It doesn't come from a training manual, scripted from on high. It is a genuine desire on the part of the sales person to solve the customer's problem. It is empathetic and sympathetic.

A relationship forms.

Trust is established.

Confidence increases.

The customer has found a solution to their problem from a provider they can trust to keep their promises.

This is where customer loyalty takes root, and this loyalty isn't a one-way transaction. Ensuring the customer's needs are addressed and that you keep your promises is one of the best ways to return that loyalty.

Your customer's success is where your organization's success can be found, and that connection is created when you treat it as a relationship and not just a transaction.