For quotas to reach and profits, it can be easy for a sales team to zero in on a “now deal” mentality regarding consumer relations. While this mentality makes for quick sales and easy wins, it can also bring bad taste in the mouths of customers.
Building strong consumer relationships promotes customer loyalty and allows them to share their satisfaction with other potential consumers. So, to help your sales staff move from a transactional mindset to a focus on building consumer relationships, the eight members of the Young Entrepreneur Council share their best tips below.
The members of the Young Entrepreneur Council discussed moving towards a relationship-building mentality in sales.
Photos courtesy of individual members.
1. Use data
Data original. We show the team less time to make additional discoveries and connections and consequently to make sales transactions. When we invest more time in the front end, we drive out customers who are not suitable for us, have low returns and have high value sales. Showing like big results when closing helps our team. – Marjorie Adams, Forlane
2. Focus on the big picture
Your sales team doesn’t need to focus on the next sale; They need to focus on the next 10. Is customer service the best? Are you upselling? Are you building a somewhat personal relationship? The answers to these questions and much more will help you build a “deal now” mentality and more. – Andrew Shrez, Money Crushers Personal Finance
3. Change your stimulus structure
If your sales strategy is predicted on quotas, your sales staff will now focus on transactions. By building relationships and encouraging brand loyalty and shifting to solution-finding to stop selling, you remove the burden of time. Sales of SEO services and digital marketing solutions have long been about the game, and our incentive structure reflects this. – Matthew Capala, Alphamatic
4. Encourage specific customer metrics
Encourage repeat customer metrics as well as new customer acquired metrics. We tend to divide our customers within our sales team and review sales by customers every quarter. When repeat sales are low, we follow up by asking team members how many times they have reached the customer. This encourages repeat sales and indirectly forces them to build a relationship. – Kripa Shroff, a multinational LLC
5. Demonstrate the value of building relationships
One way to help your sales staff move from the “Transact Now” mentality is to explain the value of building relationships with qualified leads. You can host a short virtual training session for your team and discuss the strategic and statistical benefits of believing with the prospect. Be sure to encourage your team by providing real life example situations and solutions. – Chris Christoph, Monster Insights
6. Lead by example
You need to lead by example and show your sales staff that building relationships is more important than just making a quick sale. Explain the benefits of taking a long-term approach and focus on developing relationships with potential customers. Then, provide them with the tools and resources they need to succeed, such as customer data access, social media monitoring tools, and customer relationship management software. – Syed Balkhi, WP Beginner
7. Invest in the future
Get ready for tomorrow. When your focus is on the future, your daily interactions become a tool for building connections to build a stronger tomorrow. Invest in customers and transactions so that they stay with you for a lifetime. This simple change of mindset will help make the customer feel important and build a lifelong relationship with your brand. – Mary Harcourt, Cosmoglo
8. Build conversations
A key step in moving from transaction to engagement is to encourage conversation. Although the “now transaction” relies on a one-way, linear conversation model, engagement is necessarily more dynamic and multidimensional. To do this, use the chat, video and shareable features on your page and social media channels. It breaks down the one-way communication model to create lasting relationships. – Shu Saito, all filters