Relationship selling is all about connecting with people, cementing relationship with trust and continuing the relationship with them through a chain of value additions in their lives.
Here, we are introducing you to the 8 inevitable Cs in the process of relationship selling. At the outset, let us see the 8 inevitable Cs of relationship selling.
- Connecting
- Clarifying
- Caring
- Consulting
- Campaigning
- Convincing
- Closing
- Continuing
Review the attempts you make to do sales on a weekly basis and find out if you are improving based on the below mentioned parameters.
On a scale of 1-10, how would you rate your present ability to carry out these strategies on a weeklybasis?
(Where 10 is “I do this really well,” and 1 is “I don’t do this at all.”)
Relationship selling begins with connecting. Connecting is all about connecting with people and building rapport with them. The people with whom you connect could be your suspect or prospect.
A suspect is one who will not engage with you for long. On, the other hand a suspect is one who shows interest and will tend to engage with you for a long time.
| Connecting | WeeklyRating |
| Greeting the customer | |
| Addressing customer by name | |
| Asking for details of customer like place, education, etc through small talk | |
| Matching and mirroring through conversations | |
| Usage of kind words in the conversations | |
| Becoming genuinely interested in people |
Clarifying involves asking questions both open and closed ones, as well as utilizing the technique called probing to understand the customer and to analyze his needs and wants. Clarification fetches clarity in the mind of the sales professional.
| Clarifying | WeeklyRating |
| Asking questions | |
| Ability to uncover the needs, wants, desires and problems of the customer |
|
| Ensuring clarity about the customer’s need and problems |
Show that you care by listening to your prospect. Effective sales will take place only if you let your prospect talk longer than you. He wants to be heard. The more you listen to your prospect, the more empathetic you are, the more you make him significant and the more you care. Caring will take place, when you have a sincere, open attitude to understand.
| Caring | WeeklyRating |
| Ability to listen to the customer | |
| Ability to understand the customer | |
| Being responsive and active while listening |
Give your prospects, world class consulting. The care, with which you listen to your prospect, would definitely let you identify the wants, needs and the problems of the prospect. The sales professional should be able to create awareness amongst his prospect about the prospects needs and problems.
Once your prospect feels that he is in a problem, he will definitely be looking forward to you for solution. This is the time for your consultation, to educate him and advise him on how to come out of the problem.
| Consulting | WeeklyRating |
| Your awareness about your own products and industry | |
| Ability to educate your costumers about the industry and the products in the industry | |
| Ability to give consultation to a customer to come out of his problem. |
If you do not campaign for your product and service, who else will?
Offering solutions to the problems through your product or service lets you go on a campaign.
Enlisting the benefits and advantages of your products and services through presentations or demonstrations is your way of campaigning in sales. Your presentations need to be persuasive.
| Campaigning | WeeklyRating |
| Ability to present your product to the customer | |
| Ability to enlist the benefit and advantages of the product. | |
| Ability to block objections | |
| Ability to focus on the customer’s seemingly dominant buying motive |
Success in sales is a convincing ability. The campaign may not be all enough for a conversion to take place. You need to convince your prospect by overcoming objections, providing testimonials of delighted customers and offering value propositions over your competitor.
| Convincing | WeeklyRating |
| Ability to overcome objections | |
| Ability to enlist testimonials | |
| Ability to offer value propositions | |
| Ability to attract positive remarks from the customer |
The Art of Asking for the order and getting the decision that you desire from the prospect is what closing the sales is about.
| Closing | WeeklyRating |
| Ability to go for a trial close | |
| Ability to overcome secondary objections | |
| Ability to try different closing techniques | |
| Ability to have more closures or joining |
Continuing is the process of maintaining good relationship with a customer by adding value to the customer by upselling and cross-selling your products and services. In return, you get the continuing support and referrals from the customer.
| Continuing | WeeklyRating |
| Enhancement in the number of referrals | |
| Increase in the number of follow ups with customers | |
| Ability to support the customer after joining |
