The Client Has to Like Me to Buy
One of the great myths of professional selling, especially relationship selling, is that we have to get the client to like us in order to get the sale. So if we don’t get the sale, they hate us? We have no value as their friend, companion? We’re chopped liver!
Prospects don’t have to like us to do business with us. They do have to respect us. They can do so without being our bosom buddy. The friendship can come after the respect. The land we bought for our future location in New Mexico is a perfect example. The team there earned our respect. We’re a long way from being blood brothers. The sales person we worked with was a true professional. She did a great job on:
-
Diagnostics
- Open ended questions
- Discovering our budget
- Getting clear on our time line
- Understanding our decision criteria and process
She also had good boundaries on what she was or was not willing to do to secure the sale. Her professionalism made me feel comfortable moving forward on a decision of this magnitude.
Bottom Line: if you’re extending your sale cycle, convincing yourself you can’t ask for the big order until the client likes you, you may be just fooling yourself. Securing the core information listed above is one of the best ways to begin to secure client respect. From this palce you begin to ask for the order.
Â
Â
