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Building Relationships, Not Just Transactions: The Power of Effective Sales
84 Plays1 year ago
In this episode of The Better Contractor Podcast, we dive into the essence of effective sales strategies that go beyond just closing deals. In this short episode, we explore the importance of building genuine relationships in business. Is your sales approach transactional, or are you focused on long-term connections? Discover actionable tips on how to be authentic, offer real solutions, and follow up with a personal touch. Don’t miss out on these insights that could transform your business approach. Drop questions or feedback in the comments below!
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Transcript
Effective Sales Techniques Overview
00:00:00
Speaker
Today, we're gonna talk more about effective sales in business. So I'm gonna first tell a story. I'll try not to, I'm not gonna give names, not gonna give company names. It's people who stop by my office. It is kind of a story of two different sales techniques.
00:00:17
Speaker
Both of them were selling the equipment to to Lanarkorp. The first one that comes in.
Why Shorter Podcast Episodes?
00:00:36
Speaker
Welcome back to another edition of The Better Contractors. We wanted to try a few things that are a little bit different. So a lot of our podcasts so far have been kind of long, you know, that 40 to hour long podcast. So we wanted to do a couple, see how you guys liked them, kind of get your guys' feedback on them. So we wanted to do a couple of shorter ones. The last one was more of a Q and&A where you guys submitted some questions and we answered them. This one is going to be more of a Specific topic that we basically try to answer like five bullet points. So very to the point Hopefully it's something you get a nugget of information from hopefully Not something that drones on and on with a lot of banter Sometimes you want banter sometimes you don't this is not going to be your banter podcast
00:01:16
Speaker
But before we get started, I just want to say thank you. We've noticed a really good uptick in our subscribers lately. So I want to say thank you to guys for that. And then also, like I said before, we're trying some different ideas. We really, really want your feedback. So please do give us some feedback on the podcast, the topics, et cetera.
Aggressive vs. Respectful Sales Techniques
00:01:33
Speaker
Today, we're going to talk more about effective sales and business. So I'm going to first tell a story.
00:01:41
Speaker
I'll try not to, I'm not gonna give names, not gonna give company names. It's people who've stopped by my office and it's kind of a story of two different sales techniques. Both of them were selling the equipment to, to Lanarkorp. The first one that comes in, it doesn't really take no for an answer, stops by a lot, really wants to come back to my office, even if the front desk says he's busy, basically makes more of a nuisance of himself. Person two,
00:02:10
Speaker
respectful of the no respectful of time and does not stop in unless he feels like he can actually help with something. The keyword there being help. So we'll focus on that in a second, but that's two different sales techniques. And I'll liken that a little bit to like the used car salesman type thing. So if you think of like your, your used car salesman, what do you think of? You think of high pressure. You think of someone following you around the parking lot when you just want to see a sticker or look at a cool car you drove by.
00:02:37
Speaker
You think of someone who simply cannot take no for an answer and will keep on and keep on asking. I'm not gonna say that that is not a sales technique. That is a sales technique and it does work. However, you gotta think if that's what you want your business to be. Do you wanna be that business? Or do you wanna be one that's built more upon a relationship? Personally, I'm gonna go with the relationship process. So that's what we're gonna talk about today. So we're gonna go through five bullet points really quick.
Building Genuine Relationships
00:03:04
Speaker
Number one.
00:03:05
Speaker
develop a genuine relationship. So you guys need to be authentic. You need to be real. You do not need to sell at this stage of the game. The point at this stage is just to build a relationship. So that means you've contacted this customer. They have answered the phone. You just need to get to know them, find out a little bit about them, see who they are, what they need, what they want.
00:03:30
Speaker
Gather information and build a relationship, but do not necessarily try to sell at that point, unless they're needing it. They'll obviously fill that out. If they're needing something urgent, obviously you're gonna try to help them to sell. If they're not, and this is a customer in a contracted world that's doing something in two or three months, you don't need to necessarily sell at this point, build a relationship.
00:03:48
Speaker
Number two, find a way to help them. You'll remember that word just a minute ah minute ago. You need to find a way to help them. Again, something that you can hone in on it and say, hey, this is an area that is your expertise as a contractor, whatever, that's ah if you're a builder, lawn, landscape, doing dirt work, without it whatever it is. And when I say help on the second point, it's really more find something that you can actually help them with that doesn't necessarily involve selling quite yet. So you're offering some advice. Let's say they got a little bit of a problem in this area. You're offering them a tip, advice, maybe it is something free. Not that you're giving stuff away, but the goal here is to help them. And what you're doing there is furthering that relationship that you built number one by helping them. And then you're basically developing an atmosphere to where they have trust, they have relationship, and when they need whatever it is you're selling, they're more apt to use you.
00:04:46
Speaker
Now I'm not saying this in a fake way. You don't want to be fake and you don't want to do all this just to get a sale. It needs to be genuine. It needs to be real. It needs to be who you are. It needs to be part of your core values. So find a way to help them. If you can offer some advice, a lot of that stuff costs nothing. You should have it in your head. So offer them that advice and that help for free.
Problem Solving for Sales Success
00:05:05
Speaker
Number three, in the process of number two, find something that is a problem in their world, something that needs to be fixed, something that you can provide a solution to. This is when you make the sale. So if talking to them, you realize, hey, they really need this service of ours and we can actually really be of a benefit to them. That is when you hone in on and you actually make the sale at that point because they actually have a need and that is something you can provide a solution to.
00:05:32
Speaker
And if you can't provide a solution or there is someone better, take the high road and bow out of that one. Say, Hey, you know, I'm actually not your guy for this. You want to develop credibility with people and trust. That's the way to do it. So if you can help and you are the best at it, then make the sale on number three, number four, this is kind of a beef of mine.
Post-Sale Follow-Up Strategies
00:05:54
Speaker
You'll see a lot of people, they may have done steps one through three when they get to step four.
00:06:00
Speaker
They've made the sale, they've collected, technically it's done. Follow up. Anyway, so follow up with that client. Make sure the quality was good. Make sure the customer service was good. Remember, this is about developing relationship. The relationship doesn't end at the point you finished the sale and collected. Keep the relationship going. You want word of mouth. You want someone who is like, you know what? So-and-so did our landscape in our in our backyard. They were awesome. It may have been five years ago, but because you kept that relationship going, they just referred you to someone else. So it's the word of mouth marketing.
00:06:36
Speaker
But again, you were genuine in the process. They offered up your name and you stayed in contact. Number five, a gift. And I'm not talking to some cheesy gift from one of the places online where you're given somebody a tote bag or a grocery bag for their wife. Most of you guys contact the world, you're you're dealing with a decent sized ticket item. You're probably not doing a $300 service. More than likely you're doing a 10, 20, 30, $100,000 service.
00:07:04
Speaker
you should be able to buy somebody a gift for $200 to $300. Most people don't do that though, but you want to say thank you, make it something that's actually neat, something they actually want to display, something they actually want to have.
00:07:18
Speaker
Man, if you could do that and stay in contact after the sale, gosh, to me, your customer retention rate at that point should be through the roof. Your word of mouth marketing, your referrals, all that should be through the roof. So to me, what I just laid out to you, that is the long-term plan on how to make sales.
Long-Term Sales Benefits
00:07:36
Speaker
The high pressure, you may make sales, you may meet meet sales quotas, but you're going to get people coming back to you over and over. Are you going to get word of mouth?
00:07:45
Speaker
For me, in my personality type, you're not. Because you're annoying, I don't want to go back to you ever again. This is a more of a long-term game plan to make sales, to retain those clients, and get your word of mouth. So, hope you guys liked this podcast. Hopefully that was to the point. Hopefully that was helpful. You guys in the contracting space, entrepreneur space, if you're just starting out.
00:08:06
Speaker
give this a shot, compare it to the more high pressure. I think you'll probably agree this is a little bit better strategy.
Feedback and Subscriptions
00:08:13
Speaker
I know Atlanta Corp, this is kind of what we push on our sales team, and it's worked pretty well. So anyway, appreciate you guys listening to podcasts. As we said in the beginning, if you liked it, please do share it. We thank you so much for your subscribes. They went up a lot lately. If you haven't subscribed yet, please do. Otherwise, give us some feedback on this podcast, the Q and&A one we did before this one.
00:08:35
Speaker
Let us know what you're thinking. if If there's another style of podcast you want to see, give us that feedback as well. We want this to be helpful. We want this to be something you want to tune into and listen to. So give us that feedback. Appreciate you guys. Catch you next time.