For small businesses, there is an inclination to have a narrow focus on persuading customers, closing sales and moving onto the next project, at the expense of delivering value to the customer. This traditional approach to selling has many drawbacks, and does not have the advantages of relationship selling.
Aggressively focusing on closing sales, instead of meeting the needs of customers, results in short term relationships and dissatisfied customers. In these situations, the objectives of the seller and those of the buyer often do not match and a win-lose situation is created. This traditional approach is also likely to result in cognitive dissonance, or buyer’s remorse, whereas relationship selling would help prevent this kind of reaction by communicating with the buyer and addressing their needs.
One key benefit of relationship selling is that both the seller’s and the buyer’s objectives are met. Instead of trying to persuade a buyer, a sales team identifies and fulfills a buyer’s need. This kind of selling results in long term relationships with buyers and consumers, that come from mutual trust developed through the delivery of valuable goods and services. Relationship selling does not just take place at the point of sale. It occurs through a series of services geared towards insuring satisfaction.
A major advantage of relationship selling is that it draws loyal customers by developing trust and delivering value. Building a base of loyal customers is important because it can be up to 10 times more expensive to attain new customers than it is to retain previous ones. A good example of a firm that has made a commitment to relationship selling is CarMax.
CarMax focuses on servicing customers and delivering value with integrity, when business-customer relations have been largely scrapped of customer service. Car Max’s website also conveys their commitment to relationship selling; their About Us section states how they emphasize “trustworthiness and ethical practices”, and hold “quality, customer service, and communication” as some of their core values. CarMax also offers extended warrantees, which help develop positive relationships and prevent customer dissatisfaction. All of these facets demonstrate how CarMax has made it a point to develop a relationship with its customers.
Relationship selling makes the seller more of a consultant and problem solver for the buyer, as opposed to a traditional seller. Positive customer-salesman relationships have been shown to contribute to the trust, loyalty and intent to repurchase among buyers. Taking on the challenge of developing relationship selling can bring many benefits to small businesses. If you make the effort to personalize sales, deliver value and foster trust with your buyers, relationship selling can help make a difference for your small business.
If you need help with digital relationship selling through PPC lead generation, contact us now. Building relationships in sales has to start with a warm lead. We can help.
Stuart Atkins
Note: The preceding post was written and researched by students in my Honors Marketing 351, Fall 2011 class, from the Mihaylo College of Business and Economics, Cal State Fullerton University, Fullerton California. Many thanks to their time, talent, and contributions to both their career and this marketing blog. Go Titans!
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