Do your clients love you and what you do for them?
It may sound a little risqué to say you’re in the relationship business, but the truth of the matter is your relationships with clients play a huge role in your company’s success. Do your clients like you? Can they depend on you? Do they value you? Do they trust you? Do you trust them?
All of those factor into whether you have good relationships with your ideal clients.
When it comes to starting relationships with prospects, there are many things that can demonstrate your expertise, give a feel for what it’s like to work with you, and create a foundation of trust. Here’s a look at a few:
Articles that Feature You
In this online world, the first thing people do when researching purchases is go to the web. They research their problem and possible solutions. If they find an article on the topic that features you or is written by you—and it provides helpful information—you move to the top of their list.
You can write an advice-like article and post it on your website or blog. You can also approach journalists and bloggers and let them know about you and your expertise. If you have something newsworthy to share, they could write about you or they could use you as a source in an article they write.
Approaching such writers requires some tact. Like your buyer relationships, relationships with journalists and bloggers call for a softer touch that first gets you on their radar and then proves you’re someone they want to work with. In fact, a personal approach often works best, writes David Spark in his article How to Approach Journalists and Bloggers–and Get Them to Write about You.
Bloggers on a recent PR summit said “they appreciate the personal approach where the person contacting them knows the writer, what they cover, and what they’re interested in,” Spark writes.
Other tips: keep pitches short, avoid all capital letters, and don’t call to ask if they received your email or press release.
Get Prospects to See You in Action
Speaking opportunities at conferences or industry meetings are a great way to demonstrate your expertise, showcase your personality, and network with potential buyers. The key to successful speeches depends on getting buyers into your session. And that takes work.
“Too many professional service firms put out a press release about the event or speaking engagement and call it a day. That doesn’t cut it anymore. Neither does writing a blog post or announcing it on LinkedIn. Elbow grease is required,” writes Vickie K. Sullivan in her article 3 Strategies to Get Buyers to Attend Your Next Speech.
Again, personal is best when telling people about the event. What you say to a conference attendee is different than what you say to a cold prospect, she says.
Other ways to help fill the room, according to Sullivan: ask current clients to talk up the event and include opinion leaders who will be attending the conference in your presentation.
Build a Trustworthy Sales Team
If you have a sales team talking with prospects, you have to make sure they have all of the essential information and materials. And that means having an onboarding program for each salesperson, says sales management strategist Lee Salz.
With onboarding programs companies can get new-hire salespeople up to speed and making sales faster, he says in his podcast interview The Best Way to Get New Salespeople Up to Speed and Generating Revenue Quickly. Without them, even great salespeople will fail.
“One of the challenges companies have is they say their new salespeople don’t sell the value that they offer. And I’ll say, ‘OK, when did you teach them about that value?’ And they’ll say, ‘What do you mean teach them the value? They’re salespeople. They’re great salespeople. They should know that.’ Well, you don’t come out of the womb knowing that. You’ve got to teach them how to apply the skills they bring to the table in your selling environment,” Salz says.
Being able to demonstrate the value of what you offer is also critical when it comes to pricing, adds Greta Schulz. If they understand your value and have the budget, you owe it to yourself to stand firm on price, she says.
“A prospect tells you that your price is too high for two reasons: you haven’t built up enough value or you haven’t shown them how your service can satisfy their need. If you do those two things, you should never defend or justify anything about your services, including your rates, to a prospect,” says Schulz in her article How to Close Sales When Buyers Fight You on Price.
Relationship-based Sales Success Story
Relationship-based selling works, as evidenced by Simplicity Consulting, which went from generating $300,000 in revenue to $11.5 million in just three years following that model.
CEO Lisa Hufford’s approach is to focus on the deliverable, writes Mary Flaherty in her case study of the firm Relationship-Based Sales Model Grows Consulting Firm from $300K to $11.5M in 3 Years. Projects often change in Hufford’s industry, so she works closely with clients from the beginning to get a good handle on the work required. The quote is based on the deliverable, and then she carefully matches a consultant to the project. The goal is to meet the clients’ unique needs.
“I believe it’s all about quality, not quantity,” Hufford says, “Clients don’t have the time to screen candidates. They just want to go somewhere they trust to find quality resources.”
Hufford’s relationship approach is a large part of her marketing, as well. She spends a lot of time networking, speaking to groups at large corporations, and educating companies on how to reduce costs and leverage resources in a new way.
“In a people business—especially one just starting out—it’s all about relationships, and that takes a lot of face-to-face meetings,” says Hufford.
