6 Steps to Prepare Yourself for Relationship selling
By: SAM MANFER

Relationship selling is the best strategy for prospecting or trying to get to higher level decision-makers. However, most sellers use cold calling and suffer the rejection and the futility of this approach. They cold call because they hate to ask people they know - relationships - for help. Cold calling is not only a waste of time, the rejection demotivates sales people and they get nowhere slowly. Worse yet, this constant rejection eventually causes them to totally avoid prospecting for new opportunities and clients. Sales slumps result that make them feel more terrible than before. They become desperate and begin cold calling again. They get the same negative results and the downward rejection cycle continues. Relationship selling is the solution to prospecting and getting to the influential decision-makers. And here are 6 steps to prepare you for effective relationship selling without rejection.

1. Identify and write down your target accounts on separate sheets of paper or separate Excel files. You can not do this in your head.

2. Now, ask yourself, “Who do I want to get to” and follow-up with “Who do I know that knows, for example, an IT person at ABC Company?” Keep asking yourself, and sooner than later an answer will come. But if you don't consciously and overtly ask yourself, the ideas won't come to you - guaranteed. Once these names come to you, write them down immediately.

3. Ask others for help! Get over you're inhibitions. Look to people in your company, to people in the target account, to other complimentary vendors you know. Call a sales person in the target account and say, “Can you help me?”

4. Be specific about the person you want to meet, when asking for help. I.e. “Do you know an IT person at ABC that's involved in systems, software design?” Or say to a vendor of a complimentary service, “When you sold the security system, who approved it and who got involved with the software interfacing?”

5. Ask your contact to make your introduction - either by phone or in person, not e-mail. If you ask they will probably do it. This will get you past gatekeepers and get your voicemail messages returned. Do not get just a name. Names won't get you a meeting.

6. Stop cold calling. It's only busy work, and worse, it's a waste of time. It either makes you feel you're doing something useful, which you're not, or it makes you feel nobody wants what you've got to offer, which again is not true.

About The Author:

Sam Manfer makes it easy for sales people to feel comfortable Relationship Selling and connecting with C-Level leaders. Visit his Advanced Sales Training Tips Website to see more inspiring articles and register for his free Selling Wisdoms E-zine.

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