Build Lasting Connections: Your Guide to Relationship Selling with Small Business Owners

Understanding the ins and outs of relationship selling with small business owners requires a different approach compared to dealing with large corporations. These folks have unique needs, often operate with limited staff, and don't have time to waste on irrelevant pitches. 

According to the LinkedIn State of Sales Report 2022, knowing a buyer's business needs can increase your chances of making a sale by 51%.

Understanding their role in the decision-making process bumps it up by 47%, and personalized communication boosts consideration of your solution by another 47%. 

Let's explore what you need to know about Sales Relationship with local businesses!

Outline:

• What is a Relationship Selling?
• 3 Steps to Improve Your Sales Relationship with Small Business Owners
• Relationship Selling Process with Local Businesses
• Avoid These 5 Mistakes in Your Relationship Selling with Small Businesses
• Examples of Impactful Sales Relationships with Local Businesses
• Conclusion

What is a Relationship Selling?

Relationship selling is a sales approach that flips the script on traditional tactics. Instead of focusing solely on the sale, it prioritizes building genuine connections with potential customers. 

By adding value, listening attentively, and investing time in understanding their needs, salespeople aim to foster trust and establish themselves as reliable partners rather than just trying to close a deal. 

This approach builds long-term relationships that benefit both parties: customers feel supported and valued, and you earn their trust and loyalty, ultimately leading to mutually beneficial transactions.

As Jim Cathcart describes in his book, Relationship Selling, it's about assisting others while also benefiting from the exchange. When genuine assistance is provided, fair compensation for products or services is justified.

3 Steps to Improve Your Sales Relationship with Small Business Owners

1. Personalize your approach

McKinsey's study shows that 71% of customers expect in-depth personalization. 

When prospects feel like just a number in a transaction, they're less likely to invest in high-value products. They want to feel valued and part of a partnership, not a quick sale. 

This is where transactional selling falls short. This impersonal, fast-paced approach is increasingly outdated, especially in business-to-business (B2B) settings. 

It's important to note that transactional selling can be effective for low-cost, readily available items like clothing or cars, where building in-depth relationships isn't crucial. 

However, relationship selling shines in situations with long sales cycles or complex solutions. These scenarios often involve high-cost products or customization, but they're not the only situations where it thrives. 

Essentially, relationship selling emphasizes personalized interactions to build trust and long-term partnerships, leading to mutually beneficial outcomes for both businesses and their customers.

2. Follow up with both past and potential customers

Keeping in touch with customers is like maintaining friendships outside of work – frequent communication keeps the connection alive. Whether they're potential clients or past buyers, staying in touch ensures they'll remember you.

Remember, once you've built trust, it's essential to maintain it. Here are some ways you can follow up effectively:

• Check on their satisfaction with your product or service;
• Ask if they have any concerns; 
• Send a company newsletter, an e-book, an article, a podcast, or other resources they’d be interested in;
• Share updates about your company and life.
• Invite them to a company event;
• Sent a "Congrats!” on a recent company or personal accomplishment, or a “Happy Holidays” note;
• Schedule a yearly, biannual, or quarterly account review;
• Invite them to tour your office;
• Coordinate a meeting between one of their executives and yours.

In sales, there's no one-size-fits-all approach. It's about building relationships and making the role your own. So play to your strengths, be patient with yourself and your customers, and remember, success comes from those genuine connections you build.

3. Don’t assume what they need, ask.

Whether you're pitching a subscription service or coffee beans, it's crucial to begin by understanding your potential customer's needs. 

Selling something unnecessary is far more challenging than offering a solution to a problem they already have. 

Take the time to gather insights about your prospective customer – understand their activities, identify their pain points, and leverage this knowledge to demonstrate how your product can address their needs. 

By doing so, you'll be better equipped to customize your pitch to resonate with what matters most to them when the time comes to present your offer.

Read Zamanta's opinion about the common sales pitch:

“If you’re telling me “I saw your website and I think you can grow bigger”, how do you know that I'm not just happy where I'm at? You looked and found me on my website. I didn't reach out to you, you reached out to me, but you're reaching out to me to tell me that I need to be seen more. 

But if you come up with a different approach, like “Hey, this is what I do, and I'm good at it. And I would like to help you, tell me if you're interested”. I'm always happy when someone gives me the option. If you do your homework and ask if I’m interested, I will give you my time.

I will respond to you. You actually put a little bit of soul in there. Now don’t come to me and tell me how you can make me better. That's my job.”

Relationship Selling Process with Local Businesses

Relationship selling is about fostering meaningful bonds with your potential customers. Here's how to cultivate these connections:

1. Be a Constant Source of Value: Every interaction, whether through email or phone call, should offer valuable insights and resources. This could involve industry trends, helpful articles, or expert advice relevant to their specific needs. 
2. Uncover Their World: Actively listen and engage in thoughtful conversations to understand your prospect's challenges, aspirations, and professional goals. This personalized approach demonstrates your genuine interest in their success. 
3. Offer Customized Solutions: Move beyond generic advice and tailor your recommendations to their unique business objectives. Demonstrate how your product or service can be the perfect fit for their specific needs and desired outcomes. 
4. Acknowledge and Address Concerns: Objections are natural, and it's crucial to empathize with their hesitation while offering practical solutions. Navigating these challenges collaboratively strengthens trust and paves the way for win-win solutions. 
5. Foster Ongoing Partnerships: The relationship doesn't end with the sale. Continue providing value through ongoing communication, offering support, and being a reliable resource long after the initial transaction. This commitment to building a lasting partnership fosters loyalty and encourages future collaborations. 

By following these steps, you can transform your sales approach from simply closing deals to building lasting, value-driven relationships with your customers.

Frequently Asked Questions about the Sales Relationship Process

How do you build a sales connection?

In the world of sales, trust is your golden ticket to success. Establishing a connection with potential customers early on goes a long way in building that trust. Here are a few effective strategies:

1.  Leverage the Power of Connections: A warm introduction through a mutual friend or acquaintance can pave the way for a more trusting and familiar interaction. This shared connection adds a layer of credibility and makes the initial engagement feel less transactional.
2. Face-to-Face Interactions: While technology allows for convenient communication, there's something powerful about meeting someone in person. This allows you to build rapport, read body language for better understanding, and cultivate a more personal connection than solely relying on email or phone calls.
3. Demonstrating Expertise: Knowledge is power, and showcasing your expertise is a fantastic way to establish trust.

By implementing these strategies, you can effectively build a sales connection, laying the foundation for fruitful and successful sales interactions.

What are the 5 ways to build better customer relationships?

Here are some key strategies to build better relationships:

1. Transparency: Never compromise on transparency. Avoid misleading statements or withholding crucial details. Earning respect comes from genuine honesty, even when it means informing them of potential drawbacks.
2. Nurturing the Connection: Cultivate lasting connections by staying present in your clients' lives. 
3. Go Beyond Expectations: Offer additional value beyond your initial promises. Imagine exceeding their expectations by securing exclusive event access with a coveted speaker, in addition to promised event tickets. These surprise gestures create lasting impressions.
4. Keeping Your Word: Meet every deadline and commitment, no matter how small. If you promised a connecting email by Friday, send it even if they won't be checking until Sunday. Consistency in keeping your word builds unshakeable trust. 
5. Recognition and Appreciation: Express gratitude, ask for suggestions, and offer special incentives like discounts or exclusive merchandise. Everyone appreciates feeling valued, and these gestures go a long way in fostering positive relationships.

By implementing these strategies, you can move beyond transactional selling and build meaningful connections that not only secure sales but also foster long-term customer loyalty and growth.

Avoid These 5 Mistakes in your Relationship Selling with Small Businesses

Mistake #1: Acting too chummy instead of focusing on solutions

While building rapport is crucial, remember that prospects seek solutions, not best friends.

“The biggest mistake that sellers make with relationships is going hyper ‘relational’ so early in the process that it feels ‘icky’,” says Marcus Murphy, Co-founder and CEO of 5ive. 

Prioritize value in your interactions to win hearts.

Mistake #2: Centering the conversation on yourself

Avoid bombarding prospects with irrelevant info about your offerings. Instead, tailor your approach to meet their needs. 

As Robert Knop, CEO of Assist You Today, wisely puts it, “Nothing is a bigger turnoff for a prospect than hearing a sales rep talk about a bunch of features and services that do not apply to a prospect’s business.”

Mistake #3: Assuming sales relationships are exclusive

Don't put all your eggs in one basket. Jake Dunlap, CEO of Skaled Consulting, advises against solely relying on one contact. 

“The first person we speak with is most likely not the principal person we need to establish a relationship with in the long term. We need to make sure we have access to many people in an organization, and not just one person we've deemed the point-of-contact."

Diversify your connections within an organization for greater success.

Mistake #4: Taking without giving

Earn your stripes before making requests. Samantha McKenna, founder of #samsales Consulting, stresses the importance of reciprocity. Balance is key to nurturing fruitful relationships.

“I often see sellers become repeat takers in continuing to ask for favors without giving in return, and often without gratitude. It's important to ensure the tables are balanced when asking for introductions, referrals, and especially to offer gratitude when you've been given support.”

Mistake #5: Starting with shallow prospecting

Ditch generic messaging. Will Allred, co-founder at Lavender, advocates for personalized communication. Craft focused conversations by showing genuine interest in your prospect's business.

"The biggest mistake I see sellers make in their copy as they go to build a relationship is that they're too informative. This is especially true in cold emails. Any informative tone in your writing reduces your replies by 26%. 

People feel like you're talking at them instead of with them, and they disengage. Part of the problem occurs when sellers talk about themselves. Your buyer doesn't care about you. They're drowning in work and want you to help them. You need to reframe to talk to them on their terms."

Examples of Impactful Sales Relationships with Local Businesses

In our podcast episode featuring Paul Daniels, small business owner and founder of PAPERtrail, he provides the perfect example of the impact a sales relationship can have when it begins with building trust.

“I said: hey, I'm kind of at that spot where I'm installing the espresso machine. Do you have any advice?

And Stephanie and Meg said, oh, we'll bring your first order. And they show up with my first five-pound bag of beans, and they say, we're gonna tune your machine for you. We're gonna be here. We're gonna test as much espresso as we need to, to make sure that this machine is dialed in. 

They traveled that one mile, but the truth is, it mattered way more than the 45 minutes it took out of their day to come and say like, hey, we're here for you. That partner is still delivering beans to me today.

So four years later, I know that if I call them and say, maybe my pallets off, did something change? They're going to have a great response. They're gonna show up. If there's a wrong order, they drive that mile.”

Paul's strong relationship with his coffee bean supplier makes him loyal to a partner he knows he can count on at any time.

“I don't think there's a week that goes by where someone with a pound of coffee doesn't show up at the shop and say, what do I have to do to get on your machine? 

And frankly, there's not a whole lot to there's, I'm not a gatekeeper in this sense, the unfortunate thing is that sometimes that pitch is so much stifled for the fact of having these great partners.

Are you showing up with beans and saying: we'll drink espresso until we're ready to run this bean through your machine? I have such a verified and great partner here. It's going to take a lot to move me off that horse.”

Conclusion

Long story short: relationship selling is about caring for your customer's needs and seeking a genuine connection between the value you can provide and the solution or product they need. 

This means not seeing your potential customer as just another digit or a sales figure, but as someone you genuinely want to assist and establish a lasting connection with. 

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