For today’s Growth Coach blog, we are fortunate to have Glenn Smith as a guest blogger. Glenn Smith is a Growth Coach Franchise Owner from the Houston/Sugar Land Texas area and is a highly regarded business coach, prolific blogger, an accomplished marketer, and has recently been recognized as “The 2011 Coach of the Year” by The Growth Coach System.

You can learn more about Glenn, his credentials and his coaching services at www.TheGrowthCoachhHouston.com.

Increase Sales Through Relationship Selling

If you want to increase sales I strongly recommend that you learn to develop a relationship selling approach. A classic resource, though sometimes difficult to find, is Jim Cathcart’s timeless book Relationship Selling.

Cathcart points out that “Relationship Selling transcends the sales transaction and looks beyond it to the ongoing relationship built between the buyer and the seller.” Unfortunately, many sales people do not get this!

To increase sales you must understand that there are 2 types of relationships: superficial and substantive. Superficial relationships are characterized by small talk about the weather, golf, or other “easy” topics. These relationships are built on casual interactions and lack any real depth.

On the other hand, the substantive relationship is characterized by mutual benefit. Potential customers are not looking for a new “best friend.” They are looking for people who can bring value to their lives. When mutually beneficial, win-win relationships begin to develop you have a substantive relationship.

The way to increase sales is to build substantive relationships!

Cathcart notes that successful salespeople have 2 common characteristics: they love to make sales and they respect their customers. As a result, these salespeople focus on building a substantive relationship with their customers. And, they focus on providing valuable service through that relationship.

Selling should be a caring act. It should be something we do to help people. It should be something we do with people and for people, not to them!

How can we increase sales and help people through our selling process? We can do this in 3 ways:

1.    We can reduce our customer’s fears by understanding them and making them proud of their purchase.

2.    We can enhance our customer’s confidence and image, and in the case of b2b, we can enhance their competitive standing.

3.    We can help achieve the customer’s goals.