How to develop a great selling relationship with customers when Selling anything

Relationship selling is the number one buzz word in the selling world today. Why?

This is because in today's world very few companies or salespeople can afford to make just one sale and then move on to the next prospect. Instead you must cultivate a relationship so you can continue to make sale after sale over many years if possible. The first sale is seldom profitable in it self. Most sales organizations or companies actually loose money on the first sale or two. After the initial sales the companies that these salespeople represent will begin to profit.

The world as I have often said is much different now than it was forty two years ago when I first started selling. Back in those days, at least in the business I was in, you seldom sold the same family twice. The products lasted ten years or more so you just kept moving on to the next family.

In the present day we have learned that we can make a lot more money by developing a cash flow by selling products on a regular basis to the same prospects over and over.

This is true whether you are selling cars, home remodeling, insurance, are just about any other product you can think of.

Cars and trucks wear out eventually or its owner wants a newer model every three or four years. Homes need to be painted, roofs replaced and kitchens updated on an ongoing basis. Insurance policies need to be reevaluated as the customer's needs change or incomes and life styles change.

The important thing is to keep on making more and more sales to the same people on a monthly, yearly or several year cycle depending on the product.

The first few sales are the hardest with each customer because you have to prove yourself by doing everything right, developing trust and most important of all, treat this customer like a king. In addition to all of this you have to under promise and over deliver on every sale you make.

The secret to keeping the customer after the honey moon is to continue treating them this way from now on.

You probably remember the old saying that is often heard in most sale's circles. The saying is ABC, "Always Be Closing." Well prospects and customers have an old saying as well and it is ABS. No its not what you are thinking, it is, "Always Be Shopping!"

The average customer will have little if any loyalty unless you learn to cultivate his good will. All the customer wants is a good deal, fair treatment and quality service. He or she has to be absolutely convinced that you offer the best deal in the land and your service is second to none.

Now in spite of all of your good intentions you will have some turn over in your customer base due to no fault of your own. This is because, some customers will move out of your territory or they will go out of business. Sometimes customers die and worst of all they get fed up and quit doing business with you.

This is usually due to some misunderstanding that could have been avoided or in the worst case scenario from simple neglect on your or your company's part. You didn't keep in touch so they came to the conclusion that you no longer cared and went on to seek the help of another salesperson.

If you want to keep this customer's business there may be times you have to go the extra mile. In other words, just like the mail man, you might have to deliver a part or something, own your own, in the middle of the night in rain, snow, sleet or hail to keep their plant running and your reputation intact. I've had to do it, so it can be done.

Your territory is a little like a garden. You have to tend to your garden if you expect it to produce, if not the garden will die.

You can now see what you are up against and I will be happy to give you a few tips on how to make life a lot simpler and as profitable as possible.

First off you need a great appearance so you can make that most important first impression on the prospect. Your prospect is going to make this most important decision as to whether or not they will consider doing business with you in the first thirty seconds are less of your meeting. If you make a bad impression it is a terrible uphill battle to try to get into their good graces. The hardest thing for salespeople to understand is this decision making process that is going on in the subconscious mind of the prospect. The salesperson doesn't have a clue why the prospect instantly either likes him or her or is turned off completely. If the prospect likes you he will say, "come on in"and have a great big smile on his face. On the other hand if he doesn't care for you, for whatever reason, even if it is just a deep seated hunch, he is going to tell you, " he is not interested or cannot afford it" and step back and close the door.

You can't blame the prospect because just like you he has learned to trust his hunches because they are nearly always right and it is only prudent to follow them.

In order to make a good first impression and avoid a lot of this negative behavior and rejection it would be wise to go to my website http://www.thesellingfool.com/ and read the article on appearance and you can avoid being rebuffed by most of your prospects.

In fact you will find all of the information necessary to learn to sell much better and also learn to develop long standing relationships with these customers and make the kind of money you need to be making at http://www.thesellingfool.com/

PS: I can't help you if you don't come visit.

Thank you,

Billy J Gibson
thesellingfoolbjg@yahoo.com
http://www.thesellingfool.com/

Thank you,