It's About Relationships, Stupid!

The other day I had an interesting meeting with one of our NetWorks! Boise Valley members, David Howard with PreCom. David and I have known each other for probably 25 years or so and he is a true professional. He understands selling and he understands what it takes to be successful in our craft! During the course of our chat, David shared a couple of interesting stories and philosophies with me (to paraphrase) …

We want to stretch the sales process out as far as is possible.

Hmmm. Interesting. Most salespeople that I know want this process to end quickly and, provided that we are the ultimate winner of the deal, there is no such thing as too quickly. Before I could even ask David to clarify, he went on to say …

“Sometimes, this means, that we are the only one left standing.”
More importantly … “We want to demonstrate to people that we are in it for the long haul and that we want a relationship, not a sale.

Perfect on both counts! David’s next gem focused on his philosophy of connecting and referring others. In order to get, you must first be prepared to give and, sometimes you need to give until it hurts!

I have this one guy who I must have taken out on 10 deals before he actually grasped the concept that this is supposed to work both ways. Once he did, all hell broke loose!

Let’s be honest. It’s all warm and fuzzy and politically correct to state that we give just because we want to, and that’s all very nice but, these kinds of relationships aren’t much of any kind of a relationship if it does not benefit both parties. My take away’s regarding relationships from this would include …

Watch out for each other and often this means putting the other person’s interests first.
They are built on mutual respect
You demonstrate a sincere interest in the “health” of the other party
Quality relationships take time, effort, and the necessary “touches”
Both parties benefit as a result of this relationship

Make no mistake about it. Sales has always been and will always be about relationships! To think otherwise is just plain stupid.

Thanks, David! It was a great meeting!

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Craig M. Jamieson

Managing Member at Adaptive Business Services

Craig M. Jamieson is a lifelong B2B salesperson, manager, owner, and a networking enthusiast. Adaptive Business Services provides solutions related to the sales professional. We are a Nimble CRM Solution Partner. Craig also conducts training and workshops primarily in social selling and communication skills. Craig is also the author of "The Small Business' Guide to Social CRM", now available on Amazon!