Industry Magazine Grand General Agency Spring 2016 | Page 23

Never sell your products or services to someone unless they
perceive it is in their best interest to do so. Always determine their
highest value needs.
Now you determine your prospect’s social style and ask
questions to discover the condition of their current business
relationships. Be aware of any unmet needs they have before
asking questions.
Remember my playbook story? Again, apply the same logic to
sales. Practice, prepare and have a playbook. Know where you’re
going. Now you can motivate the prospect by formulating highly
desireable solutions. Have a notebook full of concrete reasons
they should work with you. Each solution should suggest an action
to advance the relationship to the next level: entering into a
partnership.
If you initially fail, keep trying. Our goal is to nurture the
relationship, not make one sale. Prospects tend to react
negatively when a salesperson pleads. Saying, “Give me a try and
I’ll show what I can do” has become a trite statement. It’s far better
to suggest an action that will directly benefit the prospect.
Don’t be in a hurry to ask for their business. When you feel
the time is right, use a close-ended question. Their answer
will determine where the relationship is headed. A “Yes” will
demonstrate your knowledge, sensitivity and constructive help.
A successful sales career is built by maintaining a limited
number of highly productive clients, not by making as many calls
as possible in a week. “Focus precedes success” is another core
concept of the Relationship Selling Process.
Every sales professional should have a list of prospects they
target to build strong business relationships. In addition, we
should devel