Why Your Online Business Needs A Relationship Selling Strategy

Relationship selling refers to the interactional selling technique that occurs between the buyer and the salesperson rather than the price or details of the product.

This strategy is also known as face-to-face marketing, it means getting to interact with your customers in person.

This is the greatest way of showing your clients how much you care about them, by meeting with them at their offices, homes; dining with them and discussing what their goals and needs are you create a longer and a stronger relationship.

The status of the relationship can increase consumer loyalty as a result of familiarity and personality of the salesperson.

It is an important selling technique more so too big and prominent companies selling products and services that rely on repeat business from customers such as private instructors and insurance policy.

In such businesses, salespersons are forced to compete on the level of quality and price. However salesperson can gain loyalty from their customers when they make good relationships, their customers will continue to buy from them regardless of price.

Marketers should realize that the relationship does not end at a point where they make the sale and it should not be the end goal.

In reality, the sale is the beginning of the long-term relationship which the companies are looking for.

This long-term relationship is profitable to the company; this relationship is referred to as an ongoing relationship.

A good example can be real estate agents; they struggle for long-term relationship that can yield future interaction and profitability for their business.

Importance of Relationship Selling

The following are reasons why salespersons need to start relationship selling strategy;

You Will Build Trust And Establish Positive Brand Image

Meeting face to face with your customers both current and potential gives them a better face of what your business is all about.

They get to know who you are how you are representing your business and you are willing to make an effort to come to them, thus increasing sales.

A happy customer is loyal and if there is an addition product or service you are offering then they are likely to come to you because of that trust.

You Will Turn Customers Into Advocates

Your customers are not only loyal to you but they also become your business advocate referring others to you. They, therefore, become your salesperson though they are not being paid.

Keys to Effective Relationship Selling

Offering your customers high value and building a strong relationship with them is what gets customers come back to you time to time again. There are five keys to effective relationship selling;

Build a good rapport with your customer- the relationship between a business and a customer is all about how much you help them, how much they trust you, how much you understand them and how much you know.

Your goal should be a partnership model of relationship- here you focus is on driving continuous value to your customers. It means working together with your customers to ensure that they are helping you with their feedback to improve the quality of your products and services.

Seek to delight your customers by exceeding their expectations and requirements- should not only deliver what your customers expect but you should also try to add value to your products and services.

Be like a customer who is focused on your website design- you should at all times be thoughtful of your customers’ needs and wants.

Be at your customer’s service- do not only give them service but you should also be ready to be their service.

You are not just there to sell to them but to also provide value to them, if you cannot provide them with something always try to do something to help them find out where they can get what they need.

Relationship Selling Process

They are six major steps to the relationship based selling process:

Add Value

For you to gain credibility faster, and establish yourself as a trusted advisor, the first thing to do is to add value to your customers.

This can mean reaching out to them with some helpful suggestions, sending to them links to relevant content, making a valuable introduction and anything else that might benefit them

Learn About Their Situation

You need to start digging into their business challenges once you have their attention and proved that you are worth their time.

You should also dig into their objectives, metrics, and characteristics along with their personal and professional goal, this helps in answering the following questions;

Can your product help the prospect?
Does your prospect have the ability to buy your product?

Relationship selling is all about long-term relationship; therefore you should not force a sale to the customers.

Your customers may buy your product but they will be unhappy once they find out that they have been misled, this will result in cancellations and returns

Give Tailored Advice

Combine your experience, expertise, and knowledge of the buyer to deliver suggestions, for example, you can suggest a strategy that will address their main points.

You should examples from customers who have been in the similar situation to back up your suggestions.

Resolve Objections

Relationship selling calls for a careful approach to solving your prospects problems, give your customers ample time to express their views and to explain themselves, be patient but above all give an honest answer.

If they have a good reason to be concerned, do not ignore them try as much as you can to listen to their concerns and try to address them.

A truth response will be more reassuring than a shallow response. Try to ask them some questions that will help you identify their worries.

Dig into your prospects objectives to make sure that you understand each other. This will show that you are paying attention and truly care for them. Should finally respond appropriately and politely.

Find A Win-Win Solution

When start treating a negation like a zero-sum game where the buyer wins and they and they lose, it will mentally erode trust and forces your negotiation partner to act selfishly.

If they also walk away thinking that you have taken advantage of them, your long-term relationship will be destroyed.

This can be solved by acting like a win for your prospective is a win for you. Together you can try to find the best possible outcome.

Keep Adding Value

You should not disappear from customer’s life as soon as they sign a contract or buy a product if you disappear they will assume that you are not interested in them anymore.

You should be in constant contact with them, look for reasons that can make you see them regularly.

To keep adding value to your customers, you should do the following:

Look For Reasons To Reach Out To Them Every Few Months

Organize events that will make you see your customers frequently, you should also do a follow up to see how they like the product and to see if they have any questions.

Staying on their radar will strengthen the relationship and increases the chance that they will continue to be your customers.

Take Them To A Fun Outing Or Dinner

Schedule account review and send them tickets to a local performance, you can also invite them to your office to coordinate a meeting between one of the executives with yours. You can ask them to take them to dinner; all these will help you develop a long-term relationship.

Be Honest

Always try to keep your words; dishonesty is dangerous to your relationship. Make sure that you are not misleading your customers by giving them false information or by withholding very important information.

Be Consistent

You should be consistent with your presence to your clients, interact with them in every platform. You can send them value-adding emails, pay attention to the details of their personal lives.

Go Above And Beyond

Go past your customers’ expectations in order to secure his/her loyalty, for example apart from just selling your products to them you can also do free delivery to them and you can also advise them on how to use the product.

Keep Your Word

Try as hard possible to make sure that you meet every due date and commitment. Try to keep your word to your customers if you want to keep the relationship going.

Provide Exclusive Perks

Always try to make your customers feel good at all times, show them how you are grateful for their business and try to ask them how you can help them

Use these techniques to build a long-lasting relationship with your customers that will bring in revenue.

There are also other five steps in the process, they include;

• Create

• Collaborate

• Connect

• Commit

• confirm

Conclusion

With these insights and tips, you should have a good grip of the relationship selling process for online business success. Implement what you have learned now, do not wait another minute.