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Mastering Relationship Building in Sales
Relationships matter more than ever
Sales professionals need to embrace modern selling and its impact on prospecting to stay relevant because traditional sales strategies and tactics are not working as effectively as before.
Todayās sales professionals must engage and build relationships with a complex buying committee of qualified leads. Surrounding the decision maker are people who are influencing whether or not they make purchases. According to CEB, 6.8 people are involved in a typical B2B buying situation and sales pipelineāmaking it essential that sellers connect with more than a single decision maker. Yet 90% of decision makers say they never respond to cold outreach.
At the same time, sales reps need to satisfy heightened buyer expectations with relationship building in sales. Buyers are informed because of virtually unlimited access to information. In fact, itās said that 50% of the buying process is done before prospects engage with a rep.
When they do finally reach out, buyers expect sales professionals to add value to their purchase process. However, with so much competition in the market featuring vendors offering similar products and services, even value differentiation is tough to prove at times without relationship building in sales.
57% of qualified leads are done with the buying process before you know they ever started
90% of decision makers say they never respond to cold outreachĀ and sales prospecting
Combined, these challenges have paved the way for virtual selling, a sales strategy based on three key elements: target, understand and engage.
Modern reps need to:
1. Target the full buying committeeĀ and qualified leads from start to finish.
2. Understand the buyerās situation and guide the buyer, qualified leads, or someone on the buying committee to think about their business in a different way.
3. Engage effectively from first contact to final sale.
Before you worry about making this virtual selling shift, remember that relationship building in salesĀ hasnāt changed. Whatās changed through modern selling is how we leverage informationĀ and engage with people. At the end of the day, your success stillĀ hinges on relationship sellingānow more than ever. The closer you canĀ get to your sales prospects, the better you can understand theirĀ business, challenges, and goalsāand guide them down theĀ purchase path.
This eBook shares a modern sales prospecting framework, ways to findĀ an engagement path, best practices for sales strategies and structuring your first call,Ā and the key to standing apart from other sales professionals through virtual selling.
20% of decision makers change roles every year
24% of forecasted deals go darkĀ even with the best sales strategies
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