How would you describe your relationships with your customers and those you are currently prospecting? Moreover, what kind of effort have you put into building the relationship?
The value of relationship building is immense. It is far easier to sell to someone who knows you well and trusts your brand. Someone you cold call might hang up the phone before you can finish introducing yourself, whereas a customer who trusts you will be likelier to hear you out even if they decide not to buy.
The strength of your relationships also impacts customer retention. While the quality of your services is key to retaining customers, a poor relationship might contribute to them ending the it.
So, the question is then: How do you build good relationships with your customers?
Traditional methods of relationship building in sales, such as lunches and coffee catch-ups, can no longer be your primary methods. So, you must focus on relationship building to suit our digital world of work.
Refine your narrative internally
Before you can build trusting relationships with your customers, you must get your story straight. When people hear too many narratives from your sales and marketing teams, their confusion increases, and their trust weakens.
When you have a clear and concise narrative, sales and marketing teams can ensure they deliver the same message, improving trust in your brand.
You will need both departments to discuss and consolidate messaging on the following:
- Define your target personas and decide on the messaging that will be most effective for each of them.
- Discuss methods of personalising prospect and customer experiences with your brand and how each department will navigate it.
- Consider what customers and key prospects need from the relationship. If you have resources you believe would benefit them, ensure you pass these on to personalise your delivery.
Once you have built a solid foundation, you can start telling your story externally and improve your chances of strengthening customer relationships.
Personalise your process for each customer
Each person you speak with will have different preferences for how they prefer to communicate and what they expect from their suppliers. So, do not leverage a generic approach for everyone. Some people might like consistent email updates or messages they can read in their own time, with occasional phone calls. Others might prefer a quick phone call each day to check-in.
You will build stronger relationships with people by personalising your approach and taking the time to understand each customer’s specific needs.
Your customers will have changing needs and concerns. To keep up with them, you must ensure you are in touch to address any questions or requests and how to best meet them.
By personalising your customer relationships, you can build stronger, more long-lasting relationships that will result in more sales and happier customers.
It all comes down to trust
When you think about the essential elements in a customer relationship, trust is probably the first word that comes to mind. And for good reason – trust is the foundation of any strong relationship. Think about it: would you buy from or work with someone you didn’t trust? I am sure your immediate answer is ‘No.’
Build trust through clear, concise, and honest communication when dealing with prospects and customers. You must also be responsive to questions and concerns and be able to address them in a way that positions you as a reliable contact.
So how can you build trust with your customers? You can start by practising the following:
- Be transparent. Your customers should always know what they are getting, and there should be no surprises.
- Keep your promises. If you say you will send them information, ensure you deliver it on time, and let them know if you cannot and the reason why.
- Be responsive. If your customers have questions or concerns, address them quickly and thoroughly.
Improve your sales game with Resonate
At Resonate, we specialise in enabling the success of sales B2B organisations. We guide you throughout the sales process. We help develop the sales strategy and an associated plan that converts the strategy to execution so your organisation can get predictable revenue over the coming quarters and years.
We also provide ongoing advisory and consulting services to ensure your strategy and plan become a reality. We focus on helping the sales organisation achieve its quota and meet targets predictably and consistently.
Please visit our B2B Sales page for more on our sales solutions.
