“If you build it, they will come.” We aren’t talking about a cornfield in Iowa, but the statement rings true in sales, nonetheless. This is especially true when discussing building rapport, and for sales leaders looking to build a robust referral pipeline, it simply cannot be overlooked.

There is no hiding the fact that decision-makers are constantly being bombarded with the next great solution, day in and day out. The increase in sales traffic is a direct result of the globalization of the marketplace. Similar products that were once only targeting regional customers now have the ability to expand their customer outreach across the globe.

Relationship building in sales isn’t a given. Rapport is a key differentiating factor, and not all salespeople are great relationship builders. For most, it isn’t that the skillset doesn’t exist, rather they simply choose to place their needs over the needs of the customer. This is not only detrimental to closing business, but it can crush any hope of a referral.

Making The Choice To Be Other-Centered®

If rapport is the first step in building relationships, why isn’t it a focal point for all sales leaders? The simple answer is – sales leaders are constantly under pressure to generate revenue. As pressure mounts, closing at all costs becomes an act of self-preservation. What many sales leaders don’t take into consideration is the wake that it leaves behind.

When an organization places its own revenue goals and needs above the needs of its customers and prospects, that mindset will inevitably trickle down to the front-line salespeople. Sales reps in turn start leveraging hard sales skills and abandon the idea of cultivating a lasting relationship.

Hard sales skills can be found in spades, but it is the soft skills that can transform a sales rep from someone selling a product to a trusted consultant. The challenge for most organizations is that they must make a conscious choice to place their needs to the side and focus on the customer. 

That choice is the first step in creating an Other-Centered mindset. When the organization chooses to shift its approach and actively starts focusing on the customer, reps will have an easier time building rapport. Rapport leads to trust, and people do business with people they trust.

How Being Other-Centered Generates Rapport

Choosing to focus on the customer’s needs doesn’t happen in an instant. It takes commitment from every level of the organization, and if we are being honest, change can be hard. Those that are able to shift away from the close-at-all-costs mentality will be more likely to close business, generate referrals, and reduce churn. Here are four ways in which being customer-centric will help build rapport and drive business.

Book Better Meetings

Cold calling is still a primary source of leads for most sales teams. Getting through the gatekeeper is no small task and getting to the decision-maker is more and more difficult each day. Gatekeepers hear dozens of elevator pitches a day. While your pitch is important, how it is delivered will determine the rep’s level of success. 

Reps that are only focused on getting their pitch down are essentially throwing darts, hoping that something sticks. Let’s be clear, the goal of each cold call isn’t to book a meeting. The goal is to have a conversation and see if it even makes sense to schedule time out of the prospect’s day. When the call is approached like a conversation, and the relationship is the goal, the barriers will more easily come down, and reps can get to the right person to see if there is a fit or a need. 

Seek Understanding

Chances are your sales team has a few boxes they are looking to check when prospecting. It might be that reps are using specific questions to quickly qualify, or disqualify a prospect. The problem with this approach is that it assumes that reps know exactly what challenge a prospect is looking to address, or the goal they are trying to reach.

The most effective way to prospect is to set the elevator pitch aside and find out what makes each customer tick, and what is at the top of their priority list. Instead of rambling through a predefined list, the conversation can be much more organic and the prospect is more likely to open up. Customers that know the evaluation process will be less burdensome will in turn be more likely to point a friend or colleague in your team’s direction.

Remove Sales Tension

As buyers move through the sales process, it becomes increasingly important for the salesperson to transition from rep to trusted consultant. Tension can occur anywhere throughout the buyer’s journey, and reps that have built trust through every conversation will find objections easier to overcome.

An example of this could be an objection over the price of the solution. The sales rep has a quota to hit or wants to land a bigger commission, and the prospect wants a lower price. When hard sales tactics are used, there is a tremendous amount of push and pull. More often than not, that tension can make or break the deal.

Reps that have built trust and have shown that they are willing to place their needs aside can prevent tension from escalating to the point of no return.

Simplify the Buying Process

Think back to the last time you purchased a family vehicle. Chances are you had a good idea of what you were looking for and what would fit your family’s needs. The last thing you wanted when you showed up to the lot was a pushy salesperson that tried to put you in something that you either didn’t want or wouldn’t accommodate your needs. 

Your team’s sales prospects are no different. With so much information at our fingertips, we are more informed buyers. We know what we want and we expect the buying process to be easy. When hard sales tactics are replaced with customer-focused skills, hurdles are removed and the entire process becomes streamlined.

The ease of the process is often one of the biggest determining factors of whether a customer will provide referrals. No one wants to suggest something that will be a painful process. We refer because we want to help. If we have a bad experience, why would we suggest someone that trusts our opinion go through the same?

Relationship Building in Sales… With ASLAN

Referrals revolve around relationships. We refer products and services when we know that the people behind them have the customer’s best interest at heart. Sales organizations that make the choice to focus on an Other-Centered mindset can remove barriers throughout the sales process and make it easier for reps to close business more consistently, and more likely that customers send over referrals.

At ASLAN, our goal is to help sales leaders accelerate their pipeline through customer-centric sales strategies and training. To learn about our services and the Other-Centered process, get in touch and schedule your consultation today.