sellingskills
Ed EmdE, ExECutiVE ViCE prEsidEnt, wilson lEarninG
ARE YOUR BUSINESS RELATIONSHIPS STRONG
ENOUGH TO SURVIVE IN HARD TIMES?
Whatever your industry, your customers are most likely
delaying projects and looking for ways to cut costs. At the
same time, it is becoming more challenging to develop
new business as companies scale back expenditures and
use competitive bidding processes to get better deals
from suppliers.
This is a good time to take stock of the relationship-
building capabilities of your team. Are current
relationships strong enough to withstand the destructive
pressures of today’s tough economic environment?
Do your salespeople know how to leverage personal
or other internal issues, they will remember and return to doing
assets and the assets of your company to “competitor
business with people they know and trust.
proof” their customer relationships? To build enduring
connections with customers requires two distinctive kinds
Even one or two little r relationships have value, but the real
of skills focused on two distinctive kinds of relationships.
relationship benefit occurs when sales representatives develop a
whole network of connections with the right people in the customer
ThE IMPoRTANCE of “LITTLE R” RELATIoNShIPS
organization. With a wide range of contacts who view the sales
representative as a trusted business partner, inside information
The first type of relationship is based on interpersonal
will be shared, and contacts step up as champions, advocates,
connections between members of a sales team and
and coaches. The salesperson will receive advance notice of
members of a buying team. These relationships might
opportunities and get critical “heads up” notices when potential
be thought of as “little r” connections. They are
decisions could adversely affect a sale.
founded on a salesperson’s ability to demonstrate that
he or she is trustworthy, competent, and credible as a
On the flip side, if these relationships are weak, or have been
business consultant and advisor. Across time, profitable
allowed to erode through neglect or sub-par performance, they
transactions and repeated demonstrations of customer
offer no protection against competitive encroachment. In the worst
focus forge strong personal relationships that become
cases, where deadlines have been missed, customer concerns left
a valued business asset to individual buyers. They
unaddressed, or there have been delays in responding to problems,
know they are assured of reliability, lowered personal
a poor relationship can actually open the door to competitors. And
risk, and avoidance of the “hassle” of trying out new
once gone, the business is usually gone for good.
suppliers. They also know they can count on their trusted

representative to protect their interests, respond quickly
It may seem elementary, but to build extraordinary “little r”
to help meet special needs, and offer reliable business
relationships, it’s critical to ensure your sales team knows how to:
results. Customers become highly averse to risking the
• Establish professional credibility.
loss of these payoffs, and are inclined to resist offers of
• Build trust.
discounts and price cuts from competing vendors. Even
• Demonstrate the value of a relationship with every customer, on
when individual contacts are restrained by budget cuts
every call.
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marketingtimes
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