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Professional Selling Summary
Chapter Summary
The chapter “Creating Value with a Relationship Strategy,” provides critical information regarding the importance of a clear strategy to create relationships with customers. Thinking about relationships from a strategic perspective is necessary for marketing and selling and is an essential skill for salespersons. Thus, just like marketers create a customer strategy, they should intentionally build a relationship strategy. The focus is necessary to develop long-term partnerships with customers to understand and solve their problems by offering the right product or service. Customers add value to the company when they perceive a positive and trusting relationship with the salesperson and, in extension, with the company. Strong relationships create loyalty, and high chances of repeat purchases since such salespersons understand customers and are willing to solve their problems instead of merely transacting. When customers perceive such help, they trust them and believe that they can do the same in the future.
The chapter includes advice to salespeople regarding building a strong relationship, such as focusing on shared values, a shared vision, and providing support to the customer. Besides, the salesperson should understand the type of customer they are selling to, such as customers who understand what they want, those who need information, and those who have problems they need to be solved. The knowledge of the customer helps to create a suitable strategy and approaches to relate to and create partnerships with customers that add value to business (Manning et al. 43). Besides, salespeople should focus on customer satisfaction to develop strong relationships that add value to the company. For example, creating a win-win situation is the beginning step towards creating a strong relationship since it serves the interests of the salesperson and the customer. Thus, strong salesmanship includes the ability to build strong and quality relationships with customers. Such relationships contribute to high sales volumes due to loyalty and the tendency to return for more goods or services.
Relationship with Effective Selling
Effective selling is much more than merely having a successful transaction with the customer. Effective selling involves the ability to lead, guide, educate, and direct the customer and to help them to solve a specific problem (Scott 5). From the perspective of helping the buyer solve a problem, effective selling relates to relationship creation that adds value to the company. Salespeople sell effectively when they have a strong and trusting relationship with the customer. Furthermore, they should get their customers to listen, such as by proving their readiness to listen to and solve their problems. Effective salespeople should be helpful and believe in the long-term value of every customer. They should speak to and wait for the buyer to respond to learn what they want. Effective salespeople are driven by their customers’ needs and problems instead of what they believe their customers want. Thus, effective salespersons provide meaningful counsel, suggestions, recommendations, and advice to customers. Their sales strategies should be founded on customer relationship strategies.
Questions
- Is it okay for salespersons to create their strategies based on their personal experience?
- What is the value of a strong customer relationship with the customer?
- What happens to a salesperson who is incapable of building a strong customer relationship?
- What is the role of emotional intelligence in building strong relationship with customers?
- Does a strong customer relationship necessarily build loyalty and repeat sales?
Works Cited
Manning, Gerald L., Michael Ahearne, and Barry L. Reece, Selling Today: Partnering to Create Value, Pearson, 2015
Scott, Gini Graham. Effective Selling and Sales Management: How to Sell Successfully and Create a Top Sales Organization. ASJA, 2007