HSMAI Marketing Review August 2009 - 30

s Relationships re Your Busines A ong Enough Str ARD TIMES? O SURVIVE IN H T [ED EMDE] Your customers are most likely cutting back on meetings 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, therefore, to take stock of the relationship-building capabilities of your sales team. re your current business relationships strong enough to withstand the destructive pressures of today’s tough economic environment? Do your salespeople know how to leverage personal assets and the assets of your company to “competitor proof” their customer relationships? To build enduring connections with customers requires two distinctive kinds of skills focused on two distinctive kinds of relationships. THE IMPORTANCE OF “LITTLE R” RELATIONSHIPS The first type of relationship is based on interpersonal connections between 30 members of a sales team and members of a buying team. These relationships might be thought of as “little r” connections. They are founded on a salesperson’s ability to demonstrate that he or she is trustworthy, competent, and credible as a business consultant and advisor. Across time, profitable transactions and repeated demonstrations of customer focus forge strong personal relationships that become a valued business asset to individual buyers. They know they are assured of reliability, lowered personal risk, and avoidance of the “hassle” of trying out new suppliers. They also know they can count on their trusted representative to protect their interests, respond quickly to help meet special needs, and offer reliable business results. Customers become highly averse to risking the loss of these payoffs, and are inclined to resist offers of discounts and price cuts from competing vendors. Even when individual contacts are restrained by budget cuts or other internal issues, they will remember and return to doing business with people they know and trust. Even one or two little r relationships have value, but the real relationship benefit occurs when sales repreHSMAI MARKETING REVIEW • AUGUST 2009 83420529,83420536/JAMES OLIVER/GETTY IMAGES

HSMAI Marketing Review August 2009

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of HSMAI Marketing Review August 2009