Since late November of last year, we have described many of the traits that a true successful professional would have.  We have outlined the activities and processes that would, over time, make a verifiable difference in this individual’s ability to reach goals, and provide customer satisfaction.

Over this post as well as the October 3^rd and October 5^th post we will put these together in an effort to portray that individual who is sought by sales managers and customers alike.

This professional has learned the benefits of mastering relationships, both internal and external, to get the maximum leverage from each personal encounter.  This professional knows the different methods of getting exposure, and how to capitalize on it.  This individual is always prepared.

There will be some references to previous issues of Black Sales Journal, as I want to keep this as concise as possible, yet capitalize on the wealth of information that has been published to date.

Deep Enduring Relationships

There is no area more important in the long run than knowing how to ‘master the relationship’.  It does not matter what your level of intelligence is if you cannot decipher how to ‘work’ your personal relationships to your advantage, and your customers benefit, you will not have maximum effectiveness.

There is an ‘art to the relationship’ that is undeniable.  It cannot be substituted by process, intelligence, or hard work.  You see, the ‘art of the relationship’ is not an inherited trait.  It is something that you hone with every interface.  It can be aided by having a gregarious and engaging personality.

The successful Black sales professional has the ability to form deep and enduring customer relationships (Black Sales Journal 1/13, Deep and Enduring Customer Relationships and Black Sales Journal 1/20, Deep and Enduring Customer Relationships II).  This individual works with the assurance that existing relationships are strong enough to receive ‘preference’ as compared to ‘wanna-be’ sales professionals look to unseat him or her.  In other words, the customer prefers to do business with someone like this professional, and that preference ‘spoils’ the customer.  This is a powerful preference that is enduring, and anchors the relationship.  We all want to work with someone that provides value, and is concerned about our business, and produces results for us.

This ‘preference’ exists not only because of the solid personal and business connection that exists, but also because the professional is effective in providing the customer something of value.  Always strive to always be effective and always show value.

Undying Professionalism

Being effective is a good start, yet by itself it is not enough.  The consummate professional is more than just effective; he or she does those things that exude success.  We talked about this in Black Sales Journal 3/7, Be the Consummate Professional. This individual is:

• Punctual
• Empathetic
• Attentive
• Knowledgeable
• Organized
• Responsive
• Visionary

Most of these are self explanatory, yet I want to spend a minute on a couple of them:

Responsiveness is ever important.  As stated in Black Sales Journal, Responsiveness – the Objective of the Sales Professional 6/16/2011, responsiveness is in the eyes of the customer.  It is defined by the customers expectations, and includes such important items as:

• Answers the phone and returns calls promptly
• Keeps commitments
• Provides answers to inquiries and questions as soon as possible
• Stays in touch – communicates
• Provides requested information promptly

Knowledge will always set you apart.  This knowledge could get you labeled an expert.  This ‘designation’ comes from those people and businesses that have benefited from your knowledge, and make the claim in your behalf.  See a most interesting set of articles in Black Sales Journal 12/20, Your Customer Needs an Expert and Black Sales Journal 6/27, More on Being an Expert – An Edge for the Black Sales Professional.  Expert power is attractive to a customer.

Empathy provides a connection and a serum that convinces the customer you are real.  If you have no empathy for the customer, then why are you calling on them?  How are you going to solve their problem if you don’t have that connection?  Put yourself in you customer’s shoes.  Live their problems and your solutions will come about easier.  Always keep in mind that a customer can tell when you have no empathy as easily as you can tell when a love interest of yours is not interested.

Now for the point that pulls this together:  If you condition yourself to be accomplished at all of these different items, you will have credibility. Enormous credibility is the product of having deep enduring relationships and being a consummate sales professional.

More to Come….

Armed with what is above you would think that success would be much more probable.  You probably are correct, although what are missing are the activities, habits, and processes that make the person formidable even if some of the personality issues are missing.

We will cover them in the next two information-filled posts.  These are powerful for the Black sales professional.  These items are hard to put together, and even more difficult to master, yet when you do, you have an enormous amount of power and potential.

Next up:  Black Sales Journal 10/1 – The Ultimate Sales Professional Pt. II  – The Black Sales Professional in Action

We hope you will read it.

Your comments are always welcome.

It is said, “If you don’t ask for the business, you won’t get the business.” Every one of you has heard that comment stated in one way or another, and probably from your sales manager.

Fact is that in the world of professional sales you probably need some skill in closing technique, yet I am of the belief that skill might be a little overemphasized.   Those who sell features and benefits normally initiated the conversations with their customers with an in-depth conversation about their needs.  If this conversation is conducted correctly, significant progress is made toward your close based on this conversation.  It is important to realize that, if you have a solid relationship (see Black Sales Journal 7/11/2011 Customer Relationships Revisited) your need to manipulate and maneuver someone into a ‘hard’ close is not as important as it is if you are selling with no relationship.  They will give you all of the signals in the world because they trust you and believe that they can be open with you.

The close can be a really simple part of the sales process. Many make it one of the most complicated depending on their view of the activity. Many organizations require their sales professionals to undergo much training about the close and close techniques. Realistically a close should be very natural. Basically a successful close is the natural result of probing, answering, supporting, and problem solving. The natural close is what happens when the objections have disappeared and the comfort levels are high.  That comfort is with you, your product, and your company.

It Begins With You – Know Your Relationship Level

Are you a trusted advisor, counselor, or business friend? If you are, you have developed a relationship along the way that will allow you to logically close without sounding like you are “Willy Loman” (Death of a Salesman). In this type of relationship you have done the ‘heavy lifting’ upfront and secured the opportunity to guide someone through the sales process with the close being much like a ‘soft’ landing. It is obviously the best way, as someone trusts you to help him or her make a good decision.

If you are not there, you may have more work to do with the buyer to develop their degree of trust.  That is not bad either. But attempts to constantly maneuver someone into the corner that you are calling a close could eventually backfire if your relationship is lacking. Asking the little questions to get the prospect used to saying “yes” is an akin to basic manipulation in the eyes of buyer. Let’s not insult the buyer’s intelligence.  Do you think they don’t know this is happening?  If you are adept at it, you might ‘tick’ them off even more. Know that the nature of the relationship governs your ability to move to the ‘soft’ landing that is a successful close.

If you read this journal you recognize my suggestion to ‘master the relationship’.  If you can’t develop a strong relationship before the time is necessary to close, I would definitely suggest being careful about a high-pressure close.  The objective is to be seen by the buyer you as a potential trusted confident and advisor, a professional who can provide value and solutions for their organization.

You never want them to see you as someone targeting them for a ‘hard sell’.  If they do, your calls will cease to be returned, and you will hear less and less from the buyer if they do not give you the ‘all out’ boot.

The Logical Conclusion

Remember; view the close as a logical conclusion to a sales process.  This conclusion may, or may not, be successful, but it will disclose the buyers sentiments if done correctly.  If it is done prematurely, it will uncover objections that you may not know about, and at that point you will have an opportunity to continue to probe and solve. There is sound logic to this approach—if you cannot get sound feedback from the buyer, move to close then the objections will be stated and can be addressed.

Once again the relationship is key.  I do recognize that there are many types of products, sales cycles, and situations that do not give you an opportunity to develop the ideal relationship.  In those cases, you might be building the relationship over several sales cycles.  If you are lucky success will be early, but if not, you will naturally modify your close techniques when the relationship is strong.

Master the relationship.

We welcome your comments.