Increase Your Relationship Capital

pharmacy

When we launched our training and consulting business eight years ago, we didn’t have all the resources in place. The main capital I had as the founder of the company was competence and ability to connect with people. We explored our ‘‘relationship capital’’ and of course our ability to do the Job exceptionally well. This strategy has become today our corporate culture. In sales, nothing beats competence and ability to grow great relationships.

Keep connecting

Relationship capital is your ability to connect with people. In this tough business environment, you must keep connecting with the right circle that will help your business. You must keep doing the right things. You must continue to satisfy your customers and prospects. The more you make customers happy, the more you grow your relationship capital with them. Developing healthy relationship with customers and prospects is a strategy that leads to success in sales career.

Successful sales professionals believe in building relationships. They believe in delighting their clients by giving them value. You just have to be competent; you should also know how to connect with people. You must increase in these aspects if you want to be outstanding in sales and in the business world.

Get the right people and go all the miles to get things done

Relating with one another makes our world a better place. Successful companies gather smart sales people to get things done. Increasing relationship capital is a winning concept in life, not just in business alone. You need people to build a great team. You need the right people to build a great organisation. This is why I maintain that you need to build the right team that will help the company to enhance its customer base by building relationship capital.

The more we relate with one another, the more we discover how to provide solutions for our needs. This is a strong point in the world of business today; it is the essence of selling. This aspect cannot be achieved when the salesman is in a hurry or desperate to sell. This scenario takes time to build. You must give it all it requires. You must water the ground. You must make your grass greener by watering it. You must build relevant business relationships that will bring you out of hard selling.

Go the extra mile

Don’t be afraid to start a robust business relationship with a prospect or customer. Some salespeople see this as a big issue. They lack the attitude to commence healthy professional relationships. The only option they deem fit is to hurriedly present their products and services without making efforts to invest time and care that will take the business relationship to enviable heights.

No business grows in a hurry! Today’s businesses thrive on competence and relationships. I once held a business meeting at 10.00 pm in a recreation club. The meeting was at the instance of my friend, a Chief Executive Officer of a conglomerate – who is a member of the elite recreation club. The entrepreneur had to give me appointment to see him at the club in order to spend more time to discuss business with me. I got there that night and watched him play tennis and our meeting commenced thereafter. The time I spent with him during the business meeting couldn’t have been achieved in his office if I ‘‘desperately’’ wanted to hold the meeting in his office. The recreational environment created the ambiance needed for a friendly business meeting. You must ensure great relationships and ability to deliver on your promises. This is the strength of successful businesses.

Generic proposal is not smart enough!

In my experience in the world of selling, I have discovered that the more you find a common ground with people, the more you sell. The business environment today has gone personal. Leading organisations now develop tailor-made strategies to satisfy their target markets. Generic proposals don’t sell anymore. You must find a way to personalise your offering. The way our faces are different is the way our needs differ. It is always smart to develop ‘‘individualised approach’’ to problem solving.

Discover your prospects and customers and proffer the best solutions that will take care of their needs. The importance of building a great relationship capital cannot be overemphasised.  The more you connect with your customers by fulfilling their needs and ensuring healthy business relationships with them, the more you protect your business from activities of competitors.  The more you spend more time to bring the buyer to your side, the more you reduce the urge to be desperate and aggressive to sell your products and services. Sales come naturally when you do the right thing.