Selling Success Starts With Great Relationships
Written by Dave Lorenzo on July 29, 2016 / Relationships
Great relationships lead to selling success.
When you think about all the different relationships in your life, which ones do you think are most important?
Your therapist will tell you it is your relationship with your mother.
Your mother will tell you it is your relationship with your spouse.
Your clergy member will tell you it is your relationship with a higher power.
While all of those relationships are important, there are four relationships in your work that will shape your success and contribute to your overall happiness.
The way you approach each of these relationships helps you write your own personal script for success. Let’s take a look at each of these relationships and the impact they have on your future.
Relationship with Time
This relationship tends to get the least respect. We always wish we had more time but we act as if it is unlimited. When we are pressed to get things done quickly we almost always succeed. But we never press ourselves. Before we ask others to respect our time, we must learn to treat our own time as valuable.
Starting today, begin putting everything on your calendar or in your scheduling system. Do not work on anything that is not assigned a specific start and end time. Do not take an unscheduled phone call. Do not surf the Internet unless you have blocked off time on your calendar to do it. Give your time the respect it deserves.
This exercise will help you notice just how long certain activities take. It will also help you get control of your use of time. If nothing else, you will have a new respect for the most precious asset you have at your disposal.
Relationship with Money
Most people have a screwed up relationship with money. Each of us has feelings of guilt, scarcity and dread associated with some aspect of our financial lives. Until you rid yourself of those feelings, you will never be able to embrace the success you deserve.
These negative feelings about money manifest themselves in the way you bill your clients. Here is an example:
Let’s say you are a landscaper and everyone in your area charges $30 per week for basic lawn maintenance, what will you charge? The honest answer is $30. Your law service may be different and it may be better than the other people in your industry. You also include hedge trimming and tree pruning with your basic service. Your lawn technicians are more skilled because they go through a specific training program you’ve developed. Yet you still charge the same fee as everyone else. Why? Because your relationship with money has you focused on comparing your worth to others and not to the value you provide.
Want another example? Let’s say you are a trust and estates attorney.
You prepare a four-document, estate-planning package for your clients. In these documents, you address the most difficult decisions people will have to make on your client’s behalf if he becomes incapacitated or dies.
What do you charge for this service? $1,500. Why? Because that’s $500 less than what the guy down the street charges.
In reality, the value of this package to the client is priceless. This package will help your client (and his family) handle some of the most difficult matters they will ever face. You could easily charge him $15,000 for this package, with unlimited lifetime revisions and unlimited annual reviews. But you don’t. Why? Because in your mind, this is only worth $1,500.
You do not ever take into account the value the client sees in this service. He NEVER has to worry about his family’s financial future.
Even after reading these examples, you may not believe you could make this happen in your business. I have clients who do, every week, in different businesses and in different markets around the world.
But your relationship with money is not strong enough for you to make this happen. In your mind, there are only a finite number of clients out there who will pay this fee.
In reality, there are an infinite number of clients who will pay WHATEVER fee you charge if you show them the value of doing so.
First you must shift your relationship with money to one of abundance and value as opposed to one of scarcity and fear of loss.
Starting today, view your services from the client’s perspective. What value is he receiving? No matter what your fee, it will only be a fraction of that value. You must see this and believe this and then you must help your client see it and believe it.
Relationship with Your Clients
Everyone wants more clients. Everyone wants better clients. But most business leaders do not do what it takes to make the most of the client relationships they have. The best way to do that is to set expectations for the client relationship right from the very beginning.
Starting today hold an on-boarding meeting with each of your new clients and explain the rules you have for your relationship with them. Once you have done this, you can hold them accountable for their behavior.
If you do not have this conversation with your clients, you deserve whatever behavior you get from them. You have to tell your clients what is expected and you will get what you expect.
It is that simple.
Relationship with Yourself
This is the most important relationship of all. You must place an accurate value on your ability to help your clients. This means charging an appropriate fee and not backing off. It means having confidence in your ability to deliver great results for your clients and having confidence in your ability to get clients in the door.
Most business leaders have no problem with confidence in their activity in their profession or in the day-to-day operation of their business. Where they have a problem is in a lack of confidence in their marketing ability. Your ability to attract clients on demand gives you the power to make good decisions. It gives you the power to walk away from bad client relationships. It gives you the power to spend more time with your family and friends.
But first you have to decide to master these relationships. Start with your relationship with yourself.
Take the first step today and build the business you deserve.
That first step means making a list of the actions necessary to get these four relationships in order.
Once you make that list, make a second list of the people who you must engage to help you make these changes.
Then, finally, make a promise to yourself to take action.
Here are some additional resources to help you in your pursuit of selling success:
This is a Facebook Live video I recorded immediately before hosting a party at my home. I frequently invite clients to my house to socialize. Breaking bread with people is a great way to deepen relationships. Great relationships lead to selling success.
How to Introduce Yourself to Someone
There are many ways to sell yourself. Selling success means you need to introduce yourself in a way that welcomes people into your world. This article shows you how to do that.
Neediness kills sales. Nothing is going to harm your chances at selling success like needing to close a deal right now. This article will help you keep that nagging feeling in check