Understanding what is important for your clientele and delivering on your promise is the key to selling, and you can achieve this by developing relationships with your customers.
Entrepreneur Richard Gavriel was presenting a virtual talk titled “Mask up your Sales” that was organised by WOU’s School of Business and Administration (SBA). About 15 people attended the event on 23 April 2022. He is the founder of the Richard Gavriel Speaker Management Pte Ltd (RGSM), Singapore, which manages a pool of speakers and trainers.
Quoting sales development industry pioneer and bestselling author Dave Kurlan that “Good sales people are not born, they are trained”, Gavriel remarked, “Everyone is born to be a salesperson, but they must be trained to be a successful salesperson”. He pointed to the importance of training individuals to become fluent and eloquent in sales.
He said it is essential for sales people to have a “motivated mindset”, which is the driving force and rationale behind everything they do. He added that sales professionals must recognise that it is normal to face objections, and that these do not necessarily imply that the client rejects them as a person.
He highlighted the significance of relationship-building, referring to the global concept of ‘People buy people first, products second’. He continued, “According to Sales Force (a leading global Customer Relationship Management service provider), 51% of top sales professionals concentrate their efforts on creating relationships. Customers will purchase a product or service from a salesperson with whom they have developed a relationship of trust.”
Gavriel cited five established approaches for building strong relationships with clients. First is “riding the same wave”. He said that in terms of likability, it is critical for a salesperson to be on the same page as their clients to develop a trusting relationship. “You need to build a sense of commonality while selling. Choose a shared interest, e.g. food, and communicate to connect in order to create trust and familiarity,” he suggested.
Second is to “commemorate major milestones with clients”, like celebrating with them their achievements. He clarified that sales people are not obligated to do this for every client, but to instead choose their A-list and B-list clients for this practice.
Third is “small conversations and rapport-building”, such as a coffee session in a casual setting with some business discussion, which are crucial for establishing a relationship before sales. He shared that giving clients gifts of flowers, cookies, cakes and so forth, enhances the relationship, particularly when it is a pleasant surprise. “At the end of the day, it is not how much you spend but how you make your clients feel,” he pointed out.
Next is to have a “psychology of excellence” by being constant in your service and serving your clients with a spirit of excellence. “Always provide your all to your consumers and maintain a high level of service,” Gavriel advised.
Lastly, is to “create great connections” with your clientele as sincerity opens doors, he stressed. “Clients can sense when a salesperson is sincere while communicating. As long as you put your clientele first, they can feel it”.
WOU offers the Bachelor of Business (Hons) in Sales and Marketing programme through both the open distance learning (ODL) and the on-campus learning (OCL) modes.