***C-Level Relationship Selling During This Recession Requires More than Getting People to Like You

Getting someone to like you is not going to close sales - especially during a business recession. It is amazing that this misconception is embraced by so many sales people as the essence of relationship selling. Hopefully this will clear up why liking doesn’t make a relationship nor put money in ...Getting someone to like you is not going to close sales - especially during a business recession. It is amazing that this misconception is embraced by so many sales people as the essence of relationship selling. Hopefully this will clear up why liking doesn’t make a relationship nor put money in your pocket.

As I’m wondering among the people at a networking event, I bump into a person without a company name on his name tag - red flag! Well, I’m there and I don’t have one on either so I ask him who he’s with, and via a long explanation he says he’s not employed and looking to network into this industry. So we start talking about his job search and I mention he should read an article I wrote titled, Getting a Job Is a Full Time Selling Job.

Then he says, “I learned long ago selling is getting people to like you.” Well, I’ve certainly heard this enough in my 15 years of sales coaching and training. Unfortunately, this concept has lost its essence over time.

In the professional arena, as well as in personal situations, “people liking you means” they get from you something they want. In a selling situation, if you want someone to buy from you (like you), give them or deliver the results they want better than other alternatives. It’s not about being cordial, good looking, funny, etc. It’s about helping the other person get done what s/he has to do with less effort and risk, and/or with the assurance of bigger rewards.

It’s not to say that charming, dressed attractively, etc. doesn’t help. But it’s not enough. There has to be the promise of providing success to the buyer with minimum risk of failure, or stated another way, the assurance that you will protect or enhance the buyers career / job position. So inside that pretty smile and spiffy suit there has to be the substance that the buyer is willing to take a chance with. Otherwise, you’re pleasant to be around, but not one to invest in.

So the moral of this story is to focus on the results people want for themselves. Don’t assume you know what they want. Let people tell you in their own explicit language. In this way you may learn something you don’t know, and they will know for certain that you do know. It’s nice to be liked, but without the results, it doesn’t buy much. Think of it this way, people will buy from someone they don’t like if they get what they want. The opposite is not true.

And now I invite you to learn more.

Bonus Tip: If getting to these leaders is an issue for you or your people, here is a FREE E-Book “Getting Past Gatekeepers and Handling Blockers”. Just click this C-Level Relationship Selling Link Sam Manfer makes it easy for any sales person to be effective and feel comfortable connecting with and relationship selling C-Level leaders.