Comments on: Are You Building Coalitions With Your Customers? http://partnersinexcellenceblog.com/are-you-building-coalitions-with-your-customers/ Making A Difference - In Business and Your Personal Life Thu, 23 May 2013 12:00:03 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.5.1 By: David Brock http://partnersinexcellenceblog.com/are-you-building-coalitions-with-your-customers/comment-page-1/#comment-12158 David Brock Wed, 29 Aug 2012 12:17:38 +0000 http://partnersinexcellenceblog.com/?p=6613#comment-12158 Heather, thanks very much. I think too many people, both sales people, so called sales guru’s, and others misunderstand relationships.

Too many sales people think of relationships in the social sense–taking the customer to lunch, golf, glad handing them. They respond to customer requests, but provide no leadership. They don’t drive or challenge the customer.

Many sales pundits declare relationship selling dead–reinforcing the stereotype outlined above. Frankly, that kind of selling died decades ago.

But relationships are critical to our effectiveness in challenging the customer and providing leadership. The customer needs to trust us, they need to believe we are credible, they need to know that we understand and care about them. New ideas without this will be viewed with scepticism and doubt. People buy from people–from those they trust and have a relationship with. It doesn’t have to be a long or deep relationship (but when all else is equal, the relationship wins), but it has to be based on quality and calue creation.

Thanks so much for reinforcing the importance of this.

]]> By: Heather Stone http://partnersinexcellenceblog.com/are-you-building-coalitions-with-your-customers/comment-page-1/#comment-12153 Heather Stone Wed, 29 Aug 2012 04:15:59 +0000 http://partnersinexcellenceblog.com/?p=6613#comment-12153 Dave,
I like the distinction between “relationships in the ‘old sense’” and “relationships earned through establishing trust and credibility with your customers, and the customer’s respect for the value created in the relationship.” Two very different ideas, indeed. All too often, we see businesses still attempting to build a foundation on the former rather than the latter.

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