“Hey you wanna buy something?”
We are constantly barraged with messages about sales –
from advertising on Facebook to emails from our favorite companies to
billboards to friends telling us about their new favorite shoes.
We are all sales people if you think about it.
We advertise on our clothes, on our shoes, on our
accessories, and even our vehicles (what do you drive?).
But when we’re approached with a purchase opportunity
(for example you’ve been added to an online makeup party), who are you most
likely to listen to and to buy from? Who is most likely to influence you to
part with your money?
We are most influenced by people who have a
relationship with. Thus sales is all about cultivating that relationship. I
want to talk today about two types of relationships – relationships leaders have
with their team members and relationships merchandisers have with their
customers.
Your Team, Your Relationships
The purchase process isn’t the only thing influenced
by relationships. If we’re in direct sales, we’re influenced by our team, by
our leader or upline, even by our company leader/CEO. If we have a positive relationship
with those people, we’re more likely to feel positively about our company and
our products. Don’t believe me? Here’s a quick story.
The other day I was messaging with a woman who is a
rep for my company but also reps another company. We had just had a launch and
I asked her what she was going to add to her collection. She told me she wasn’t
active with our company anymore and was planning on leaving. As we talked further,
I found that she felt that she hadn’t connected well with her leader or her
team, but that she felt an amazing connection to her team for the other company
she represented.
Hello?
I find that the team members on my team who interact,
whether it’s via our Facebook team page, our company’s national page, or any
other way, are more active. Period. They are more likely to make sales every
month and to set and reach goals. If a new team member isn’t on our Facebook
page, I can almost guarantee (but I try not to think this way) that they will
eventually leave the company. I’m not saying my team’s FB page is THE thing but
being a member and interacting is one way to show how connected you are to your
business and your team (and your leader).
The takeaway? Ninja Leaders need to cultivate
connections. Period. Use everything you’ve got to make a connection with your
team members and to “bring them into the fold.” Encourage your team to build
relationships among themselves. Connect. Part of your daily leadership tasks
should involve seeing what your team members are up to – if you follow them on
Facebook, what are they posting? Are they posting about their kids, their
struggles, their achievements, their family life…keep up with them and
encourage them as a coach and mentor AND a friend.
Your
Customers, Your Relationships
Building relationships with your customers is exactly
the same – the better the relationship, the better the, well, sales
relationship. If you cultivate relationships with your customers by simply
throwing product at them (“Hey did you see our new launch?”) then they will associate
you with being salesy. And nobody wants that. And if a customer buys from you
and you maintain that relationship, then they are more likely to buy from you (and
not somebody else).
The other day I was talking to a team member and she
told me that a woman at her in home pop up said she had already bought our
product from another merchandiser. The team member asked if it was ethical for
the customer to now buy from her. She said the customer had never heard from
the merchandiser after the sale and that she (the customer) didn’t feel “an
allegiance” to that merchandiser.
Rut-roh Raggy.
Don’t get me wrong – customers can buy from whomever
they want! But if you get to know them as a person, what they like, what they
dislike, what their needs are, what’s going on with them, how their job is, all
those things, if you actually have a relationship with them, then a sale can
come easily and without the salesy feel. And the customer will feel allegiance
to you (and your product).
The
Takeaways
Build a relationship not a sale.
After the sale, maintain the relationship.
Team leaders need to build relationships with their
team members in order to coach effectively.
Talk
to Me
In the comments below, tell me about your relationship with your company, your leader,
your team. Do you feel that you are a part of something larger than yourself?
Do you feel connected? And how do you connect with your prospects and
customers?
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