Success in selling depends heavily on the salesperson’s ability to develop, manage, and enhance interpersonal relations with the customer. People seldom buy products or services from someone they dislike or distrust. Harvey B. Mackay, founder of Mackay Envelope Corporation, says, “People don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.” Most customers are more apt to openly discuss their needs and wants with a salesperson with whom they feel comfortable.

A relationship strategy is a well-thought-out plan for establishing, building, and maintaining quality relationships. This type of plan is essential for success in today’s marketplace, which is characterized by vigorous competition, look-alike products, and customer loyalty dependent on quality relationships as well as quality products. The relationship strategy must encompass every aspect of selling from the first contact with a prospect to servicing the sale once this prospect becomes an established customer. The relationship strategy is an integral dimension of relationship selling. Relationship selling is a form of personal selling that involves securing, developing, and maintaining long-term relationships with customers.20 Increased support for relationship selling recognizes the growing importance of partnerships in selling. The primary goal of the relationship strategy is to create rapport, trust, and mutual respect, which ensures a long-term partnership. To establish this type of relationship, salespeople must maintain high ethical standards, which forms the very foundation for long-term partnerships. They must project and maintain high ethical standards, project a professional image and manage their relationships by adapting their communication style (see Figure 3.1). Chapters 3, 4, and 5 provide important information on development of the relationship strategy.

Some people think that the concept of “relationships” is too soft and too emotional for a business application; these people think that it’s too difficult to think about relationships in strategic terms. In fact, this is not the case at all. Every salesperson can and should formulate a strategic plan that builds and enhances relationships.

Products and services represent problem-solving tools. The product strategy is a plan that helps salespeople make correct decisions concerning the selection and positioning of products to meet identified customer needs. The three prescriptions for the product strategy are become a product expert, sell benefits, and configure value-added solutions. The development of a product strategy begins with a thorough study of one’s product (see Figure 2.3) using a feature–benefit analysis approach. Product features such as technical superiority, reliability, fashionableness, design integrity, or guaranteed availability should be converted to benefits that appeal to the customer. Today’s high-performance salespeople strive to become product experts. Chapter 6 focuses on company, product, and competition knowledge needed by salespeople.

Product knowledge is not the only important element of a product strategy. In fact, salespeople who are too focused on selling products often fail to identify complete solutions to the customer’s problem. Stephen Covey, author of the best-selling book, The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, says, “Diagnose before you prescribe.” If the salesperson does not deeply engage the customer and fails to diagnose the problem correctly, chances are the solution recommended may not be the best one.21

The development of a product strategy often requires thoughtful decision making. Today’s more knowledgeable customers seek a cluster of satisfactions that arise from the product itself, from the manufacturer or distributor of the product, and from the salesperson. The “new” product that customers are buying today is the sum total of the satisfactions that emerge from all three sources. The cluster-of-satisfactions concept is discussed in more detail in Chapter 7.

Patricia Seybold, author of The Customer Revolution, says we are in the midst of a profound revolution—the customer revolution. And it’s bigger than the Internet revolution:

Customers have taken control of our companies’ destinies. Customers are transforming our industries. And customers’ loyalty—or lack thereof—has become increasingly important. . . . 22

Customers have become increasingly sophisticated in their buying strategies. More and more, they have come to expect value-added products and services and long-term commitments. Selling to today’s customers starts with getting on the customers’ agenda and carefully identifying their needs, wants, and buying conditions. Salespeople who have a better understanding of customer needs are better able to produce satisfied customers who are willing to pay more!23

A customer strategy is a carefully conceived plan that results in maximum responsiveness to the customer’s needs. This strategy is based on the fact that success in personal selling depends, in no small measure, on the salesperson’s ability to learn as much as possible about the prospect. It involves the collection and analysis of specific information on each customer. When developing a customer strategy, the salesperson should develop an understanding of the customer’s buying process, understand buyer behavior, and develop a prospect base. The first two parts of the customer strategy are introduced in Chapter 8. Suggestions concerning ways to develop and manage a solid prospect base are discussed in Chapter 9.

The customer strategy is dictated by the needs of the customer. For example, it’s best to consider relationship formation from the customer’s perspective. When a consultative-selling approach is required, the customer strategy will usually encompass a long-term relationship and ongoing collaboration. If a transactional approach is required, the customer strategy would not, in most cases, emphasize need assessment, problem solving, relationship building, and sales follow-up.24

Typical salespeople spend about 30 percent of their time in actual face-to-face selling situations. However, the sales presentation is a critical part of the selling process. The presentation strategy is a well-developed plan that includes preparing the sales presentation objectives, preparing a presentation plan that is needed to meet these objectives, and renewing one’s commitment to provide outstanding customer service (see Figure 2.3).

The presentation strategy usually involves developing one or more objectives for each sales call. For example, a salesperson might update personal information about the customer, provide information on a new product, and close a sale during one sales call. Multiple-objective sales presentations, which are becoming more common, are discussed in Chapter 10.

Presale presentation plans give salespeople the opportunity to consider those activities that take place during the sales presentation. For example, a salesperson might preplan a demonstration of product features to use when meeting with the customer. Presale planning ensures that salespeople are well organized during the sales presentation and prepared to offer outstanding service.

The major strategies that form the Strategic/Consultative–Selling Model are by no means independent. The relationship, product, and customer strategies all influence development of the presentation strategy (Figure 2.4). For example, one relationship-building practice might be developed for use during the initial face-to-face meeting with the customer and another for possible use during the negotiation of buyer resistance. Another relationship-building method might be developed for use after the sale has been closed. The discovery of customer needs (part of the customer strategy) greatly influences planning for the sales presentation.