I am a passionate advocate of the relationship first, consultative oriented growth philosophy.  In educating others on what that really means, I have discovered a sense of discomfort in the deliberate process I follow to authentically build relationships.  

The objective of my relationship building process is quite simple:

Learn and understand what others need, want, and desire in their world.  Know and internalize the importance and value of those issues.  Be the trusted advisor that helps them discover solutions to these problems.

I was asked to comment on the following the other day as it relates to this relationship building mantra: “I see no reason why the relationship road can’t lead to short-term results. It’s not because you’re building relations and go for the consultative approach that you should put off closing the deal.  I would like to hear your thoughts on this.”

More than anything else, I am rarely in a mindset where I am looking to “close a deal.”  This is the mentality that gets too many salespeople in trouble.  We need to be committed to providing real solutions, to real problems, with a product, service, or resource that meets your clients needs — not close a deal.

Once I have built trust, established credibility, have learned enough to clearly understand this issue in its complete context as it relates solely to the client — only then am I in a position to share with them ideas that I have that may be of value to them. 

There is no “close” in my process — only a presentation of a valuable and productive solution for my future clients.  Closing a deal implies that I am attempting to get someone to do something.  When I provide them what they are really looking for — a result of my investing in listening, learning and understanding about that need — they will take the action necessary to move the sales process to the next step.  The reason this occures is because it is what they want and need, not what I desire or expect them to want and need that converts this relationship into buyer relationship.

It may seem to take a little longer to get a new customer in the true relationship building, trusted resource process because too many sales professionals have not yet discovered the power of doing this well.  Learning this behavior, like any change, takes time and practice before proficiency.  Once learned, the relationship oriented model is highly efficient.  It requires one key component– the willingness to be authentically selfless.  A personality trait few old school sales pros struggle with.  Hence, the desire to go for the close, instead of going for the trusted advisor role. 

Great results require a focused investment in time and effort.  The short vs. long-term view always concerns me.  There is only one path to productive growth — learn the right skills, the right way and become proficient at it.  There are no shortcuts to that.