Don't you hate it when you're at a Chamber of Commerce mixer, and that agressive marketing rep (or pushy salesperson) won't leave you alone! It's like, "Hello, my name is Alexis. Will you buy my product?" They proceed to tell you how great their business is. You're not interested right now. Then they resort to begging for your business. That is a total turn-off. If you were even considering their company's product, they just blew it.
We don't come up to a new acquaintance and immediately ask him/her to marry us -- so why do we try this brutally direct approach in business? It's time to get up to speed on today's new business model.
Would you do this?
- Meet a new person for the first time.
- Ask him/her to marry you.
NO WAY! That is ridiculous!!! Here's the social process we usually follow before asking someone to marry us:
- Meet a new person for the first time.
- Try to impress each other.
- Build relationship over a period of time.
- Agree on common values, goals.
- Commit to each other.
- Finally, ask him/her to marry you.
Along the lines of "Hello! Nice to Meet You. Will you Marry Me?", here's yesterday's outdated business model:
- Connect with a new person.
- Ask him/her to do business with you.
If it doesn't work for social relationships, why would the 1-2 punch model work for business relationships? It doesn't! Here's today's new business model:
- Connect with a new person.
- Give help.
- Provide value.
- Earn trust.
- Finally, ask for business.
People do business with folks they (1) Know (2) Like (3) Trust. How do we get to build that trust? Through developing a long-term mutually beneficial relationship. By offering value and giving FIRST. In BNI, this is known as the "giver's gain" philosophy.
Some of today's non-pushy sales & marketing ideas include:
- Find out their needs/interests
- Cultivate relationship
- Listen
- Offer assistance
- Incubation period
- Ask for referrals
- Networking
- Gift
- Keep in touch
- Be accessible
- Care
- Ask permission
- Responsive
- Offer suggestions
- Be available
- Help them achieve their goals
- Serve
- Give a personal testimony
- Share
- Be resourceful
- Give referrals
What are some ways that you've noticed business has changed from the Good Ol' Boys network to the Relationship-Cultivating model?
Join my NEW group for professionals who work from their home office at http://activerain.com/groups/virtualoffice
Regina P. Brown
Broker, Realtor®, e-Pro
Author of eBook "Stop Foreclosure Fast: Solutions to Save your House"
Text copyright © 2008 R.P. Brown, All Rights Reserved
Comments(33)