Why are effective sales similar to a long-term relationship

About The Sale

This year it has been 10 years since I am responsible for sales of training in the company.

In the beginning, managing business relations was not very natural to me. Selling is selling. Target. Daily chasing of potential clients, catching new ones. A mechanical game of numbers.

I looked at it mainly through the prism of courses sold for project teams, be it in the field of Project Management including, Agile Project Management, Facilitation, OBASHI®, AQRO®, Necessary, important, but treated as a one-time transaction.

With time, I noticed how important in the relationship with the client is a deeper personal contact, full of concentration, respect, and sincere interest. To not only engage with the current training needs, but also with a broader understanding of the client’s problems and long-term goals.

Business Relationship Management

Getting to know BRMP has shown me how by properly managing business relations, showing the client the right direction, and shaping the demand – both parties can achieve more, for longer.

Business Relationship Management defines 5 levels of business relationship maturity and I see that I consistently follow this path in the right direction:

• Ad Hoc
• Order Taker
• Service Partner
• Trusted Advisor
• Strategic Partner

Low maturity levels refer to the ‘cheapest offer’.

The higher ones assume multi-layer cooperation based on trust, knowledge, and commitment. In them, the supplier acts as a navigator, liaison officer, and coordinator.

My experience

While writing this text, I am aware that my personal experience, which I share, does not mean identical reflections from other people, or a proven recipe for good, “healthy” sales.

After all, there will always be lovers of fast food or quick dates who:

• Put price over quality.
• A quick certificate of reliable learning and practical exercises.

We will not even convince them with the best service, many years of experience, innovation, proven coaching staff, etc.

I respect free choice and I know that everyone has different needs and possibly that not everyone will be able to help with and not all will be able to cooperate with me.

But I say “NO”

I do not agree with pushing clients with services at the lowest price, omitting the key elements for the education process (i.e. original textbooks, experienced trainers), and persuading them that what they get is the best they can get.

I say “NO” to sales-easy, focused on pushing the next transaction, without deeper, long-term concern for the real return on the client’s investment. Delivering as much as possible, as cheaply as possible, far below the quality expected in a Best Practice environment.

Conclusion

It has been some time before I managed to visualize and learn in practice that it is not only ‘selling’, but also building relationships with customers that is the most important thing. Much has been written about the specifics of sales, especially in the training industry. However, a person continues to learn all their life, especially from their mistakes.

I have learned to its best to invite you to long-term cooperation. Let us enrich each other so that the quality of services, including training, will be a real contribution to the improvement of best practices.

Here at CourseMonster, we know how hard it may be to find the right time and funds for training. We provide effective training programs that enable you to select the training option that best meets the demands of your company.

For more information, please get in touch with one of our course advisers today or contact us at training@coursemonster.com