Every business we've ever consulted tells us the same thing about their sales force. They say that their industry is different from all the others and the only effective way for their salespeople to sell is to build buddy-buddy relationships with their prospects and customers. We hear it from printers, bankers, jewelers, accountants, industrial equipment manufacturers, office equipment distributors...and every other industry that sells stuff.

The argument usually goes something like this: "You see, in our industry, people put a lot of thought into this type of decision. They just don't go out and buy from whoever has the prettiest advertisements. As a matter of fact, we still have many of the same customers from when my grandfather owned the business. Now their grandsons buy from us. You just can't change these things overnight."

Relationship Selling Is A Myth. Like all myths, there are some elements of truth to it. Yes, it's true that your customers should like you. Yes, it's true that you can't necessarily influence big buying decisions overnight. But get one thing perfectly clear - your customers buy from you for one reason: they believe you have "the best deal."

Now their definition of what's the best deal may be different from the next person's. But generally, it has a lot to do with a combination of things like convenience, quality, consistency, service, and price. Usually, about 80% of a given target market will have the same needs, the same problems they want solved, and the same attitudes about buying. If you can solve their problems in a cost effective way, then getting their business is just a matter of staying in front of their face long enough to let them know you have the answers they need.

Don't Manage Cherries, Manage Trees!

The cherry tree is a useful sales analogy. Like a fruit tree, sales prospects must be cultivated in a certain way if they are to bear fruit. The problem is that most salespeople spend 80% of their time managing l