Recently my company secured one of the most lucrative relationships in our history - a seven-figure, multi-year deal. But we had been adding value to the client for over three years, first establishing high trust with them and then fostering that trust until the relationship matured into a long-term partnership. And that's where the real profits bloomed. But the truth is that we're still not done adding value. As long as we are in business together my company will continually seek to meet the maturing expectations of our client as they will seek to meet ours because we know that's the only way to realize the full value of the relationship. You see, as a business relationship grows so does its earning potential. And never is that more true than in the financial and banking industry.

There are no shortcuts to building the most lucrative, long-lasting relationships - especially when it comes to clients who are entrusting their financial futures to you. That's why I call this principle the Law of Incubation, which says that the most profitable relationships mature over time.

Incubation is the process by which you consistently add value to a client for as long as you do business together, knowing that over time this will ensure that the relationship matures to fruition. The salesperson in the financial industry who adds value after the sale clearly demonstrates that the relationship is more important than revenue and the person is more important than profits.

Incubation is not about getting a sales relationship going. Incubation is about keeping a sales relationship flowing. While adding value is critical throughout the selling process, realizing the full value of your clients is about using the long-term transference of value as your main client-retention - and client-referral - tool.

Often the main difference between the mediocre salesperson and the high-trust sales professional is how they treat their clients after a sale. The mediocre salesperson immediately moves on to the next sale. On the other hand, high-trust salespeople know that the most profitable relationships are a result of a time- honored investment, and they therefore take the steps necessary to retain their best clients for as long as possible; and the longer the relationship, the more lucrative it can be.

There are four steps that you should take in order to consistently add value to your clients and maximize the potential of your relationships. As you consider each of these steps, understand that once this system is in place, it is intended to be sustained throughout your sales career.

1. Develop a three-tier ranking of your clients. Which clients are your most valuable? Which produce the highest percentage of sales? Which are more likely to refer you more business? Which clients have the most potential to you and your firm? Once you answer these questions, establish your ranking system, placing the most valuable clients at the top.

2. Commit to a specific investment for each client. For example, if I know that a loyal client for our firm is worth $1,000 dollars each year then I need to answer the question: "How much do we want to regularly invest in that client to ensure high loyalty?" I generally tell students that they should come up with three investment levels. For example, for Level One clients, invest fifteen percent of their annual value back into them each year. For Level Two clients, invest ten percent. And for Level Three clients, invest five percent. Ultimately, you decide the amounts you will invest back into clients to retain them, but there is no magic to it. Like any investment, you want to measure your return.

3. For each tier, decide your annual contact plan. You must plan to have more contact with your best customers than you will with your marginal customers. These points of contact do not include necessary calls or meetings that must be made to discuss or generate more business. They are strictly to create loyalty and build trust.

4. Collaborate regularly. The greatest advantage you have over your competition is knowing your clients better than they do. The best way to do this is to get in the habit of continually interviewing your clients though weekly or monthly "partnership planning sessions" in which you both ascertain existing needs and seek to discover new needs; and also through "annual client reviews" in which you both revisit your progress for the previous year and determine if there are any ways to improve the productivity of the relationship.•

Jonathan Weaver, principal of Peak Performers
email: jonathan@peakperformers.ca
phone: 905 479 7979
web: peakperformers.ca

Please read this...   It will mean a lot to me.

Thanks. I appreciate the time it will take for you to read it. Now, why do you think this means a lot to me? Take a moment and think about it. What got you to start reading this article? If you are not a regular reader of my column, what prompted you to start reading this time?   Was it simply because I asked you to?

Consider how powerful a tool "asking" can be. Sometimes we can get what we want simply by making a request. Letting people know that what you're asking for is important they will want to contribute in some way. It sounds simple, yet many of us are afraid to ask others for any kind of help. We try to do everything on our own.

Let's pretend the printing business isn't as hard as it is. Let's pretend customers actually call you and want work done. Okay, let's not make it too easy; you still have competitors so how you speak to your prospect will have a profound effect on the outcome!

I'm not suggesting that you are being rude, but are you as effective as you could be?

First of all, when you meet with someone for the first time you need to build some trust or rapport before they feel comfortable with you. If you touch the person when you are speaking, you are building a connection with that person. But remember, we're talking seconds here not minutes. You don't want to offend your prospect! Touching is a universal trust builder but women and men differ from there.

There are three myths with regard to all salespeople. The quicker you can debunk them, the better your sales team will perform.

Myth #1

Just because your salespeople have all the information about your company's products or services and have been selling them for several years does not mean that they remember all of the information. Furthermore, on top of not remembering all of what they were taught, most sales training programs consist of 80% product training and 20% people skills while ironically, success in sales depends on 80% people skills and 20% on product or service orientation.

Nothing motivates like being recognized. A few issues ago I wrote an article on Managing Your Sales Staff. It spoke specifically on how frustrating it is for business owners to write cheques to salespeople without knowing what they are doing beyond the business they bring in … or even worse, the business they fail to bring in.
Apparently it struck a chord with many of you because I received several emails requesting the free, “To Do” list and the “Client Success File”.