The pandemic has made it more important than ever to create and maintain good customer relationships within the organisation. For the sales department, this means that salespeople need to be in close dialogue with customers about what their situation and needs are right now and how you can help them move forward.
One of the sales competences in FinxS Sales Competence Assessment is to build relationships. In the following, you can read more about how a salesperson can build relationships and how sales management can develop salespeople's competences and get more relationship-building salespeople.
Building relationships as a salesperson
A salesperson who can build relationships in the FinxS sales tool is able to build trust and create, develop and maintain an open and trusting relationship with customers. The salesperson adjusts and adapts their manner and behavioural style to the individual customer's behaviour to create a sense of familiarity with the customer and to create greater trust and a stronger relationship with the customer.
The focus is on creating honest, open and trusting communication where the customer feels relaxed and comfortable. Here, the salesperson can choose to change and adapt their communication style, tone of voice and body language to better match the customer's own behaviour.
A salesperson who can build relationships with the customer is able to show a genuine interest in the customer's situation, needs and wants. They also focus on how they can help improve the customer's situation without being judgmental or self-centred. This helps create a more open communication where the focus is on the customer and their situation.
It measures FinxS Sales Competence tool
FinxS Sales Assessment is a sales assessment tool designed to help salespeople become more successful in sales. The Sales Assessment measures the salesperson's proficiency in 18 key sales competences that are necessary for a successful sale. One of the 18 sales competences is, as mentioned: Building relationships. Here, the FinxS sales assessment measures the salesperson's current level in relation to this sales competency.
If the salesperson scores high on the sales competency of building relationships, it means that the salesperson succeeds in building trust and relationships with potential customers. The salesperson is able to adapt and change their behaviour to the individual customer, creating a sense of familiarity with the customer.
On the other hand, if the salesperson scores low on the sales competency of building relationships, they are not focused on building a trusting relationship with the customer. The salesperson seems self-oriented, self-centred or perhaps too shy and therefore has difficulty showing a genuine interest in the customer's needs.
Strengthen sales skills to build relationships
If the salesperson has a low score on building relationships, there may be a need to develop the salesperson's skills in this sales competency. In order for the salesperson to develop the sales competency, it requires help and training from a sales coach. In this context, a concrete development plan should be made for the individual salesperson to achieve success.
Based on the salesperson's results, the sales assessment helps create a concrete development plan for the individual salesperson. By asking the salesperson to answer a series of questions about the different sales competences, the salesperson and the sales coach get help to start creating a roadmap for a successful sale. The questions are not generic, but are dependent on the individual results.
If you and the salesperson want to focus primarily on developing the salesperson's relationship building skills, it might be a good idea to start with the questions on this sales competency first.
Empathy and situational interpretation are important for building relationships
In addition to measuring the salesperson's current level of 18 different key sales competences, the FinxS sales competency tool can also be used to identify the underlying mindsets of the sales competences. All 18 sales competences are based on one to three mindsets, which are basic instincts needed to succeed in sales.
The sales competency of relationship building is based on the mindsets of empathy and situation interpretation. In order to build relationships with your customers as a salesperson, you need to be able to put yourself in the customer's shoes, make contact and gain their trust. At the same time, the salesperson must also be able to interpret the situation and understand how other people see the world in order to change and adapt their behaviour to the individual customer.
In order to realise the full potential of the relationship-building impact competency, it is therefore necessary that the salesperson scores high on the mindsets of empathy and situation interpretation.
Get started with FinxS Sales Assessment
In order to develop your salespeople's sales competences, you need a certification in FinxS Sales Competence. With this certification, you can help your salespeople become even better salespeople who create sales success. You can read more about FinxS Sales Assessment here.
If you are interested in learning more about how to get certified, you are also welcome to contact us at 70 26 32 25 or on info@hrsolutions.dk.
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