Recently, I was doing a prospecting call to a successful business owner whom I didn't know.
During our short call, he shared that "Our Business is based on Relationships", indicating that whatever it was that I do, clearly wasn't applicable to them.
I'm always honoured to work with incredible clients in Winnipeg. I'm thinking of two clients and recalling why I was originally invited into their worlds and what was accomplished because of our work together.
It's not often, but once in a while, a client will call because they did a Google search. Most of my clients are found via referrals or via a conversation we train called RECON. Often, as an unknown provider, I find clients by executing a no-pressure prospecting call directly to the senior owner / president / CEO.
It's what I teach, so it's what I do.
Client One: "I'm Hiring Incredible People, and I Don't Know How to Train Them"
This client operates in premium construction and is well known for building luxurious cabins with exceptional taste and ambience. They do both residential and commercial work, and they had invested in their manufacturing capacity that needed to pay off.
During one of our first calls, one of the co-owners shared that "I'm hiring incredible people, and I don't know how to train them".
Training people is a great opportunity, with a serious catch. It never works on its own.
The reality is that you can't train someone to do something. You can't fix people without being more holistic about the solution. Without a leader who helps ensure the behaviours are implemented, training dollars are often wasted. Thus, managers and leaders must be included. For this, we don't only train the sales professionals, we train the leaders, often before we bring these insights to the sales team.
Clients also often need a sales playbook and a repeatable sales experience that is documented with best practices. We have to include people, must make effective processes / experiences, must keep leadership engaged so they can hold the team accountable and recognize the rewards of hard work. Must evolve as the market changes and set new goals on where we will go next.
Over years, this relationship grew, leaders were in leadership programs that I would host. I frequently visit their office to do company specific development on both their sales experience and their people skills. Leaders learned with employees. There is a team mentality.
Client Two: The Referral That Came From Within
Ultimately, I get an introduction to one of Client One’s customers, who shares that he is struggling to become a stronger networker and wants to have his company booked 12 months out. We work together to build the playbook, identify new behaviours, attitudes and techniques to help him and the company reach their goals.
Both clients are making their marks on great projects and homes in Winnipeg and in surrounding communities. You've seen their work at major sites, their vans, their houses built in premium neighbourhoods, their brands advertised on the boards at Jets games.
These clients evolved their business to target not only more ideal clients but also different ideal client profiles that resulted in growth. They changed their services to differentiate themselves from their competition.
Results Happen Over Years
These relationships happen over years, results occur when the behaviours, attitudes and techniques are practised, failed at, and ultimately generate success. Results happen with conviction and with belief in the process, the tools, the disarming honesty, and the conviction to never let the status quo hold you back.
And guess what. I love introductions, referrals and calls from clients that found me on Google. I love them all.
But I can't rest.
I will still call more clients that I don't know and who don't know the Sandler brand. It's my responsibility to do so. It's what we teach, it's what we do.
So, If You Get a Call From Me
If by chance you get a call from me and you're not familiar with Sandler, how we help, and what we do, please know: my business is based on relationships.
Maybe like yours, and it's also based on never letting the status quo hold me back. We believe that the best way to truly maximise your success is to build long-term relationships with great people, while still reaching out to those who haven't experienced what you uniquely have to offer.
That may or may not be like yours. I hope it is, because it should be.
Relationships = YES; Sales = Absolutely!
ASK Sandler works with driven organizations in Manitoba to help them grow their people, grow their business, and grow themselves.
If you want to build stronger beliefs and behaviours inside your sales team, come be our guest in a class or book a 15-minute chat.
