Tighten Up Relationships

On Saturday night, we had some friends over for dinner. Afterwards, since they enjoy music like we do, I started picking out obscure oldies but goodies from my Spotify playlists. Kind of a “Name That Tune.”

One they couldn’t put their finger on has been playing in my head for the last 2 days. It’s called “Tighten Up” by Archie Bell & the Drells. And it’s the theme of today’s newsletter.

When times are tough, when getting revenue is tough, it’s smart to tighten up things in our sales world. We can tighten up skills like questioning and listening. We can tighten up our systems, like for presentations and negotiations. We can tighten up strategies for difficult sales situations.

And, we can tighten up relationships. Let’s hone in on that today.

People have always bought from people they know, like & trust. And when times are tough, they buy from people they know more, like more & trust more. It makes perfect sense. There’s too much risk in making a mistake. And if there’s any doubt, clients and prospects are more apt to do nothing.

So, one way to tighten up a relationship, to take it up a notch, is by knowing each other a little better.

If we do that, we increase the probability of winning more opportunities or keeping more of their business.

Tightening up relationships means going beyond identifying their business and personal needs. We’re truly understanding them. And, we’re creating stronger bonds.

I like the word bonding over relationships. It’s stronger. Still, there are several levels of bonding:

Low-level bonding occurs when we show an interest in something the other person is interested in. Let’s say it’s football. You may not care for football but show you care for that other person by talking about it with them. You ask questions and most importantly listen to them.

A little higher level of bonding occurs when you share that common interest. Let’s say you both like pro football. A level up from that would be liking the same team, say the Green Bay Packers. Gosh, true Packer fans (or any team, really) can talk for hours about them.

An even higher level of bonding occurs when you both participated in the common interest, like if you both played high school football. And a notch beyond that in this example would be if you both played the same position, say cornerback.

We tend to quickly like people who have had experiences like we have. While we appreciate people who make an effort to show interest in what we like, we really bond with people who think, act and like what we like.

Of course we’re not going to share a common experience with everyone we meet. But we’ll never know until we get to know them better.

It starts by doing some homework. Social media profiles provide a wealth of information on interests, hobbies, work history, schooling and much more.   

You could find a common interest to dialogue, or at a minimum, find out things they’re interested in that you can learn about from them. Your effort to relate shows you care.

Bottom line, it typically takes conversation to get to the higher levels of bonding.

Can you take your relationships to the next level? Can you connect at a deeper level? Is it worth it?

If you think so, here’s this week’s to do: Pick out one relationship from 5 accounts that you want to take to a higher level. Do a little research and sketch out some conversational questions.

And if you need a little inspiration before, or just for the fun of it, go listen to “Tighten Up” by Archie Bell & the Drells. I think you’ll like it.

Have a great week!

Bob

P.S. Did you know, I offer group coaching for sales teams? One very effective session for today’s environment is on the best ways to handle difficult sales situations. We pick out 3 or 4 situations you’re facing and as a group come up with the best ways to respond. It’s amazing what we can come up with in 60 - 90 minutes. Reach out to me if you’d like to talk about it.  [email protected].