Relationship selling
| Relationship selling |
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| See also |
Relationship selling - this is one of the sales methods that boils down to building strong customer relationships. Used very often in the sale of high quality items and individualised services. In addition, it is also used in long-term sales. In a business language it is also called a marketing process that involves educated employees, a trustworthy brand and the creation of a community of consumers who want to return to a particular place. In addition, under this action, gifts are often given to customers to keep them with a specific brand.
Trust and relationship selling
Trust in consumer sales is one of the most basic factors that develops over time. It is important in the case of direct sales. Usually people are much more reluctant towards direct sellers than e. g[1]:
- buying products from websites
- or catalogues sent to them by mail.
Therefore, it is important that each vendor inspires the right kind of trust. It can do this by, among other things, asking questions about customer needs or asking questions not necessarily related to sales.
Emotional Intelligence in relationship selling
Another basic assumption of relationship selling is to educate salespeople in such a way that they can adapt to each of their customers. For this reason, they shouldn't usually be insistent as they were with “hard sell tactics"; in the 1970s and 1980s. In connection with the above, the so-called Adaptive Selling Behaviour (ASB) was developed. It consists in the fact that sellers are required to adapt to sales situations depending on the characteristics that are strong for the customer they meet [2].
In the world of competition and dynamically changing offers of entrepreneurs, the emotional approach is very important. This is due to the fact that people no longer buy products themselves, but also emotions. For this reason, sellers must pay particular attention to the examination of their previous sales performances. Hence, they constantly improve their sales scenarios and try to play roles that are flexibly tailored to the specific type of customer[3].
Techniques of relationship selling
One of the most popular sales methods is stimulus response selling. It consists in the fact that the seller makes judgments, asks questions, takes action, uses audio-visual aids and demonstrates the product. On the other hand, the purchaser should express an interest or discouragement. In the event of a positive response, he will purchase the product [4].
Another important method is need satisfaction selling, which is mainly based on researching the consumer's needs and then applying the product to his subconscious in such a way that he thinks that it meets his expectations. Through constant stimulation of emotions and mind, sellers “decode"; their customers [5].
Footnotes
References
- Albaum G., Poon P., Shiu-Fai Ch. (2012) Managing Trust in direct selling relationships, "Marketing Intelligence & Planning"
- Georgakas K., Ifie K., Simintiras A., Watkins A. (2013) Antecendents of Adaptive Selling among Retail Salespeople: A Multilevel Analysis "Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services"
- Poulis A., Wisker Z. L. (2014) International Journal of Management and Economics, "Zeszyty naukowe KGŚ"
- Ramon A. , Scott A. (2017) Inks The Evolution of the Sales Proces: Relationship Selling Versus the Challenger Sales
Author: Klaudia Urbańska
