Relationship selling and social marketing are becoming one and the same, and this presents numerous advantages for any business that understands how the two work together. If you hate cold calling and the feeling of interrupting your best clients, then stop selling as you know it and get focused on helping. That’s the heart of relationship selling. To be clear, helping can come in the form of sharing valuable information or introducing new product innovations. Helping is the New Cold CallingWhen I started selling for a large corporation immediately after graduating from college, I did not initially understand my role. I was on the road 3 full weeks out of every month. To be honest, it seemed like I was a professional visitor. The truth is I was practicing relationship selling without even knowing it. One of my goals for the first year was simply not to lose any business, something that can happen when there is a change in the sales team. To make that happen, I did everything I could to help my customers and earn their trust. Is that selling? Traditional selling tends to focus on transactions – moving products and services. Whereas relationship selling assumes that if you continuously earn the trust of the customer they will buy when the time is right. This is the role of your blogging and social media. It informs and educates potential buyers, thereby gradually earning their trust. It’s a new way to sell that happens to work exceptionally well in our digital world. One of the reasons cold calling seldom works is that it is interruptive. Whereas, digital, social marketing is willingly consumed by buyers that want the help. This is one reason why social marketing is the new relationship selling. Relationships are Sustainable: Transactions are NotYou can build a relationship selling process that predictably leads to desired outcomes. The idea is to view every customer interaction as an opportunity to move them from interest to outcome, with that outcome being determined by the buyer – not the seller. Smart companies continuously move their potential buyers and customers to a better place. This used to be the role of the salesperson. Now that it can be accomplished digitally, it can be automated with customer relationship managers (CRM’s) just like the one that delivers this newsletter to thousands of subscribers. The outcome of a relationship selling process is ideally a stronger relationship or a sales transaction. Both are good, but only one is sustainable. Therefore, focus on the continuity of the relationship and let buying become a by-product of that sustained relationship. Investing in Relationships Builds Your BusinessSales transactions are often viewed as the conclusion of the sales cycle, which effectively makes them an ending. Nobody likes endings. A healthier approach is to treat them as events within a continuous process that never ends. When a customer buys they are invested in your company. What is their return on that investment above and beyond the product or service? Many businesses will have to answer zero, because that has traditionally been the standard practice. What happens next is typically a waiting period until the customer buys again. Marketing is designed to make that happen; and so is selling. The business often asks the customer if there is anything they can do to help them. Asking to help is not helping. Helping is proactively giving the customer what they need to be happier, regardless of whether it relates to the business or not. This is relationship selling in this trust economy.
It’s an investment in the collective future of everyone concerned. It’s proactive, continuous, and unlike a transactional approach – it never ends.
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3 Types of Authenticity
Authenticity is one of those qualities that is not easily defined.
It would be more accurate to state that authenticity is defined by different people in different ways – at least that has been my observation.
For quite some time we have been talking about authenticity here on the social networks. And this week at the annual convention of the National Speakers Association it was a subject frequently mentioned by several of the keynote speakers – all of whom happen to view authenticity in very different ways.
So, without mentioning names, I’m going to share their unique perspectives, all of which are valid.
#1 – Emotional Authenticity
One speaker mentioned that she genuinely loves people, which obviously includes her audiences. Her definition of being authentic is sharing those feelings of being open and honest with people – and being a little bit vulnerable too.
This is how many people feel about authenticity – that if you put your true self out there you will resonate with those you were meant to make connections with.
Emotional authenticity comes from the heart.
#2 – Logical Authenticity
In contrast, logical authenticity is more from the head, which some might argue is not the source of true authenticity. Nevertheless, for those that strongly believe in who they are, this type of authenticity is the operational software of their lives.
The speaker that fits this type of authenticity suggested to the audience to take a stand on what you believe in – and don’t waver from it.
His authenticity comes from a place that says – this is who I am and you aren’t going to change me. It’s actually pretty good advice if you want to carve out a unique identity or brand that will get you hired more frequently.
Whether the source of your authenticity is from the heart or the head, they both strengthen your identity and alignment with your ideal clients or customers.
#3 – Practical Authenticity
When you combine emotional and logical authenticity you get a hybrid. While it would be easy to view this as being inauthentic, it is arguably the most common form of authenticity – for very significant reasons.
To illustrate this with an example, let’s look at it from the standpoint of a professional speaker.
Not every audience will be comfortable with all-out authenticity that comes from the heart, especially if that audience is predominantly male.
So, as a practical matter, it may be necessary to dial things back a bit to respect the group and the circumstances that are presently before you.
As the speaker who uses this approach noted, when he is on stage he plays a character that is very much the same as the original – but nevertheless different.
The difference is customizing his authenticity for each individual audience – while respecting the degree of authenticity that they are capable of receiving.
As Chris Brogan noted in his blog today, authenticity comes down to helping. That’s what practical authenticity is all about.
Professional speakers get hired to help their audiences, and so do you.
However you view and approach it, you have to agree that authenticity is not about you.
Authenticity is about the outcomes that you can achieve with your audience – this includes your friends, colleagues, advocates, customers, and clients.
Authenticity isn’t easy – but it works.
How about you? What does authenticity mean to you?
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Until tomorrow, Jeff
