There is everything right with making friends in sales.
Abraham Lincoln said, “If you would win a man to your cause, first convince him that you are his sincere friend…”
Couldn’t we use this principle in modern politics? My goodness.
Well, while there may not be much we can do about friendship in the political divide, there is a divide that may be much more pressing to you as a seller. That is the divide between your company and your target audience.
The divide is very wide. You need to accept that. A company’s primary goal is to maximize profitability which means your company’s offer stands diametrically opposed to their core reason for being. You offer represent an unwanted expense.
That’s just the reality. Unless, you are able to show that your company can actually make them more money.
That’s the long and short of B2b sales. Convince the other person that your resources make money when purchased.
But how do you convince them? Well, coming in hot with a pitch doesn’t do a good job of convincing them. It sounds and feels like you’re trying to take from them even before you start talking.
However, if you do the work of building friendship what happens is you create a community of shared resources.
When that community works together and uses and supports each other, that’s when sales gets easy. That’s when sales feels honest.
That’s the way.
Don’t be the guy that says I’m not here to make friends. You’ll be a lone wolf, bitter and broken by the world.
Instead, make friends. They’ll know what you do intimately and when the time comes that they are looking for a resource such as yours they will know who to call. There will be no question.
