Service = Cause, Relationship (and the Order) = Effect

Joe Schmuckatelly and I were making sales calls together -- actually, he was making them, I was observing.  During pre-call planning for one of his visits, Joe identified the prospect's relationship with an existing vendor as a potential problem that might prevent the prospect from moving forward with Joe's company.  He decided to put the elephant on the table during the visit.  The interaction went something like this:

"Mr. Prospect, I understand that you've done a lot of business in the past with Mr. X, and it's my perception that you have a pretty strong relationship.  All things being equal, is it true that Mr. X is going to be your preferred vendor for this project?"

Joe's intent was to listen closely to the answer and respond appropriately.  Joe truly had no idea where this would go, but he suspected that it would at least provide an opportunity to ask what would have to happen to make it more likely for Mr. Prospect to move forward with Joe, a "how can I improve my odds" kind of discussion.  To Joe's surprise, Mr. Prospect responded...

"Relationship?!?  Who gives a crap about the relationship?!?  Either I get what I need from you or I don't!  The reason you're here is Mr. X's company has been dropping the ball!  Oh yeah," he said with a smile, "you've got some pretty cool stuff too."

When I speak with my friends and colleagues who are in the position of dealing with salespeople on an ongoing basis, I hear similar comments.  As a general rule, relationship helps with information sharing, openness, and trust, but Service is the root of the order.

An orchard is a useful metaphor for this point.  The orchard represents your territory.  Each tree (account) has many branches (suspects, prospects, and customers), some of which bear more fruit (orders) than others.  Service is the healthy, well fertilized soil.  Relationship-Building Activities are the water.  Provide one without the other, and the harvest (and the tree) will suffer.  The Law of the Harvest is that you Reap what you Sow.  So it is in sales.

There is a potential problem with metaphors - they can easily be misunderstood by the casual reader.  In this case, notice that I defined the water as Relationship-Building Activities and not as The Relationship.  This is important.  Relationship is an outcome.  Relationship-Building Activities are something that you Practice.  The relationship you have with your prospects and customers is the result of Conscious and Genuine, Relationship-Building Activities - and that's something you have 100% control of.

There are other factors that affect Relationship, such as Results and Perceptions and Culture.  Relationship (the outcome) is the result of some things you can control (such as your service and the degree to which you Consciously Practice relationship-building skills) and some things that you can't control (such as other people, world events that conspire to upset your carefully laid plans, and the perception of the persons and organizations that you are serving).  Focus on what you can control and you'll drive improved outcomes Over The Long Run (but don't expect to bat 1.000).

Some people, it seems, are convinced that a good relationship will lead to a sale (read that as Cause and Effect).  "They'll buy from me because I have worked hard to make them like me."  I think that this is a chicken and egg problem.  For example, if you think about it you'll realize that a chicken is just an egg's way of making another egg.  What, you see a problem with this statement?  So it is in sales.

If Service is what really leads to the order, then why care about the Relationship?  Because relationship is also important, it's just that you don't have 100% control over Relationship, the outcome (because it takes two to Tango), and a Relationship takes time to develop.

In my humble opinion, you should focus your attention on Providing Excellent Service and on Being Trustworthy -- both lead to improved relationship Over The Long Run.

If your prospect or customer truly has the interests of the organization he serves at heart, then a good relationship won't guarantee a sale.  On the other hand, excellent service might.  Haven't you ever purchased an inferior product due to superior service?

Beware:  Excellent Service with poor Relationship Skills can lead to low Trust; think about the result of a minor mistake with a low-trust account.  On the other hand, Excellent Service with Excellent Relationship Skills can lead to higher Trust, which translates into Forgiveness for the small errors that can happen in this complex world.

Not sure what to do to improve your service?  Take a quick read of the books titled, "Achieve Sales Excellence" by Howard Stevens and Theodore Kinni (HR Chally Group) and "Exceptional Selling" by Jeff Thull.  Also, when is the last time you made a Service Call?  The Sales Engine can help.

The Sales Engine

Not sure what to do to improve your relationship skills?  Take a quick read of the books titled, "People Skills" by Robert Bolton; "The Trusted Advisor" by Maister, Green, and Galford; "Let's Get Real or Let's Not Play" by Mahan Khalsa and Randy Illig (Covey's Sales Performance Group); "The Speed of Trust" by Stephen M.R. Covey; and "Swim With The Sharks..." by Harvey Mackay.  Also, invest some time studying real-life examples.  But the most important part here is to Practice what you are studying here with conscious intent -- turn off the automatic pilot.

A coach can help.  Got one?  Get one.  Period.