Friends with benefits

One of the most valuable assets you can create in business is called a “friendship with benefits”.

Not the touchy and feeling kind, rather an enduring relationship between a customer and vendor that contributes to both in a meaningful way. Acquaintances, we can take or leave. Typically surface level, these relationships hold little lasting value. Unfortunately, the majority of customers are treated this way because staff are not empowered habitually with the right knowledge and skills.

It’s vital businesses get this right: how you treat people in a commercial situation shouldn’t differ that much to a social setting. The same essentials apply, such as empathy, common courtesy, respect, keeping our word, and above all, a genuine interest in the other party’s best interests. Think about the people we consider friends. What behaviours do they demonstrate? How long have we known them? Why are they so important to us? What really attracts us to them?

More than anything else, we are attracted to friends because of how they make us feel.

We can share a laugh or divulge our deepest insecurities. We spend time getting to know who they really are and what’s really important to them. Friends don’t try to blatantly profit from us, without of course, being swiftly removed from our social group. Friends, more often than not, are adept at listening to us. When you consider your best friend, they are exceptional at it.

As a customer, I prefer to buy from someone I like and trust. I hate being sold something, instead, I want to be empowered with information. I detest being smothered by self-focused communication and marketing jargon. I crave to be heard and understood. And if there’s a problem, I need to know someone is there for me, always. Yes, as vendor, your success is important to me too. I’m willing to pay fair value for my purchase and I don’t mind you profiting, but never at my expense.

Some say, you can measure a person by the quality of their friends. This is true. The principle applies profoundly to businesses too. Ironically, being a true friend isn’t all that hard, but it does take effort. And customers aren’t really that complex to understand, you should know, as you’re one also. Good friends are hard to find, so never be a salesperson – always be a friend with benefits.

For more Selling Strategies advice, click here.

Trent Leyshan is the founder and CEO of sales training company BOOM! As a sales expert and facilitator, he partners with some of the world’s most dynamic and demanding sales driven companies. Trent is also the founder of salesprocess.com.au and the author of THE NAKED SALESMAN: How to walk the talk and sell your way to success!