A major component of Relationship Marketing is Relationship Selling, which focuses on building a good relationship with a client and providing a valuable service throughout that relationship.

The old model vs the new model

Old model
Prospecting > Qualifying > Probing > Selling > Overcoming Objections > Closing the Sale

This old model no longer works! It makes the seller (the travel counsellor) more like an adversary than a partner with the client. Not a great way to develop a relationship.

Let’s change it to reflect the more effective way of marketing to today’s clients.

New model
Providing > Qualifying > Understanding > Selling > Servicing (After the Sale and After the Trip!)

Providing: Instead of prospecting (or hunting) for new clients, why not provide the right products for the current marketplace, using your up-to-date knowledge of their needs and desires?

Qualifying: This is still important, but the emphasis should be on determining the customer’s needs, wants and expectations, rather than making sure they have the authority to buy the product!

Understanding: Your client will have questions. He/she will express concerns. A perceptive and thoughtful listener will be able to zero in on those issues and address them with concern and caring.

Selling: In relationship selling, you will concentrate on recommending the best way to satisfy each client’s specific needs and demonstrate how you and your agency can do just that.

Servicing the Client (After the Sale): “Closing the Sale” is such an inappropriate term today, indicating, as it does, that the sales transaction is over. When you “close the sale,” you are saying that your job is over. But to adequately serve the customer today means a lot of follow-up and personalized service! It really is never over as long as you want to keep that customer!

Skills needed in relationship marketing

Interpersonal skills
This is the ability to relate to clients in such a way as to bring out their real needs, concerns, and motivations. This will involve good interviewing skills, as well as good listening skills. It also means that you must spend time with the client. A key word in Relationship Marketing is empathy: the ability to “identify with, and understand, another person’s feelings, situation and motives.”

Sensitivity
Instead of the traditional competitive approach to dealing with a client, sensitivity is a more highly prized skill. What is sensitivity? Being keenly aware of your client and the issues that are most important to him/her.

Ability to Communicate
Communication skills are very important to Relationship Marketing. Active listening is an important part of this communication process. This includes taking notes while listening to your client, repeating back to the client what you believe he/she said for clarification and confirmation, and making professional recommendations based on the details you hear.

If you would like any further advice or tips, check out my Facebook Page. Alternatively if you would like any information about Business Coaching, please contact me on 07 3040 3588 or visit www.tafastrack.com.