sales successes leverage build strong

Building strong relationships with your customers and colleagues is critical in succeeding with complex sales.Say you had a sale that was potentially worth one Billion dollars, could you get this sale home by going it alone? This is where leverage comes into the sales process, where you have no choice but to build strong relationships with your customers and colleagues, as it will be critical that you understand and gain access to decision makers and influencers. This is where you leverage your colleagues - your team of specialists, senior executives, peers and all support personnel that will be required to achieve your and the companies objective.This leverage can be used for your smallevalue sales as well, heck that is why a sales manager exists within a sales organization so get out there and use them, rather than trying to go it alone.Start leveraging your team early in the process, while at the same time creating strong relationships with your customer and the customers support such as their accountants, attorneys, auditors, bankers, brokers, and any other influencers, ensuring that you are present at all the steps keeping the momentum moving at a controlled pace. By leveraging your team early you will ensure the resources are available to you when you require them. This also creates a positive working relationship within your team, and management, well before you need them. Share credit and reciprocate in supporting them. An example of this team work is when your senior manager places a well timed call to his counter part in the customer's organization, this opens a door that may have been closed to you at this point, and this opening door gives you the edge over your competitors.You will also need to map and identify your customers decision making process that is who will be making the critical decisions and who will be the major influencers in this process. You will have to learn who has the power.To accurately analyze your customers decision making process you will have to craft carefully worded and strategic questions. When asking your questions and analyzing the responses pay careful attention to and observe the communication patterns, getting input from all parties involved. This will allow you to create relationships with the customer and key players within the customer's organization allowing you to penetrate deep within the organization at various levels. Do not be afraid to ask the critical questions to gauge support as well as opposition to your initiative, so that you can re phrase or make adjustments as you proceed to your objective.To summarize:
1. Map the customers' decision making process,
2. Leverage your colleagues by enlisting their support,
3. Identify and cultivate a respected person in the customers camp.

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