The Friendship Factor
Customers today are spoiled. They are demanding. They are disloyal. They
insist on being treated extremely well before they buy anything. More than
anything else, customers will only buy from people they like.
We call this the
“friendship factor.”
The friendship factor in selling simply says that a prospect will not buy from
you until he is genuinely convinced that you are his friend and that you are
acting in his best interests.
For this reason, the first thing you do in a sales
interview is create a bond,
make a friend. Sales expert Heinz Goldman once wrote a book with a title that
summarized this process perfectly:
How to Win Customers. Your job as a sales
professional is to win people over to your side by making
it clear that you care
about them and want the best for them.
Build a Bridge
You can only begin selling after you have convinced the prospect that you are
his pal and that you want what is best for him. In fact, if you begin talking about
your product or service before you have built a
bridge of friendship to your
prospect, the customer will lose all interest in buying from you. If you don’t
genuinely care about the customer, why should the customer care about you or
what you are offering?
