During various sales training engagements and coaching sessions, I have been told one or more of the following regarding sales results: “people just don’t want to buy anything these days”, some people just want everything for free”, “it’s just a bad time economically”. Who do you want to be: A frustrated, burned out individual, or a champion of solutions? 
Although there may be some truth to some of all of these comments, if as a sales person you buy in to believing any of these as dogma, you may as well close shop and read a good book instead. Try substituting your obstacles in thinking with the following principles:
People do business with people they know and like.
People are inherently selfish and like others to be concerned with them and not the other way around.
Selling can’t be a transaction, it has to be a transition.
The focus can’t be the sale but rather who you are selling to.
Research has shown that strategic, relationship-focused teams grew their accounts twice as fast as regular “transactionally-focused” teams (Ferrazi, 2010).
Having an attitude of generosity, and no strings attached is the key to any relationship. So what makes a sale relationship any different?
If you are fully invested in the success of the individual, team or organization you are working with, it will arrest the attention of the right person and make them willing to develop a closer relationship with you..
Recently, as part of coaching a sales team at a major consulting firm, I gave them several relationship-building goals starting with a general detail on email. Here’s what resulted: one CIO returned to me stating that they start negotiations about a contract. A VP of Operations returned with a proposal on a value chain process.
Another partner was rewarded by producing a 110K deal.
If you have offered a helping hand in the form of a solution to a problem, or a hindrance at least a handful of times, you have become a trusted advisor. And this is a conversion of limitless results.
