At Induron, we have a relationship based sales model and process. That’s the way we sell our products. I was in sales for years, and now I’m being sold to a lot, so I’ve seen both sides, and it’s the people I’ve really clicked with and become friends with who I like to buy from and who I sold a lot to.
What we’ve learned in 60 plus years of trying at Induron is that the influencers in our business, the water business, are civil engineers. The ones who trust us and with whom we have a genuine friendship with are the ones who we do the most business with. That’s how we’ll continue to do business in the future as well; business based on long term relationships.
I don’t like playing sales games, such as mirroring, and I sure don’t want to ask our sales team to do anything like that. Mirroring is when you go in to meet someone and you cross your arms because theirs are crossed, you make eye contact only because they do or you lean up on the table as they do. I consider that more in the field of manipulation than relationship building. Another game people play is looking for signs that tell them about the person they are meeting with when they first go into their office. I have a piece of artwork in my office of hand-tied flies. Now, I am not a fly fisherman, I just like the piece, so when people come in and automatically start talking about it, I’m not very impressed or interested. You have to take the time to really find out what people are truly interested in.
It’s not usually too difficult to find out these kinds of things about people when you are genuinely engaged with them, because everyone likes to talk about themselves, their hobbies and their interests. As you each exchange this personal information and connect to each other on various levels, a real relationship will be formed. What I personally need to work on is talking less and listening more!
At Induron, We try to make friends first and then make the sale. I want my guys to be genuine and have integrity. Of course we want to make the sale and get the commission today, but we also want to make the sale in five years and in 15 years.