One of the best ways to stand out from other salespeople is by adopting The Stickiness Factor.
Malcom Gladwell addresses it in The Tipping Point. Ultimately, “The Stickiness factor involves how effective an idea or product stays in the mind of the potential viewer or consumer”. “Stickiness can be a highly profitable quality, because when people remember a product, they’re more likely to buy it in the future“.
If you read Sales Lane, you know sales is a tough gig but rewarding if you do it right. The purpose of the blog is to isolate each stage of the Enterprise-level B2B sales process and make it more palatable.
Sales may not always be a skip in the park but there are clear pathways to sustained success and stickiness is at the top of that list.
Just imagine a world where after a few years of sales under your belt, you start acquiring repeat business from the same clients.
As new projects and changes in your clients’ company structures happen, they don’t hesitate one bit. They call you to quarterback and implement the next phase of your company’s solutions time and time again.
You’ve established credibility through quality deliverables and flawless execution. There’s no need to sell them – you’re their #1.
How’s that for a no-brainer? They make moves = they call you.
By creating stickiness, you’ve transformed yourself into respected peer and are no longer considered just a salesperson.
Your client inherently believes you’re their trusted advisor and kicking tires with the competition is a waste of valuable time.
This type of relationship takes time to establish but once attained, it’s a catapult into the upper echelon where you orchestrate and don’t ‘sell’.
Stickiness is Next to Godliness
Regardless of how this relationship began, Cold Call or referral, you hand-held the buyer through the sales journey, established yourself as an authority and ingrained yourself with the stakeholders through cross-functional Conference Calls to create stickiness from day one.
And as much as the hunt for new logos excites, repeat business butters both sides of your bread. Therefore, make clients your priority.
Sales isn’t just gun-slinging and whale hunting. It’s not your social feed’s caviar dreams, champagne bitches and striking poses on a Bentley.
At some point during the sales cycle, you’re digging ditches and doing the grunt work to make damn sure that all the things that are supposedly out of your control are in your control.
So the Sale stays on course, you handle the baggage, serve drinks and fly the plane.
Client retention is huge and by paying close attention to your roster, you convey that it’s not just about the money. You’re committed to the relationship before and after the commission check.
If you aren’t keeping up with your clients every quarter, Start. Accept that others are courting them for the Spring prom and their limos have two Jacuzzis. This doesn’t mean hounding them to join your crew for the weekly all you can eat strip-club buffet on Hump Day. It means keeping them apprised of industry news and trends as well as any germane milestones and developments regularly.
Stick to the Plan
Invariably your client may decide to handle some projects internally even know they’re in your wheelhouse.
If you can’t sway (not strong-arm) them into turning that piece of business over to you – Help Them!!!
That’s right. Assist and educate them at no cost. Alert them of hurdles they may encounter based on your knowledge on the matter.
Remember, they’re already your client and regardless of what industry you’re in, there’s always potential for repeat business and referrals down the road. There’s no need to blow up a relationship over one deal.
This sacrifice goes against old-school sales tactics of never taking no for an answer. Do it with grace and gratitude anyway. Those days are long gone and if you’re still using those tired moves, your corporate client will drop you like a wet noodle. Let’s face it, no one slips on bananas anymore – they’re just way too smart.
By taking one for the team, you solidify yourself as a genuine consultant with your client’s best interest at heart. They won’t forget your kindness and as a result, your unselfishness will lead to more lucrative opportunities.
In many instances when I took this high road, I was rewarded with the business anyway when the client realized they didn’t have the bandwidth to manage the project after all.
As a consultant, your focus is on long-term opportunities instead of chasing the fast buck. It’s a substantial shift in the one deal and out transactional sales mindset.
In Stickiness and in Health
While you conduct your business, ensure support staff is aligned with your goals and objectives. Schedule granular discussions on how to on-board clients and what the work flow looks like on the back-end.
There’s nothing worse than an unexpected snafu during the on-boarding process or product roll out. Or even worse, sub-par customer service from your back office or tech support team.
Accidents happen but this type of mistake can solely be attributed to lack of processes and communication within the team. There’s just no excuse for it.
After all, you spent a bundle of energy chasing the prospect for months and now that they’re a client, you bungle the Honeymoon?
Regardless of whether the client is in contact with your colleagues or not, the responsibility is all yours as the face of the project.
Some of my oldest corporate clients go back 7 years, 2 companies and up to 11 separate business transactions/ contracts. Throughout that time, point of contacts have shifted or left. Irregardless, I’ve maintained relationships with those organizations because of the Stickiness Factor.
As you work your magic on the phones and in-person, think different about each interaction and its potential to be a long-term partnership. Elevate your game and separate yourself from the sales jockeys flailing on rookie row. Create Stickiness with your clients because you can!