by Ivan Misner and Vince Vigneri
“Relationship Selling works best when prospect and seller,
in the course of meeting, discover a natural affinity or shared interests
between them. This facilitates a common bond outside of the business context. The sales person who can create an emotional bond with the
customer has the winning edge – hands down. This requires artful skills in
relationship-building.”
Naturally, Relationship Networking applies the same
foundation. Those that truly want to build a firm networking foundation know
that they need to nurture their future referral partner and build up a
relationship with them. However, some businesspeople
still make the mistake of assuming their phone will magically start ringing
with referrals simply because they make a habit of handing out their business
card to potential referral partners.
In Reality, of course, simply handing out your business card
to others is only a tiny step in the process of Relationship Networking—you
must follow up with your contacts and continually make efforts at building
successful relationships with them. According to Dr. Ivan Misner in the book Business By Referral, there are five
things you should get to know about anyone you wish to establish a relationship
with. These five points are outlined in what’s called The GAINS Profile.
Goals
Accomplishments
Interests
Networks
Skills
To supplement the five points in The GAINS Profile, I have
slightly altered the Five Tips on How to Succeed at Relationship Selling, given
by Dr. Harry Olson, to be:
Five Tips on How to Have a Successful Networking Plan
- Relationship skills must be worked on by both
parties.
- Focus
on methods and actions to work together.
- Get to
know your referral partner’s business and support team.
- Identify
“best practices” to find qualified referrals and implement a follow up
system.
- Find
ways to help each other outside of the business setting.