BUILDING AND NURTURING RELATIONSHIPS, A 4-WEEK strategy document CPSA Meeting in a Box: A series of 15-minute guided presentations to help increase your team’s performance.

Pre-learning: Facilitator: One week prior to your meeting, please inform your sales team to prepare with these CPSA Learning Hub resources. Reading: Why Authentic Sales Pros Will Remain Relevant in a World Dominated by AI Why Relationships Matter - The Importance of Nurturing Relationships Listening: Why Networking and Personal Relationships Still Matter w/ Tibor Shanto Templates to Print: UNDERSTANDING SOCIAL STYLES Webinar Recording: Mastermind Session: Attract New Leads with Social Selling

relationships WILL CONTINUE TO matter. WEEK 1: introduction: WHY RELATIONSHIPS MATTER you’re in the business of people. While AI and big data are automating and transforming many aspects of the sales process, ULTIMATELY, people still buy from people. relationships WILL CONTINUE TO matter. If you’re in sales, you might think that you’re in the business of a specific product or service. But in reality, you’re in the business of people. While AI and big data are automating and transforming many aspects of the sales process, at the end of the day, people still buy from people and relationships matter. Especially in B2B.

BUILDING LASTING business connections Listen to ‘Why Networking and Personal Relationships Still Matter’ In a world where social selling seems to dominate sales efforts, is there still a place for in-person relationships? Sales expert Tibor Shanto shares his ideas. If you nurture and grow a relationship into something truly authentic, it can result in a long-term and mutually beneficial connection. Conversely, neglect relationship building and you’ll not only be missing out on one sale, but many potentially interlinked sales in the future. From the moment you first connect with a lead, a relationship is being formed!

The role of sales process technology The digital revolution and onset of AI mean that consumers can access almost anything about a brand, it’s products and even it’s employees. This can sound daunting but what it really means is that relationships matter more than ever. Your prospects want sellers who can give them deeper information than what they find online. Before the advent of online sales, the average prospect often only had a basic understanding of various business solutions available to them. Today with the internet in their pocket, they can do a lot of homework on your company and services way away of choosing to engage on a call, in an email or at a meeting. This is why relationships matter more than ever. At some point, the buyer will want to talk to a real human rather than a machine. They'll want to find more than just want’s on your site or social media presence. When that point comes, its vital you’ve got the business intelligence and communication skills needed to add extra value to that new prospect.

Authenticity and social selling During the sales and marketing process, its important that your company’s brand, and those people representing it, come across as authoritative, dynamic, reliable and authentic! Make it easier for prospects to get to know you and the brand you represent online by sharing high-value content. Your prospects want partners who can give them more information than just what they find online and they want to talk to a real human rather than a machine. Develop a social media presence that’s receptive to feedback from the sales frontlines and delivers a good balance of ‘gives’ and ‘asks’. This all loops back to the practice of multi, or omni-channel sales and marketing communications. Once you’ve gained a prospect’s trust either through relationship building on social media and/or through traditional communication methods, they will be far more likely to buy from you.

Take action! ACTIVITY: UNDERSTANDING SOCIAL STYLES This tool will help you to identify different personality styles. Use it to plan your strategy, and adapt working with a customer to secure the sale. We hoped you enjoyed this introduction to some of the high-level prospecting-related factors to study ahead of getting into tactics and strategy from next week. Now it is time to try an activity. The Theory of Personality Styles is a graphic matrix of two personality dimensions – Planning/Thinking/Organizing and Communication

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES FROM CPSA TEMPLATES – CPSA is constantly building and upgrading our catalog of templates to make your job easier! WEBINARS - Our “virtual” training sessions led by industry experts, at your convenience. PODCASTS - Take the sales experts wherever you go! LEARNING HUB - Check out the latest sales articles, white papers, and ebooks

GO TEAM GO!