Transactional Vs Relational Selling
There are many different styles of selling, and many different ways to define those styles. Two of those styles are Relational and Transactional:
Someone who follows relational selling puts a great deal of emphasis on building a relationship with their potential client. They focus on creating feelings of trust and comfort with the people they work with. It's often called "solution-based selling" because the salesperson spends their time uncovering the needs and challenges of their prospects.
A salesperson who has a transactional selling focus concentrates on the actual sales transaction. They put their attention on the business exchange with their potential clients. Because of this they are often more movement- and action-oriented, i.e. they want to get the deal done.
Very few salespeople, however, are one or the other. It's best to think of it as a spectrum with relational on one end and transactional on the other. Most salespeople tend to blend the two styles together while leaning towards one of the them. This mixture is good because each style has its own pros and cons:
Relational Selling
Pro -It creates a strong relationship that the salesperson can leverage because of strong feelings of "know, like, and trust".
Con - It's easy to stagnate and not move the business relationship forward; creates the danger of being an "unpaid consultant".
Transactional Selling
Pro - It creates business deals, which is important because the salesperson's job and focus is to make sales.
Con - It can be seen as aggressive and pushy; and by moving too quickly it's easy to miss information that is important to the sale.
The ideal, then is for a salesperson to find somewhere in the middle that they are comfortable with, and that is effective for them (which can also vary based on industry and company).
Where do you fall in the spectrum, and how is it working? If you were going to adjust your selling style, which way should you move?
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