Your Customers Don’t Want a Partner | Sales Strategies

Sorry, your customers don’t want to partner with you. In fact, they hate partnering with you.

Let me be a little more clear. It’s nothing personal. They hate partners in general.

Why?

[bctt tweet=”Partnerships predispose that you’re an outsider, and your customers want to work with an insider. ” username=”EngageColleen”]

They want you to know just as much about their business as they know about their business.

So, what is the best way to actually transition from a partner to an insider?

The answer lies in creating multiple touchpoints and contacts with your customer’s organization. You can’t be an insider in any organization if you’re only known by one person. Build relationships with your primary contact’s superiors, colleagues, backups (if your first contact is away), and any other strategic connections.

Quality relationships are key, but don’t neglect the quantity of connections either. The more people you know within any given organization, the more context you have, the quicker you can get a response, the better prepared you are to provide solutions, and the more you’re trusted within the organization – wins across the board.

I’ve never, ever (ever!) seen an account lost due to having too many connections within an organization. However, think about the millions upon millions of dollars that have been lost due to having too few connections.

Forget partnerships. Make the transition and become an insider!

What’s another way to become an insider in your customer’s organization?