Picture the important relationships in your life — the people you can count on the most. Under the layers of what makes your relationship special is the foundation of why you can count on them: trust.
The personal relationships we cultivate rest on trust. So why shouldn’t the transactional ones? You wouldn’t leave your children or your pets with people you can’t trust to successfully care for them, for example.
But sometimes, you have to take a leap of faith and hire a babysitter who isn’t the neighbor you watched grow up, or you have to take your dog to a new vet.
In sales, trust doesn’t have to be a leap. It can be a hallmark of the relationship between sales rep and customer. When sales teams focus on building relationships with customers, they leave quick, unreliable deals in the past and look forward to loyalty in the future.
For 90 percent of sales reps on high-performing teams, prioritizing connection with customers is encouraged by leaders, according to Salesforce’s 2022 State of Sales Survey.
Building that trusting relationship takes time, effort and authenticity. It requires listening and communication skills, a knack for problem solving and honesty. It also rests on a personal and personalized approach.
At NYC companies Riskified and DICE, connecting with prospective customers and loyal partners happens beyond regular phone calls and emails. In-person meetings with fun and memorable activities help sales reps at Riskified chat beyond business with their customers. And at DICE, reps approach events without a pitch or business-winning agenda in their back pocket in order to connect with partners about the industry as a whole.
Built In NYC sat down with team members from Riskified and DICE to find out the other ways they prioritize personal connections in their sales strategies to become more than a salesperson to their customers.
Riskified makes e-commerce safe, accessible and frictionless for merchants and shoppers. Its machine learning platform creates trusted customer relationships, which drive higher sales while reducing costs for sellers.
Why is it important to prioritize building meaningful connections with customers?
Building meaningful connections with customers is the foundation of establishing trust. Prioritizing genuine relationships with customers and having trust on both sides will lead to a stronger long-term partnership, and it shifts their view of you from “vendor” to “trusted advisor.”
What is one method or approach you’ve successfully used to create memorable interactions with customers?
Meeting in person is essential. Bonds can be formed virtually, but meeting face to face can accelerate relationship building. Riskified hosted our annual merchant summit, Ascend, in September 2022, which gave us the opportunity to meet with customers from around the world. In addition to attending sessions and panels, we had the chance to explore Boston for an afternoon as a group. We went rowing on the Charles River, toured a brewery and went on a food excursion in the North End. These face-to-face interactions allowed us to build relationships on a deeper level because we created memorable interactions that were different from our day-to-day business conversations.
If you aren’t authentic when building relationships with customers, then the relationship will never be genuine.”
Describe a time when you or a member of your sales team made an impact because of a focus on human connection.
Finding a commonality is the first step to making a genuine connection. For example, at the Ascend summit, I learned that a customer was a Red Sox fan. I shared that I am a Yankees fan, and we joked about the rivalry between the two teams. We obviously are on opposite sides of the fence, but we shared common ground. Ultimately, personalized connections are built on authenticity. If you aren’t authentic when building relationships with customers, then the relationship will never be genuine.
DICE is on a mission to get people out more. Its app offers a ticketing platform for artists, venues and promoters and connects fans to live events through tailored recommendations.
Why is it important to prioritize building meaningful connections with customers?
Relationships are crucial in the music industry. Today, people are constantly contacted via email, text and social media. The ones who break through the noise are the connections you already know and trust. A sales pitch from someone who truly understands your business and cares about helping you build and grow is so much more meaningful.
What is one method or approach you’ve successfully used to create memorable interactions with customers?
I love to create opportunities for people to connect with me, our team and each other. It is not just meeting with a customer; it’s about inviting a group of like-minded people to get dinner, have a discussion or go to a show. Our partners might talk to others in the room even more than they talk to us, but the hope is they’ve had a great experience and feel the event was worth their time. Getting to know our partners on a personal level makes everything we do together at work so much more impactful. We recently co-hosted a dinner with the National Independent Venue Association during Grammy week, and we invited around 30 professionals from the music industry. Our goal was to enjoy a meal with a diverse group of folks while engaging in important conversations about the industry today. I left that dinner buzzing with ideas after making several exciting new connections, and more importantly, other guests were eager to connect with each other.
A sales pitch from someone who truly understands your business and cares about helping you build and grow is so much more meaningful.”
How do you encourage authenticity and personalized connections among your sales team?
Team selling and building relationships early are key. I like to get to know our partners without an agenda to win their business right away — or maybe ever. My goal is to get to know them, their team and their business goals and see if and why a partnership makes sense.
The best sales teams I’ve been on are made up of individuals who can have fun together, love music and love what they sell. This passion and energy is engaging to everyone around them. When people ask me if I work in sales, I say yes, but I explain that my passion for my work is not really about sales itself. It is about connecting with like-minded, passionate people who are fun to be around. I love the team and partners I work with. When our internal teams have authentic connections with each other and our brand, external connections happen naturally.
