A best practice for sales people by Dave Kahle, author and leading sales educator.

It’s so easy to become complacent and satisfied with our “relational comfort zones.”

Those are defined by the people with whom we have developed comfortable relationships, who can be counted upon to see us and spend some time with us. These people make us feel comfortable.

But, in today’s hyper-active market, relying on just existing and comfortable relationships is a prescription for disaster. People turn over frequently, and positions are eliminated overnight. Eventually, all those people with whom you have become comfortable will be gone.

A constant stream of new contacts is necessary nutrient for the professional b2b salesperson to grow his business. This is nowhere more true than in our A accounts.

The average salesperson is comfortable meeting with one or two key contacts in the “A” accounts. These contacts know us, we know them, and it’s easy to be content with that. However, the best salespeople understand that if we only have one or two key contacts, we are vulnerable.

There is always someone else who should know us, someone else who should have a relationship with us and our company. Sometimes those are people who are up the ladder from our key contact: Our contact’s boss, and the boss’s boss. Sometimes those are influential people within each of the departments or operating units of the organization.

Regardless, the more of them that know us, the more solid is the total relationship with that account, and the more opportunities are presented to us as a result.

Our ability to fully understand the dynamics in an account is dependent on the depth of our relationships within that account. Each relationship brings us a different perspective and a deeper awareness of what the account really wants. We will never fully penetrate an account unless our relationships are broad and deep.

The best salespeople, the top guns, understand that. They methodically make lists of the key contact people, and systematically meet and interact with them.

As a result, they are well known within their A accounts, they uncover more opportunities, and they write more business. That is why they are the best. And that’s why this is a best practice of the best salespeople.

Image “01 (49)” by Victor1558 on Flickr under Creative Commons license.