Event Summary (originally published by the Vancouver Board of Trade on http://www.boardoftrade.com)
The Art of the Deal, Part Two: Market Leadership Through Powerful Client Relations
Tuesday, February 25, 2003
The Art of the Deal, Part Two: Market Leadership Through Powerful Client Relations
By Jeff Thiessen
February 25, 2003, The Pan Pacific Vancouver
Shane Gibson returned for another Managers' ToolboxTM session, "Market Leadership Through Powerful Client Relations," the second instalment of his four-part series The Art of the Deal.
Laying the groundwork for supreme customer relations, Gibson started by engaging the group in conversation and asking the question, "What 'do you' or 'would you' expect, or want, from someone close to you in a long-term relationship?" An odd question when it comes to business — yet, according to Gibson, fully applicable to business relationships.
It turns out that the very things we want in personal relationships are the same things we require in business relationships. Honesty, accountability, understanding and commitment are just some of the qualities that attendees at the session named as important when engaging people on both a personal and business level.
"When it comes to business," emphasized Gibson, "eight points stand out when trying to build long-term business relationships: Long-term perspective, honesty, post-sales support, creative problem-solving, understanding customer needs, knowing your product and capabilities, understanding your customer's business and always meeting commitments."
Gibson concluded the session by describing "The Five Relationship Development Stages." Using some impressive graphics, Gibson clearly demonstrated the stages of Attraction, Exploration, Development, Commitment and Unity. "Quite often, in business people try to move from attraction to commitment or unity, where they would not even consider such a move in their personal lives," Gibson explained. "If you move too quickly from Stage 1 to 5, you may compromise loyalty, credibility and influence."
The focus of the next Art of the Deal session is "After Sales Management to Create Long-Term Revenue and Profitability" — look for it on March 25, 2003.
customer relations management - sales training vancouver - relationship training - customized - train the trainer - Shane Gibson - Vancouver Board of Trade
