8/4/2023-Selling to Friends

Friends need you to be a capable salesperson as much as you need them to be a loyal buyer. Keep doing the things you did when you were first developing the relationship, and you’ll both benefit.

You easily got the meeting…but of course, Sean’s a BFF. You begin preparing for the meeting, and a nasty thought creeps into your head, "Will I be subjected to 27 minutes of Sean recapping his son’s weekend soccer tournament?"

Gulp.

Selling to friends can feel weird, eh? You start by developing strangers into prospects who will call you back, and many become friends along the way. And some get to be such good friends you find yourself pulling back. But you still gotta sell to ’em. Hmmm.

Delete that selling to friends stigma right now: you have a quota to hit. The reward for developing strong relationships is getting to leverage them.

Most sellers back up when their friends get higher up the ladder. They stop using them. (Well, umm, leveraging them. Nobody’s using anyone here!)

Not you. You’re too savvy and focused on your number for that blunder.

Today, do the opposite of what most sellers do; copy the behaviors of the TOP 10% and focus on your besties.

Review your CRM and pick out your top five BFFs in high places. CALL THEM. Get a meeting. In office, out of office…doesn’t matter. Reinvest!

When others take their foot off the pedal, you step on it.

Rule #1 regarding selling to friends: don’t back down.

Selling to friends affords a level of transparency and honesty that don’t exist with your other relationships – that’s gold.

When it comes to meetings, don’t change a thing with your prep: create an agenda for the meeting and send it over ahead of time. Have some fun with it…acknowledge your friendship by inserting an agenda item that refers to their kids’ weekend soccer game.

For all the other stuff, don’t be shy. Ya got problems on the account? Get your friend involved. Need the truth about obstacles? Get your friend working as your agent.

You’ll certainly adjust your tone and approach in the meeting, but you’ve been tap dancing since you started in sales…you got this. Keep your friends close. Full stop.

Open your mind way far (yes, way far) and take a page from the book of a car salesman. David Lowe happens to be one of the best!

(HEY, you’ve made it this far down Success Street because you’re open and willing to learn from anyone! Keep it open.)

David is lovable and RIGHT about selling to your friends. His scenario may differ slightly from your scene, but his 3-minute message is spot on.