Building Selling Partnerships

The most successful DSRs are able to develop selling situations that go considerably beyond the normal seller/buyer business relationship. Building partnerships with key customers, those that offer both growth and profit potential, can make the difference between success and mediocrity for the DSR as well as the customer. Successful selling partnerships depend on developing positioning and relationship strategies that help the client recognize greater profitability and perceived enhanced value.

Areas discussed:

1. Focus on customer profitability and how the partnership will benefit the customer.
2. Understand customer operating process.
3. Recognize and understand customer operating problems.
4. Understand the customer's customer.
5. Understand how proposed changes will effect the customer and the customer's customer.
6. Understand how the partnership will impact and the DSR.

TRAINING AREAS:

Awareness

1. Exercise: develop a clear definition of "selling partnership"
2. Exercise: identify the value of the selling partnership:
   1. to the DSR
   2. to the company
   3. to the customer
3. Exercise: examine a marketing strategy to promote selling partnerships
   1. Identify how partnership commitments effect the competitor
   2. Identify how partnerships affect the DSR's competitive selling strategy
4. Identify impact of partnerships on your organization
5. Analyze the cost of partnerships
   1. Identify what can be negotiated to earn a partnership status
   2. Evaluate the time and effort investment necessary to earn a partnership status
6. Identify what commitments customer can make to the DSR and company

Strategy

1. Exercise: identify customers who are best partnership potential by understanding:
   1. sales volume
   2. product mix
   3. by margin
   4. by profit dollars
   5. overall buying record
   6. competitive vulnerability
2. Exercise: identify advantages we offer as a partner, such as:
   1. price points
   2. ordering and delivery process
   3. administrative systems
   4. other sales and service supports
3. Identify impact on customer's organization and the customer's customer
4. Develop strategic plan to position ourselves to initiate partnerships

Tactics

1. Exercise: analyze what about a partnership isn't working
   Case studies
   1. identify how selling strategies and tactics failed, and
   2. develop remedies
2. Exercise: analyze what about a partnership is working
   Case studies: identify "next step" selling strategies and tactics
3. Develop personal selling strategies and tactics for targeted accounts

Action Plan

1. Each participant develops a list of first five potential partnership accounts
2. Long term plan is to always have five working accounts to upgrade
3. Discuss follow-up plan with managers