Establish Deeper Relationships Within Your Key Accounts

In any account that you value, you must learn to never leave the trust of your business in the hands of just one person with whom you have an established relationship.

When you do this - you are putting your business in jeopardy. Eventually the person with whom you have the relationship leaves, gets reorganized to a position that can no longer help you or simply has no power over a project you are trying to win.


Of course we all do this - that is - work with one person more than we'd care to admit. It is comfortable to build that relationhip and not leave it. It takes courage to try to establish other relationships - it is the courage over the feeling of rejection. We might not be accepted by others and rather than try to address it and over come the initial rejection (all rejection is initial - unless there is a really good reason to keep you at arms length and there rarily is), we make excuses as to why we don't establish other relationships in the client's organization.


A really good reason we fail to establish other relationships is the one that goes along the lines of this: "We will piss off the person with whom we've an established a relationship."


Actually, it sounds good and it is NOT a good reason. It is only a good reason because it has some ring of logic to it. But in reality it is an excuse for fear of rejection as mentioned above.


One reason to fear rejection, is not establishing enough value as to why others would want a relationship. And the ability to golf or tell good jokes is not a way of establishing real value. So you must become creative as to why someone would want to meet with you and trust you.


But I digress as I usually do. And why do I digress? It is because these topic dovetail into other topics and nothing is ever black and white and no subject in selling has clear borders from other subjects.


But the point to this point of view is this; You must permeate the structure of the client's organization so that your relationship runs deeper than with just one person. You want as many people as possible not only be aware of you and the benefits of your services but also to be comfortable with you. You want as many people as possible within the client's organization to think of you when they have a problem you can address.

This is the lesson we should always keep in mind when working with clients.