Relationship Selling Techniques And Process

The most successful salespeople are moving away from traditional, transactional selling in favor of a more personal connection. Here’s how you can do it, too.

What is relationship selling?

Relationship selling refers to a sales process that focuses on building a personal connection between the sales rep and the potential customer.

Anyone can recognize an impersonal sales technique from a mile away. We’ve all received a cold email that practically screams, “BUY MY STUFF.” (And chances are, we didn’t click on it!)

Fortunately, there's a better way. Here’s a quick overview of how relationship selling differs from the traditional sales methodology.

Comparing the differences between relationship selling and traditional selling

The relationship selling process is challenging traditional selling in favor of a more human, personal approach.

It’s about personal relationships, not sales...

... It’s about building connections, not driving growth...

...It’s about adding value, rather than pushing for conversions.

And that’s not to say that revenue isn’t important.

We simply mean that when you focus on long-term relationships, conversions will soon follow.

Growth will naturally result from new customers feeling appreciated and valued by your sales team.

Relationship selling vs social selling

Relationship selling refers to building a connection between sales professionals and their prospects.

Social selling is a more specific strategy in which sales reps reach out to leads via social media (and this can certainly complement a relationship management strategy).

6 Relationship selling sales techniques

Feeling inspired? The good news is that building good relationships with your audience isn’t rocket science.

With these six simple techniques, you can quickly start building a relationship-based sales strategy.

1. Use active listening

Show that you understand your customers' pain points and express empathy for their experiences. You can do this by regularly summarizing what the person has said to you and asking open-ended questions to learn more.

2. Don’t skip the small talk

Finding common ground before launching into your sales pitch is a great way to build trust and connect on a personal level.

You'll receive a personal link from your potential customer, which will set the tone for the rest of the conversation.

3. Hone your soft skills

Sales reps with solid relationship management and communication skills are 7% more likely to hit their sales targets. Work on your interpersonal skills—and the results will pay off in the long run.

4. Be authentic

Be honest about your business, and prioritize your long-term relationship over instant profits. This will build trust and pay off later on during the sales cycle.

5. Add value

Exceed your customers’ expectations (without asking for anything in return). You’ll soon be seen as a trusted advisor in your niche. For example, you could share a freebie like an ebook or free course.

6. Play the long game

Don’t fear long sales cycles. It might be a “no” for now, but if you nurture the connection, they might be back later. Keep in touch with them, regardless of the outcome of your sales cycle.

An overview of different relationship selling techniques

How to enhance your relationship selling process with PhantomBuster

There is no replacement for real, human connections.

However, some automation tools from PhantomBuster can enhance your relationship selling strategy (and save you some time).

• Use case 1: Build a complete outreach sequence on LinkedIn

• Use case 2: Like your leads’ social media posts

• Use case 3: Comment on your leads’ social media posts

Build a complete outreach sequence on LinkedIn

If you want to find AND nurture new leads on autopilot, you’ll love this LinkedIn and Sales Navigator Search to Lead Outreach Flows.

With just a few clicks, you can extract users from a search, auto-connect with them, and send personalized follow-up messages to those who accept.

How it works

1. Open the Flow: Select the LinkedIn Search to Lead Outreach Flow from your dashboard (or the Sales Navigator version).

2. Connect your LinkedIn account: This allows PhantomBuster to act on your behalf. Simply install the Chrome or Firefox plugin, and it will connect to your account.

3. Share your LinkedIn search URL: Copy/ paste the URL of your LinkedIn search into the Flow setup.

4. Write your connection request message: People are more likely to accept if they see your opening message.

5. Write up to 3 follow-up messages: These messages will only be sent if the new connection does not respond to your first DM.

6. Launch the Flow: You’ll be able to track the results from your dashboard, including your request acceptance rate and the performance of your follow-up messages.

Bonus tip
Want to add this new list of leads to your favorite CRM? Check out our CRM Phantoms, which can import your new prospects on autopilot to HubSpot, Salesforce, or Pipedrive.

Like your leads’ social media posts

It might sound simple, but liking someone’s post is a great way to stay top of mind. It will immediately bring your name to their notifications and catch their attention.

How it works

1. Open the Twitter, Instagram, or LinkedIn Auto Liker Phantom.

2. Connect your social media profile, using PhantomBuster’s browser extension.

3. Share the URLs of the profiles or posts you want to like.

4. Choose your settings, then launch the Phantom.

You can set it to run repeatedly so it works in the background while focusing on more important things.

Comment on your leads’ social media posts

If you want to go beyond liking posts and share your thoughts, you can use PhantomBuster to post pre-written comments.

How it works

1. Open the LinkedIn Auto Commenter Phantom.

2. Connect your social media profile, using PhantomBuster’s browser extension.

3. Share a public Google Sheet URL with the post links (you get these via the LinkedIn Activity Extractor Phantom), plus your pre-written comments.

Google sheet

4. Choose your settings, then launch the Phantom.

Conclusion

That’s all for this blog. You now understand the importance of relationship building and are ready to build authentic, meaningful partnerships with your leads.

Remember—quality over quantity! A strong, personal connection with your audience will drive sales and reduce churn in the long run.

If you need help complementing your relationship selling strategy, sign up for a 14-day free PhantomBuster trial.