Building relationships key to success for sales reps

Daniel is a featured columnist for Casual News Now (CNN). CNN brings you the most interesting and enlightening stories from the casual furnishings world. It's one of the only publications dedicated to the outdoor industry and its members. This column is also available on their site.

Since starting in our industry in the fall of 1979—and eventually morphing into a manufacturers’ sales representative in 2005—I’ve found that we must embrace change and allow ourselves to evolve periodically.

It is of most importance to keep up with the times, move with the groove, and allow our businesses to evolve. That’s why we need to get on board with electronically promoting our businesses and taking our vendors with us, since they are in the bag we carry.

Below are the two stages I suggest:

1. Develop Your Identity, Logo and Website. Keep your site clean, informative and easy to navigate, and use that platform to enlighten clients and keep them in the loop with products, trade shows and trends.
   
   Also, allow our site to grow organically—without paying. This will not only help to stimulate sales, but it will help trigger vendors to look for new collections and keep with style and fashion, thus leading to more sophisticated and up-to-date products.
   
   In turn, it will stimulate our clients to see and seek new selections that are improving as time progresses. Have fun in the process, as this will keep you in the fold of all you’re involved with and can only lead to enjoying what you do and how you do it
   

2. Get Digital. Start a systemic, positive campaign of e-blasts with informative topics and interesting subjects so your clients look forward to hearing from you. Give them news that triggers their interest and is worth. But do not slam clients with hard sales, as they surely have enough e-mails they are already circumnavigating!
   
   Keep your website fresh and updated with new adventures—such as trade shows and growing trends—and share ideas and new concepts that will help inspire your clients. Write blogs that enlighten your clients and vendors alike with fresh and creative updates once again have fun!
   
   Use social media sites to your advantage, such as Instagram, LinkedIn, Facebook and any other platforms you feel is getting apropos leverage and coverage for our industry. Keep your campaign cohesive, and informative. And always keep in mind, a hard sell is not necessarily a sell, it’s a push, and most clients are not interested in being pushed around, especially these days!

Everything you do needs to be cohesive, and having a bright crisp web page with positive news and inspirational vibes is good strategy and will help keep your clients and vendors in the know.

If you want lifestyle & luxury, contact me.

✌️ Be well, be safe, and be happy.