• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • Weekly Sales Tip
  • |
  • 303-741-6636
KLA Group

KLA Group

IT Sales and Marketing Agency

Menu
  • SERVICES
      • Digital Marketing
      • Custom Website Design
      • SEO Services
      • Email Marketing
      • Content Development
      • Marketing Coaching
      • Software Development
      • Our Process
      • What is a Revenue Generation System?
      • Digital Marketing Services
      • Sales Training & Coaching Programs
      • HubSpot Implementation
      • HubSpot Implementation for Revenue Growth
      • HubSpot Monthly Support
      • Sales Training Programs
      • How to Cold Call
      • Consultative Selling
      • Email Prospecting
      • How to Ask for Referrals
      • Lead Generation Training
      • Sales Coaching
      • Sales Productivity
      • Sales Hiring Coaching
      • Outsourced Sales Management
      • Sales Assessment
      • Contact Us
  • WHO WE SERVE
    • IT Managed Service Providers
    • IT Solution Providers
    • ConnectWise Evolve
    • Sales Consultants
    • B2B Companies
    • Professional Services Firms
    • Phone System Providers
    • Manufacturing & Distribution
  • ABOUT KLA
    • Who We Are
    • What is a Revenue Generation System?
    • About Kendra Lee
    • Hire Kendra Lee to Speak
    • Meet the Team
  • BLOG
  • RESOURCES
    • Books by Kendra Lee
      • The Sales Magnet
      • Selling Against the Goal
    • Ebooks & Guides
    • Events
    • Weekly Sales Tip
    • Revenue Generating Trends Newsletter
    • Coffee with Kendra
    • Case Studies
  • Contact us

Relationship Building Isn’t Dead, It’s Evolving – And You Should Too

Last updated December 28, 2023 Categories: Sales Strategy

By Kendra Lee

Delete Button

When I first started in sales for IBM in 1984, the buzz phrase that everyone was talking about was “relationship selling.” That phrase stuck for most of my time at IBM, but trendy new sales approaches and buzzwords seem to have taken over in recent years.

For instance, in 2011, the Harvard Business Review published an article declaring the death of relationship selling and the rise of the “challenger sale.” The key distinction was that challengers push prospects out of their comfort zone and drive them to learn new things about their business, market, or pain points. While I think that approach has serious merit, its supporters often overlook one thing: In order for a salesperson to impart that knowledge and awareness on a prospect, they must first establish a relationship. This is especially true in an age where content marketing and nurturing play key roles in the actions that prospects take.

In fact, in many ways, I think we’ve come full circle from my days at IBM.

Today, the most successful salespeople aren’t just good at challenging a buyer to explore new ways of solving problems and addressing needs. They’re also experts at creating and nurturing authentic, congruent relationships with prospects across multiple channels (social, phone, email, events, etc.).

Sales Isn’t Just Phone and Email

While most prospecting is done via phone and email, we now have the luxury of numerous other channels to find, engage, and contact prospects — whether it’s LinkedIn, LinkedIn Groups, Twitter, Google+, or (depending on the scenario) Facebook. The very best salespeople are particularly adept at deploying a multi-faceted prospecting approach to establish and build relationships, and they strive to create a congruent relationship across all of those communication channels.

Why is that important?

Think about this scenario: Let’s say that your company executes a nurturing campaign that conveys a blissful, friendly, highly personalized message, and at the same time takes a hardcore telemarketer approach to secure a phone appointment.

How do you think prospects will respond to that? My guess is that they’ll be confused. And, in the end, that will probably cause you to lose them.

Consider the Relationship Prospects Want to Have With You

To avoid losing prospects from incongruence, consider the relationship your contacts want to have with you, and then to be consistent across all communication channels. For instance:

  • When you prospect on LinkedIn, prospects don’t want to be sold to. If you blatantly ignore that protocol, you’ll very likely lose credibility and connections.
  • When you reach out to prospects over the phone, they don’t want to be unabashedly sold to. They want a quality, professional conversation.
  • When you prospect via email, people don’t want to be spammed. They want messages that demonstrate the sender has put thought into how they relate to the prospect.
  • When you nurture prospects on Twitter, people don’t want constant self-promotion. They expect authentic engagement.

The key theme here is that you need to be congruent in how you engage with your prospects to initiate a long-term relationship. Put yourself in your prospects’ shoes and look at relationship building from their perspective. If you do that, your multi-faceted efforts will come across as more genuine and relevant, and you’ll develop the much-needed credibility that more “modern” sales approaches are so reliant upon.

If you’d like to learn some strategies on how to be congruent in your prospect engagement, join me for our next Coffee with Kendra web event on March 25, “How to Get more Customers When Nobody Knows About Your Business.” No charge. It’s my give-back to you, our loyal tribe.

Read More Related Articles

businessman using binoculars
Revenue Generating Success Strategies , Sales Prospecting, Sales Strategy What To Include in a Sales Plan To Achieve Your Goals
Marketers celebrating their successful plan
B2B Lead Generation & Marketing, Revenue Generating Success Strategies , Sales Strategy What To Include in a Marketing Plan To Generate Leads
Sales management
Revenue Generating Success Strategies , Sales Hiring, Sales Strategy Is Sales Management for You?

Primary Sidebar

Footer

Office

  • KLA Group
  • 7779 S Glencoe Way
  • Centennial, CO 80122

Services

  • Digital Marketing Services
  • Sales Training
  • Sales Process
  • Hire Kendra to Speak
footer-logo

Resources

  • Blog
  • Coffee with Kendra
  • Events
  • Ebooks & Guides
  • Newsletter
  • Weekly Sales Tip
  • Books by KLA
  • Sitemap

About KLA

  • About Us
  • Who We Serve
  • Revenue Generating System

Service Areas

  • Commerce City, Colorado
  • Englewood, Colorado
  • Lakewood, Colorado
  • Wheat Ridge, Colorado

Contact Us

Call +1 888-305-0471Contact Us

Join Us

Subscribe OptionsCoffee With Kendra
  • Privacy Policy

© 2025 KLA Group. All Right Reserved.

  • What Should Show on Caller ID When You’re Prospecting?
  • 4 Ways Your CRM Should Be Closing More B2B Sales for You 
  • How Consultative Selling Drives B2B Sales Growth 
  • Are You Missing Opportunities To Strengthen Your Sales Team?
  • How To Boost B2B Sales in Q4 Without Discounting

test

Subscribe to Our Blog

Get the latest sales and marketing articles from KLA Group delivered directly to your inbox. 

Name(Required)
This field is hidden when viewing the form
Untitled(Required)
This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Talk with an Expert

Name(Required)
This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Syllabus - Lead Generation

Name
This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Coaching - Sales

Name
This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Syllabus - How to Ask for Referrals

Name
This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Syllabus - Email Prospecting

Name
This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Syllabus - Consultative Selling

Name
This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Syllabus - How to Cold Call

Name
This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.
SUBSCRIBE TO OUR BLOG