Episode Transcript
Transcripts are displayed as originally observed. Some content, including advertisements may have changed.
Use Ctrl + F to search
0:00
Let's talk directly to the reps now. We're talking directly to the Heartland executives, the Heartland account executives, and let's explain to them why relationship-based sales is actually easier than transactional sales. So rather than have me do it, you tell them why you, when you were an account executive, why you chose relationship-based sales instead of kicking in 100 pizza shop doors or barging into nail salons and go, hey, put that down for a minute, I want to talk to you. Why is relationship sales easier and the path of least resistance for the rep? It's easier because you're not doing any of those rough things that you're doing. You're not kicking anything in and you're not grinding it out and you're not walking into a nail salon and interrupting a person that's with a customer. So the door is open for you when you get a referral versus going in there and grinding it out to get that appointment. So it comes down to a few things, Dave, though. The accounts that are referred to us by financial institutions, those business owners tend to sign with us a lot quicker because like I said before, if a banker gives their customer a recommendation on anything financially related, the customer is going to follow their advice. They have a lot of trust in that banker that's going to look out for the best interest of their business. And if the banker gives them the recommendation, they're going to follow it. So it's a very shorter sales cycle when it comes to these types of referrals. You get the appointment right away and they tend to close a lot quicker. The second is that the price is kind of taken out of the equation, Dave, when it comes to these referrals. Because again, the recommendation of the banker means a lot. Our business sometimes gets confused with being commoditized, with a lot of promises of lower rates and lower costs, which oftentimes don't always happen. So with the recommendation of somebody that a business owner trusts, then there's a lot less haggling over cost and moreover the value that is consistent with the person that referred us in there. And the third is retention. Our company analytics show us that accounts referred by a financial institution tend to stay with us significantly longer than those that we're getting through the traditional grind it out methods. So those three things, a shorter sales cycle, higher average, what we call margin per deal and longer retention from accounts that are referred to us through a trusted partner, such as a financial institution, rather than those that we're getting by cold call. And the other thing too, Dave, is throughout the pandemic now, business owners aren't quite open, as open to talking to somebody that they don't know. But if somebody that they trust recommends you, then you're in. And when the pandemic hit a year ago and things were shut down, our sales reps still need to make a living and business owners still needed help operating their business. And so those that had strong partnerships, those are the ones that not only survived through the pandemic, but in a lot of cases increased their business during the pandemic because bankers, web developers, accountants, insurance brokers, they were all getting calls from their customers needing help with certain parts of their business. So those members of our sales team who had strong connections in those industries were top of mind when a need came up from one of the customers of one of those folks that we had a relationship with. Yeah, I you know, the the focus on going in and connecting with all the customer facing employees in one place also has to be easier as far as a wear and tear factor is concerned too, because I know so let's say today's Friday and today I go to three branches of Northway Bank. So basically that's my whole day. But I know at these three branches, I'm going to meet six or seven people at each branch. So I'm going to touch, you know, 15, 20 people. And that gives me 15 or 20 advocates who are going to get in front of customers every day for the next, you know, for the foreseeable future. So I make three calls. I drive to three locations and I hang out at each location for 45 minutes and talk to people or an hour and talk to people. You know, to me, to my mind, that's a much easier day than driving to a strip mall and going into every business in that strip mall, with the exception of the, you know, the big box store or whatever. You know, I got to go into 15 smaller businesses, the ones that are around the back, the ones that are up the flight of stairs too. Right. And I got to knock on doors and meet people who are like, who are you? How did you get in here? Why are you talking to me? Right. So it's less wear and tear on me. And then I would imagine, talk to me about the maintenance of those relationships. Is it easier to maintain those relationships than if I get a, you know, I have I have a thousand nail salons. There's no way I can touch base with a thousand nail salon owners every month. Right. So it's got to be easier to maintain the relationships that you're talking about. It definitely is. When we're providing good value to our partners, then they're going to go to bat for us when it comes to retention of existing customers. And if maybe a customer is at a bank branch and they say, oh, by the way, there was another company that promised to come in and save us a lot of money and said that Heartland is overcharging us. I was thinking of going with them. If we have a good relationship with that banker, the banker is likely to say, hey, hold on a second. I'll call Pat and we'll review things. But they've done a great job for us. And I can be certain that you're getting a great deal with them. So having that extra advocate, that extra layer of retention efforts, not only with bankers, but with other industries as well that we partner with, it really helps the retention efforts and really helps in the maintenance efforts, too. So you're absolutely right, Dave, that there is a little bit less wear and tear having that extra extra layer of advocacy for our company. Does this work in just about any industry? Can just about anybody focus on relationship based sales rather than knocking on doors and cold calling? Because cold calling, I mean, it's hard and nobody likes to be cold called. You think this works for everybody? I think it should. And just drawing back on my experience, Dave, when I was a rep, I was in a networking group here in New Hampshire with several people that were suppliers to the restaurant industry or the hospitality industry. And so we had a point of sale dealer, a food service rep, music licensing company, pest control company, a dairy product rep. So we had all different vendors to the restaurant industry and all selling our own products. We had a rule that only one person from each industry could be in the group. So I was the representative from the electronic payments industry, so I didn't have any competitors in there. So we all watch each other's back. We met once a week and the rule for that, I'm sorry, we met once a month and a rule for that meeting was you had to bring five referrals. And so one person that headed up the group, he would compile everything in the five referrals. Chances are you came away with 25. And so it was a real good group. These other people that were selling a wide range of products and services also a lot of value in it. And we all helped each other out. And it was great for me over the years because even if I advanced into other roles within the company, there were some people that I developed formal partnerships with. There were some that I even hired to come work for Heartland based on getting to know them through that group. So that that group really helped me out personally and professionally. But at the same time, it does show that relationship based sales works in a wide range of industries. OK, so let's talk about resistance, right? Because you're you're a manager now. You're you lead people. What resistance do you get from people who say, no, no, no, Murphy, I'd rather knock on doors. I'd rather interrupt nail technicians who are doing people's nails. I'd rather go into a barbershop and pester the crap out of a barber. Like, why do people resist developing relationships with other people who share a common client with you? Why do why do people resist this? I think it's a lack of patience, Dave. They could walk into that pizza shop and potentially make a sale in that one close and get a paycheck as a result of that sale next week. With a relationship, it does take time, because as I remember or as I said before, you have to build some rapport with them and get them to know you like you and trust you before referrals can come your way. Sometimes it happens pretty quick, but it does take a little bit of time. So a very strong Heartland rep balances that thing with making some proactive calls each day, but at the same time doing some things that your future self will thank you for, because bottom line is we need a paycheck every week. We need to make sales every week and every month. So do some things now that will earn you business at some point. And again, that business that you earn as a result of the partnerships will close faster. You'll be able to hold higher revenue for those and those accounts will stay with you longer. So sometimes it's just that lack of patience, Dave, is the resistance that we get when it comes to relationship based sales. Yeah. So now you haven't been in a direct sales role probably in, I'm going to guess and say it's probably 14 or 15 years. Do you still get calls from people who you had relationships with, like the people at Northway Bank? Are they picking up the phone and going, hey, Pat, we got a client for you? Yes, because they're still a partner of ours. So I just I just manage it rather than. Yeah, but my point is that that's the durability of the relationship, right? You haven't been out knocking on their door for 15 years. I mean, maybe you stop in if you're driving to a kid's practice or something and say hi to people, but you're not actively going there and going, hey, how's it going? Anybody got any problems I can solve today? But they still call you 15 years later. Right. And also the customers that they referred to me 15 or even 20 years ago are still with us. So if you look at my portfolio of customers and there's certainly a lot in the world that's changed in 15 and 20 years. Sure. But the customers of mine that I had 15 to 20 years ago here at Heartland that are still with us, probably about 90 percent of those were referred to me through a financial institution. Yeah. I mean, we've added new football and baseball teams to the major leagues and I'm still with Pat Murphy. You know, country's leaderships have changed, but I'm still with Pat Murphy. I mean, what could be better than that?
Podchaser is the ultimate destination for podcast data, search, and discovery. Learn More