The best salespeople understand that the more comfortable the customer is with their company, the less risk the customer perceives there to be in dealing with them, and the more likely it is that the customer will prefer their company as a supplier.
That’s just good common sense. I bank where I do, for example, because when I walk in, everyone knows my name. That makes me feel important, and it makes it so much easier to do business. Or, at least, I feel like it does. And that is what’s important.
There is a simple principle at work here: The customer should be comfortable with more people in your organization than just you. The more people your customer knows, the better for you. That simple principle leads to a powerful sales practice. By proactively introducing your good customers to others in your organization, you broaden the relationship between the two entities, and tie the customer to you via additional relationships.
Make sure that your boss has been introduced to your customers. Methodically take him/her to your customers and facilitate the introductions. Bring a customer service person or two to visit your good customers.
If it is appropriate, constantly invite your customers into your facility to meet the people who make things happen inside your organization.
Each of these relationships makes the customer feel more comfortable in dealing with your organization, and increases the likelihood that you will become the preferred supplier.
That’s why this is a best practice of the best salespeople.
Here’s a way to apply this best practice. Start with a self-assessment: List all of the key people in your “A” accounts in the first column of a spreadsheet. Across the tops of the columns, list each of the key people in your organization. Then, put an “X” in the cell where the two people have connected. For example, if customer John Smith knows your customer service person “Jenny,” then put an “X” in that cell. When you have completed that, use the empty cells as a guide, and plan to remedy the situation. Over the next few months, proactively introduce those customers with the key internal people until all the cells are “X’d.”
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