About a couple of months ago I was part of a webinar called “Increasing Adoption & Retention of your SaaS App” and what rang true then still rings true now. Customer Retention is one of the most powerful indicator of a company’s success.

I find that a lot of salespeople remain quiet between the point of sale and when it is time for renewal. How and why on earth should a customer renew if there has been a lack of communication. It’s like paying for a college education and having the professor barely showing up to teach. Makes no sense right?

So how does a salesperson build relationships?

• listen, Listen & LISTEN!!!

“To listen well is as powerful a means of communication and influence as to talk well.”

- John Marshall,
Supreme Court Chief Justice, 1801-1835

Always be listening to your customers to find out more about them. Get to know them find out about their likes dislikes. This way when you are following up with them you will have something better to say than “how’s the weather?” Also if you know more about your customers, you can get them thoughtful gifts and build more of a rapport.

Building the relationship includes being an advisor as well and helping the customer to be successful throughout the customer lifecycle.

Salespeople MUST  continue to build relationships with their customers beyond the point of sale. Building relationships establishes you as an AUTHORITY in their eyes. Being an authority leads to repeat business and REPEAT BUSINESS will often earn you REFERRALS.

SO WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR? GO OUT AND BUILD RELATIONSHIPS!

Feel free to reach out out to me on twitter @TayoRockson or email me at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. . I would love to hear your thoughts on this.