Let’s Get Personal! (In Sales)

“Personalization is adding that human element to a buying process that can traditionally feel either very stressful or cold and clinical,” said Taylor Hicks, Creative Strategist at Elevate Funding. “It’s about recognizing that clients (and prospects) are humans with their own unique set of needs and goals.”

Working in this industry and communicating with clients is a given but being personable with each one encountered is a task within itself. No client wants to be victim to a boring sales call where the one pitching lacks a persuasive personality. And nobody wants to be on the other end of the call feeling like they are wasting their clients’ time with a dull sales pitch. Making the client-to-business communication an eventful experience for both parties comes with a great amount of pressure, and it also can make or break a deal.

“Be a human being. Don’t do the high-pressure sales things like some of these guys are doing,” said Alexander Gold, CFO at Future Funding. “I get compliments that my guys are not doing that, and I feel like it’s just timing. So, if your timing is good, people will give you the shot. If your timing is bad, you won’t get the shot…”

The client needs to know that they can fully put their trust into a company or product, and it will be worthwhile. Creating a mutual trust, especially when dealing with a person’s finances can be a very personal experience. The key to that can be very simple, as Gold says, to tell them who you are and how you can help with just a moment of their time.

“So first, you have to build credibility, I would say that’s the most important thing is building credibility,” said Gold. “That could be knowing something they don’t, showing them something or teaching them something that you can prove and then possibly show them as well. I would say products, being very knowledgeable in your products and your product base.”

“…[It’s] how do you provide them interesting insights into their finances or into their needs without coming across overbearing or selling them something that they don’t need?” said Greg Varnell, VP of Product and Development at Q2. “And that’s a real balance. And so, I think, for us, personalization isn’t just trying to sell somebody something, but it’s trying to tell them the information that they need when they need that information.”

“I think trust has to be earned,” said David Roitblat, Founder and CEO at Better Accounting Solutions. “Most of our clients are referral based from other clients. So I guess that speaks for itself. […] So that does give us a head start on that, but ultimately, people judge you based on your work.

“At Elevate, we take a custom-tailored approach for each client,” said Hicks of Elevate. “We send out newsletters to our clients biweekly to remind them of our various programs, like add-ons and renewals. We are proactive in reminding them of their Future Receivables Sales Agreement, and we’ll always work with them on reducing their payment amount if their revenue drops. We provide our clients a variety of ways to get ahold of us – whether that’s email, call, text.”

Regardless of your role in the finance industry, interactions can have long lasting impacts. From the initial meeting to developing trust, and eventually turning that journey into a meaningful working relationship. And who knows, that one great client interaction could lead to many referrals and recommendations in the future.