Comments on: Business Relationship - partnership

By: Brad Trnavsky

Brad Trnavsky — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 20:37:16 +0000

I have really enjoyed this series so far. I’m hoping we will see some info on how you go about moving clients from one type to the next or is that not important in this model so long as you sell to each client in the correct way?

In my personal experience I used 4 similar categories but my real goal was to get everyone to the partnership stage where I was viewed as a valuable resource. This was easier with some clients than others, but those account were where most of my money was made.

-Brad

By: Business Relationship - partnership

Business Relationship - partnership — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 21:54:00 +0000

[...] Colin Wilson wrote an interesting post today on Business Relationship - partnership. Here’s a quick excerpt: [...]

By: Ian Brodie

Ian Brodie — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 17:32:25 +0000

Great post Colin - and great to see an explanation of how to use the framework rather than just the framwork itself.

Ian

By: sales trainer

sales trainer — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 17:30:15 +0000

An amazing quadrant relationship worthy of Gartner. You have really exhausted a subject in superb fashion. Without a doubt everyone should strive for the right level of relationship based on ASV and SSL.

By: Colin Wilson

Colin Wilson — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 14:16:03 +0000

Nesh, very insightful observation… yes I do see people who spend time and effort in a consultative sale when in a transactional relationship. The territory analysis is about how you view the relationship… I will be posting a similar framework, but from the customer viewpoint… it’s the differences between the views that are interesting.

By: nesh thompson

nesh thompson — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 14:00:13 +0000

Colin, a fantastic post and I have thoroughly enjoyed your four definition articles. Can’t remember who talked about ‘eureka’ moments, but sometimes I get that when reading an in depth article such as this. The penny dropped with your discussion on pipeline management, which I too share an interest.

What, I find interesting, is highlighted by your pipeline diagram which shows the evident (and optimal) time and resource dedication that should be utilised for each type of relationship. One of the difficulties that some businesses may face is a tendency to treat the relationship they actually have, with the dedication of another type ie. spending time and effort in a consultative sale when in a transactional relationship. Is this a problem that you frequently see?

By: Chris Whyatt

Chris Whyatt — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 05:58:14 +0000

Colin,

This has been a brilliant and thought provoking series of articles which you have tidied up beautifully with your closing ’so what’ summary.

By: Tim Rohrer

Tim Rohrer — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 02:44:07 +0000

I have enjoyed this series very much and you saved the best for last! Nicely done.