The concept of partnering is revisited and discussed in detail. Partnering emphasizes building strong relationships during every aspect of the sale and working hard to maintain a quality relationship with the customer after the sale. Relationship building must also include management personnel, company support staff, and secondary decision makers. Partnerships can be strengthened when salespeople use value-added relationship strategies.

An understanding of the psychology of human behavior provides a foundation for developing relationship strategies. In this chapter, we discuss the link between self-concept and success in selling. Self-imposed fears can prevent salespeople from achieving success. The relationship strategy is built on the win-win philosophy, empathy and ego drive, and character and integrity.

We describe several factors that influence the image we project to customers. The image others have of us is shaped to a great extent by nonverbal communication. We may choose the right words to persuade a customer to place an order, but aversive factors communicated by our clothing, handshake, facial expression, voice quality, and etiquette miscues may prejudice the customer against us and our product or service.

The various conversational strategies that enhance relationships are reviewed. These include comments on here and now observations, compliments, and the search for mutual acquaintances. Dale Carnegie’s guidelines for building strong relationships are discussed.

We discussed the importance of adopting strategies for self-improvement. A four-step self- improvement plan is the key to relationship building.