Traditional sales relationships have been very much buyer–seller, single-person contact. The salesperson establishes a good rapport with their customer contact, and over time they build a good working relationship. This is all very well until either of the two move on from their role.

This is particularly important now as employees take advantage of the numerous new challenges & opportunities in the current environment.

If their client contact moves on, a salesperson then needs to build a new rapport and working relationship with their replacement. One of the risks is that the new client contact may already have a strong relationship with a competitor. In the case of the salesperson’s company, if their salesperson moves on, they have lost their link to the client contact. Of course salespeople they should maintain contact with the previous client contact as they move to their new company.

A LinkedIn sales blog stated that 80% of deals stalled when the main stakeholder moved on. This can leave the business exposed to the “accepted alternative”. Further, if the salesperson’s company has no CRM in place, much of the knowledge of the buyer–seller relationship moves with the salesperson. Building layered relationships mitigates these risks and can build strong bonds between both companies for mutual success.

Think of a piece of string, with one end tied to the single-buyer contact, the other to the single-seller contact. If either of those contacts leave, the relationship between the two companies is also broken.

Traditional 1:1 Vendor - Customer Relationship

However, if there are multiple pieces of string running between multiple contacts in each company, strong bonds exist. If a contact in either company leaves, strong bonds remain in place.

This is the strength of layered relationships. However, they take time and a strategic approach to successfully foster and build. The stronger the number and level of relationships you have with your customer, the harder it will be for a competitor to infiltrate. The simplest first step is to build the 2IC bridge.

In most situations, your client contact will have a level of authority. They may be the main decision-maker. They will also have someone who steps in for them when they are away, or someone they share authority with: their 2IC (second in command). In any buyer–seller relationship, it is important to establish a rapport with your client contact’s 2IC. This is commonly known as Building a Bridge; establishing a relationship between you and a second client contact. The second client contact may be an influencer, so although they may not decide who gets the purchase order, they may have a say.

In many cases, should your main contact move on, the 2IC will be first in line for promotion. It is best to have a relationship in place before the promotion, as it’s harder to build one afterwards. Building a bridge enables you to establish a relationship with the person most likely to succeed your existing client contact should they leave.

A second easily built bridge is at the supply-chain level. In larger organisations, there will be a buying team or purchasing manager who will often issue the purchase order once they are given the go-ahead from the main decision-maker, your contact. This doesn’t mean they don’t have any input, so ensuring you have a good rapport with the purchasing team is important. Your competitors will target purchasing staff and make them aware of alternatives. Never assume that just because the purchasing team isn’t making the decision, they can’t derail it.

The next level of bridge is at management level, where your sales manager has a relationship with the manager of your client contact.

Establishing a CEO or general manager level bridge is the ultimate. If the relationship between the two companies is so strong that the CEOs of the companies can pick up the phone to chew the fat, you are truly a key part of their business.

In establishing each of these bridges, the onus is on the salesperson to drive the process, to manage the relationship. It also requires their team to be aligned, to understand the value of layering the relationships and to be willing to engage in the process.

It’s important to understand “Who’s Who in the Zoo?” Do you know who does what in your customer’s company, what their level of authority is and what role they may play in purchasing decisions?

So, what bridges do you need to build?

Are your client relationships strong?

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