By Mark Bartz

I make my living helping people land roles in medical sales. As such, I need to stay on top of industry news – and I actually have to read all of those sales books which make it to the best seller lists. And, no, I don’t read the abbreviated synopsis versions of the books (although I think those are very good, you still miss a lot from the real book).

Right now I’m reading (or I should say re-reading) Spin Selling by Neil Rackham, Selling to the Very Important Top Officer by Anthony Parinello and Never Eat Alone by Keith Ferrazzi. Yes, I realize these books are somewhat classics by now and came out a few years ago – but better late than never when it comes to reading books. There is a common thread running through the fabric of all three books: people want genuine relationships. It’s in our DNA.

The customer is ever more sophisticated and leery of sales closing techniques or superficial relationships with vendors based upon the immediate sale. Long-term relationships are where it’s at. Those are based on trust and integrity. Both are hard to come by. Both are built over years and can be lost in seconds.

The take-away from these three books? Don’t laugh. It’s FROG. That is a great sales acronym which stands for: family, recreation, occupation and goals. Somewhere in the psyche of your customer one of those four elements most resonates. And before you can develop a genuine long-term relationship with your customer, you need to touch on that element and keep track of it in your CRM. Then stand back and listen carefully as your customer speaks to you from their heart. Now you have a customer and a genuine relationship.