A guide on how to justify the 5-7 minutes of a client meeting needed to build a relationship.

1. Copyright brainstation publishing 2014
www.salesmakeover.com
jens@salesmakeover.se
+46 8 651 25 00
The magic Cinnamon bun: A guide on how to build strong customer relations in five minutes.
The cinnamon bun creates, justifies, the five to seven minutes space in the meeting needed to get to know each other. Simple put: You cannot negotiate prices with a Cinnamon bun in your mouth!
“Mmm, good! It reminds me about one time when I was a kid. My mother had baked cinnamon buns. The smell from the owen, the hot buns and milk.”
A CEO and I were to start the negotiation of a monster deal. I knew we were facing a “Mount Everest” price & terms discussion, almost doomed to fail.
That’s when I gave him a cinnamon bun: “I love buns – do you want one?”
The tense feeling was gone. We both leaned back, had our buns with a good cup of coffee, chitchatting about life, sharing memories and stories. After a while the CEO leaned forward and looked me straight in the eyes: “We could sit here all night and negotiate terms. But I feel you are the right person for the project. Let´s make a deal!”
The CEO put his trust in me. Why? He felt we had things in common: sports, friends and history. He liked me and liked him. We both wanted to do business with each other.
The Cinnamon bun gave us time to realise that.

2. Copyright brainstation publishing 2014
www.salesmakeover.com
jens@salesmakeover.se
+46 8 651 25 00
What is lost in the way we do business today?
The pressure for results puts a focus on the activity level of sales people, and with the help of the smartphone & computer we do more and more customer conversations over the web and phone. Lync, Skype and Webex. The results: Shorter and more frequent sales conversations. In a recent study done by CSO insights (2014) fewer and fewer salespeople reach their sales targets. Why? I believe it is the race for quantity of sales deals (filling the pipeline), forgetting about the quality of the conversation with the clients.
I don’t know about you, but my calendar is so filled with activities that I don’t have time to get to know my customers any more. Relationships are built on knowledge about each other: interests, values, backgrounds and common friends. It takes time to talk about these things, time that can’t be scheduled in 30 minutes slots.
What is lost to day is the relationship between the salesperson and the customer. There is no time for that anymore.
The value of relationship
“Customers want to do business with people they like and trust” *
I think Jim hit the nail on the head. Taking the time to get to know your customers, and giving an opportunity for the customers to get to know you, will create a space for conversations outside the

3. Copyright brainstation publishing 2014
www.salesmakeover.com
jens@salesmakeover.se
+46 8 651 25 00
seller – buyer relationship. It will be the basis for trust the next coming years. And we all want to do business with people we trust and like.
The relationship will open new doors for you:
- Prospecting: You want to book a meeting with a person you don’t know but have a customer who does. You can ask for an introduction.
- Negotiation: You want to get a last chance before the customer makes up his/her mind. You call on the cell phone after 5 pm and ask for it.
- Business development: You get a bright idea you want to test. You call your client up, ask for a meeting to make your pitch.
The role of the Cinnamon Bun
Eating a cinnamon bun takes in general 5-7 minutes. It creates a friendly, generous atmosphere and opens for personal chitchat. You can ask about the family, the history and the interests of your client. And share your story. The more you bond, the stronger the relationship. Cutting out 5-7 minutes of a 40 minutes sales call may seem too much. But if you have adopted the new selling style (see the article “Selling to CEO´s: 5 things you must do”) where a strong sales pitch kicks off the sales conversation it will be a perfect balanced sales call: personal and professional.

4. Copyright brainstation publishing 2014
www.salesmakeover.com
jens@salesmakeover.se
+46 8 651 25 00
Do´s and don’ts of bringing buns to the sales meetings
Old school sales managers sometimes made fun of salespeople who brought buns to sales meetings, implying that the bun was the only value the salesperson brought to the meeting. A Cinnamon bun is definitely not a short cut to business. Bring buns when you want those 5-7 minutes to get to know your customer – or want to break the tension between you and your client. It could be when a contract is in negotiation and you want to feel the customer. It could be when you screwed up and want to have a chance to show your personal side before taking the hit of the customer. Or it could be on a rainy Monday afternoon in November, when you want to share something good.
Don’t bring buns to every meeting; it will make you fat and boring. The bun should be a surprise, a gift.
Last word of advice
When you bring Cinnamon buns to the sales meeting, always bring an extra one: You never know if the “fox” (the real decision maker) will show up!
Jens “SalesMakeover” Edgren
Sources
*Interview with Jim Palmqvist, CEO Svensk Fast
** CSO insights 2014, http://www.csoinsights.com/publications/Shop/Sales-Performance- Optimization
*** “Selling to CEO´s? 5 things you must do (and 4 things to stop doing)”, article by Jens Edgren , published on LinkedIn and Slideshare.com