An approach to marketing and selling in which producers focus, first, on building rapport and developing relationships of confidence and trust with prospective buyers, and then on finding reasons for the prospects to want to do business with the producer. In some cases, the relationship is developed over a period of several preliminary contacts, thus requiring a consistently high number of qualified prospects. Any sales approach in which the seller expects to do more business with the seller in the future, and uses this expectation as the basis for the initial contact.
Usage:
Arthur found that client-oriented, relationship-based selling was most effective in the mid-to-upper income markets.