Building Thankfulness into the Sales Process

Greg Crumpton lives by a simple mantra: Relationships drive business. Each week on Straight Outta Crumpton, Crumpton dives into the lost art of networking and speaks with the biggest influencers in business services to learn how they build, nurture and value their professional relationships.

 

What’s the most critical aspect for sales professionals in building relationships? Simply put, it’s trust. No matter what a company sells, it won’t go very far, being purely product- or feature-focused. Instead, it’s the relationships that matter and how those in sales roles approach the work. To talk about trust and her journey as a sales professional, Courtney Fallon, Account Executive for AirTight FaciliTech, joined the podcast.

There have been several aspects of Fallon’s life that prepared her to be an accomplished salesperson. First, she was an athlete, rowing crew at the collegiate level at Clemson. Second, she’s a life-long learner.

“What being an athlete taught me and has carried over to my career is even though opportunities may be scary, they are always present. If you challenge yourself, you can succeed because opportunities are endless,” she said.

The second aspect of her success is her passion for learning. “I started with AirTight in an inside role to learn everything about the industry. This experience showed me the importance of facility operations, and that knowledge helps me build relationships,” Fallon commented.

The key to building relationships is trust. “I’m not selling a tangible product, so customers have to trust that I know their needs and the industry. I then have to trust the internal teams and how they’ll carry the ball after the sale,” she commented.

Trust building isn’t all about what she has to say. Fallon said, “I’m getting to know the person and the needs of the facility in the first meeting. I have to dive and ask questions to understand their biggest issues.”

Her ability to develop trusting bonds is integral in a male-dominated industry. In the end, she said, “I’m fine being the only female on my team. It just makes me work harder to build trust with customers, and I do that by listening to them and knowing the ins and outs of the HVAC world.”

Make sure to follow along for more episodes of Straight Outta Crumpton!

Straight Outta Crumpton with Greg Crumpton

Follow us on social media for the latest updates in B2B!

Image

Latest

digital freight invoicing
ODeX Is Leading the Charge in Digital Freight Invoicing
April 24, 2025

Global shipping continues to grapple with fragmented billing processes, often delaying cargo movement. According to McKinsey, adopting an electronic bill of lading could save $6.5 billion in direct costs and enable $40 billion in global trade. As vessels carry goods for thousands of shippers per voyage, the administrative burden of managing and reconciling invoices…

Read More
Human Intelligence Movement
Just Thinking… about Reimagining Education for the AI Era with the Human Intelligence Movement
April 24, 2025

As artificial intelligence reshapes education, work, and daily life, educators are grappling with how to prepare students for a future where human skills—not just knowledge—will be paramount. In fact, a growing number of reports highlight that employers increasingly value collaboration, communication, and emotional intelligence over memorized content. Amid this transformation, the Human Intelligence Movement…

Read More
The Value of a Restoration Team with Healthcare Experience
The Value of a Restoration Team with Healthcare Experience
April 24, 2025

In this episode of Inside Restoration & Recovery, host Martha Lewis welcomes Jason McClaren, Director of Facilities Operations at Reunion Rehabilitation Hospitals, to discuss the critical advantage of partnering with a restoration team experienced in healthcare. A former firefighter and military veteran, Jason has spent the last decade managing safety, risk, and emergency preparedness…

Read More
Science of reading
Educators Must Combine 1:1 Tutoring with the Science of Reading to Close the Reading Gap
April 23, 2025

Coming out of the COVID-19 pandemic, the education system faced a seismic shift. Learning loss, especially in foundational literacy, was a national crisis. In 2024, only 31% of fourth graders in the U.S. were reading proficiently, according to the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP). Meanwhile, tutoring exploded as a top strategy to recover…

Read More