Winning Buyers with Trust and Relationships

Monica Reynolds

Welcome back to the Dayforce SKO 2026 Breakout Sessions Recap—I'm Monica Reynolds, and today—oh, this is a good one—we're looking at how trust and relationships actually win over buyers in 2026. I've been thinking a lot about how much the landscape’s shifted even since last year. You know, we talk about “buyer experience” or BX, but what does that really mean right now? Well, according to both Salesforce and some recent Numentum studies, a whopping 85% of business buyers believe the experience a company provides is just as important as its actual products or services. Let’s just sit with that! Buyers aren’t just comparing software anymore, they’re literally weighing the entire journey.

Monica Reynolds

Numentum did these deep-dive surveys with over a hundred global CHROs, CIOs, and CFOs—folks who actually sign the checks. What they found is, well, honestly, pretty validating for a lot of us who have lived through years of “spray and pray” cold outreach—I mean, does anyone respond to those anymore? 81% of CHROs, 78% of CIOs, and 80% of CFOs said they “rarely” or “never” respond to cold emails. I have to chuckle because, same! But here’s where it gets interesting. If that initial touch comes by way of a trusted introduction? Suddenly, 91% of CIOs, 83% of CFOs, and 88% of CHROs say they’d take the meeting. That’s not a little shift—that’s game-changing for people in sales, and, honestly, for anyone trying to drive influence in a buying committee.

Monica Reynolds

I gotta tell you, my own approach completely changed in the last few years. I used to be a big cold-caller. I’d have my spreadsheet of prospects, work the phones, send out those carefully crafted but, let’s be real, kind of generic emails. Sometimes you’d get a nibble, but mostly…crickets. Then, after connecting on LinkedIn, reaching out through mutual colleagues—basically leaning into my network rather than just the “next name on the list”—suddenly, the energy changed. I’d jump into meetings and people would actually know who I was, or more importantly, they knew—and trusted—who sent me their way. Conversations got warmer, sales cycles sped up, and there was a lot less friction. BX in 2026 isn’t just about slick demos—it’s earned trust, before you even open your mouth.

Monica Reynolds

So building on that, let’s talk about how relationship capital has become a real muscle for Sales. I was at the live breakout when Numentum demoed their Warm Introduction process—wow, that was a showstopper. They were showing this process that now boasts a 70% average success rate. Seventy percent! I mean, can you remember the last time cold outreach topped ten? And these aren’t just theoretical success stories. Take Burton Snowboards, or even The Home Depot. Both leaned into Dayforce’s relationship-driven process and watched their pipelines transform.

Monica Reynolds

Okay, they actually had a live demo with LinkedIn Sales Navigator. I always get a little geeky about tech, so watching them build out relationship maps live was such a rush. You could see how mapping out actual decision makers and mapping common connections—like, oh hey, “Ashley Laporte at Burton is connected to John Lacy, who knows our Dayforce team”—suddenly gave you a targeted, high-trust path into the account. A real example—Bret Chatman at Dayforce built up a sequence of introductions, not just random “connect” requests, and it eventually led Burton from curiosity to a partnership spanning years.

Monica Reynolds

It reminds me of this account I worked where, after months of zero response to my standard emails—classic case—a colleague agreed to make a tailored introduction to their internal HR leader. The conversation changed overnight. We weren’t “selling” in the old sense; it was about solving problems together from day one. That introduction became the bridge to what’s now a multi-year partnership. It’s almost a cliché now—“relationships over transactions”—except, honestly, the numbers back it up in a way I haven’t seen before. If you’re not building genuine relationship capital and activating your champions, you are, well, kind of stuck on the outside looking in.

Monica Reynolds

Now, all this kind of comes together around the idea of reducing friction—because even with the warmest intro, the process can get bumpy if you’re not supporting your champions. I like to say, it’s not just about selling during the meeting, it’s what you do before, between, and after each touchpoint. Dayforce teams have been leaning in really hard here, using super-personalized content—like custom org maps for coaching, relevant podcasts or stats—whatever keeps the champion feeling smart and equipped through every internal conversation. Proactive follow-ups, check-ins, even just asking, “Hey, what roadblocks are you seeing?”—all of it matters.

Monica Reynolds

And I can’t skip the SAP SuccessFactors case—kind of legendary at this point. With Numentum’s pilot there, they saw €500 million in incremental pipeline in just 12 months, almost entirely by empowering champions and providing ongoing coaching between meetings. That model—a mix of structured learning and practical assets—has really become core to Dayforce’s playbook now.

Monica Reynolds

Look, I’ve been in educational tech forever, and I think of “champion journeys” the same way I think about user learning journeys. If you’re only handing over some product sheets and telling them “good luck,” that’s not empowering anyone. What’s working now are these structured development tracks—at Dayforce it’s become Fundamentals, Core, and Advanced certifications. That not only keeps our champions sharp for their next internal pitch, but it means they actually grow with us, not just buy from us.

Monica Reynolds

So bringing it all together, winning buyers in 2026 isn’t magic. It’s about orchestrating trust before you show up, building relationship capital every day, and turning champions into, well, partners—for the long haul. There’s always more to unpack, so we’ll keep peeling this back in future episodes. Thanks for listening, and don’t forget: your next deal might just start with a single, trusted introduction.