Your Customer is Who Matters
I had a rep. Meant well. Relationship skills needed work.
Actually they needed a major overhaul.
Example:
He would call me with a problem, usually a customer who was complaining; asking for more than he felt was right or not wanting to move forward with us with no explanation. We would talk through it, I gave advice, he seemed on the other side of the issue and happy to move forward.
And then I got cc’d on the email he wrote.
It’s pointed, half-apologetic, half-I-told-you-so, and completely off-putting. And this was from someone who had been a sales representative for over twenty years. So what the Hell was wrong? What had happened with the fundamentals? Where was the relationship?
It got stuck. Business had changed for him; things were easier with less competition and more open to buy. And then, it changes. Competition explodes, the war of online vs. brick & mortar, people wanting more service and less hassle, immediate gratification – all these things disrupted what had been for my rep.
What came down to my 20+ year experienced rep, in my opinion, was that he was burnt out and stopped focusing on what his customer wanted. He began seeing his customer base as petty and in experienced, with the value of the order not warranting his time spent on the road. In this situation, his relationship with the changing business had cooled.
The definition of relationship is: ”The way in which two or more concepts, objects, or people are connected, or the state of being connected.”
That’s it. Just the way in which things are connected – relationships can be good, bad, forced, awkward, productive, destructive, annoying, or strong and beautiful.
In business, it is also incredibly simple. Everyone wants the same goal: for business to grow. Done. Literally that one sentence is what we all want. So what’s the next easiest thing for you to do if you know that?
Find out what your customer wants and make THAT your priority. Forget about what you want:
1) What you want is usually a narrow view
2) Focusing on only what you want over your customer will guarantee short-term growth leading to failure
3) Focusing on what your customer wants will guranteed long-term growth leading to continued success
Be Authentic
Fake is easy to spot. Be authentic in your relationships and fully commit to making their business a success with your product or service.
Be The Solution
Never be the problem, and if you are, solve it immediately. If something is wrong, fix it. If there is a complaint, address it. If you get a fired up email or voice message...take a deep breath and wait at least 30 minutes while you process EXACTLY what the main issue at hand is. Always be the solution, always give options and always be positive.
Be Reliable
The only thing worse than being fake is being a flake. Once you say something you are committed to doing it. If you don’t deliver on your word, even for something as small like, “I’ll call you in ten minutes”, your credibility will divide every time until it is zero. People forgive, but they don’t forget. If you have to say no or you can’t get something done until a later date, that is 10,000 times more commendable than saying you can when you cannot.
And if you find yourself at a place where the product or service does not allow you to do the above, you need to leave. Time to go. That company will not survive – and you are not allowed to let them take your reputation and relationships down with it.
