Keep Your Customers

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Paul apologized profusely and reminded me how often he'd come through. Why throw it all away?

A few months ago, we found ourselves competing for the business of a medium-size law firm. Its representatives came to visit us, see our warehouse, meet our people, and assess our capabilities. We gave them the usual tour. Afterward, we told the firm's records manager that we'd like to visit his offices in Manhattan. He was surprised. Nobody else had made that request. "Why?" he asked.

"I could probably think of 20 reasons," I said. "For one thing, I want to see how long it takes to get up and down on the elevators. I also want to see what the building looks like. And I want to see how you do things. Maybe we can give you some suggestions."

"What if we don't select you?" he asked.

"So we'll have spent a day with a couple of nice people," I said.

As it turned out, we were the only contender that bothered to visit the law firm. When the bidding began, most of the other records storage companies were quickly eliminated. Of the three finalists, we were the most expensive. The records manager contacted our salesperson and said, "We want you, but there are certain things in your package we can't live with. You can have the account if you're willing to make some changes."

"Why do you want us?" our salesperson asked.

"Nobody else came to our place," the records manager said. "Nobody else asked us the questions you asked. You're the only one who understands how we operate."

We had to make certain concessions, but we did get the account, and we had the opportunity to get it for one reason: We'd built a relationship. To be sure, our ability to keep the customer will depend ultimately on our performance. All the relationship gives you is breathing room--the chance to recover, and learn, from the mistakes you will inevitably make. But in business, as elsewhere, that can be the difference between success and failure.

Norm Brodsky (brodsky13@aol.com) is a veteran entrepreneur whose six businesses include a three-time Inc. 500 company. His co-author is editor-at-large Bo Burlingham.

You begin to build that kind of relationship not when the sale is closed but when the initial contact occurs. When I call on a prospect for the first time, I don't even talk about our company. I spend the whole visit just trying to learn all I can about the people I'm dealing with--what they like, what they don't like, what their style of business is, how their company works, what their policies are, and so on. I don't have to make a sales pitch. The prospect knows why I'm there, and I know that no decisions will be made at the first meeting. Mainly, I look to build rapport and understand how the customer likes to do business.

The point is, you need to find out in advance what it will take to keep the customer happy after you've closed the sale. For instance, I want to know how long the customer waits to pay its bills. If you don't ask about that, you could be headed for trouble. You may assume the customer will pay in 30 days, as is your policy. Its accounting people may assume they can pay in 90 days, as they do with their other suppliers. When you call up after 45 days and discover that you're not getting paid for another 45 days, you're not happy. You pressure the customer's people, and then they're not happy. The relationship goes downhill from there.

And whose fault is that? I say it's your fault for not inquiring beforehand about the customer's bill-paying policy. If you'd known what it was, you could have built the carrying costs into your proposal, decided not to take the business, or simply agreed to accept the terms. In any case, you would not have had the bad feelings engendered by a misunderstanding that could easily have been avoided.

But beyond learning what you need to know to keep from inadvertently souring a relationship, it's also important to use the period before the sale to build the trust that will let you hold on to the customer. That means going out of your way to show your intention to do whatever is necessary to ensure that the customer will be happy after the sale.

Paul apologized profusely and reminded me how often he'd come through. Why throw it all away?

A few months ago, we found ourselves competing for the business of a medium-size law firm. Its representatives came to visit us, see our warehouse, meet our people, and assess our capabilities. We gave them the usual tour. Afterward, we told the firm's records manager that we'd like to visit his offices in Manhattan. He was surprised. Nobody else had made that request. "Why?" he asked.

"I could probably think of 20 reasons," I said. "For one thing, I want to see how long it takes to get up and down on the elevators. I also want to see what the building looks like. And I want to see how you do things. Maybe we can give you some suggestions."

"What if we don't select you?" he asked.

"So we'll have spent a day with a couple of nice people," I said.

As it turned out, we were the only contender that bothered to visit the law firm. When the bidding began, most of the other records storage companies were quickly eliminated. Of the three finalists, we were the most expensive. The records manager contacted our salesperson and said, "We want you, but there are certain things in your package we can't live with. You can have the account if you're willing to make some changes."

"Why do you want us?" our salesperson asked.

"Nobody else came to our place," the records manager said. "Nobody else asked us the questions you asked. You're the only one who understands how we operate."

We had to make certain concessions, but we did get the account, and we had the opportunity to get it for one reason: We'd built a relationship. To be sure, our ability to keep the customer will depend ultimately on our performance. All the relationship gives you is breathing room--the chance to recover, and learn, from the mistakes you will inevitably make. But in business, as elsewhere, that can be the difference between success and failure.

Norm Brodsky (brodsky13@aol.com) is a veteran entrepreneur whose six businesses include a three-time Inc. 500 company. His co-author is editor-at-large Bo Burlingham.

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