Building a strategic relationship with the customer starts with a simple notion--Marketing to individuals one at a time instead of accounts.
In today's ever changing competitive environment, just taking orders does not by itself constitute or add value to the approach. The only way to add value and create a sense of differentiation to the mix is to get close to your customer. However, there is one problem, as sellers try to get closer to their customer, they tend to move in the other direction. This problem can be attributed to customers' taking their business to high-volume, low-cost competitors and or shopping anonymously by way of the Internet. The reality is some relationships will not go beyond the outer crust of "give me proposal or the quote stage". To counteract the obvious drawback, here are a few strategies that can both help in establishing a valuable relationship and or win over customers even when they're not interested.
* Ask yourself or your sales group who and what the relationship is about?
To better identify the who and what, look for the opportunities that clearly shows the customer or client that the relationship is about them. In other words, if your product or services isn't right for the customer at this time, by all means say so. On the other hand, if you do have other solutions that can solve a problem, this is an opportune time to offer it to the customer.
* Keep the candle burning
It is not always to your advantage to give up on stalled relationships. By moving on to another, you never get a return on the relationship investment. To counteract this drawback, set aside an hour a week or month to keep in touch with dormant customers. Make it a point to at least send referrals to your customers way. Mail articles of importance that the customer might find interesting and possibly help the customer improve their business. Overall, the only way to add value and stand out is to get close to your customers.
J. Greg Gimba, a Global Business& Marketing Consultant, Speaker in Business to Business Marketing Programs, Strategic Global Marketing, Market Action Planning (MAP), Customer Cultivation/Retention, Multi-Cultural&Diversity Training. Greg can be reach at anet@worldnet.att.net
J.Greg Gimba
Managing Partner
Anet Consulting Group,Inc.
E-mail:anet@worldnet.att.net
http://www.anet-cgroup.com
http://www.trainingforum.com/speakers/jggimba.html
Phone:1+/904/426-5194 Fax:1+/904/426-8589
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