Life is all about relationships, not the least of which are business relationships. We must build relationships with business peers and advisors, with employees, with our vendors and suppliers, and of course, with our customers. But what sort of relationship do we enjoy with our customers? While many like to think they’ve forged a “partnership” with their customers, few truly have. What they really have is a simple transactional relationship the nature of which is, “You give me this much money, and I’ll send you this much of my stuff.” Period, end of story and end of the relationship until the next time your customer needs more of your stuff. So do you really “partner” with your customers, or do you simply engage in a series of transactions with them? For more on this, please continue reading below.
A good customer/supplier relationship is essentially a partnership
If you have a strong, well-crafted culture that is driven by a clear vision and compelling values (as we hope you do), then you are probably careful in your hiring practices to screen out people who are not a good fit for that culture. Likewise, in your sales and marketing efforts, you should be screening out prospective customers whose business practices are not a good fit with yours. This can be very tough to do when you have sales people who are under pressure and incented to achieve ever-increasing sales goals. Yet, just as an ill-fitting employee can wreak havoc on your organization, so can an ill-fitting customer.
In your customer relationships, if you want to know if you’re a genuine partner or just an order-taker, consider the following:
- Have you developed strong personal relationships with your customers? As billionaire entrepreneur Wayne Huizenga has said, “I don’t want to be just a voice on the phone. I have to get to know these guys face-to-face and develop a sincere relationship. That way, if we run into problems in a deal, it doesn’t get adversarial. We trust each other and have the confidence we can work things out.”
- You almost certainly honor your commitments to your customers (if you don’t, you won’t be in business for long), but do they reciprocate by honoring their commitments to you? Or do they figure honoring commitments is a one-way street?
- Do your customers understand and appreciate the value you bring to them, or do they focus solely on price?
- From time-to-time, your customers may ask for your help in solving a problem. I’m sure, if you have the ability to help, you do. The fact that when they have a special problem, they turn to you for help is a testament to the confidence they have in you. But is the reverse true? If your customers had the ability to help solve a problem for you, would they? If they would, that speaks volumes about the relationship.
- Do you regularly confer with your customers to determine how their needs are evolving? Or are your conversations limited to how big their next order is going to be?
This is not intended to be a comprehensive list of all the things that can validate the strength of a customer relationship, but it’s a good start. And by the way, let’s not lose sight of the fact that you’re not only a supplier, you’re somebody’s customer as well. You should be trying to build the same sort of partnerships with your vendors as you are with your customers.
The point is, if your customers see their relationship with you as purely transactional . . . if they see you as only a peddler, someone who is just trying to sell them as much of his stuff as he can . . . they’ve already got one foot out the door. There are plenty of other peddlers out there, so as soon as there’s the slightest bump in the road or as soon as one of those other peddlers offers to save them a few pennies, they’ll be gone. Clearly, that’s not what you want. You want to build a relationship with your customers based upon mutual caring, trust, and respect. You want them to see you as a valued resource, a part of their team, who can help them build their business. In short, you want them to see you as a genuine partner who is committed to their success.
Rock Solid Business Development
Phone: (847) 665-9134
andy@rocksolidbizdevelopment.com
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