Lessons Learned… (for both of us)
Sharing an experience I had with one of our large customers. A Sales Rep from my team was on vacation and I was assisting her accounts while she was off. An order came in for 20+ Samsung units. A beautiful device, but a delicate device made of glass. I immediately called the client to confirm the order and asked a few questions. In particular, I was focused on securing accessories (aka ‘the attach’) along with the order, not because it generates additional profit (but yes because it generates additional profit) but because of who the client was and what they do.
The client is a large, successful transportation company located in southern Ontario. The person on the other end of the phone was the I.T. Manager, a person I nor my Sales Rep had a relationship with (not good – we had a strong relationship with the VP of IT). I inquired on what type of protection they would like with the device; I recommended a rugged case from Otterbox. The client stated that they did not want any accessories. I paused, which was uncomfortable for the person on the other end of the phone, to the point where they said “hello?”. I piped up and said that we couldn’t sell them the devices without protection. The I.T. Manager was becoming frustrated with me, I could hear it in his voice. I was very direct and said “these devices are delicate eggs, if you drop them, they will break.” From my perspective, he was focused on the fact that I wanted to sell him additional items (which I did) but based on my past experience, it is/was the right consideration. I continued to tell stories of similar organizations that made the same decision and the outcome resulted in spending more money.
The order was processed without any cases to protect the devices. I followed up the client to let him know when order was shipping. It was very apparent that the I.T. Manager was still frustrated with me over the phone. Upon my Sales Reps return from vacation, I summarized the situation with her and asked her to follow up with the client to build a relationship with the I.T. Manager. Over the next few weeks, the courting process began and we finally set up a lunch meeting with an objective to understand the I.T. Managers role, how we can help him, etc, etc. We actually told him why we wanted to get together with him for lunch; he was pleasantly surprised. Well, we had lunch with the I.T. Manager and it was fantastic; it was a quick lunch but we managed (in my opinion) to win him over. During the lunch, the I.T. Manager recalled our conversation regarding protecting the devices; he smiled at me and said that two units were dropped recently and the screens cracked. I smiled back at him and asked if he would like us to prepare a quote; he said yes.
A few lessons from my perspective:
- Challenge your clients, debate with them, with an objective to secure the best solution for them.
- Develop a deeper understanding of your client/organization and ensure your relationships are wide and deep.
- Tell stories, don’t focus on features and benefits.
- Never say “I told you so” to a client.
My 10 year old daughter told me many moons ago, ‘sharing is caring’.
Robbie