How to Not Suck at Authentic Sales Relationships

Editor’s Note: This is a guest post from Jamie Crosbie: A veteran with 20+ years of experience in sales leadership and talent acquisition. Jamie served as VP of Sales, and then VP of Training and Development, at Career Builder
Talk about being lost in translation:
In 2009, HSBC bank created a $10 million re-branding campaign. The reason they needed it? They had created a world-wide tagline that read “Assume Nothing”.
Sounds pretty cool right?
Assume nothing.
Take nothing for granted. It implies that they had their proverbial stuff together. Sadly though, they didn’t.
You see, when translated for audiences in some countries, it became…
Do Nothing.
Oops.
Have you ever tried to stuff something back into its original container only to find that is has magically morphed into some mutant mess that refuses to go back into the box it came in?
Well, it was kinda like that.
This Brings Us To Our Thought For Today: Critical Mass
The thing about critical mass is that it is basically a tipping point. And that, my friends, is what happens when a minor change precipitates a massive shift. They made one itty-bitty boo-boo and ended up spending millions of dollars trying to undo it.
The only problem is that once it is inside people’s heads, it is kind of like telling them to not think of pink elephants.
Think Tsunami
Critical mass can either be a negative or a positive, depending on exactly what has reached the tipping point. For instance, if it is a nuclear meltdown, that’s probably not a good thing. If it is a massive rise in sales (other than ones involving suddenly necessary radioactive protective gear), then it’s great.
And here is how it applies to your sales numbers. Critical mass can mean skyrocketing to the next level, or plummeting back to earth in flames. The kick in the head here is that even if you are flying high at the moment, it is not a guarantee that you are not close to making re-entry, the hard way.
I am a broken record when it comes to saying, “We have to focus on the consumer. I don’t think the answers are just in the numbers. You have to get out and look -A.G Lafley, CEO of Procter and Gamble
You see, customers are somewhat… well, flaky. One day they are beating a path to your door, the next, you can hear crickets chirping. Even though you may feel that you are on top of your game, it never hurts to take a fearless inventory and check your facts.
Mutant Mice and Massive Traps
In order to attract and retain customers, you need to accomplish three basic things: first, you need to have a better mousetrap. Second, you need to make it known that your mousetrap is capable of hauling in mutant mice that are roughly the size of bears. In other words, you have to inform your audience as to why your particular mousetrap flat out rocks.
Third, and possibly most importantly, you have to create a customer experience that far surpasses that of pretty much everybody else and their brother. You really do have to create a superior customer experience in the mind of your client.
Got that? Their perceptions. Not yours.
For example, Jeff, the owner of a small custom cake bakery in Texas, noticed that he had a lot of leftover cake scraps because a cake might break coming out of the oven or needed to be leveled in order to frost it. About that same time a teacher was retiring and someone ordered a cake. During the conversation, Jeff learned that the teacher had served for 25 years.
He wondered if anyone had ever made a point to make her feel special. Then he talked to his wife, a local ER nurse. They started talking about local unsung heroes. Then Jeff had an idea.
He told his staff to save the fresh cake pieces that were shaved off to level the cakes. About mid-day the staff would mix the fresh cake pieces with buttercream icing and turned them into “cake balls” covered with white chocolate. Each ball was hand-rolled and dipped, often adored with a flourish or simple, yet tasteful design.
Every box had a card that bore a single message:
“Thank you for all the good you do.”
He spent the next few days delivering small appreciation boxes of cake balls to local teachers, firefighters, city workers, the local hospital staff, and police officers.
The result? Orders for cake balls skyrocketed. Not only did he use leftovers as resources, he stepped into the marketplace and people fell in love with his confections. All because he met his customers on a human level. Everyone wants to be appreciated, and that one simple, sincere gesture hit home.
Superior Service (Really?!)
You often hear terms like excellent customer service bantered around. (Not just good, mind you, but excellent.) That’s because many companies think they have this one nailed. Sadly, not so much.
One research group found that while 80% of companies think they are offering stellar service, their customers don’t agree. Statistics compiled from actual customer surveys basically shredded all but a handful of the 362 companies included in the study. In fact, only 8% (!), of the companies in the study actually performed at a superior level according to the responses of their customers.
They are just not that into you
Basically, your clients may not think you are as hot as you think you are. So what can you do about it? You can start by taking a really hard look at how well you stack up. If you don’t have a really good handle on this, your sales can tank and you will be scratching your head and wondering why.
It all comes down to being able to correctly assess what the customer experiences. How happy is your customer? Are they dissatisfied, but using you anyway? Will they jump ship if another supplier comes along? Where is their tipping point?
As Jeff Bezoz, CEO of Amazon.com put it, “We see our customers as invited guests to a party, and we are the hosts. It’s our job every day to make every important aspect of the customer experience a little bit better.”
Your customers are not stupid, but they are busy. They are also living in microwave popcorn reality. What I mean by that, is that they are more plugged in, have more options and will not tolerate anything less than a fluffy bag of yummy popcorn goodness at the push of a button.
The takeaway is that customer relationships are really a slippery slope. You can’t rest on your laurels and always believe the numbers. You have to understand your customer or client and reach out to them in ways that are meaningful to them if you want to succeed.
That means looking, really looking at their world. Once you know what the need is, that knowledge has to be transmitted up the ladder and the people at the top have to listen. You have to get out there, find the pulse of your customers and then create actionable plans to meet and exceed their expectations in the real world.
Which is yet another reason, that you need to find, train and retain — only the best of the best.
About Jamie Crosbie:
Jamie has 20+ years of experience in sales leadership and talent acquisition. At Career Builder, Jamie served as VP of Sales, and then VP of Training and Development, where she successfully led a team of 80+ people and drove 85% revenue growths annually. Jamie is the author of The Power of 2, Exponential Sales Leadership specializing in Peak Performance Mindset within Sales Organizations.
Social Media:
https://twitter.com/jmcrosbie
https://www.facebook.com/www.proactivate.net/?ref=bookmarks
