Are You Getting Chips and Salsa for Your Clients?

I was at a conference recently, and it was jam packed with educational sessions and keynotes. In fact, it was actually too jam packed, and the conference organizers did a poor job leaving ample time for food breaks if you ask me!

The conference spanned Thursday-Saturday. Thursday was particularly busy, and as a result I really only had time for a decent breakfast that day. By the time the afternoon general session and keynotes rolled around I was getting really hungry. I was sitting next to some friends and business associates during the 1st keynote and remarked a few times about how hungry I was. The 1st keynote ended and my friend Mark (who also happens to be our custom content provider — thus I’m technically his client) disappeared. A few minutes later, just as the 2nd keynote started, Mark appeared with some iced tea and, better still, cookies! The cookies hit the spot!

Later that evening the same group of us — and more — were out at a sports bar watching hockey and partaking in plenty of beer drinking. Bear in mind that the cookie was still the only food I had eaten since breakfast and this sports bar had a paltry selection of food items. The night rolled along, and we ended up at another bar where I once again let it be known how hungry I was. I didn’t realize it, but Mark had left the bar on a hunt for food. He came back with a bag in his hands. Inside were chips and salsa from a Mexican restaurant that was closing for the evening. Let me tell you, I ate those chips like they were the last chips I would ever eat!

In my famished and somewhat drunk state I commented to myself how thoughtful it was of Mark to twice in the same day take care of me like that. He didn’t have to do it. He wanted to do it. Sure, I’m Mark’s client and there’s probably part of him that did it to take care of his client. However, I would bet anything that Mark did it more just because that’s who he is. He is a genuinely nice guy who cares about the people around him. I know this to be a fact having gotten to know Mark the past 7 years.

But if we keep this focused on business and sales for just a minute, the bigger lesson is listening and paying attention to others, and being attuned to the needs of others. When we walk through our days thinking about ourselves and our selfish gains and wins we lose the ability to focus on and service the needs of our clients. Are you asking enough of the right questions and listening enough to know what your clients need? Do you know what problems they have, or better yet, have you identified problems they don’t even know they have because you are so in touch with their business? If you aren’t you are missing the boat. Sales success is a direct result of how many clients you serve and how well you serve them. To do this well you need to place your clients’ interests 1st always and you need to be in tune with their wants and needs in a way so that their win is your win.

So, I ask you — are you getting chips and salsa for your clients or are you letting them starve because you are not in tune with their main challenges and needs? Are you anticipating their needs and delivering the right solutions? Are you surprising them with solutions to problems they didn’t ask you to solve? When you do that is when trust is formed and relationships are cemented. So be like Mark and make sure your clients never go hungry!