Becoming The Clients' Most Trusted Advisor

Guest Contributor: Michael Hepworth
Michael's Posts - Michael's Website


Most businesses, tend to fall in love with their product or service, rather than falling in love with their clients. If you sell to small business this can hurt you!

The first sign that this is happening is a tendency among sales people to say to themselves; "What do I have to do to get this customer to buy?" With this attitude, there is a tendency to become manipulative and coercive or just plain boring as you spend time talking about yourself.

Neither of these approaches works well with strong minded entrepreneurs and business owners. No one wants to be manipulated or taken advantage of.

A more appealing approach is to make the business owner feel you care, that they are important to you and that their well being matters to you.

To accomplish this, suppliers have to review their purpose. If train your staff to believe your firms purpose is to contribute great value by giving them the results they are looking for rather than to simply take their money, you'll begin to see an interest transition in your customer relationships.

The objective is to enter every customer relationship with a commitment to leaving their customers better off than when they found them. This commitment changes the way you interact and the way you sell and often changes how you package what you sell.

This may seem a little soft, but typically companies that adopt this approach find
That positive word of mouth spreads rapidly, clients are more loyal and sales are easier to close. Think of examples like Nordstrom, Ritz Carlton and four Seasons.

This does not have to be the domain of high end retailers and hotels, but can infuse every business.

If your product or service is of high quality and delivers on your promise, then it is likely that it is in your customers' best interest to buy more, because it will enhance their situation. Thus it makes sense to buy more because there will be a better pay-off.

One of the unexpected benefits of this strategy is that employees and managers are no longer ambivalent about what they do. They love what they do, because ant some level helping others is hard wired into most human beings. Their jobs become easier and your customers love them because they care so much. More importantly your customers will love you and your business because of what it stands for.