m Strategy I
t’s been a demanding week at work. You’ve put in your 50 to 70 hours and you’re ready to relax with your family by the pool with a cold one. So, when one of your clients calls you on a Sunday afternoon and bends your ear about a so-called emergency at his factory, it’s the last thing you want, right? Wrong.
If you’re Ron Anderson, a major account manager with
a large manufacturer of farm equipment, getting a call like this – even on a weekend – is a sign that he’s right where he wants to be – in his client’s inner circle. “What I’m doing is no different from relationship banking or something like that,” he says. “A customer should be able to call you on the weekend or after hours if there’s a dire emergency,” he says. Because, when customers feel comfortable calling you away from the barbecue grill to get your advice on a business problem, they’re also going to call you the next time they need to place an order.
The benefits of working your way into your customer’s heart are clear – a stronger relationship typically means access to inside information. Lorene Devries, a consult- ing engineer with a high-tech company in Raleigh, NC, says becoming a partner with your client means you know what’s going on before the rest of the world. “They call you and say, ‘This is what we’re going to do. Can you help us?’” she says. But getting to the trusted-advisor stage with customers isn’t just a matter of handing out your home phone number; it takes careful positioning.
THE DATING GAME If you were going to venture into the online dating uni- verse, you wouldn’t cruise the Internet dating sites and randomly select prospective partners to wine and dine. You’d decide on some basic characteristics – gender, age, and looks – and then begin sorting through the possibili- ties. Likewise, when you’re seeking to take your customer relationships to the next level, you need to figure out your best prospects. “Selling is a numbers game, but you have to filter. You can’t be close with 300 people,” says Devries.
NSHIPS WITH MAJOR ACCOUNTS
Being more than just another rep takes time and ef- fort, so you want the biggest return for your investment. That means focusing your relationship-building efforts on customers who are – or have the potential to become – large accounts. “You have to evaluate who’s an A pros- pect, who’s a B prospect, and who’s a C prospect. You have to decide, ‘Where am I going to spend my time?’” says Devries.
While how many close relationships you can juggle simultaneously will depend on your comfort level, industry, and other demands, Devries says a good rule of thumb is limiting your level-A relationships to between 20 and 50 accounts.
FIRST THINGS FIRST Once you’ve got your targets down to a manageable number, you must define your ideal marriage. You have to determine what you want that association to look like. Cre- ate a statement that spells out exactly how you will know when you have reached trusted-advisor status, but make sure your measurement focuses on quality rather than quantity. Becoming a partner doesn’t have to mean daily – or even weekly – contact with your customer. “It’s not so much frequency,” says Devries. “It’s about whether they call you when it matters.”
A sales consultant says trusted advisors get their calls
returned, get many referrals from clients, and “get better results with the same or less effort” – all of which are items you may want to add to your goal statement. After you know what you want your partnership to look like, the next step is to see yourself as relationship material. According to the consultant, success depends largely on the mindset of the salesperson. If you view yourself as a commodity vendor, then you will act – and be seen – that way. Instead, think of yourself as some- one whose job it is to provide value to your customers beyond simply filling their order.
The consultant cites an informal survey in which sales- people were asked if their product was pretty much the
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