My customer is a Jealous Lover

How often do you need to see your customers?

Having spent many years selling directly and indirectly, both tangible and intangible products and services, I was fortunate enough to be taught as a young salesman to not be afraid of asking customers questions.

Most of us are accustomed to CRM systems and customer ranking tools that usually suggest how often we should be visiting customers. While not detracting from these methods, determining what customers expect remains the one solid basis for determining call cycles and can form the base of the relationship.

A further lesson I learnt from an old salesmen who as a young man drove a taxi for a living, and whose territory I inherited due to his retirement, may appear simple but has stood me in good stead when building the "foundations" of any customer relationship.

ASK THE CUSTOMER HOW OFTEN THEY WOULD LIKE TO SEE YOU! 

The lesson as he claimed - is simple. How could he ever allow a passenger into his taxi without asking them where they wanted to go? It was the first and most critical question that allowed him to execute his task accurately and more importantly made sure that he met and exceeded the expectations of his passenger.

Applying this to our everyday business environment is no different. Some customers may need to be prompted as you may well get the proverbial answer of "I will call you when I need you". In such instances I have made a point of visiting alternate contacts within the business, building a broad web of relationships with these contacts who were not even influencers, but who over the years eventually became key decision makers. The word soon gets around about how busy one is on the account.

My experience is that most customers will tell you how often they need to see you. Learn to gauge from their reply how they view or value your service or product. I was once told by a customer that they were a "Jealous Lover" and as such expected to see me twice a week. I knew they placed emphasis on our supply and service and had no doubt of what was expected of me.

What one will find is that more frequent calling is often required when starting new relationships as there is so much to learn and a strong level of trust must be developed. Trust regularly comes with familiarity, which in turn comes from spending time together.

Ultimately spending time with customers who provide you profit and add considerably to your cash flow is your first priority, but don't neglect those businesses on their way up.