by Tom Woodcock, Owner, Seal the Deal
The challenge in developing a customer base is determining which customers represent the best possible opportunity. Which pay the best? Which are easy to work with? Which are the least demanding? Companies market themselves to death to try and attract exactly these types of customers. That’s the core problem: thinking all you need to do is attract the really good customers. It’s kinda like the woman who only seems to attract loser men or the man who only seems to attract needy women. I know—a harsh but accurate metaphor. Available perfect customers are virtual unicorns. The key is you don’t attract them, you build them!
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This is the secret in building a customer base loaded with grade-A clients. As with any desire to get ROI in a sales effort, you must ask what are you willing to invest? Too many companies rely on passive efforts to gain business and sales. They sporadically meet with clients and usually, in construction, only in relation to an upcoming project. This is not enough to build a quality customer base. The investment of time and resources is imperative to achieving this end. Cutting corners or limiting customer contact can reduce the depth of relationship. Just evaluating good customers from poor customers is not a way to define where you’re going to put your sales attention. If a customer doesn’t feel you’re invested in the relationship, they can just as easily use your competitor.
The deeper the client relation-ship, the stronger the trust bond. The greater the trust, the more willing the customer is to accept your interpre-tation of the project scope as well as pricing. They believe you would only be fair with them and you’re looking out for their best interests above your own. Establishing this level of trust directly hits your bottom line. How do you achieve this level of relationship? Well, it’s not as hard as you think.
First, you must set aside time for the lunch, coffee, and happy hour meetings that sometimes seem fruitless. At some of them you don’t even talk about a project. You may just laugh and discuss your favorite team’s season. You might even discuss their son’s or daughter’s achievements. Wow, maybe you don’t even discuss business at all. Black and white thinkers see this as a colossal waste of time. Hope those people work for your competitor! A key point is to really invest in developing the friend-ship—outside of a simple project relationship. If you do, when a project does arise, you’re the go-to on your area of expertise. But, if you’re not taking the time to have these encounters, you’ll never be considered more than a viable supplier. What a great moniker, a “viable supplier.” What a position to aspire too. Truth be told, that’s what most contractors are to their customers.
Second, you need to budget resources to entertain or recognize your customer base. People still appreciate a good lunch meeting, round of golf or a game. Ah, I can hear the CFOs out there sighing in frustration. Money wasted so sales personnel and customers can go play. What an extravagance. I’ve faced this my whole sales career. I even do with my staff now. If I hear one more “I hope you had fun!” in that condescending tone I’m sure many of you have heard, I’m going to snap! Yes, we did have fun! Lord knows you wouldn’t want to have fun with a customer. Why on earth would you want positive life experiences with someone who can give you business? The last thing you want is to spend $100 on a client that can award you thousands or millions of dollars in contracts. This isn’t a license to abuse the privilege, but let’s get past the petty jealousy. We’re going for significantly higher and deeper levels of relationship here. That takes a greater investment. You get out what you put in. It’s that simple.
Third, you need the support of staff and company management. They need to realize you’re going for a uniquely deep customer relationship. They need to want that to happen and be willing to do all that is feasible to make that happen. This means assisting in processing paperwork, capturing information, and performing with a level of excellence. This can free up the sales agent to truly dive deep into their customer relationships. If all hands are on deck supporting the sales effort, results traditionally follow. An internal team that is mature enough to under-stand the need for a sales team to have the space and support to graft customers into the fabric of the company, will reap tremendous benefits.
The challenge for many companies is to adopt a sales culture that gives sales relationship development its proper priority. Allowing the sales personnel to actively pursue relationship opportunities displays a degree of sales maturity not common. The construction industry isn’t known for this type of sales acumen. The pressure of bidding drives the transaction towards price. This negates the role of relation-ship and creates a level playing field regardless of a contractor’s competence or integrity. Contractors would like customers to decide on these factors over price, but don’t give enough attention to developing relationships to overcome the force of bidding. Securing premium customers is never achieved through pricing formats.
I’ll often hear one contractor say how much they love working for a particular customer while another says that they’ll never bid that same customer again. How is that possible? Well, the most dividing factor between those two perspectives is simply the level of relationship development. If you have a deep connection, communication lines are clearer and issues are resolved quickly. The customer doesn’t want the contractor to actually absorb a loss and will work to find an amicable solution to a problem. Those with less or no relation-ship will be treated more abruptly, and the customer will tend to protect their own interests. Often the customer is blamed when in reality, the contractor didn’t invest in developing a relationship. The fact that many who have sales responsibility for contractors also have other important roles. Whether it’s project management, estimating, or even administrative needs, they all eat away at sales focus. It’s difficult to be impactful in regards to sales when your attention is spread over so many areas. Once a project starts, the opportunity to work a strong sales effort diminishes.
Cultivating premium customers is the responsibility of those doing the selling. Putting the onus on the customer to be premium is a reverse rationale. A company that makes a conscious decision to invest in deep relationship development will see the loyalty and commitment they long
for from their customers. Those that choose not to make that investment will battle the low bid game going forward!
Author, and critically acclaimed speaker, Tom Woodcock is known as one of the most dynamic sales trainers and consultants in the sales industry. Each year he speaks to thousands of people about how best to use his techniques and skills to compete in today’s intensely competitive economic climate. For more information, please visit https://www.tomwoodcocksealthedeal.com/
