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A client in trouble
September 21, 2007

I received a phone call this morning from a client who had an interesting scenario: "My long time client (worth $50K a year) has started asking suspicious questions regarding pricing. When I press her on it, she admits that they need to save money and printing is one of the areas targeted for savings.  What do I do?"

This phenomena is all too common these days and there is no question that she is in trouble.  After giving her my answer, I pointed out that she is at fault for the client even having that thought!  It is up to the sales person to remind the customer on a consistent basis why they do business with them.  I don't care how good you are or how great your service level is, if the customer doesn't know (because you haven't told them), it won't be remembered and you are at risk.  Get it?

If you rush an order, send the client an email that says, “Thank you for letting us deliver on our promise of service” AND CC EVERYONE ON THE PLANET.  That way, when a pencil pushing accountant says, “Save money on printing” the Buyer can push back and protect you.  However in order to do this, they need to know your value.  If you don’t tell them, they will have short memories.

Posted by Bill Farquharson on September 21, 2007 | Comments (0)