I like CRM. If you’re a regular reader of this space, you know this; however, what you might not know is that I have another version of CRM. Instead of Customer Relationship Management, I prefer to think of Customer Relationship Maximization.
You see, too few salespeople really understand what a customer relationship really is. They think, “Hey, they buy from me – we have a relationship.” Not necessarily. They might just be an Occasional Buyer (they shop you every time) or a Habitual Buyer (they buy from you out of habit without really understanding why). A Maximized Relationship is what we should be shooting for, and below, here are the Five Signals That You Have a Maximized Customer Relationship.
- You can make mistakes and still keep the business. There’s really no larger indicator that you have a real customer relationship than this one. Mistakes happen. That’s because people are imperfect – yes, even your humble author. In fact, I had such a meeting today. I was meeting with a client to discuss a particular service offering that hadn’t gone as well as it could have. IN the midst of the meeting, my client gave me the highest compliment that they could: “Troy, regardless, we want you to continue to be involved here. You’ve been good for us and to us.” Mistakes happen. If one mistake costs you the business, you didn’t have a real relationship.
- They buy most of what they need from you. This is actually a bit of a revision from my contention of the past. I used to say that you have a maximized customer relationship if they bought everything from you that they could buy. I’ve backed off that to a certain extent. Today, I like to see at least a 75% market share as a maximized relationship, simply because customers like to diversify – few buyers these days are willing to put all their eggs in one basket, no matter how good you are. That doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t always be shooting for 100% market share – you should – but it does recognize that sometimes it just isn’t possible.
- You have multiple contacts. This is more important now than ever. Good customer relationships require multiple contacts. The reason is simple – employees are more and more mobile, and stints at jobs get shorter and shorter. If you put all your relationship eggs in one basket by having a single contact, that means that when your contact changes jobs, you’re back to square one and selling on an even keel with your non-incumbent competitors. In building your relationships, go High, Wide, and Deep. “High” means as high on the company organization chart as you can get. “Wide” means many contacts. And “Deep” means that your contacts have more than a superficial relationship with you.
- They give you referrals. Referrals are one of the greatest indicators of a maximized customer relationship. A referral is an expression of trust. When your customer refers you, they are saying that they trust you so much that they are willing to place their other relationships in your hands. It’s also an expression that your customer cares about you, your business, and your continued prosperity. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again – your best customers want you to prosper. You earn that level of trust and confidence; it’s not given to you. But when it’s earned, it’s a wonderful thing.
- They evangelize for you. What I mean by “evangelize” is that they are willing to give testimonials, and serve as a reference when necessary. One of the toughest parts of selling a new customer is offering proof that your promises aren’t just empty words. Testimonials do this – they allow new customers to see you through the eyes of happy current customers, and in so doing, they are the most valuable sales tool that you have.
When you evaluate your customer relationships, think of the above five touchpoints. Chances are that most of your relationships won’t measure up. That’s okay; it gives you something to work toward. Get strategic. With each of your key customers, pick one of the above signals (where you are deficient) and work toward improving or achieving the signal on each call. When one signal is achieved, work on the next. It’s likely that you’ll find that one signal achieves another (for instance, the customer that will give you a testimonial will also likely give a referral or tolerate a mistake). Make no mistake – a Maximized customer relationship is money.
