Step Up Results

Do you heed your promises to the customer, even the unspoken ones?

Maintaining the relationship means maintaining credibility and trust. Maintaining credibility and trust means delivering on your promises. It means you do what you said you were going to do. To those of us who are continually in STEP-UP mode, this is second nature. However, to many good performers it is one of the things that keeps them from moving from good to great.

There are two primary reasons why we either don’t deliver on our promises, or why our customers don’t think we deliver on our promises. Pay close attention here, as this distinction is of staggering importance.

First. We get into trouble by assuming.  We assume we know what’s best for the client. We assume we’re all on the same page. For example, we assume that because we are comfortable with sliding schedules, that the customer is, too.

Let me illustrate. Think about a situation where you promised the customer you would deliver on Thursday, but you got busy and the delivery time slipped into Friday. You decide that the difference between Thursday afternoon and Friday morning isn’t that big of a deal. But guess what? It’s not how you see it that matters – it’s how the customer sees it that determines your credibility. For many customers – especially the Type A, highly driven kind – 5 PM on Thursday means 5 PM on Thursday. 9 AM on Friday morning means you did not deliver on your promise.

Second. We get into trouble by communicating poorly. We thought we agreed to X, when in fact, they heard X and something else. We endanger our ability to deliver on our promises because we aren’t straight, clear and definitive on what those promises are. So, an important step in delivering on your promises is to be straight, clear and definitive about what you promised. Understand there may be differences between what you thought you promised and what the customer thought you promised, or what he expects from you. You serve both interests by taking the time to ensure you’re both on the same page, and that it’s the right page for the customer.

How will you ensure you understand and make good on your promises, even the unspoken ones?

How simple (or complicated) is the process of becoming a customer? 

Too often we make if difficult for people to do business with us. We get people to “Yes” then lose them in the “next steps.”  

Several years ago we worked with a client who was good at getting people to say Yes, but lousy at keeping them after that.  His firm had a 24-step “becoming a client” process.  That’s right 24 steps!  In order to become a client, you had to go here, do this, then this, fill out this form, send it here, bring in this information, talk to this person, and so on through 24 steps.  Is it any wonder that half of his potential clients gave up before reaching the end?  I know I’d be thinking, “if it’s this bad before I become a client, what’s it going to be like once I’m in and need service?  What hoops will I need to jump through to get help?” 

Making it easy to do business with you is a key element of results excellence and one that is far too often overlooked.  Take a lesson from Internet retailers.  Think about the ones who make it easy and pleasurable to buy from them. They take great pains to minimize the number of steps and clicks.  They provide just the right amount of information and guidance to make the experience rewarding.  Not only do these retailers get the initial sale, but their customers are far more likely to return and buy something else.  

Decide what you can do to make it easier for customers to do business with you.  Even if you can’t do much to change the process, you can at least communicate the specific next steps clearly and be there to guide them along the way. 

The challenge is, it’s all too easy if you’re in sales to think of this part of the process as not your job.  The truth is, it is your job.  The goal is results, and without adhering to this piece of the process, you put those results at risk.  The solution – step up and take charge of making it easy for your future customers to buy from you. 

What can you do to make it easier for customers to do business with you?