Dave Guide: Customer Relationship (Part 2)

 

 

Dave Guide: Customer Relationship (Part 2)

Hello guys and gals, see you thought about me and I am here. 🙂 No !!! oops that means I was away for much longer…… 😉

In my earlier one I spoke about being in touch with your customers, “YES”, you have to keep that process on continues, never fail to be attentive and receptive.

At times you would feel you have had enough, (“Does this mean you stop talking to your wife”, “Hey man if I do this; I am mentally tortured by my wife 🙁 , sssssh please don’t tell my wife”).

So I spoke about meeting customers every now and then in my earlier stint:

Next step is Talk what best you can do or what you love to, talk to customers about technology that are being used as of today. What is best for their organization.

Explore your ideas, design and present them to your customers to be able sell. (Man all this above stuff is to sell). “Sometime I have to sell myself to my kids, just to get away or get something worked out of them ;), you don’t know them literally) “

Q: Have you ever tried to come up with your own Wish List?
A: Yes you did that, but remember that was only for you and only for your near and dear “If you care about them”.

Come up with Customer Wish List:
So When you meet and talk to customer remember to listen to their wish list, if they do not have one make sure you come up with wish list that will benefit them. “My wife creates wish list every time before we move out for shopping, thinking we will spend wisely. But you know what she forgets to carry this wish list with her. Then same old story OOPS FORGOT TO BRING IN WISH LIST, DON’T WORRY I KNOW WHAT I WANT”.  “I do believe her in that, do you think I have any options :(”

Customer and you have to build wish list to make sure you believe in each other.

Make them Happy:
Make sure you make them feel proud, make happy, try to help them in areas they wish to excel. “So I do the same to my wife, whatever she does I make her happy buying what she wishes, this same goes with my son, he is most demanding person in the world without any end to his demands’, Ya I know he is growing”.

Same goes with customer as and how customer grows their demand as well grows, he have to address those demands and make them happy.

Q: How do you feel when you are respected?
A: Its amazing, you feel you hold some position to get respect. My wife always feels she is in commanding position. If I forget to she reminds me!!! naaaw just kidding. Ok which sentence would you believe; only married people would answer correct one.

Respect your customer:
Whether you like it or not, whether your job says to do or not, one thing is for sure that you have to respect your customers. They are the backbone of your professional career, they are the influencer for your output. “As always said Give respect to get back”. Respect is not only to make sure you always listen. But you have to say something that you feel that would help customer’s Organization from crisis/issues.

Yes you come again sorry man couldn’t hear you, Oh ok got it, example of my family on the above. “See let me tell you one thing, examples are plenty, but make sure they don’t reach my family, specially my Wife:

I respect my wife; do you think I have any option? 😉 My kids do respect me, do you think they have any options? 😉 But it doesn’t mean I or they do not do in turn, its always give and take.

So always remember customers are not only one-time family, you have to manage them as your professional family. Customers will always be there when you feel low professionally. Same as family when you are low in personal life they always stand for you.

Summarized points:

Talk to customer:
Come up with customers wish list:
Make your customers happy:
Respect them:

 

Let me know your thoughts…..

Posted in D-Guide Tagged with: Customer Relations, customer wish list, respect customer, Solution Sell

Dave Guide: Product Sell VS Solution Sell:

 

Dave Guide: Product Sell VS Solution Sell:

I have a passion in both areas, I try to learn those from both the areas. Both of them are really important from any IT Service Organisation who wish to be known in the market.

I would define the tile as below:

Product sales is Easy to Sell Then to Say, Solution sales is Easy to Say Then Sell

Let me know how many of you agree. I have worked in both kind of organisations hence I would say the above. By the way “I didn’t mean any and all product in the market”, “Ya please do not misunderstand any an all product, I am talking about Majorly Accepted Technology brands.”

 During my 15 years of working experience I had come across many types of organisations that would like to be in the space of IT Organisation. The quotes do not go that easy as I had mentioned above. It takes lot of efforts to mention the same with my understanding so that you all can relate.

How does the above quote differentiate?

 Product:

1. Organisations with product sales are called as box movers. Their ultimate goal is to sell as much boxes as possible.
2. Those organisations brand does matter.
3. However, the brand is they would like to sell those and look forward to be exclusive partner for those boxes
4. They want their sales people to be well aware about product in and out to make sure they understand more to sell more
5. They try to build channels to make sure they have extended arms across region or global
6. Finally, sales people are robots who would sell those boxes day in and out
7. Technical teams are always on toes as they see lots of boxes moving around
8. They as well are robots, they do what is told, nothing creative. (It depends on organisation what type of team they envisage to be within organisation)

You wont believe they are at their best only if they stick around, they would move around organisations with same sales verticals. They can’t sell solution they cant even envisage to look further to boxes. 😉 Pssst “in case if they would wish to move to IT solution selling organisation they would mess up their gut feeling”. (By the way this is my personal experience).

Solution:

1. Organisations that sell solution are always at the mercy of product organisations (Brands).
2. They have to build solution across brands and present to customers
3. Talking about solution is much easier then implementing.
4. If organisation does not have specialised team for execution then the organisation is as at the mercy of brand principles
5. Sales or Marketing in solution organisation does not see sun rise if they don’t educate themselves
6. Actually for solution oriented company does not need sales or marketing people to sell solution.
7. Those organisations need Techno Sales team; they are the one who develop ideas to sell solutions
8. Before all, Solution based organisations has to excel step by step rather then taking all and everything in one basket

Sales people in Solution organisation can survive in any IT organisation. As they are well aware about their surroundings. They have been working in and around difference products (Brands) have been designing and discussion with customers. They are the best of breeds to understand customer (End Users) requirements.

The most beneficial people in solution based organisation are the technical team. They get a chance to make their hands dirty on any technology. 😉 Pssst, “Head of service or solution should be able to sell any solution they would wish their technical team to work on. Build their solution portfolio but make sure they have excellent technical team to support them”

 By the way in both kind of organisations the team members who benefit a lot are 🙂

Any guesses  🙂 Technical team or so called deployment team. They would survive in any kind of organisations, provided they would like to learn more excel in their stream.
Let me know your thoughts on the above topic what do you all think??

Posted in D-Guide Tagged with: Product Sell, Solution Sell, Technical Team