How do we develop a strategic customer relationship? What are some of the things that we need to do? Experience has taught me that to be successful it starts with understanding what your customer wants. So many times I’ve observed people that go to see customers and all they’re interested in is getting the customer to [...]
I recently read a quote from a major Customer Relationship Manager provider that said, “Despite all the advancements in technology, sales success is still dependent on one thing, communication.” I’m not sure I fully agree. I would suggest it’s dependent on relationships.When I talk to people responsible for customers, the discussion invariably gravitates to CRM. [...]
We have numerous contacts at our customer but have we ever invested time to really understand their roles and whether they are the people we should be investing our time with? In a previous article, I discussed why it is important to have a Customer Relationship Plan. Such a method considers the relationship roles, where [...]
Discover ways to build Trust, which is the number one element in building relationshipsCustomers don't buy from anyone. They buy from people they trust. Without trust, there is a barrier the minute somebody tries to sell them something! How can we ensure that our customer trusts us enough to be comfortable with what we suggest? [...]
During my time at Coca-Cola, I worked with our largest customer, McDonald’s. At one stage in the relationship with McDonald’s Germany, we were trying to get more Coca-Cola branding awareness in the restaurant. One method was to get the generic McDonald’s cups replaced on the translites (the lit menu boards behind the counter that show menu items) with Coca-Cola [...]
How many times have we gone over the presentation we made with all the great points and are left scratching our head as to what must have gone wrong? We still left the meeting without a decision for OR against.It can be incredibly frustrating. We spent considerable time getting the people to the meeting, hours [...]
Last week I posted a really good article by my good friend Stephen Cobb titled “Don't Take Your Customer For Granted”. In the article, he discussed how to make sure the customer and we were aligned and to emphasize with the customer what successes we had mutually enjoyed as well as what else we could achieve together.This [...]
A good friend of mine for many years believes as I do in passionate customer service to key customers. Both of us learned our trade working with McDonald's for The Coca-Cola Company.Stephen Cobb is still with Coca-Cola and has always been a tenacious and persistent value provider to his clients. He recently wrote an excellent blog about ensuring good [...]
The situation was fairly tense. This was the third meeting to discuss the new campaign and the client had just suggested some fundamental changes in the creative which would have a major impact on the budget.I was the Vice President, Client Services for our agency and was leading the meeting at our client’s office. We [...]
One morning, as I was going through the usual ritual of working through my e-mails to see what might change my planned schedule for the day, Larissa put her face around my office door that I had closed a few minutes before."Brian from EMI is on the phone. I think you had better take it." She said. [...]