Customer Relationship Strategy

You need to get creative.

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Take a look at the organizational chart of your customer account. Using a green pen, circle those that play a decision making role. In yellow, circle those that are influencers. In blue, circle those that are simply approvers (you know, the rubber stamp guys).

Now, focus on the people in the green and yellow circles on the organizational chart. You are going to rate those customer contacts as a friend, neutral or foe by using a “+” for friend, “=” for neutral and “-“ for negative foe.

This customer relationship strategy will visually lay out for you a few things. It helps you identify the contacts that are your champions (+). It identifies those that could become champions (=). And equally as important it shows you those people you simply have to manage (-) because of their negative attitude toward you or your company.

There can be difficult customer relationships with individuals for a variety of reasons. They may have a negative history with your company. They could have a cousin that works for your competitor. Or they are just simply people who get up on the wrong side of the bed each morning.

If a “foe” is in a decision making role, you have a challenge ahead of you. You need to determine which peers, executives and influencers can impact the decision making in the company. You need to pump up your value statement and get buy in from those that surround the foe in your large account.

We sometimes call this a surround and conquer strategy. If the foe is someone you simply cannot deal with, you need to make those around him a “friend”. It is often the only way you will be able to do business with this account.

Craft a message for each of the people on the organizational chart you need to influence. Your customer message may different for a “neutral” person than a “friend”. Make each message relevant to the individual person and press on. Get those surrounding the foe to sell your message for you in the account.

Dealing with difficult clients is a reality in every large account. Your customer relationship strategy for these situations becomes critical and will determine how many sales you close during your tenure on the account.

Identify the key players. Determine their biases. Craft messages for each specific person. Tie your value statement to the customer’s requirements.

And when you have to deal with a foe; Surround and conquer. Sometimes it is the only way.

Thanks for reading.

Good selling.

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