Building A “Moat” by Gene Lambert

In my last article, I shared some of my experience on a number of the things that make great sales professionals great. The topic of this piece deserves exclusive attention as a vital characteristic of top level sales performers. Attention to the details involved with helping your customers will build a defensive “moat” around your customer’s castle that the competition will find very difficult to breach.

Not everything is an emergency, unless of course your customer thinks it is! Being there when your customer needs you is a key component of your value proposition. Think of it as making your moat as wide as possible. Schedule a specific time with your customer to discuss your plan for being accessible to them.

Talk
My advice is to make voice contact with you easy for your customers. I like to pick one number for them to use as my contact number. Since I’m always in and out of the office, I use my cell phone number. If I’m in the office I forward my cell there. If I’m out or on the road my cell is always with me. When it comes to the fax, a virtual fax like eFax© is a great tool. It packages the fax as an email attachment that’s sent straight to your smartphone. You do have a smartphone, right? If you don’t, you should.

Another tip I picked up is to make your voicemail message work for you. Rather than just say “I’m out leave me a message”, I leave an inspirational business quote or a meaningful industry tip. Customers know you’re unavailable when they get your voicemail and they don’t really care where you are or what you’re doing (unless it’s for them!). Excepting that you’re on vacation, leave of absence or sabbatical, give them something they can use.

Tech
Social Networks and Instant Messaging platforms are many and varied. They include, but are not limited to:

LinkedIn©
Facebook©
BranchOut© (LinkedIn type app on Facebook)
Twitter©
Unthink© (The new “anti-Facebook still in beta”)
Evernote©
Foursquare©
AOL©
Windows Messaging©
Yahoo Messenger©

OK, so there are a plethora of options here. While being everywhere might be important for other reasons, where customer accessibility is concerned the key is being where your customers want you to be. When you have your accessibility meeting with your customer, ask them where they promote their business online and what they use to be accessible to their customers? In fact, I’ve found it wise to poll your customers on this issue so you know where they are online. If they’re online marketing you can monitor their customer messaging. If they’re not, it’s a great chance for you to add value by helping them become more online savvy. Remember, we not only want a wide moat, but a really deep one as well.

Responsiveness
It’s important that your customer know your response plan for the times when they can’t immediately reach you. Your customers need to know exactly what to expect when they reach out to contact you.

In-Person Meetings
The customer you are meeting with deserves 100% of your time and attention when you’re with them. Promise your customers they will receive this same level of attention and respect when you’re with them. The only exception to this rule is when there is a serious emergency with another customer. I like to provide my customers a code they can use in these situations. If they send me a text or email with the phrase “the house is on fire”, I know that I need to respond at the first possible moment. However, I emphasize to them the importance of there being a real emergency if they use the code. The issue is respect and a specific plan of execution the customer can count on. Make sure they understand what you believe constitutes an emergency and be sure to give them the same opportunity to communicate their definition as well. Detailed planning and crystal clear communication are indispensible shovels when digging your sales moat.

Phone Calls
Notwithstanding emergencies, I return calls in this order: Customers, my customer service team, my manager, administrative support and vendor partners. There are exceptions to this depending upon the situation, but this is the primary progression.

Emails
First I cut out the fat. Next I evaluate the email’s level of importance. Lastly, I respond to them in the order of evaluated importance. Oh, and I do it TODAY!

Chats
I try to avoid this, unless it is my customer’s preferred method of communication. If it is,I integrate it into our agreed upon accessibility plan.

Texts
I try to limit business texts to simple response answers and as an emergency communication method with my customers.

Above and Beyond
If you really want to go above and beyond for your customers you should become proactive, not just reactive, to their needs and expectations. Since all sales are personal, learn absolutely everything you can about your customer’s personal details. Learn their birthdays, anniversaries, spouse and kid’s names, sports they like, teams they follow, hobbies, etc. The list is endless. Become an expert not only on your products and services, but on your customers. Do more. Know more. Be more! These are the details that fill your moat with burning oil and retract the bridge, making it impossible for your competitors to access your customer’s castle. Here are a few more ideas:

1. Send personal hand-written notes to your customer. These make the routine more than routine.

2. Send old fashioned letters for more formal communications. Customers get deluged with email and all other forms of electronic communication. A well crafted letter sets you apart from the pack and solidifies your position as a problem solving pro. Also, who doesn’t like to get real mail that isn’t a bill or marketing garbage?

3. Always be looking for ways to place yourself in a class all your own. It screams “I’m the person you come to when you need help!”

I know this is only a general introduction to sales moat construction, but get started now! The competitive barbarians are at the gate.

Until next time…

Gene