Being Married to Your Customers April 27, 2010, by Peter Mirus in Marketing
There is a good deal of “black humor” surrounding the analogy between sales work and dating, and between customer relationship management and a marriage. The joke that applies immediately after the marriage ceremony is this: “Now, a lifetime of good customer service to ensure retention!”
In both marriage and business, the cost of not having a good relationship can be very high. It costs a lot to get divorced: some estimates I have seen state that the average cost of a contested divorce is about $50,000—and that is just considering legal/mediation fees.
If you have been around multiple businesses, you know that there is often a negative tendency to attribute differing priorities between the company and the customer to “unreasonableness”. If the customer wants something that the company doesn’t seem to be able to provide, the company is being “unreasonable”. Likewise, the company thinks that the customer is “unreasonable” for wanting what it wants. If you have been around enough marriages, you’ll see the same negative tendency.
It doesn’t have to be that way. Good relationship managers both in marriage and in business make the “exchange of differences” productive and positive, work to resolve differences when possible, and ensure that respect and personal responsibility remain a focus. In this way, the customer/spouse always feels valued—even when the decision is to “agree to disagree” or to resolve the difference at a future date.
One byproduct of good relationship management: it keeps the tone of conversation amicable and placid, and that can go a long way in helping both parties feel out the “difference between the differences”. When there isn’t a productive dialogue, all differences seem large—but logically, we know that there are degrees of differences, and each difference has its own importance relative to the others.
I have worked with companies are naturally good at relationship management, and others that are horrible at it. You can recognize right away the difference between the two. In companies that are horrible at relationship management, every perceived problem is automatically escalated to the highest volume, and the blame is always placed squarely in the other camp.
Because the skills necessary for good relationship management both in business and in personal relationships are so comparable, I often tell both Trinity’s staff and our clients that learning good relationship management (within sales work, project management, personnel management, etc.) will benefit them in their personal lives—because that is the truth. How we handle workplace relationships can spill over into our personal lives, and vice versa.
I place a strong emphasis on personal responsibility within client relationships, which means treating clients with respect, being willing to listen, and making decisions that are in the client’s best interests. What bothers me more than anything else? When there is something out of tune in a relationship, or when we cannot (for whatever reason) have productive communication with a client.
It is this strong value for good relationships that characterizes my teams, and what makes us so valuable to customers.
Enjoy this post? Share it with others.