When the going gets tough…Go back to the basics

Christen Uber June 26, 2008

Our personal and professional lives are about relationships; the ones we pursue, the ones we let pass by and the ones we terminate. Across the board life seams tough right now gas prices are high, unemployment is higher, moral is down and so are sales. Last week Volvo announced job cuts for about 2000 employees. This week’s victim, United Airlines who announced they will be laying off 950 pilots equating to about 15% of their total workforce. So when times seem so tough, what are we to-do? I propose when the going gets tough go back to the basics – connect.

Robert Fulghum in his 1986 essay All I really need to know about how to live and what to do and how to be, I learned in kindergarten wrote:

Remember the little seed in the Styrofoam cup ; The roots go down and the plant goes up and nobody really knows how or why, but we are all like that.

The basic premise of a successful business is based on a foundation of good relationships; connecting with people who are your clients, current prospects and future opportunities. When sales begin to dwindle in an economy like ours it’s typical for management to pull sales and account teams together to review the current state of affairs and strategies on how to produce more sales. The problem here is they are focusing on the sale and not the relationship which longer term will be the foundation to success. There is no greater ROI than the one you will receive by focusing on building and nurturing the client relationship. So go back to the basics. Below is a few ideas of what I would refer to as basic relationship building. Although your client, prospect, future opportunity is not buying from you now or in the next 3 months if you follow these easy basic steps the moment their budgets open up you will be top of mind . Remember you are planting a seed that if provided water, sunlight and nurtured will grow roots and grow upwards.

Connect: The foundation of any relationship is making an emotional connection. The only way to an emotional connect with anyone is by getting to know the person and discovering common ground. Constantly stay in touch either through email or phone. Get to know them personally:

What is their daily work day like

When is their birthday

What are there personal interests/hobbies

What are their career goals

Get linked - invite them to connect with you on the social networks sites you actively participate in. For example Linkedin, Facebook, Plaxo, Spock ect.

Listen: Remember the old 80/20 sales rule well it also applies to listening. When connecting with a client they should be doing 80% of the talking. A good listener easily builds trust with the people they are interacting with. It also makes the person doing the talking feel as though the listener is generally interested. Listening also helps uncover a client/prospects needs. If you understand the needs and challenges a client/prospect is facing , you will have an opportunity to better serve them.

Deliver results and provide value: Always meet deadlines and if you can’t then let your client/prospect know well in advance. Setting expectations and not being able to effectively meet and support those expectations can be an immediate relationship killer. In our global fast paced world we are all interdependent on one another to meet goals and promises. Most likely your client has based one of their deliverable’s on your deliverable so deliver as promised. Always asses the value you are providing or offering the client. The moment a client no longer feels the value in your relationship you are done.

Go above and beyond: Taking that extra step or making that extra effort signals to a client they are important. Just recently a client asked our team for an extensive report with less than 24 hour turnaround time. What seamed like an unreasonable request was turned into an opportunity to demonstrate the importance of our relationship with the client. Based on our response to go above and beyond, by delivering the report when requested, our client responded with “Thanks to our friends at Bernard Hodes” Our relationship was strengthened and deepened because we understood their urgency and responded accordingly. That’s what clients are looking for.

Respond: Always respond in a timely manner. Traditionally, 24 hours is an acceptable response time. Responding beyond 24 hours signals to the client their needs are not a priority. My recommendations is if you are still waiting to acquire the information or services a client needs respond anyway. Simply receiving either a phone message or email stating their request is top of mind and you are diligently working on it signals to them their business is important.

Category Posted in Human Resources Analytics, HR Consulting, Human Resources