Want to give it a try? Start by looking for these five attributes inside you and your own company first. The best way to begin this process is to build a partnership environment in your own organization.
• Treat your employees as partners.
• Speak nicely about your customers behind their backs (they are your paycheck, you know).
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• Accept responsibility when a customer calls even if it isn’t your specific job.
Show a spirit of cooperation and teamwork among coworkers, especially in the traditional rival areas of sales and production, or sales and the service department.
It is your inside partnership philosophy that permits the outside partnerships to take place with your customers. You can’t have internal chaos and outside harmony. Partnership attitudes are bred from within. Think about this: What message do you want to give your customers when they view your actions as a business? Are those actions congruent with the message carried today by your sales force to your customers and prospects about your product or service? If not, you will be seen as having two faces and be perceived as insincere. There are four prime paybacks for partnerships…beyond the economics: 1. Partnerships are more mature in their expectations – (realistic) less fluff and dazzle. More meat and potatoes (if you’re a vegetarian, more tomatoes and potatoes). 2. While partnerships tend to be more demanding, they are more forgiving of error. Everyone makes mistakes. Partnerships will allow you the benefit of positive recovery. 3. Partnerships are more apt to give candid feedback. This helps you improve the quality of service, thereby the quality of the relationship. 4. Partnerships are more apt to champion you in the marketplace. They become apostles on your behalf, street ambassadors. They tell love stories about you. I wouldn’t go anywhere else. Partnerships with customers don’t just happen. It starts with a game plan and a commitment. It takes an investment of time and resources to reap the dividends. Is it worth it? Your competition hopes you don’t think so. Biz Jeffrey Gitomer is the author of 12 best-selling books, including “The Sales Bible” “The Little Red Book of Selling” and “The Little Gold Book of Yes! Attitude.” His real-world ideas and content are also available as online courses at www.GitomerLearningAcademy.com. For information about training and seminars, visit www.Gitomer.com or www.GitomerCertifiedAdvisors.com, or email Jeffrey personally at salesman@gitomer.com. © 2019 All Rights Reserved. Don’t even think about reproducing this document without written permission from GitGo, LLC, Jeffrey H. Gitomer and Buy Gitomer. (704) 333-1112.
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