Learn a valuable sales lesson during the pandemic outbreak. Get to know every client or customer on a personal level. It’s amazing what opportunities you may find for new business. And there’s the rub. “New business” is not synonymous with “new customer.” I was taught this by business owners pretty early in my selling career but I’ll admit not learning it very well until I became a business owner.

“Some Web Guy”

A couple of our clients paused services or cut marketing costs at the early stage of the business shutdown. Thankfully, some new projects have rolled in and business has remained steady thanks primarily to current clients expanding their needs. In particular, I got to know one of them for the first time on a personal level, Chief to Chief.

As if by accident, this longtime client, after years of delegating his firm’s marketing to a manager, found out what we really do. In his mind “Chuck Sink Link” was a cost of doing business – just “some web guy” or “someone who hosts our website.” This client (the CEO, not the manager point-of-contact) got on the phone with me after a potential dispute and suddenly the relationship has taken off, and so has new business for both of us!

We finally know each other, and much better!

The client mentioned is a leading netting manufacturer in Connecticut who almost had to furlough many of his employees indefinitely because of a tremendous impact on two of their top markets – Amusements and Construction. He and his engineers turned on a dime to start producing protective masks while netting work is slow. Their employees, already skilled in various stitching techniques, made tens of thousands of critically needed masks.

Through our very first live conversation, the client discovered that we do scalable eCommerce websites, digital advertising and social media marketing. He then treated us like a business partner instead of “the web guy” and we’ve since built an eCommerce website together that generated about $50,000 in mask sales the first two days, resulting in hundreds of donated masks to organizations in need like homeless shelters, hospitals, first responders and nursing homes. The valued employees are at work, earning paychecks and their netting business is again having an upsurge in sales.

The Deeper Conversations

I’ve had deep discussions with several other clients during this apparent “reset” in the economy and our mutual support has been fortified. Together we are keeping busier than ever while being deeply concerned about the companies we know of that need to make difficult decisions. The wisdom and compassion we have shared with each other are among the intangible values I can’t put a price on and wouldn’t do without.

Hopefully, we’ll remember the really important aspects of work relationships as so many of us are forced physically apart for a while longer. It’s a great time for discovering who your suppliers and customers really are and how you can help make each other better at what you both do.

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Have you ever heard someone categorize the quality of their client relationships using A, B and C, with A being the smooth sailors and C being, let’s say, the high maintenance group? What if you could shed all of your C-customers and replace them with A’s and B’s, or even all A’s? Or what if you could convert your C’s to become B’s and eventually A’s? Wouldn’t that be nice? It would certainly be a tall order but it’s possible if you have a good relationship to start with.

Everyone Includes Anyone!

How narrowly you build your brand and market your products & services determines whether or not you attract the kind of clients that you can serve most profitably. If your target audience is “everyone with money who can use what we sell,” you will end up with too many difficult or unhappy clients who will be a drain on your ability to care for your “A-clients” – the only ones to whom you should specifically sell. Your only target audience should be defined based on your true capabilities to deliver them value.

The more broadly you define your target market, the more hard pressed you will be to satisfy many of your customers because they really don’t belong on your customer list and shouldn’t be included in your target audience. Your true ability to satisfy their wants or needs may not even be there because you didn’t qualify them properly before being eager to take their money.

Sales and marketing messages that are overbroad can bring you customers who expect more or something different from your grooved and well-established product/service provisions. So let’s stop right here and get more strategic!

The good way to discriminate…

How well developed are your key product/service offerings? What’s your real “stock in trade?” Now, determine the people and organizations who can most benefit from the products and services you routinely and easily provide. Create your “A-Client” profile and seek out only those kinds of people. Learn specifically what’s important to them and continually fine tune your capabilities according to their needs. From this operational foundation, you will be poised to manage more profitable growth.

As you can let go of C-Clients and grow a healthy roster of A-Clients, you will deliver more value with less effort and you may actually have fun doing it. Just think about making more money while making your job easier at the same time.  This is achievable! If you’ve been in business for any length of time, you already know your ABC’s. Get to know the A’s intimately well and give them exclusivity in carrying out your sales and marketing plans.

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