'Growing' your customer list with great clients is essential Washington DC

Most companies have one very good customer that likes to work with them. If you have more than one, you are really doing things right.

There are many things that contribute to a successful business relationship. The best relationships come from having all the key factors covered — the core values, the mutual desire that both companies prosper and having the people well matched.

The question that I am frequently asked is, "You are a marketing person, how do I find another customer like 'John'?" My response is, "Tell me about John's company, and then tell me about yours."

There are two questions about John you need to ask at this point.

1. What is there about John that makes him your favorite or best customer?
2. How do these factors fit your company's strengths?

These answers beg the questions:

1. What is there about your company that makes you a preferred vendor for John?
2. How do these factors fit his company's strengths?

First of all, let's look at John's company by considering why he is a good customer for your company.

• What type of project is his specialty?
• What/who is his target market?
• What are the personalities of his people?
• Do you share a high quality of communication effectiveness?
• Do you have a good understanding of his expectations?
• Does he have a good understanding of your capabilities?
• Does he accept your payment terms and pay on time?
• What are his geographic markets or locations?
• What are his personal and corporate values?

Now consider how these responses correspond to your company's strengths and weaknesses.

ANALYZE THE RELATIONSHIP

Analyze your relationship with this best customer. What makes the relationship work? Really, how important is your price/value equation? Is that what is getting you the business? Is it your customer service? Is it the communication process between companies? Is it your relationship with the customer's owner or management? Is it your estimator's or project manager's relationship with their counterparts? Do they "click" with each other? Are they friends off the job, too?

Write down your winning combination in detail. This is the defining formula you are trying to duplicate. You want more customers "just like him."

Now look at your other customers. Compare them to the formula. Are any of them close to fitting it? How would you define the differences in the people, values and personalities involved on BOTH sides of the formula?

Sometimes improving business relationships is as simple, and complicated, as the main contact people on each side. At one company where I worked, we had a customer who was a great customer for us, but had a strong personality conflict with our vice president of sales. Once management understood this, they "banned" the vice president from calling on this account and left it in the sales rep's hands. Most of the buying decisions happened on the rep's sail boat or on weekend family cookouts.

In the woodwork business, this same thing happens regularly. Some people click and enjoy working together; and some personalities clash.

If the client can choose from working with someone he enjoys or someone with whom he would rather not work, then the client will try very hard to make things work out the way he wants. This can affect the value/price equation.

Do you need to change contact people with a given client? You may be the boss and want to work with customer ABC, but maybe someone else in the organization could build a closer working relationship and long-range partnership with the decision makers.

ADDING VALUE

Becoming more valuable to a contractor client is a great way to make him a better customer. Does he regularly need a product or service you haven't been providing? Maybe you lack the ability to do veneer layup in-house and have been buying stock/off-the-shelf panels for projects. His clients are looking for AWI Premium grade book, balanced-matched, blueprinted panels.

It probably isn't financially viable for you to add that capability, but by doing proper research, you should be able to find a company that has that specialty and a price/value equation that will make them an excellent outsource partner for that type of work, and thus make you "capable" to do that work for your contractor, where he would have passed you by on those projects up until now.

TURNING DECENT CUSTOMERS INTO 'GREAT CUSTOMERS'

Can you mentor or help a decent customer become a great customer by showing him new opportunities for business in other geographic locales or in related types of customers he is missing?

Perhaps there is a contractor you hate to work with doing a lot of high-end retail work in the area. Look at your other contractor customers and pick one or two that have the capability, but haven't been focused on that type of work. Take them out to lunch and talk about how you would rather be doing this work with them. Offer to provide a list of design firms and end clients from the plans you have bid to get them pointed in the right direction to develop the market.

Another example might be to give a contractor friend a heads-up on a rapidly developing area just outside of where he normally seeks business. You could make a joint presentation to a design firm or developer where you are a known commodity.

This type of effort essentially ties the woodworker and the contractor together for any opportunities that might come up, so be careful with whom you use this tactic.

Along this same line, if you have developed a close relationship with design firms, you may know about projects in development before the contractors would normally see them. Information is empowerment. Use this information to be more valuable to your best client and also to positively influence your "want-to-be" best clients. This has great value to them and makes you much more valuable in their eyes.

Perhaps one of the people you have a good relationship with at company A has found his work environment changing and wants to find a new growth opportunity.

If you know of somewhere he might fit in well, have a couple of "off the record" phone calls to get the people together and then step out of it. That way you shouldn't hurt your relationship at Company A, since your calls "were below the radar," and if it works out, you have even better relationships with the person wanting to change and his new employer. You have made another step closer to cloning one of your top clients.

Taking the time to understand why your best clients are your best clients will also show you how to help other contractor/customers improve their business. What you end up with is a "win-win" for both companies and a near clone of your best customer.

That's your homework assignment. You will get out of it what you put into it.

Ed. note: Herb Meldahl has successfully aided companies and organizations in their marketing efforts for nearly four decades. He currently chairs the Architectural Woodwork Institute's (AWI) marketing committee.

Questions or comments? Herb can be reached at (815) 633-6400.