This morning on the way to a meeting I did what I enjoy doing second only to training, I stopped and had a bagel. I am sure that doesn’t surprise many of the people that have known me for awhile, but I love bagels.
Sorry I am getting off track, I didn’t want to write about eating a bagel, I want to talk about my experience buying the bagel.
The bagel shop I went to this morning is one I go to often. Over the years I have gotten to know several of the employees and they have gotten to know me and my family as well. For some reason I have not gone in to buy bagels for the past several weeks. (I was going through bagel withdrawals) When I stopped in this morning I felt like Norm from the TV show Cheers. # of the four employees behind the counter called out my name. As I walked over to the bagels the manager who I have known the longest asked me where I have been and then asked me how my wife and daughters were.
I have to say I felt pretty special. Other customers looked at me, I guess they were wondering who this guy getting the celebrity treatment was. Before I had a chance to give my order one of the other employees handed me a cup of coffee exactly as I like it, I didn’t have to say a word.
After a few minutes of chit chat the manager asked if I wanted my usual everything bagel with cream cheese, I said yes and it was handed to me almost as fast as I had answered the question.
Have I told you yet how good I felt?
As I sat at my table enjoying my breakfast I watched a few dozen people walk in and out of the store until a guy named Chris walked in. I knew it was Chris because just like the greeting I received, several of the employees greeted him by name as he walked through the door. I witnessed Chris receive almost the exact same experience I had a few minutes earlier. Looking at Chris I could tell he felt as good as I did about the reception and service he was given.
As Chris left with his breakfast in hand I thought about sales reps I have worked with and tried to think how many of them had relationships with their customers like Chris and I had here.
It struck me that of the hundreds of sales calls I have been on with reps over the past year I could only recall a small handful that were at this level. Sure, there were a lot where the rep and customer knew each other, but very few where the rep knew the customers family and was able to talk as much as a friend as a customer.
We hear a lot about building relationships with customers. I have heard managers tell their reps that they need to build a relationship during the initial visit. My perspective is rapport can be built on the initial call, relationships need to be developed over time. Relationships need a foundation of trust and knowledge to be built on and that doesn’t happen on initial visits.
Relationships are built after sales are made. They are usually formed over weeks, months and years after the initial sale based on the service the sales rep brings to the customer. As the customer sees that the rep has their best interest in mind the customer will open up to the rep and bring the rep into the inner circle that is normally reserved just for friends. Once the rep has entered the inner circle the relationship has been established and can now be nurtured and formed into stronger and stronger bonds of friendship.
You may not have many customers that call out your name as you walk through their doors as Norm did in Cheers, but if you have only one you will feel as good as I did buying my bagel this morning.
Lorin
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