Have you ever walked into a new customer and realized immediately that they don’t like you? Not you personally, but your company in general .
If you’re an consultant for a software company this is an all to common occurrence. You see, before most customers are given the opportunity to speak with you, they have been through experiences with other members of your company. Sometimes those are pleasant, but sometimes – They have dealt with Sales guys who have promised them the world, but have not delivered. They have dealt with Support managers who have spoken pleasantly with them and said they “understand” but have not been given the power to pressure PD to fix their issues. They might even have dealt with Product Development engineers who responded with the most horrible of quotations, “well why do you want to do that?”
After years of dealing with this situation, I have developed an approach and a philosophy that I use to turn these customers into our biggest fans!
- The Customer is always right. This is very cliché, and probably over used. However this doesn’t mean that when you believe the client is making a mistake in their approach to a problem you shouldn’t speak up. What it means is that ultimately they own the solution. They support it long term, and it is their issues that you are trying to solve. At the end of the day, they have the final say. I like to present possible solution scenarios to the client, arguing the positive and negative to each approach, and then let them make the final decision.
- Never promise anything you can’t deliver. Don’t tell the customer that you will get PD to fix a problem if you can’t. This will just lead to more frustration by the client, and put you on their ‘unhappy with’ list.
- Understand and hear their frustration. Most customers just want a sympathetic ear. They want to know someone is listening to them, and that their frustrations are validated.
- Workaround Workaround Workaround. Your getting paid to come up with solutions. Sometimes these solutions are not the way “things should work” but are a stop gap until a better solution can be provided. Customers will respect your ability to come up with ideas to handle the given situation.
- Always have a list of their problems with you. I like to keep a notebook with issues my customers have run across. I will pull this notebook out from time to time and think about a good solid solution that may be provided. This also keeps this customer fresh in my mind, and helps me bring up ideas when in general discussions with other members of my company.
- Success – This is the most important way to turn a frustrated customer into a reference. Every successful project you are able to complete with a client, will make them bigger and bigger fans of your company. Sometimes this means doing whatever it takes to make the project work. Sometimes you will act as PM, sometimes an architect, sometimes a troubleshooter, sometimes a developer. Successful projects lead to opportunities, and opportunities lead towards reoccurring revenue.
- Connect with your customer on a personal level. Remember your client had hired you to be apart of their team. While you might always be somewhat of an outsider, your skill set is why they have agreed to have you “point them in the right direction”. So relax, your customer wants to like you… let them.
