For most, revenue growth is a goal for 2014 so here are some resolutions that could make a difference. These resolutions are predominantly for business-to-business organizations. In business-to-consumer organizations the customer interactions and marketing are different, and the volume of customers is usually much larger. With this in mind, consider these individual and organizational resolutions as the New Year kicks-off.
Resolution 1 — Collaborate, don’t sell. Collaboration is where two parties work together and each party benefits. The goals do not have to be the same, but benefits need to be there for both. The most common example is the customer gets a benefit from a solution and the supplier provides the solution.
The customer arrives at their decision on their own, not through persuasion or challenge. Good interaction skills, including exceptional listening and exploratory, non-threatening questions help customers reach moments of discovery, not moments of agreement, or worse, concession.
This working with someone towards mutual benefit is much more conducive to success than trying to sell something to someone. Selling connotes convincing, persuading and/or challenging someone to come to your way of thinking. No one likes to be sold to; as soon as we perceive someone is selling we immediately begin building defenses.
Resolution 2 — Know your products and services cold. This is a resolution for both the individual and the organization. As an individual responsible for generating revenue, it is mandatory that you know everything about what you do. No compromise on this. As an organization it is mandatory that the company culture is oriented towards outstanding customer service. You cannot deliver premier service and optimized collaboration if your primary client facing personnel do not fully understand what you offer.
Resolution 3 — Realize that the ages-old marketing and sales partnership is coming to an end. The new partnership is marketing and relationships. Marketing generates awareness about the company, your products, and your services. Marketing informs, educates, and guides customers, building comprehension and understanding. Relationships underlie collaboration and orders. Emotions drive decisions. The No. 1 emotion in customer’s decision making is trust. If a customer trusts you, they collaborate with you. If a customer trusts you they have faith in what you say. The only way to build trust is to build a relationship. Without relationships you have only transactions.
Resolution 4 — Elevate the Lens of Relationships. 2014 is going to be a year of ups and downs, just like every other year. When things are not where you want them to be, look through the lens of relationships to find solutions. Instead of trying to fix products, services, pricing, and a myriad of other things, focus on relationships. Identify if the relationships are strong, and if they are not, strengthen them. Strong relationships can overcome a lot of minor faults. However, being perfect in all things cannot overcome a lack of strong relationships and you can still lose the deal.
Resolution 4A — Strengthen your relationship building and collaboration skills. If you believe that collaboration and relationships are critical to success, then you need to enhance your ability to do both. This means understanding the dynamics at play when collaborating or building relationships, such as trust, authenticity, vulnerability, and generosity. Understanding trust and the variables that impact it is the most important of these dynamics. Those variables include the customer’s perception of risk, the quality of your communications, and the level of your expertise (remember knowing everything about what you offer).
Relationship building and collaboration skills include your interaction skills such as listening modes, types of questions, aligning intent and effect, and curtailing discount and revenge. Finally, it includes building an interaction climate that enhances support and ultimately collaboration while downplaying negative factors such as competition.
Resolution 5 — Focus, Focus, Focus. For many B-to-B companies, particularly those in professional and business services, having a great year in terms of revenue does not necessarily mean getting lots of new customers. In many cases it means a bump in revenue from existing customers, and as little as a 10 percent increase in new customers who fit your profile of what a great customer looks like. You don’t need to reach everyone. Instead, focus on your existing customers. Focus on prospective customers who fit your profile. Let marketing build broad awareness and comprehension. Let relationships and collaboration build conviction and orders.
Ken Cook is the co-founder of How to Who, Inc. You can learn more and reach him at www.howtowho.com.
