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The Importance of Staying in Touch

For almost 20 years we have had an end-user, a Fleet, who has served as a referral for us on numerous occasions. We signed at least two of our current clients because this customer recommended Multi Service. There was no doubt we perfectly understood their needs better than any other vendor-supplier relationship!
 
Over the years, I became close with the customer’s Director of Purchasing and several other key contacts. However over time, due to their company’s natural turnover and personnel changes, we lost touch. I made it a point to reach out to the new contacts but I did not take the time to establish close relationships. I touched base once in a while to confirm we were doing a good job but I did not take the time to truly establish a personal connection. They had been Raving Fans for 20 years. There was no reason why they wouldn’t stay that way. Right?
 
I finally took the time to visit them and to my surprise, while they are still satisfied customers they are no longer Raving Fans. Yes, we are doing a good job for them and they think we are a good “vendor” but that’s it. They do not think of us as a strong, close, supportive partner that helps them move forward. We are no longer completely in tune with their needs.  So, I came back and immediately met with my team to put a plan in place to convert them back into Raving Fans. It started by asking the Fleet about their “unicorns.” If you read our blog you are familiar with this term – basically the ideas that our customers often do not voice because they consider them unfeasible dreams. We take a “unicorn” idea and make it real. In the process we develop very strong relationships with our partners and great innovative ideas.
 
It is interesting, however, that despite the advances in technology, it is almost impossible to develop this type of relationship and truly dig deeper into our customers’ unicorns without a face-to-face meeting. Our personal meeting with this fleet worked wonders. We met with them about 2 weeks ago and they have already started sharing their needs, their vision and how we can help them get to where they want to be. We need a few more weeks to turn them into Raving Fans but I am confident it will happen.

But it all started with a face-to-face meeting that I should have had some time ago!

--Martha