How Do You Work?
When dealing with another organisation, it literally pays to know how they work, particularly when it comes to getting paid.
A client recently came away from a client meeting very frustrated. When I talked to him about what had happened, it seemed that he had been asked a lot of questions about a quotation he had submitted for more services to the same client.
What was the problem? They obviously had a good relationship if he was being asked to provide even more services to them, but his proposal had resulted in a slew of questions. On looking at what had happened, it wasn’t the overall price that was the problem, but rather the way it had been put together.
This client liked consistency. The problem was that my client had included expense categories that weren’t part of the overall contract, but showed how he had reached the price that the client was happy with. The person my client was talking to was the one who had to put the proposal up to his bosses, and it seemed that they were the ones who would compare this pricing with previous pricing. (albeit without understanding the logic of why it was so stated) and ask the “junior” what this all meant. The junior was simply trying to forestall these questions and suggest that my client re-submit the proposal but set out in a format more consistent with what had gone before.
In other cases, the approval process for an invoice can vary. Sometimes we need to send it direct to the client’s accounts department, at others to the person who is in charge of “our” contract. Sending it to the “wrong” person may cause delays as it makes its way (sometimes very slowly) to the correct party.
Understanding our clients’ way of doing things means we get deals approved faster and paid faster as well. “Every client is different” and it’s vital that we understand these differences, particularly if we are small businesses. The bigger the business, the more “bureaucracy” we’re likely to encounter as our clients’ approval processes (usually designed by lawyers, accountants and compliance managers whose focus is on explaining to auditors and regulators why things are so) have to be satisfied.
We need to be as flexible as we can and understand as much as possible in advance. Much of this comes from asking the “right” questions if we can, but a lot will come from experience, trial and error and is part of the great game of business dealings.
I have spent more than half my life delivering change in different world markets from the most developed to “emerging” economies. With more than 20 years in international financial services around the world running different operations and lending businesses, I started my own Consultancy to provide solutions for improving performance, productivity and risk management. I work with individuals, small businesses, charities, quoted companies and academic institutions across the world. An international speaker, trainer, author and fund-raiser, I can be contacted by email. My websiteprovides a full picture of my portfolio of services. For strategic questions that you should be asking yourself, follow me at @wkm610.
Labels: Customer Care, Financial, Selling
posted by William Martin @ 11:32
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]
<< Home