February 16, 2023
Companies have realized that only focusing on the acquisition of new customers is not enough to grow the business. Making that first sale but then failing to follow up adequately, and not tending to the relationships, means losing customers over time. And later you must spend again to acquire new ones.
I am excited to see this short-term approach changing into long-term thinking, toward getting more business from building a relationship with existing customers. What has changed in the meantime? Customers are getting fewer and bigger, and interactions with them have become more complex.
And they do not appreciate salespeople. According to Gartner, customers are spending merely 17% of their time in direct interaction with their suppliers (both virtual and in-person). Yet there is value coming from those interactions, but those needs to be tailored to a specific customer, their unique environment, and their specific situation/stage in the buying process. It's about understanding the customer and demonstrating interest in the customer.
The value that you can add isn’t just in your products, it’s in the way you work with them, it’s in the consultancy you give them, it’s in the way that you service them, and the way you support them.
Successful companies have stopped doing marketing to fill the funnel, targeting the broad market segment. It’s not about volume anymore, it’s about shifting the attention to:
Companies still miss the target by thinking of it as only short-term sales. It’s about:
It’s a simple idea, yet the execution is important. Don’t underestimate the potential of building customer relationships - it can double your growth.
Helena Mah is a senior executive who takes a vision and makes it a reality, as a transformational leader able to inspire and empower individuals to unlock their potential and innovate to accelerate growth. Currently, as a Management and Business Consultant at Drop of Milk, she is supporting international and ambitious companies in the definition of their Business and Commercial strategy, spearheading major strategic transformations through digitalization, and supporting organizational development to achieve higher impact.
No comments yet.