Today, buyers can find out everything – about almost anything – on the Internet. In fact, the Internet, in many ways, has become the great equalizer – creating enormous competition and changing the way entire industries conduct business. Not only can customers’ research companies and their products, they are also deluged with information from a variety of sources: cable news, radio, industry magazines, newsletters, personalized web pages, and much, much more.
However, the tidal wave of information – and the inevitable advertising that comes with it – has had a very interesting impact on the marketplace:
Now we’re swimming in information. We can call up nearly every bit of news, music, and entertainment we want on demand. In fact, there’s so much of it that we need filters to block the boring or irrelevant stuff and help us find the bits we need or desire. This has created what many call the “Attention Economy.” Says Bernardo A. Huberman, director of the Information Dynamics Laboratory at Hewlett-Packard: “The value of most information has collapsed to zero. The only scarce resource is attention.”
[Stephen Baker. "Learning and Profiting from Online Friendships." BusinessWeek, May 21, 2009.]
The only scarce resource is attention. Let me suggest that these are magic words for a sales rep. After a buying decision has been made, proper attention is absolutely vital to developing a profitable, long-term relationship. Installation or implementation of your product/service must be carefully orchestrated, issues or obstacles must be immediately addressed, communication must be managed, and customer expectations must be fulfilled. To be sure, one of the things that your customers crave is for you to take ownership of their problems. Unfortunately, many sales people go AWOL after the sale, turning their scarcest resource – their attention – to the next customer while a customer’s problems languish and questions go unanswered.
Words to Live By
The only scarce resource is attention. The right kind of attention, of course. Adding to your customers’ information overload is NOT the right kind of attention. Making your customers’ life a little easier by paying attention to detail, taking care of problems, and responding in a timely fashion – that is the right kind of attention.
If you are looking for a way to differentiate yourself from your competitors, pick your customers carefully and devote your time and attention to them. Provide unparalleled service – before and after the sale. Own their problems and provide all the resources your customers need to negotiate any challenges they face during the implementation of your product or service. Particularly in a challenging economy like this one, you should NEVER be guilty of providing anything less that world-class support and after-sale service.
Here are some essential guidelines to implement that will provide the kind of attention your customer is looking for:
- Create a check list guide of your product/service implementation and give it to your customer. Include an overview of the implementation process – delivery dates, personnel involved, steps to completion – but also include contact information for any and all personnel included.
- If applicable, take your customer through a “test run” with the product or service to ensure everything works exactly as promised. In more sophisticated installations/implementations, proactively review progress at regular intervals to ensure your customer is satisfied with progress.
- Work with the buyer to create a list of people impacted by the installation and/or implementation of your product/service. Create a time-line and methodology for communicating with each of them to ensure a smooth transition process.
- If applicable, ensure that all relevant personnel receive an “in-service” or training on your product/service. Conduct this yourself, or at the very least make sure you participate. Comments offered by end-users are absolutely invaluable, and you definitely want to be aware of any critics or naysayers.
- Give your customer two or three ways to contact you – and provide an emergency back-up contact in case you are temporarily unavailable due to meetings or other circumstances. Immediately follow-up with any customer inquiries or messages!
If you typically hand off implementation of your product/service to a technical support team, make it clear to the customer that you are always available and you will personally take care of any issues that arise. Remember, in the mind of the customer, YOU are the company, and you are the individual who persuaded them to buy. The quickest way to create a poor impression of you and your company is to fail to deliver the one thing the customer needs most – your attention.
