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Let’s drop in on a meeting between an Account Manager and his long-term customer.

Account Manager: “Thank you for taking time to meet with me Ms. Customer. The last order we received from you shipped yesterday. Is there anything else you need today?”

Long awkward silence follows.

The customer thinks to herself, why did the Account Manager make an appointment just to tell me that my order shipped and ask me if I need anything? She then looks at her watch and realizes that it’s 2:00 PM on Friday. She figures out that the Account Manager needed an “appointment” to get out of the office early on Friday; there was no reason for this call.

Customer: “Nothing today. Enjoy your golf game. See you next Friday.”

“I’ll never make time for you to bring me new ideas or information that could help my business.”

Sales Newsletter: Our Priorities Must be Right
Meeting with customers when we’re putting our needs first is never beneficial. These self-centered priorities could include a desire to get out of the office, a needed entry in our call activity report, a wish for an order when there’s no real customer need, etc.

Four Sales Tips on Why We Need Meaningful Customer Meetings
4. If someone frequently wastes our time, would we be drawn to them, or would we want to avoid them in the future?

3. Celebrities know all about overexposure. It tends to lessen their stature with their fans. We’re no different. Frequent conversations with customers without any significant content will dilute our perceived value. Consultants have written many sales articles about this.

2. Wasting a customer’s time implies that we have excess time. People prefer to do business with busy people. Busy people seem successful. Customers have more faith in what they view as prosperous sales professionals.

And the Number One Reason…
1. These kinds of empty calls can hurt relationships. The customer is not stupid. He or she knows that our meeting with them is selfishly motivated. Simply stated, it can damage the partnership, which is really not a good idea.

Sales Blog Wrap-up
I’ve never heard a customer say, “I’ll never make time for you to bring me new ideas or information that could help my business.” A true sales professional continually brings new ideas and possibilities to their customers while respecting the customer’s time and needs.

Further reading: Sales Tip: It’s not about you.

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Tags: customers

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