Know Your Client’s Business Backwards & Forwards
In the last two weeks, I’ve criss-crossed the country twice between Chapel Hill, NC (where I live) and Lake Tahoe, California to keynote two meetings for State Farm Insurance as part of a series of seminars I’m doing for them on “Selling to the Small Business Market.”
At a dinner with some of the attendees, one of them asked me an excellent question. He noted that during my talk I mentioned that in order to make themselves indispensable to their clients they would need to help those small business clients create a vision of how they could help them grow their business while also helping to secure their (the clients’) family’s financial future along with their business’ assets.
His question was: “I know how to protect and secure their family’s financial security and their business’ assets through solid insurance and investment portfolios, but what is my role in, and how can I help them grow their business?”
I told him, if you want to do business with business owners you need to know their business backwards and forwards. Know not only what they do, but who their customers are; who’s their competition; learn their industry and all the most important issues that are pertinent to that industry and client.
Know the history of the company and what their goals are for the future. Learn their sales process, their marketing strategy and the makeup of their staff.
The more you know about a client’s business the faster you go from salesperson to trusted expert, advisor and resource. In fact, by knowing and understanding the businesses of all your clients, you become a tremendous vehicle for non-confidential information.
As a sales & marketing professional your expertise in this area could help your clients improve their sales & marketing efforts, thereby increasing their business. Plus, I’m sure clients want to know what other businesses are doing to grow their business. However, one word of caution: when you have clients who are competitors, you keep your mouth shut tight about the competition’s business.
One of the best compliments I can ever get as a speaker is when someone comes up to me after I’ve finished and says, “Wow, you really know our business and industry. Are you sure you’ve never worked in it before?”
When you supply a client with outstanding products and services, and help them come up with ideas that will increase their business, you become indispensable and your price becomes immaterial because it’s no longer a cost, it’s an investment.