In my last post I quoted Bob Burg’s line of “all things being equal, people do business with, and refer business to, people they know, like and trust.” I then hypothesized that “all things NOT being equal, people will STILL do business and refer to people they know, like and trust.”
A quick flurry of emails later Bob put it back to me that there are a lot of reasons that all things would NOT be equal and people would NOT do business with, or refer business to, someone they know, like and trust. And most of those reasons fall under the trust category. For instance, what if people know, like you and trust you personally but your product really isn’t competitive? What if they know, like and trust you personally but your company policies are so stringent they just won’t just through all the hoops to do business with you. What if they know, like and trust you personally, but your company’s customer service just stinks? You get the picture.
On the other hand, I’ve seen people continue to refer business to people they know, like and trust after they no longer do business there. Take the healthcare field, I’ve seen patients of a dental practice that offered great service continue to refer people even after their insurance changed to a “proffered provider only” plan. And I’ve seen patients return to that practice even though it meant paying a higher out of pocket cost because they realized the value offered by the doctor and his staff.
I’ve seen a client continue to get referrals from an office manager after she moved to a new position where she was no longer in control of vendors because he had taken such good care of her in the past.
Just remember that when we put our trust in you as an individual we expect that we will be able to trust you AND the product and company you represent. If you and your product and company deliver on that trust you’ll likely still be getting business from us even when all things are no longer equal. If we experience a “dis sync” between what we can expect from you and the value we receive from your product and your company you may not be able to count on our business or referrals because that “dis sync” is all it takes to shift the equation to “all things NOT being equal.”
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Everything collapses and he lives with an alarming happiness
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James tells us in the scriptures:
*We are merely a vapor like a puff of smoke a wisp of steam from a cooking
pot, which is visible for a little while and ...
There's another challenge that ties into this: as your company grows, people may know and trust you, but not your staff. It's been my experience that in some cases, if I'm not the one following up personally on a referral, we don't hear back / make the deal / gain the trust.
ReplyDeleteOf course, there's the flip side of the coin: making sure your staff are equally as trustworthy and conscientious as you. The bottom line is that no one cares as much about the business as the owner.
But heck, if running a business were easy, way more people would do it. Gotta love the challenges.
Wendy
Well written article.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Nissa. I had great inspiration. Certainly with the economy and "price" becoming so foremost in people's minds I am often asked if people will pay for value or if their decision will be made solely on price - it's the same question. People do a little equation that says "is what I receive worth at least as much or more than what I am being asked to pay?" every time they pull out their wallet. And the value of the relationship will always matter.
ReplyDelete