Opinion - the Bluedge blog
Seeing is Believing
Posted by Jayne Espley, July 2008
At BluEdge we work with a sizeable array of companies, particularly in professional services and IT. We’ve been privileged to provide support for companies that are growing rapidly, some that are growing at a slower pace than they had hoped and some that have problems instigating any sort of growth at all. You can always see the subtle differentiating characteristics between the fast-movers and those who just can’t seem to get off the starting blocks.
Let’s leave factors such as competency and technical skill to one side for a moment; let’s leave all those ‘givens’, that you have to have in place to start with - in order to be in the business you’re in – and consider something far more subtle. What we want to get to grips with is ‘attitude’, starting with senior management, or founders, and permeating its way through the company. Your company. It starts with you.
The subtle differentiating characteristics are always about just that, ‘attitude’ or what we might call ‘management culture’. Management culture isn’t about setting up hierarchies in your business, or bureaucratic procedures, or reporting lines, or any of that internal structuralism that companies have to get involved in. It’s about consideration of the outward-facing side of your business; the way in which your company is perceived.
In a previous blog, we suggested the idea of a ‘perceptions audit’. Fast-movers always place their marketing strategy at the forefront of their business and they nurture their business relationships in a deliberately planned manner. Many of the companies that we’ve seen who are struggling seem to relegate the importance of strategic thinking and planning; they seem to just hope that it will all go right or simply work at a very tactical level from deal to deal as though that’s good enough …. If only!
Reputations don’t grow by themselves, they have to be built. You have to make sure that your customers see you in the way you want them to see you; that you become known for all the right things, that you become trusted partner through having done all the right things. The more your customers see of the value you can add to their business, the more they will believe you. In business and in marketing your business, as in life, seeing is believing!
THE 10-POINT CHECK-LIST FOR YOUR PERCEPTIONS AUDIT
As we have previously said, you’d be surprised how many companies in IT, software and services, pay little or no attention to the fundamentals of relationship marketing.
Also, in out last Blog we suggested that you undertake a perceptions audit to see what your customers think of you (and also, don’t forget, for the very fact that they will see you undertaking an audit like this will have a beneficial effect on their perceptions anyway; it’s a win-win scenario).
We absolutely guarantee that you’ll learn a lot from the results; a lot that will help contribute towards your management culture, managing your business exclusively from an outward-facing perspective designed to build relationships based on trust.
So, what sort of areas do you need to consider?
Here are ten pointers to include in your evaluation, or perceptions audit, but think long and hard about it; there will be other areas you wish to probe. To get you going, and you really should get going on this one, use the categories below as a start point or a stimulus to your own strategic thought process.
1. Communication. Do your clients feel that you offer clear, useful communication in all areas relevant to the relationship? Do they ever have to push you for it? Do you keep them up-to-date on industry developments?
2. Industry knowledge. Do they see you as being pivotal in the industry? Do they feel you know what’s going on? Do they respect your knowledge ad believe it helps their organisation?
3. Quality of service and product. Do they feel they are getting the best? Does everyone in your company deliver at the same standard or are there individuals they would rather deal with (which is not a good sign, it implies that there are other individuals they would rather not deal with).
4. Satisfaction. Are they always satisfied with your solutions, the service offered by your staff, the way in which their queries are dealt with?
5. Skill. We said we would leave this out but you may want to probe if your whole company is seen to possess requisite skills at an impressive level. Do they all engender confidence and trust?
6. Problem solving. Sometimes the test of a true partnership is not whether problems occur or not, it’s the confidence in one another that when they do occur, that we trust one another to deal with them proactively and efficiently. What do you think your customers would say about your problem solving ability?
7. Flexibility. Is your company perceived as one that will go the extra mile and do whatever it takes to ensure client satisfaction?
8. Agility. Can you provide solutions to all your clients IT problems? Are your systems durable? Is your team seen to be innovative and confidant, energetic and original?
9. Opportunism. Do you foresee situations on your clients’ behalf, do you pro-act for the good of their business (positive opportunism) or just for the good of your own (negative opportunism)?
10. Integrity. Remember… it’s the key factor in building trust. How highly do they rate yours?
We can tell you right now, because we have conducted such surveys for many of our clients that you’ll benefit from this exercise.
It’s the foundation for a solid and forward-looking relationship marketing strategy.
And that’s a solid foundation for the future.
