True Consultants Look Beyond Client Pain

(This is the companion post to the Business Journal column stressing the identification of customer blind spots versus discovering pain points as the key to delivering real value)

In 2008, while serving as the vice president of sales and marketing for a manufacturing firm, I was paid a visit by a group of national leaders from a division of Dupont.  We were their #1 account in the Kansas City area, and had been for decades.  Our entire senior staff gathered in the conference room, and I was excited to hear Dupont’s vision for our partnership moving forward.  We had just launched a much-needed Customer Care initiative – the largest and most beneficial change ever executed at our 25 year-old firm.

As the Dupont leadership began their presentation, something became increasingly apparent:  as close as our relationship was with local Dupont representatives, their delegation had no clue about our new  initiative.  NONE.  They blathered on about their stuff, their program, their pricing, and how we were going to submit to their vision of doing business.

I interrupted their National Sales Manager (NSM), and professionally and tactfully said, “How dare you come into our house and tell us how things are going to be?  Are you even aware that we just successfully completed the biggest departmental change in our company’s history, and how that change benefits our – and your – customers?  You should be ashamed of yourselves.”

Stunned, the Dupont NSM did a nice job of recovering, and I could tell he was holding his local leadership in contempt.  It appeared he was thinking, How could we not have known this?  Why wasn’t I aware of this?  He proceeded to ask some good questions, however his team was unable to add any value than what they’d delivered for over 100 years:  product and price.  They were who they were, and they certainly couldn’t shift paradigm gears fast enough in this particular meeting.  It was like watching a goldfish who’d plopped out of his bowl and onto the conference room table, flailing around, gasping for air, desperate for survival.

Where in the world were the ideas?  The insights and collaboration that could help us win?  Was this totally about them, or did they have any interest in making us – their #1 customer – better, stronger, faster?  With all the time the Dupont locals spent with us daily, weekly, and monthly, this was an absolute embarrassment for them.  They defaulted to their laughable sales training, asking stilted questions in an attempt to uncover our “pain.”  I said, “Pain?  It’s pretty simple, gentleman – and you should know this already.  We need more customers, lower costs, greater customer satisfaction, increased efficiencies, and improved profitability.  Let me ask you something … is this a surprise to you?  Look, I can get your stuff anywhere, which makes you a commodity unless you can help us achieve the aforementioned goals.  Got it?”

Dr. Deming was fond of saying:  Identify goods and services that your customer has not yet conceived.  Help them become faster, more nimble – able to react to marketplace conditions.

Manufacture reps are the worst, by the way, dashing from account to account sharing information (that can be had online), pricing (that can be had online), and “specials” (that can be had online), offering zero value to their customers.  They are the epitome of salesperson as order taker.

PROOF:  Ask your local rep to come in and deliver a valuable presentation.  ”Lunch and Learn” will be the first words out of her mouth, followed by “And what type of toppings do you prefer on your pizza?”  When they arrive, you’ll be subjected to 60 minutes of  more about them than you’ll ever need.  But hey, at least you’ll get your pie with pepperoni and mushrooms – just the way you like it.

Surprise me – and write to me – if you hear any question that sounds remotely close to, “How can we help you succeed?” or more importantly, “How do we schedue time with your various departments so we can learn more about what you do, and how you do it?  It’s the only way we’ll be able to find new and different ways to help you succeed.”

If you’re not identifying blind spots – and making them profitable for your customer – you’re a commodity.  The primary way to become the only ones who do what you do is to deliver high value independent of your core product or service.

Bonus:  A high-end kitchen remodeler attended one of my seminars, and determined that “Who They Were” was more along the lines of being artists vs. traditional kitchen remodelers.  With that epiphany in mind, the owner decided to exhibit at a few local art fairs.  As you might imagine, they were the only kitchen remodelers represented – exposing them to new prospects.  To be clear, new prospects who had money to burn.  Not only is my client’s business trending upward because of the new positioning, local artists have asked if they can have their “openings” at the remodelers place of business.  Yes, it’s possible to reframe any industry conversation.  It just takes a confident leader who embraces The Third Door and The Revenution.