Thoughtful Thursdays - Is it getting warm in here?

When everything is running well, customer/supplier relationships are realtively easy to grow and maintain. After all, you are likely meeting or exceeding customer expectations, and getting paid almost on time.

In these halcyon days, what are you doing to insure the relationship will continue to flourish?  Perhaps there are customer events to attend, you probably check in frequently to see if there is anything you can take care of such as taking the next order or reporting on project or inventory status. It is all good... for now.

A few other things you might want to consider doing, there is no better time to grow and maintain your internal customer relationships. Your internal customers include your suppliers, staff and everyone else who has contributed to the high level of customer satisfaction you have achieved, because it is only a matter of time before something happens and your customer begins to turn up the wick and the equilibrium you and your team have worked so hard to attain will be upset

Run a few 'what if' scenarios to test your abilities to resolve concerns before they become issues. An important key to resolving issues is the ability to address them quickly. In order to do this, everyone on the team must be in sync and strong relationships help achieve this.

So don't get caught taking things for granted or resting on your laurels, pay attention to your internal customers and suppliers so when the heat begins to crank up and you need everyone to stay in the kitchen, they will.

Good selling,
Richard