Saturday, May 14, 2005

"Customer Passion Evangelism" Is Here!

The first thing I remember learning in Sales as a Security Consultant with an AMERITECH company called SecurityLink From Ameritech was that "Nothing happens until a sale is made".

THE TRUTH IS "NOTHING HAPPENS UNTIL YOU HAVE A CUSTOMER"...
Well I started my sales career long before I got to AMERITECH when I was a little kid and I'll never forget it. My cousins and I were walking the downtown streets of Chicago with their shoe shine boxes in their hands. They had been hoping for the opportunity to get some interested business man to let them shine their shoes that day. It had been a long day and many hours had passed but no one had not made one single shoe shine. Then out of the blue a customer arised almost causing a fight among the cousins for who was going to shine this customers shoes. That's where I first learned how valuable a customer is and that nothing truly happens until you have a customer. It was'nt until I was at SecurityLink that I learned that a potential customer who has not paid for your product or service is just a "Prospect". But the scuffle over the customer was where I first saw what real fierce competition looked like. So we decided that one cousin would shine one shoe and one cousin would shine the other (this was the beginning of me seeing clearly the principle of how a win-win-win situation works to the best interest of everyone involved). So since I was way too little to shine shoes they allowed me to judge. I did such a great job that the customer gave me a tip because he agreed with me that the shoe I picked was actually the one that was shined the best. This is where I began to appreciate the value of evangelizing the customer with passion.

A SALE NEVER HAPPENS UNTIL A CUSTOMER MEETS A PASSIONATE SERVANT (*CPE)
In the above true story from my life you can see that the customer met two very passionate servants who were willing (almost to the point of fighting) to meet the customers needs. The way it looked that day with my cousins is the same way it looks today in a world where everyone is battling for the customers business. The competition is eager and searching like vultures, waiting to swoop down on the customer and force their service or product upon them. And this is why every customer needs guidance from a passionate Servant (*CPE) who is willing to educate them on why they should choose one competitor over the other. I was the evangelist who was anointed by the customer that day to educate them on the quality of the service that would meet their needs.

All great service to customers must come from a Servant, *CPE whose only desire is to undeniably meet every expectation of the customer in a clear, consistent and concise manner. Your clients deserve your very best and you should be prepared to deliver what the client needs when they are confused by hungry competitors. This is where you get the opportunity to set a clear distinct advantage. Evangelize your customer with passion today.