Customers Expect More than Just a Sales Rep

bNet The CBS Interactive Business Network
By Geoffrey James | March 9, 2011

You may think you’re a sales rep, but that’s not what your customers want you to be. They expect more. A lot more. In fact, customers want you to be all of the following:

A Long-Term Ally. Customers except you to be on their side, when it comes to fighting their own bureaucracy, and fighting the bureaucracy in your own firm. They want you to be there for them, keep communications open, and watch their backs when the going gets tough.

A Business Consultant. Customers expect you to be focused, accurate, and knowledgeable about your products and your customers’ needs and business objectives. They expect you to stay current with THEIR markets and business objectives and create great solutions to match.

A Strategic Orchestrator. Customers expect you to create connections between and within the selling and buying organizations to expedite a sale, encourage the exchange of information, and make it easy for the customer to deal with your company.

A Consistent Cultivator. Customers expect you to plan and manage the totality of the account relationship. On a daily basis, they expect you to make sure that nothing ever ever ever ever ever falls through the cracks.

A Focused Optimist. Customers also expect you to create a positive atmosphere that makes buying from you a pleasant experience. On a daily basis, they expect you to be remain motivated, upbeat, and able meet your commitments, no matter what.
Tall order, eh? But that’s what they want. So do your best to give it to them, OK?