I worked for years to get a coveted prospect to buy from our company, and was not successful.  After being promoted to manager I reassigned all of my prospects to an experienced sales rep from my unit, who quoted and sold the prospect that I thought should have been my account for years.

She advised that we had ‘won’ the business and that we were going to do a meeting to introduce our team and ‘install’ the business.  Three weeks later, she lamented, “This is the most difficult account that I have ever worked with!  Nothing is good enough.  They demanded new and special payment terms, they still have not paid their deposit, and they want to tell us what suppliers we need to work with.  I am not sure that we can last with them!”

Well, this situation is not unusual.  It is difficult to know how much trouble a new customer is going to be until they are in the fold.

What is A Good Customer?

It sounds simple enough to suggest that as a sales professional you would want as many of your customers as possible to be “good” customers.  They won’t all be good customers, but the reasons why you want the good ones is because they are predictable and can be an advantage for your.  In sales you need every advantage you can get so you want to align yourself with the kind of customers that everyone else covets.

We will simply define the traits of a good customer:

• Prompt and responsible in payment
• Communicates well
• Provides unsolicited feedback on you and your organization
• Suggests customers/clients for you
• Acts as a reference for you and your company

This list is not all-inclusive as I am focusing on the main customer traits that benefit the sales professional.

Prompt Payment – You know this drill!  Some sales professionals don’t get paid until the monies are collected.  Any client that is delinquent, or elects not to pay costs you and your company ridiculous amounts of money.

Communicates Well – This customer is respectful of your time and efforts and lets you know by communicating meaningfully and with intent.

Provides Feedback – Gives relevant feedback to you on your efforts and your company’s products and services.  Gives feedback the right way, personally and constructively.

Loyal – Loyal customers give you an opportunity to rectify any problems or deficiencies, including pricing issues, before making relationship-ending decisions.  They stick by you and do not make a change for nominal differences in price.

Refers Customers to You – This customer will refer their relationships and ‘business friends’ to you recognizing that they will be taken care of and will receive the great service that you give to them.  This is extremely important to Black sales professional as it gives you an opportunity to have the credibility that the referral gives you to help make the sale.

Acts as a Reference for You – You can count on this customer when you have a new relationship and need someone to sing your praises.  Again, this is important to the Black sales professional for the reasons above (Refers Customers to You).

The Intangibles – They Cost Money!

Spend some time doing a good evaluation on your customers.  Be careful though, as it is the intangible items that really cost money.  A relationship with a customer who pays late, ask for more, and will leave for a dime is not going to end up good for you.

Be cognizant of the intangibles as the costs are hard to recognize.  Do you have to provide additional services and visits because they won’t do what all of the other clients do?  Are they unduly critical of your team and your service personnel?

Know whether the complaints are justified, and if not, you must, I repeat must; stand up for your team.

Customers…We Can’t Do Without Them

I comment often that “we can’t do without them”, and that is the truth.  They are the reason that we exist in our respective roles.  It is our job as sales professionals to make sure that we get the right ones.

In our effort to survive and prosper in our jobs, we sometimes take on customers who do not deserve us.  I am sure you know some now.  If they get in your way of prospering and selling to other clients, they are costing you money.    Think about it hard!  Consider at what point you take action if it is problematic.

What is the Lifetime Value of Your Customer?

Give some consideration to figuring out the lifetime value of your customer.  We are talking about an economic value.  This is your lifetime value, not the lifetime value that your company receives.  This figure is based on the length of relationships, the revenue received from the relationship in terms of bonus or commissions and the amount of compensation that you receive from their referrals, references, and other contributions to your existence.

The lifetime value could be estimated by knowing the following:

• Average annual revenue (commission/bonus) from your customer.
• Average period of time a customer stays.
• Total revenue earned from this customer’s referrals.

Oversimplified, here is the quick and easy formula to show relative lifetime value.  Relative means that you can compare it against your other clients effectively:

Lifetime Value = [Annual Commission Revenue  * Average Period of Relationship] +Total Revenue From Referrals

Or…..

LV = [ACR *APR] + TRR

Here is an example:

Customer A:

Annual Commission Revenue – $20,000
Average Period of Relationship – 4.5 years (company average)
Total Revenue from Referrals – $0

LV = [20,000 * 4.5] + $0 Referrals
LV = $90,000

Customer B:

Annual Commission Revenue – $12,000
Average Period of Relationship – 4.5 years (company average)
Total Revenue from Referrals – $ 30,000

LV = [12,000 * 4.5] + 30,000 Referrals
LV = 54,000 + 30,000
LV = $84,000

In both examples you can see the effect of referrals.  Customer A pays the bills, yet they are not helping your revenue as much as Customer B, who is a good customer overall as they referred you to new relationships and new revenue.  The moral of this story is…”Customers are not created equal”.

The total referral revenue is understated as it should show revenue from the referral relationship in total, and that could be much more substantial.  I hope you see the logic.

Always do a good evaluation and realize that a good customer is more than the commissions or bonus from that customer.  Know the facts.

Your comments are welcome.

Few incidents are as striking as the one that surfaced in the media last week regarding  industrial giant ThyssenKrupp.  ThyssenKrupp manufactures, services, and sells almost everything industrial in all four corners of the globe.  ThyssenKrupp Elevator is the division involved in this major issue.

If you have not seen the a video of the incident which happened in 2010, you might want to take a look here:

German Firm ThyssenKrupp Apologizes For Racial Discrimination: MyFoxCHICAGO.com

Defining happenings include:

(A) supervisor applied brown makeup to his face to make his skin tone darker during a skit at a sales conference in Indianapolis, according to the report, which concluded that there was “substantial evidence” that Reese, who worked in the Westchester, IL office, was harassed because of his race.”

The article continues… “Though the supervisor later claimed that he was impersonating a rapper of Asian descent from the musical group Linkin Park, the skin-darkening showed the company “fosters an environment of accepted racial intolerance,” the report states. -Excerpt from Chicago Tribune article

“I never felt more alone in my life. I was in a depressed state. I would sit in my car for 20 to 30 minutes prior to entering the building, because I couldn’t handle being there. These were the people directly responsible for my success in the company. I had to tolerate it. But after that blackface incident, I couldn’t take it anymore. I resigned in one of the toughest job markets in my lifetime, but I didn’t care. It was a regional conference. Management on every level was there. And that was funny to them. It wasn’t behind closed doors. It was out in the open. It was a collective atmosphere created by everyone. Without question, it was tolerated. There was no secret what was going on, because everybody participated.”Montrelle Reese, Former ThyssenKrupp Elevator Sales Representative

“We have had to realize that mistakes were made, for example, the use of epithets to describe a tool to service elevators or disparaging remarks about [black] neighborhoods. … We realize that we need to take further measures to prevent the repetition of this type of behavior…. We will dedicate whatever time and resources are necessary to further education our workforce on the lawful and appropriate treatment of all employees, including the engagement of experts to assist in this education.” ThyssenKrupp CEO Rich Hussey

It is obvious that there are infractions here. I question if we would have even heard about the 2010 incident had ThyssenKrupp not elected to bring a location to the city of Chicago. Although the incident was denied by ThyssenKrupp, the city of Chicago, once advised of the story, brought the situation to the mainstream spotlight by publicly denying any knowledge that TK had such an egregious act happen just west of the city prior to the announcement

Hats Off to Montrelle

I have viewed the interviews of Montrelle Reese, as well as read his written depictions and quotations.  His appearance is solid, and it is difficult not to believe his story.

My hat is off to him because he hung in there and did everything that he could do to maintain employment. He reported it to is organization just as he should have done.  There is nothing that he could do about the fact that the office he worked in and the management that surrounded him were so wrong and insensitive.  Mr. Reese also did what he had to do in leaving.   It takes courage to leave as well.

If there is a God, Mr. Reese’s recompense will be a job in an organization that will treasure his talents, and appreciate the difference that diversity makes.  Sure, he will get paid as the things that happened seem egregious, but more importantly we can all learn from what happened.

The Westchester, Illinois office of ThyssenKrupp has proven that “All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing (Burke)!” Hopefully, those who participated will be dealt with severely as is indicated by CEO Rich Hussey (ThyssenKrupp).  I would note even more that those who stood by and watched without comment can’t escape some culpability.

This was Racial Harassment and Racial Bullying

Let’s not be confused, this was not a crude gesture or comment, it was racial harassment and racial bullying pure and simple. It may never happen to you, and I certainly hope it doesn’t.  They were picking on him because he was different than majority and having no voice with human resources, or any other facet of the organization.

I will repeat from other editions of Black Sales Journal that if you are a Black sales professional you will work with, and for, some good people.  There are those who are not  good, and you will be exposed to them as well.  In cases where there is insensitivity remember the two items below and be familiar with the tactics.  When it is grossly egregious as in the Reese case, you will need some different tactics.

• Reacting to Improper Racial Comments From Managers

• Reacting to Improper Racial Comments From Co-Workers

For safekeeping we will include how you might react to comments from customers as well:

• Reacting to Improper Racial Comments From Customers

If You Get Harassed or Bullied

This one is difficult as it can come in many different forms. Objectively, You should always follow a few different actions when you feel this type of activity taking place:

• Always document the actions, including exact times, dates, and places of any incidents.
• Note all participants to a conversation and incident and all that were present when it happened.
• Inform HR when there is an incident, and don’t believe that this is a ‘chumps’ way out.  This is what you should do, and who you should be able to go to for counsel.
• If it is co-workers, management should be informed in writing, and HR should be included.
• If it is your direct manager, it is particularly important that any of your co-workers who witness this are noted.  They are a very important piece of this.
• Save any memos, notes, videos, audios, or whatever might be available

I also think it is important to tell the manager or co-worker verbally that you did not appreciate the comment.  The reactions might be interesting.  Whether you get an apology or an excuse, you need to look them in the face and advise of your sentiments.  Don’t give them the opportunity to say in the future that they did not know that they offended you….don’t give them the chance!

I will do a short post on remedies in and out of the legal system.  I am not suggesting anything in particular, as each situation is different.  Knowing the remedies is important, as you will want to match the incident with the remedy.

Always know your options.

Your comments are welcome.