The Commercial Shift | Issue One

The relationships that create revenue

Welcome to the first edition of The Commercial Shift.

Each week I'm going to take one aspect of sales and commercial performance and look at it slightly differently. 

I'll share one shift in thinking, a gap worth noticing, a question to take you a little deeper, and one practical action you can take before Friday.

Three minutes. One idea, something useful to take into your week.

This week, I want to start with the customers you already have.

The Shift

From being useful →  to being valuable

Doing great work for a customer matters. They ask you to do something, you deliver it well, and over time you build trust. If this is you, congratulations, it is something every business should be proud of.

But there's a danger in becoming known simply for what you deliver.

If your customer's relationship with you is based primarily on the service you provide today, there will nearly always be someone else who can provide it too, and quite possibly for less.

The shift happens when the relationship becomes about more than delivery.

When you understand what your customer is trying to achieve, what is changing around them, where they're struggling and what might be coming next, you start to become valuable in a different way. You're no longer waiting for a requirement to appear before you have a reason to talk.

You're already part of the conversation and that's nearly always where the opportunity to do more together begins.

The Gap

Take a look at your ten most important customers and ask yourself two things.

1. How many of your services do they actually buy?
2. How many meaningful relationships do you have inside their business beyond the person you deal with every day?

If the answer to either is one, there will be lots more opportunity in that relationship than you're currently seeing and also more risk than you might think!

Meaningful means they see your number flash up on their phone and they answer it. 

The Question 

If your customer had an important new problem tomorrow, would you be the first person they called?

The Action 

Choose three customers you've done great work for during the last six months and have a conversation that isn't about the work you're currently doing.

Ask them about the next twelve months. What are you trying to achieve? What's getting in the way? What's changing? What would make the biggest difference?

Don't go into the conversation looking for something to sell. Go into it looking for something you didn't know.

You might be surprised by what you find.

Until next week, stay curious.

James

The Commercial Shift™ is a three-minute weekly read designed to make you think differently about your customers, your relationships and where the opportunities for growth really are.

Find what's missing. Unlock possibility.