Give to Get

To succeed in business today, you have to give to get. A recent column I read contained some of the best advice I’ve seen in months. The author said:

Customers tell me that they gravitate to suppliers who “look after things for me.” These suppliers regularly act in the best interest of their customers, suggesting new ways to do things, helping to train their staff. One of the most favorable reactions that they elicit is: “That’s one less thing I have to worry about.

I suspect that it is a universal business truth that people and companies prefer to give their business to suppliers who demonstrate that they understand that the customer must succeed in order for the supplier to succeed. Businesses that care only about what their customers can do for them (ie. “how much can you buy?” and “how much will you pay?”) are not going to earn any customer loyalty, no matter how good their products and/or services are.

It is common today for businesses to say they want to “partner” with their customers. But relatively few of them walk the talk. Want an interesting exercise? Take ten minutes and list all the things your company does for its customers that aren’t directly concerned with selling and servicing your products. Include how you educate them on ways to improve their business, train their employees, aid them with government regulations, help connect them with prospects, provide technology and industry information, brainstorm solutions to problems unrelated to your products, create networking opportunities, and anything else that is directly designed to make the customer more successful.

The more things you can list, the more of a “partner” you are, and the stronger your customer relationships probably are. If there isn’t much on your list, then you aren’t much of a partner, and your customers are probably looking around for your replacement right this moment. You don’t trust people who are just out for themselves—why would you trust a company that is?

By the way—this advice applies to internal as well as external customers. The more you enable your co-workers to succeed, the more they will support and protect you. And the practice works as well within families as it does between businesses. The more you give, the more you get.