Success in the CRM Field

You minimize the risk by knowing what you're doing. It's like flying airplanes, motorcycle riding, or scuba diving. You shouldn't be too risky because sooner or later, you will lose. If you take a risk, you should control and manage the risks of that decision to make sure the odds are stacked in your favor. You need to quantify your risk and eliminate risk with low pay-off. If you go into markets where the nature of the product being sold is totally opposite to what you stand for (i.e. "stack them high and sell them cheap"), you're moving away from profitable opportunities.

You must begin by finding your kindred spirits. Find a customer who is dedicated to their customer because you are dedicated to the customer. Birds of a feather flock together. Basically, when you get into a sales situation, if you see that this company is looking for product, but they don't appreciate your unique selling proposition, you're probably not going to change them. So, the best decision for both parties is for you to get out of the relationship. You have to understand what it is you want to get into. I had a friend who parachuted. He was very good at it and then one day, he was parachuting and the wind was dangerously strong. Lo and behold, he parachuted anyway and broke his ankle horribly because he pushed the envelope. He knew he shouldn't parachute when the wind exceeds a certain speed. My advice then is to know your limits; know where your sweet spot is and stay there.

Rule number one: if you don't take care of your customer, someone else will. That's our motto. Rule number two doesn't exist. What I have learned from my experience is that you have to have a perceived value to initially get a sale. But then you have to offer real value to sustain a relationship. That's why you have to market properly, sell properly, and support outrageously to gain customer loyalty and profitable, long-term relationships.