"We often take for granted the very things that most deserve our gratitude."
Cynthia Ozick
This quote serves as a stark reminder of the importance of recognizing and appreciating the everyday blessings in one's lives. Now, I ask you to think about your customers.
In this fast-paced world, it’s sometimes easy to overlook the simple yet profound elements that contribute to one's happiness and well-being. Now, I ask you to think about your customers.
As we spend time together this week, I ask... How could you revamp your customer relationships?
I believe gratitude becomes a powerful practice that encourages you to recognize and appreciate the often-overlooked blessings in your lives.
By intentionally cultivating gratitude, you can enhance your emotional well-being, strengthen relationships, and foster resilience in the face of challenges. And you know there's always challenges in maintaining customer relationships.
Acknowledge the simple joys around you, your customers, and watch as your perspective shifts toward a more fulfilling and enriched sales life.
Are you taking your most precious asset as a salesperson for granted?
One enormous challenge for many in sales is the juggling of new business growth while trying to retain their current customers.
Choosing where to spend your energy and how to divvy up your time can be challenging.
Successful sales professionals understand the importance of maintaining outstanding customer relationships.
Why have salespeople become lazy when it comes to maintaining their customer relationships?
BAD THINGS HAPPEN TO LAZY SALESPEOPLE
Applying the above-mentioned quote and pulling out the word, granted... Allow me to start to get you to think different about your role as a salesperson.
Taking things for granted is an awful mistake. A huge and unfortunate strategic error many in sales make is taking their customers for granted.
The biggest problem with taking your customers for granted is that they will find someone who won't. Never ever and I mean ever take a single customer for granted, especially in a world where there is so much choice.
Even satisfied customers require consistent attention and care.
It's sometimes human tendency that once people grow accustomed to something, they may start to take it for granted. Now, think about your customers.
How many in sales learn this the hard way? Once your customers go elsewhere, you soon start to realize their value.
Mirror moment:
- Are you forgetting about the little things, the simple things when it comes to your customers?
Customer retention, loyalty and the service experience you provide become the foundation to your sales survival.
Don't take your customers for granted or you will struggle to grow your sales.
Bad things start to happen when you take your customers for granted.
Taking your customers for granted leads to stagnation in your sales and your long-term growth.
By actively showing appreciation for your customers, you start fostering loyalty, and referrals, as you raise their overall experience with you.
Implementing strategies to prioritize customer engagement will not only help you retain existing customers but also attract new ones, ultimately driving long-term sustainable growth.
In today's massively competitive landscape, a customer-focused approach becomes the key to your sales survival. This is why it's mission critical to adopt a selling from the heart mindset.
LAZY SALESPEOPLE AND THE WORD, VENDOR
Remember, bad things happen to lazy salespeople.
What kind of an experience are you providing?
Allow me to set the stage... In the very beginning of the relationship, the feeling may have been "I can't live without you" and then over time, a bit of laziness, complacency and taking things for granted set in.
Something for you all to think about... Your customers feel the same way about you as you feel about them and what you provide to them.
Your customers may have been enamored with you in the beginning and what you did for them, however as the months and years passed you've become commonplace.
Why? They adapted to you. They forgot what life was like before you entered their business.
Now, they take you for granted and your entire empty suit ways. You’re no longer that wonder. You’ve become a vendor, and who's fault is that?
Hey salespeople... how do customers treat vendors?
Well, I will tell you... They beat you with the price hammer. They whip you for concessions and they whip you for freebies, why? You allow them to do it.
Stop, think and then ask yourself the following...
- Why did they decide to do business with you in the first place?
- What was lifelike before they met you?
"There is absolutely nothing that can be taken for granted in this world."
Robert Anton Wilson
Will you start embracing gratitude in your daily life? This will transform your perspective and enrich your sales journey through this ever-changing business world.
REVAMP YOUR RELATIONSHIPS, WAYS TO MAKE THIS HAPPEN
How can you protect your customer base from erosion?
Quite simple -Stop taking them for granted. Your current customer base has never been more vulnerable than it is now.
I encourage you to flip this on its head, attack your competition and their complacent, taking for granted mindset; to drive enormous sales opportunities, conversations and growth.
To achieve success, let's remove the obstacles preventing you from achieving monumental sales growth.
REVAMP #1 - ASSUMING YOUR CUSTOMERS KNOW THE VALUE YOU BRING
Allow this quote courtesy of Don Miguel Ruiz to sink in,
"Don't make assumptions. Find the courage to ask questions and to express what you really want. Communicate with others as clearly as you can to avoid misunderstandings, sadness and drama. With just this one agreement, you can completely transform your life."
Mirror moment:
- How do you really know you're delivering value?
- Are you really giving your customers what they really value more effectively than your competitors?
Are you sure?
In this competitive landscape, you cannot assume any longer. Just because your customers continue to do business with you year over year doesn't mean anything any longer.
All this means is they don't know any better than what they know. How does what I just said make you feel?
When's the last time asked your customer's "What value do I, our services and our products create for you?" I'm waiting for your answer, still waiting, still waiting; this is what I thought - it's been a while or never, which one?
Can we agree that your customers want to increase their sales and grow their customer base? Of course they do.
Stop for a moment and go grab yourself a sheet of paper... Now, ask yourself these two questions and write down your responses:
- How do I help my customer's gain a competitive advantage?
- What's my customer's perception of value in working with me?
To understand the meaning of value, you must first put yourself in your customer's shoes and see the world through their eyes.
Perception, it's reality when you look at things through your customers eyes.
REVAMP #2 - ASSUMING YOUR CUSTOMERS REALLY KNOW WHO YOU ARE
From the great mind of Peter Drucker,
"Erroneous assumptions can be disastrous."
Creating true, authentic and genuine relationships by spending informal time with your customers. This helps you to understand who they are and what makes their business tick.
You soon start to unpack what’s important to them and their business; the return far outweighs the investment.
Question for you... How well do you really know your customers and how well do they know you?
With all sincerity, when you get to know your customers inside and out, you create ginormous opportunities to personalize the attention you give them.
I'm a believer that true leadership in sales is the ability to affect change and influence the people inside your current accounts.
The more you lead with a servant's heart the better off you will be. The aim is to be seen as a trustworthy professional.
When your input is greatly appreciated by your customers, it becomes less likely they will engage with your competition.
"Assumptions are the termites of relationships"
Henry Winkler
REVAMP #3 - TREATING CUSTOMERS AS CUSTOMERS AND NOT CLIENTS
Throughout this entire article I've referred to customers as customers. How many have caught onto this?
Do you view your customers as customers, or do you view them as clients? How many view them as clients but treat them as customers?
How do you know when a customer becomes a client, or the other way around? When a client becomes a customer, this becomes a problem.
There's a huge strategic distinction.
Viewing customers as customers
- Transactional relationships
- Sporadic interactions
- Price-driven engagement
- Limited loyalty
- Focus on immediate sale
Viewing clients as clients
- Long-term, strategic in nature
- Ongoing, meaningful relationship
- Value-driven alignment
- High loyalty and trust
- Focus on mutual growth
Are you building customers or are you building clients?
I believe customers buy things and clients seek advice. You can't go to Walmart and expect to have a Nordstrom's level experience.
I encourage you to ask yourself.... Do I desire to be paid for what I do for my clients or what I hand them, my products or services? There's a huge mindset difference.
REFRAME YOUR MINDSET, REFRAME YOUR SALES RESULTS
Wayne Dyer once said,
"Change the way you look at things, and the things you look at change."
Ditch the customer centric mindset and adhere to a client centric mindset.
You will attract and retain relationships, command premium prices, develop brand loyalty (YOU), create loyal client relationships, generate more revenue and profits, and most importantly, create long-term sales sustainability for yourself.
Revamping your approach to relationships is essential for sustainable growth in today’s business climate.
By actively valuing your clients and implementing strategies to prioritize their needs, you soon build loyalty, enhance satisfaction, and ultimately drive your sales growth.
Please remember that every single interaction you have with your clients matters.
Jonathan Gardner is the Principal and Founder of J. Gardner Group, where he leverages decades of expertise in strategic sourcing and relationship management to drive profitability for organizations. His career includes working with global powerhouses like Starbucks and Dell, where he developed an acute understanding of navigating large corporations and fostering long-term partnerships.
SHOW SUMMARY
In this episode of the Selling From the Heart podcast, Darrell Amy, CEPA, VCG and I sit down with Jonathan Gardner to explore the art of strategic sourcing and relationship management. Drawing on his extensive experience with major brands, Jonathan reveals how sales professionals can establish genuine connections, navigate procurement processes, and avoid becoming just another number on a spreadsheet. He emphasizes the importance of building relationships across all levels of an organization, maintaining a strategic mindset, and engaging consistently for long-term success.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
Beyond Procurement: Build relationships across multiple departments to avoid relying solely on procurement.
Strategic vs. Tactical Sales: Focus on strategic, long-term actions instead of short-term wins.
Proactive Engagement: Start building connections before a need arises and nurture them consistently.
Perceived Power of Procurement: Procurement’s influence is often overestimated, especially when you're an incumbent supplier.
Relationship Mapping: Create a "power map" of connections within your target organization to strengthen your approach.
Holistic Strategies: Engage procurement as part of a comprehensive sales strategy, not as an obstacle to overcome.
QUOTES TO REMEMBER
"Don't let yourself become equal." — Jonathan Gardner
"Procurement has way, way less power than they want you to think they do." — Jonathan Gardner
"Be the octopus. Engage every tentacle of your relationship strategy." — Jonathan Gardner
"Treat this as an 'and,' not an 'or.' Engage, engage, engage." — Jonathan Gardner
"Avoid assuming. It's easy to think you're being ghosted, but they're probably just busy and rude." — Jonathan Gardner
📌FOLLOW THE CONVERSATION
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➡️Jonathan's LinkedIn: / j-gardner-profit-improvement-expert
Learn more about Darrell and Larry:
➡️Darrell's LinkedIn: / darrellamy
➡️Larry's LinkedIn: / larrylevine1992
➡️Website: https://www.sellingfromtheheart.net/
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