Capital Media Group LLC has grown from an idea in 2002 to a business posting revenue of $60 million in 2008 thanks to the efforts of Tony Somers and six other owners. They did it, in large part, by focusing on building strong relationships with a small number of companies.
“You go to the supermarket and there’s two bottles of water, and one is 99 cents and one is 89 cents,” says Somers, president of the wholesale distributor of removable data storage products. “The average individual will buy the 89-cent bottle of water because they are the same. When you’re in a commoditized world, which we are, that’s difficult to be able to differentiate ourselves. I think the big thing is our people and the owners and the relationships they’ve built with customers.”
Smart Business spoke with Somers about how to build customer relationships, familiarizing yourself with your customers’ companies and delivering on your promises.
Understand your customers. The key is, what’s going to help somebody’s business, help them grow their business. If, ultimately, you’re bringing them an opportunity to add greater profitability, greater efficiency to their organization then, by definition, they should look to you as someone that they see as a valued partner.
If all they see you as is another me-too, then they’re more than likely going to say, ‘Well, we’ll see.’ You might get orders, but you might not develop that long-term relationship.
It’s key that you understand their business, whatever their business is, and make sure that whatever the offering, you give them slots into the model, that you’re not trying to fit a round peg into a square hole sort of thing.
You have to, first and foremost, get to whoever the senior decision-makers are within that company. Often, buyers aren’t owners of the company or part of their executive…