The changing faces of customer service

by Robert Wendover

Herb has been in distribution for close to 30 years.

Josh is a newly promoted buyer at one of Herb’s long-time customers. He looks at his position as a stepping stone to greater opportunity. Josh is also pursuing a master’s degree in finance during the evening.

Herb has nurtured his long-term relationships with regular contact accompanied by a range of “tchotchkes” over the years, from doughnuts to baseball tickets. He prides himself on meticulous follow-up and service.

Herb has built a rhythm based on customer need and rapport nurtured with individual buyers. But he struggles with Josh. Where Charlie, Josh’s predecessor, was always available for Herb’s calls and visits, Josh can’t seem to be bothered. He doesn’t return calls, always seems to be in a meeting and, when Herb sends an e-mail, replies with one or two words.

With the entrance of a new generation of buyers into the marketplace, those who spent decades selling to and servicing customer companies are discovering sea change underway.
Young professionals have different expectations from those in their mid-forties and older. These differing perceptions influence the way they do business and how they expect others to do business with them. Older generations melded personal life and career; emerging professionals see a definite line between the two. Young people tend not to participate in small talk at the office, preferring instead to concentrate on work and going home on time. While veteran workers may view this as less than friendly, young people would prefer to spend more time with family and friends.

Josh has little desire to connect with Herb on a personal level. Listening to Herb relate stories about Charlie or the way things used to be only consumes time Josh could spend getting work accomplished. He realizes Herb has a job to do and it’s nothing personal. He has to be managed efficiently.

One way Josh manages this efficiency is through technology. Having come of age with computers, he is more than comfortable using these tools to deal with the overwhelming number of contacts he receives every day. He realizes there is some nuance to dealing cordially yet efficiently with salespeople like Herb and will learn that over time.

Josh turns to the mouse and monitor to navigate his way through endless daily tasks. If Herb and his offerings are not online, Herb’s not on his radar. Josh sent Herb a note last week, asking for links to pricing and spec sheets on lines Herb represents. Herb has been scrambling to put together an e-mail addressing Josh’s questions. At the same time, he’s deathly afraid his relationship with this customer will turn into a transactional series of e-mails and links focused primarily on price. How does he craft an e-mail that provides the requested information yet leaves the door open for some give and take?

Josh is also concerned about the service Herb’s lines provide when his engineers and production people have questions. Does he have to go through Herb each time? Can he go direct to the manufacturer? Does he have to talk to an actual person or does the manufacturer provide online diagnostics that can be accessed 24/7/365? Herb sees this issue coming up more and more and is frustrated that his largest line is still “working on it.” Herb fears that if Josh reduces the relationship to electronic catalog links and online service diagnostics, Herb will lose any advantage he’s had in selling to and servicing this customer. If Josh-type buyers appear in other customers over time, Herb fears he and his firm will lose their role between supplier and customer.

What can you do to develop and maintain profitable relationships with emerging buyers like Josh?

Meet with the lines you represent. Make sure they’re providing product information in ways that appeal to young buyers. This includes online specifications, installation and service instructions, training aids and other support materials. The Internet has enabled firms on the leading edge of any industry to provide instantaneous information and diagnostics. This, in turn, raises the level of expectation among all of those using this information. If your lines don’t keep pace, illustrate how that will impact their business, short and long term.

Ask young buyers what they want. Of course, once they provide this input, they will expect you to respond to their expectations and concerns. Be frank and to the point. The days of sitting down for coffee on a monthly or quarterly basis are over. Other than a few promotional items, the baseball tickets, dinners, fruit baskets and so on are out. Besides perceiving them as an old-fashioned approach, buyers like Josh have no time to complete the reporting forms their companies require on all gifts exceeding $25 in value.

Adjust your style to meet emerging buyers. This, of course, is easier said than done. How does Herb craft an e-mail to Josh that provides the requested information yet leaves the door open for some give and take? Herb would be wise to respond to each of Josh’s requests with the best information he can provide. Omitting critical information will only alienate him. Herb would be better off putting himself in Josh’s shoes and trying to anticipate future issues Josh might face. Passing along a bit of intelligence that Josh would not know or might not even know to ask about will probably lead Josh to conclude over time that his haste to make this relationship transactional might blow up in his face when he needs Herb to handle that special situation. Without sounding preachy, Herb might share a carefully crafted insight or two since Josh is new to the position.

Take time to reflect. Look forward three years. What do you see? How many of the current buyers you deal with will still be around? Who will replace them? Will they be replaced? Will major customer contact be in the form of software-based, menu-driven, proposal forms posted to the company’s Web site for all those who want to bid? As far fetched as that might sound, today’s firms are increasingly focused on doing more with less.

What impact will this have on your business model? Closely analyze your book of business. Determine to a dollar how each customer contributes to your bottom line. Sure you do a lot with Customer A, but is this margin eaten away because they are high maintenance? Over time, you might appreciate buyers like Josh who are more transactional but also less needy. A smaller gross may even end up yielding a larger profit.

This article originally appeared in the 2008 ISA Conference issue of Progressive Distributor. Copyright 2008.

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