Simple first blog title to start this off. Do Not ever over-promise about time-frames!
In this blog, I will look into a tiny little promise that can have a serious effect on your business: "it will be ready next week"...
International business is not complicated, but there are certain simple mistakes that can have such a massive impact. Demands are being made by customers from all parts of the world, you know inside you have to try and keep the customer happy and willing to buy, you have to look into what the customer wants and how best to communicate and manage their expectations. And yet the demands on you pile up, the business is slow, your MD wants results now, not next month. You decide to utter a little promise and hope these do not happen...
"it will be ready next week...well, unless it takes longer to make".
You are a sales person for a manufacturing company. The product is excellent, brilliant even. You believe in it, actually your customers and their customers are lucky to be able to buy it. Look at the competition, theirs doesn't have this function or that button, theirs is bigger, smaller, slower, more expensive, yours is blue, theirs is red! Your USP list is so impressive! Well done you. So your company takes its time in manufacturing the product. After all, good things come to those who wait, don't they? What is a small delay? So what if you have said it will be ready within a specific time-frame, it will be worth it in the end. They will be happy when they eventually get it and will want to buy from you again.
"it will be ready next week...well, unless our domestic customers need it".
Export business is not the main source of your company's revenue, the domestic market is, always has been. Export is a bonus and blatantly treated as such. Actually, it is seen as something difficult, a distraction from the day-to-day easy, trusted business. But you know the potential is there, you are convinced it is the future. Just not quite yet. So you get that order in, the one that will show your efforts are working, it is the sign of things to come! And then, just like that, company X, the domestic company that has always been the main talking point in company sales meetings, the one that the MD himself signed the agreements with years ago, THE company wants the stock you have earmarked for your customer in export. Simple choice, isn't it? Your customer will understand. They won't mind a few more weeks delay, will they?
As I started writing this blog, a dozen examples of reasons for delays came to mind. You probably have some of your own. The issue is not here. The issue lies in the consequence to your export customer and, as a result, to your chances of developing business with them. They need to trust in you and your company to deliver on your promises. Quite frankly, they probably will have made promises themselves to their own customers or may be testing your service in preparation for much larger orders in the future. Failing to deliver to them on time will have consequences. Never forget that, never let your company forget that, Providing you have done your job correctly in the first place, found the right market, the right customer, the right time, this little over-promise could be the one little link that is missing and eventually stops your chances of success.
Find out how you can prevent losing business in export markets by contacting Link Export Consulting or keep checking our news and blogs on www.linkexportconsulting.com
In this blog, I will look into a tiny little promise that can have a serious effect on your business: "it will be ready next week"...
International business is not complicated, but there are certain simple mistakes that can have such a massive impact. Demands are being made by customers from all parts of the world, you know inside you have to try and keep the customer happy and willing to buy, you have to look into what the customer wants and how best to communicate and manage their expectations. And yet the demands on you pile up, the business is slow, your MD wants results now, not next month. You decide to utter a little promise and hope these do not happen...
"it will be ready next week...well, unless it takes longer to make".
You are a sales person for a manufacturing company. The product is excellent, brilliant even. You believe in it, actually your customers and their customers are lucky to be able to buy it. Look at the competition, theirs doesn't have this function or that button, theirs is bigger, smaller, slower, more expensive, yours is blue, theirs is red! Your USP list is so impressive! Well done you. So your company takes its time in manufacturing the product. After all, good things come to those who wait, don't they? What is a small delay? So what if you have said it will be ready within a specific time-frame, it will be worth it in the end. They will be happy when they eventually get it and will want to buy from you again.
"it will be ready next week...well, unless our domestic customers need it".
Export business is not the main source of your company's revenue, the domestic market is, always has been. Export is a bonus and blatantly treated as such. Actually, it is seen as something difficult, a distraction from the day-to-day easy, trusted business. But you know the potential is there, you are convinced it is the future. Just not quite yet. So you get that order in, the one that will show your efforts are working, it is the sign of things to come! And then, just like that, company X, the domestic company that has always been the main talking point in company sales meetings, the one that the MD himself signed the agreements with years ago, THE company wants the stock you have earmarked for your customer in export. Simple choice, isn't it? Your customer will understand. They won't mind a few more weeks delay, will they?
As I started writing this blog, a dozen examples of reasons for delays came to mind. You probably have some of your own. The issue is not here. The issue lies in the consequence to your export customer and, as a result, to your chances of developing business with them. They need to trust in you and your company to deliver on your promises. Quite frankly, they probably will have made promises themselves to their own customers or may be testing your service in preparation for much larger orders in the future. Failing to deliver to them on time will have consequences. Never forget that, never let your company forget that, Providing you have done your job correctly in the first place, found the right market, the right customer, the right time, this little over-promise could be the one little link that is missing and eventually stops your chances of success.
Find out how you can prevent losing business in export markets by contacting Link Export Consulting or keep checking our news and blogs on www.linkexportconsulting.com
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