Ensuring that your customers are getting maximum value out of their investment in your solutions is the most fundamental aspect of any enterprise technology sales organization. It ensures the development of deeper relationships, which lead to an expansion of mutually beneficial business opportuntiies and higher levels of customer satisfaction. It lays the foundation for everything you do to differentiate your organization from your competitors. This requires constant follow up and regular discussions with your customers. Of all of the possible topics, trials, and tittle-tattle that you might engage in, there are three conversations that you should ALWAYS be having with your customers.

1) Thank you

Thank you for your business. Thank you for the opportunity to help you run your business. Thank you for the trust that you place in my organization and my people to contribute to the success of you and your team. Thank you for your investment in our solutions, which helps us continue to invest in enhancing those solutions for the benefit of your business. A simple expression of heartfelt gratitude always goes a long way (and if you do not truly feel at least a little heartfelt gratitude towards your customer, a gut check on your career choice may be in order). This is still a universal truth. I find it amazing how rarely that I, as a consumer, am actually THANKED by the individuals at establishments with which I do business. It seems that more often I am the one verbally expressing thanks to them, which far too often elicits the tepid response of “no problem” (I won’t waste space here splitting hairs in the ever-evolving English language between the implied meaning of “no problem” vs. “you’re welcome”).

2) Are you hiring?

Are you hiring for new positions on your team? Are you backfilling recently vacated roles? How about in other areas of the company? Are you targeting recent graduates or experienced candidates? What sort of skills are you/your company looking for? Questions like these can lead to all kinds of discussions about your customer’s business, their needs, and their plans for the future. It will help you get an idea of which areas of their business are growing and which are contracting. From a practical prospecting perspective, it will help you uncover new opportunities for your solutions in other areas of their company. Depending on your tenure in the industry, experiences with other customers, and the breadth of your professional network, you may also be able to provide them with references of skilled individuals who can help them meet their staffing needs. As a manager, I have also found that the conversation eventually traverses into my own hiring needs. This has led to some outstanding hires on my part over the years. If you are not in management, I am sure that you are equally interested in increasing the talent level at your own company.

3) Are you getting everything you need from us?

At the risk of splitting hairs again, this is not “are we giving you everything you need?” because the focus should always be on the value the customer is getting from your business relationship rather than what they may think you should be “giving” them.  This should drive a discussion towards the specific products, services, & intangibles that you are providing and how they are benefitting the customer. It should lead to discussions of other technical or business domains in which you can provide assistance. It will give you some idea as to how you stack up in terms of post-sales support vs. your competitors. It will provide you with some headlights into areas of dissatisfaction for you to proactively address. It reiterates to your customer that you view your relationship as a long-term partnership and that you are always interested in providing more value to their business.

Continually having these three discussions with each of your customers will help you further cement and expand your business and professional relationships. There is no simpler way to affirm your appreciation for their investment in your organization and put you in the best position to expand that investment.