The recent passing of American actor Abe Vigoda has conjured multiple tributes referencing his famous line from Francis Ford Coppola’s timeless 1972 epic, “The Godfather”. “Tell Mike it was only business” and other derivatives of “it’s not personal, it’s just business” may fly fine in Mafia films, but in real life, it is ALWAYS personal. Yes, you and the individuals at your customer are engaged in a business to business environment. And yes, you each represent your respective organizations in the interest of providing value to your customer’s business. Although that may be the foundation of the relationship, suggesting that the business relationship is not personal for all involved is both naive and short-sighted. Let’s examine this along three categories of personal interest.

Time

This one should be simple enough to understand, as it is the one thing that we can never get back. The customer spends time evaluating, learning, acquiring, implementing, and supporting the solution that you have recommended. They likely do not get paid overtime. They may miss meals at home or other family events to get the solution delivered on time. They may get called at odd hours or have to work on the weekend to deal with an unforeseen availability challenge. The list goes on and on. As a sales engineer dedicated to a successful customer outcome, your time is also spent on all of the above. Additionally, there is an opportunity cost of choosing to pursue this opportunity with this customer rather than another. Time spent in a long sales cycle, successful proof of concept, and solid business case can go to waste if the customer still chooses a competitor or chooses to do nothing at all. The opportunity cost of lost time that could have been spent pursuing an effort with another customer can be frustrating and negatively impact a rep’s willingness to pursue subsequent opportunities with the “lost” customer.

Financial

Since we are talking about a B2B relationship, it is true that your customer is never truly investing their own money (excluding stock holdings and other equity). It is their shareholders’ or their company’s owners’ money. However, that does not and should not change the significance. Your customer has been trusted with a budget by their superiors and that capital is to be invested wisely in the interest of their business. That responsibility often is and should be taken very personally by the customer. Your customer’s ability to bring in a project or department under budget may also be directly tied to their own compensation, which obviously makes the relationship very personal. Similarly for the technical seller, winning the customer’s business has a direct impact on your personal financial situation. Whether you are on a direct commission or bonus incentive plan, you make more money when you are successful in representing the right solution such that your customer makes an investment. Your success with customers also has an obvious and direct impact on salary increases, winning sales contests, trips, and any other leadership awards that your company offers.

Reputation

Here is where it truly gets personal. The experience that you provide your customer throughout the sales cycle is a direct reflection of your level of professionalism and that of the organization that you represent. Again, even though we often assume in a B2B relationship that decisions are made purely based on the quality and ROI of the solution, it is your behavior that will often determine whether the customer chooses to invest with you. This impression will remain with the customer whether you win or lose the current opportunity. It will have an impact on any future business that you seek from this customer and any future business that your company pursues if the individuals from this customer move on to other customers. From the customer’s perspective, the success or failure of their project goes beyond the financial responsibilities discussed above. Their career path is impacted by the choices they make and their ability to be effective. Their decision to invest in your solution therefore becomes very personal in that they need to be known as someone who makes sound choices for their company. No one wants to be known as the person who invested in an inferior solution, a solution offered by a supplier on shaky financial footing, goes over budget, fails to deliver on time, etc.

We, both supplier and customer, should always strive to keep our relationships focused on business value and positive customer outcomes. However, we cannot ever forget that we are human and our business decisions, no matter how objective, always have a personal impact.