It's Not About What (or Who) You Know...

Here’s a true story.

An English language lecturer came from overseas to teach in a Malaysian university for six years. At the end of his contract, he went back overseas, only to return to Malaysia two years later to start his own business. To advertise his consultancy services, he compiled a data base of human resources personnel from the recruitment ads in the New Straits Times and sent out 350 introductory letters.

From the 350 companies he contacted, do you know how many contracts he got? Just one. But, that didn’t mean he was idle during his first year of business. Other contracts came to him through people that he knew, and through people who knew people that he knew, and through people who knew people who knew people that he knew.

You’ve heard this saying before: It’s not what you know, it’s who you know. Here in Malaysia especially, knowing people is the foundation of your business. And that’s why networking is one of the most important business activities that you can invest your time in.

Networking is all about expanding your sphere of influence. It’s about knowing who to turn to when you need help, and being available for others who need help from you. It’s your best method of finding out what’s available on the market, and your most cost-effective way of marketing yourself.

Networking is done many different ways. Companies sponsor social gatherings, for example, to expand their own business networks. Some organizations exist for the purpose of networking. Local and international chambers of commerce are set up to network business locally and overseas.

Networking is also done individually, and having a personal network of friends and business associates is an indispensable way to keep your name known in the business world.

Networking is more effective than advertising because people like to do business with others that they know and trust. Finding out about your products or services in an advertisement is one thing, but finding out through word of mouth is better.

Building an effective network requires time and sometimes, a bit of assertiveness. But in the end, it all pays off. After all, business success is ultimately not about who you know, but who knows you.

Set Your Standards for Customer Service

Two of your customers’ most prominent needs are for efficiency and communication. In other words, they want you to get things done quickly and they want you to tell them how quickly. "How soon can you deliver my parts? How soon till I’m back online? How soon does this bus leave? How soon can you fix my camera?"

Communicating the answers to your customers can be easy if you have set service standards that you abide by. Service standards help minimize uncertainty. They tell customers what you will do to ensure their satisfaction. "Your parts will be shipped via express delivery by end-of-business tomorrow. You will be back online within four hours. This bus leaves at 10:00am or when all the seats are occupied, whichever comes first. Our technicians will contact you immediately after examining your camera and provide you with an estimated date of repair."

When customers complain, it’s often because of the absence of service standards that let them know what they can reasonably expect from you.

All well and good, but what happens in situations beyond your control and your normal service standards can’t be met? Communication is your answer. The important thing is to keep your customers informed.

Here’s an example for you. I brought my printer to the repair shop for what I though was a simple alignment. Turns out my printer head was shot, and since it was an older model, the shop would have to order a new one. I explained that I needed my printer in three days and asked them to call me. On the third day, they did call and here’s what they told me. “Mr John, we don’t know when your new printer head will arrive, but we’ll call you every day at 4:30 to update you even if we have no new information.” And that’s exactly what they did. Every day at 4:30, I received a call from the technician with an update and two weeks later, I got my printer back repaired. Was I happy? No. But, I was satisfied that they were doing their best to provide me with top-quality customer service.

Your business is no different, I’m sure. Most businesses do their best to provide efficient customer service. But for those few times when efficiency breaks down, it’s communication that can come to your rescue.

Aim High in Maslow's Hierarchy

Looking for a new approach to meeting your customer needs? Try Abraham Maslow.

You know Maslow. In 1943, Maslow identified five needs that motivate human behavior and arranged them in a hierarchy. The most basic of these are your physiological needs, which cover everything from oxygen to sex. Next up are your safety needs which cover security, stability, structure and order. Climbing higher, we have your need for love and belonging, or your social needs and recognition of your place in a group or family. After that comes your need for self-esteem, which includes validation, self-confidence and a sense of contributing towards the greater good. Finally, on top of the hierarchy is your need for self-actualization, which means becoming everything that you are capable of becoming and being true to your nature.

Of these five needs, the last one – self-actualization – is the hardest to satisfy. This is not because self-actualization is difficult to achieve; rather, it is because the need gets stronger as you feed it. The more self-actualized you become, the more self-actualized you are motivated to be.

So, how does Maslow’s Hierarchy help you with your customer needs? Here’s the idea – when you target customers in advertising, aim as high into the hierarchy as you can. If you aim too low, you’ll miss out on some of the motivation.

Let’s look at a few successful examples:

1. Secret Recipe, what’s that? A cake shop? No, delicious cake is a first-level need. Secret Recipe is a lifestyle café, which feeds on your need for self-esteem.

2. The Malaysian Ministry of Health encourages spending 10 minutes a week hunting and clearing breeding grounds for aedes mosquito larvae. Why, for health? No, rather in the name of love for your family, a third-level need.

3. Buy the Toyota Camry, why? For transport around town? No, to help you spontaneously discover the pleasures in life (from their ad).

When you’re identifying customer needs that you want to meet, aim high. But be realistic. Nobody will believe, for example, that your hammers and screwdrivers will lead to self-actualization. However, better tools are safer tools, and this targets a second-level need.

Targeting your customer’s needs prominently and accurately on Maslows’s hierarchy motivates them to come to you to get their needs fulfilled.

Know Your Customers' Needs

Simply asking your customers what they want, what they need and what they expect from you is an important part of developing your business with them. Being involved with your customers, however, is going beyond simply asking. Being involved with your customers can help you understand their needs more thoroughly and may even unearth needs that they didn’t even know they had.

Being involved means knowing how your customers use your product to improve their lifestyles or their businesses. This calls for meetings, on-site observations and face-to-face interaction. Also, providing feedback channels for your customers and encouraging their use shows that you are open to their suggestions and responsive to their needs as they develop.

Being involved will result in a long list of needs and expectations from your customers that you can use to evaluate your business relationships with them.

Take the needs from this list and divide them into three categories. First, you’ll have the needs you’re currently meeting. This can be a feel good exercise, but it can also be a reality check. Ensure that what you think is happening is for real and back it up with evidence.

Second, you’ll have the needs you cannot meet. These may come from customers who expect too much. Most of the time, this category won’t contain many items, but it’s still good to have them and put them on the back burner for future planning.

What you’re left with will make up your third category, the needs you could be meeting better with a little creativity and action. Pull your resources together and develop an action plan on how you can improve on meeting these needs. Then, take your proposal back to your customer and explain how you can do better business together.

Being involved with your customer means taking initiative. Don’t wait for them to tell you what they want all the time. Help them to detect their needs, and explain to them how you can meet them. This changes your role from a supplier to a true business partner.