After a lengthy phone call and some time spent drawing up a creative action plan for a property manager, I felt confident that we had touched down on all the services he needed and shortly he would begin using our property management software and be a happy long-term customer. His business was a going to be a large account for our company, which always makes a sales deal a bit sweeter.
Because there were a lot of moving parts to his company, I decided it was best we review all the components again and be sure we both were on the same page. Just as we were dotting all the I's and crossing the T's, we hit a road-bump. In our excitement over how good a fit we found in one another, we must have skimmed over an important detail. He threw out a "I'm so glad that your program does XYZ 'cause I just can't live without it..." And that XYZ was NOT something he had initially expressed he needed and that XYZ was NOT something our program could do for him, yet it was clear this was very important to him. Dang.
We both were very disappointed, however, we were relieved to discover this before we had moved forward with site inspections, merchant account setup, money exchanged and worse yet, more lost time for the two of us. I only felt a tiny twinge of "dang, that wasted my time."
Riding the wave of a sales high is a great feeling - both emotionally and financially - but in the long-run, if your customer isn't satisfied with what you are selling them, down the road, a break-up is inevitable. The love lost is compounded not only by lost income potential from that customer but all the bad word-of-mouth press. We can't be all things to everyone, but one solid connection is worth far more than a handful of mediocre ones.
I can't help but hear that dreaded 70's song by Stills "Love The One You're With" as I type this post. That song never made any sense to me as a kid and it still doesn't. Call me a romantic.
Janell is a member of Rentec Direct, web-based property management software.
For more information about Rentec Direct, click here.
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