The Dark Side of the (IT) Moon
Ed. Note: Gayla Burns is a Sr. Client Executive for MiPro Consulting, serving Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Kentucky, Missouri and Arkansas.
Since we all like a good story, let me begin with a rhetorical question: would you
say long-standing business relationships are worth more than $0.47 cents?
We’ve all heard about the unprecedented financial times we are living in these days, and yes, I agree that in my 27 years of being in the business world selling high-tech products and services, it has been something to behold. Yet, I also see it as something to embrace! Let me explain…
At lunch this week, a colleague and friend shared an unbelievable story with me. It goes like this: he has been doing business with a supplier for 20 plus years consistently and reliably. A few weeks ago, he sent one of his workers to pick up a $30,000 order from this supplier, only to be refused because of a $.47 cent late fee on his account. The explanation given was the computer system was designed with a hard stop by the 10th of each month, and whatever accruals are there are there. Account tagged with a late fee, even if caused by a customer-hostile AR system? Too bad. No product. Account’s locked until the late fee is paid – even if it means denying a $30,000 order to a customer of more than 20 years.
No reasoning. No human workaround. No common sense intervention. No BS detectors anywhere to be found.
Back in the day, a 20 year business relationship would kick in, a work around would have been found (such as ‘forgetting’ about the .47 cent late charge!) and product would have been purchased and delivered. But, in an age where systems regularly override human common sense and business decorum, not today.
So now, my friend has found a new supplier and will no longer do business with the former. All for a senseless devotion to what some IT system said at a warehouse somewhere. All for .47 cents.
I won’t even get into the negative word-of-mouth my friend will unleash on the old supplier, who didn’t budge even when appealed to at a human level.
The reason I have embraced this economic slowdown is that it affords me time to reach out to my former and existing clients without the pressure of the “sale” between us. It’s not a money chase. The recession actually enables us to talk and discuss what is happening and how it affects them personally as well as within their business. It lets me identify and discuss topics of interest and value to them. We can strengthen our relationships and trust in each other, so if a $0.47 cent issue comes up, we know we can depend on each other to DO THE RIGHT THING!
That’s the value of real relationships, not ones defined by a calculated business process. That’s one of the reason I choose to work where I do: this company adheres to real, human values. I couldn’t have it any other way.
We know this economy will turn around and we must look and plan for the future. Taking care of your business relationships now will serve you will in the future.
