This summer while traveling abroad I noticed that big sunglasses were back in style. I then noticed a number of shops selling retro products. I then had a conversation with a friend who is in the music industry and they asked me whether I had noticed that most music stations are playing songs from the 80's and 90's. I said that I had indeed noticed that.
He told me that there is a resurgence in old music and bands due mostly to the fact that many of the new bands just don't have the depth of the ones many of us grew up with. I actually agree with him. Although I am not too familiar with the latest pop stars I have yet to hear anything while out and about that I can say even sounds great.
Ok, that brings me to my point. Like the sunglasses, retro items and bands from the past there seems to be a renewed interest or rather "crying out" from companies for good, old-fashioned relationship management. I can't put a timeline on when relationship management as a business discipline or principle started but it seems that there was a time when service providers gave more attention and applied more effort to building customer relationships.
In our industry of application outsourcing we work with clients on some of the most critical applications in their business. Many global customers entrust their core applications and the re-engineering of them to us on a regular basis, which of course is what keeps us healthy as a successful leader in our space. But with all the core technical and domain expertise that we bring, with the ability to provide differing and hybrid methodologies and commercial terms and with the flexibility to drive business results through our work, the one core thing that continues to stick out is the level of relationship management provided.
Companies that are in the SMB segment worry about not getting enough attention from a large service provider and often default to a smaller, less credible and scalable organization just to ensure they get the attention they want. Larger enterprise clients in many cases are not as large as some of the service providers they default to and often experience the same result as the SMB company; lack of personalized attention, inflexibility on working with certain projects and communication breakdowns.
The optimum solution is simply not to categorize the client, in a sense, and just determine as a service provider that things like relationship management and customer service really are critical. There can't be peaks and valleys in providing a level of service. It needs to be consistent so the client can actually have an expectation that is properly set.
Yes, some of this is motherhood and apple pie...I know, but it needs to be said. There needs to be more effort on building relationships and less of the attitude of entitlement. I'm really honored each time a company gives me their business. I have not lost the sense of privilege when a client has done their due diligence and found our company to be the best choice. There is still something to be said for "winning the deal" because you actually care about doing so and it's not just going through the motions to respond to someone's RFP.
I can't say for sure that I'll be buying any old music or big sunglasses but I believe that consistent relationship management should not be a trend or fad that gets driven by new industry paradigms, technology shifts or the exponential growth of data and applications. Relationship management sits on top of all that and should remain a constant, well-executed business practice.
