Bob clearly understood his decision would negatively impact his financial results. In fact, revenue goals, employee bonus', and profit would be effected. To me it seemed like a tough decision, but Bob made his decision without hesitation. He would retest everything. In a blink of an eye, people moved to implement his customer-oriented choice.

When I quizzed Bob on how fast he made this decision, he said, "My customers best interests always comes first". "If I serve their interests, they will reward me time and again with their business", he added. It may seem trite, but Bob meant it and more importantly, his organization knew he meant it. I believe this was part of Bob's CEO makeup and helped propel GE Fanuc to consistent double-digit growth with above industry profit returns.

So what's message?

Understanding your customer and driving that customer orientation into every aspect of your organization pays dividends time and again. Successful organizations know that it's everyone's job to work for customer. It doesn't matter if they are a first year accountant or a long-time maintenance person; each has a part in driving your organization to provide exceptional customer service.

Now hard part. Moving your company to a level that routinely provides Customer Delight is a never-ending and on-going process, not an event. How often have your heard someone in your organization suggest that they could get more work done if they didn't get interrupted with telephone calls from customers. Or someone in order entry exclaims, " what a jerk that guys is, doesn't he understand we're doing our best". Get radical. In both cases I would fire person or individual responsible for training and supervising that area.

My final advice is to begin today. As Bob Collins would say. Your customers will reward you time and again with their business.

Frank Williams is a marketer. With many post graduate courses in management, leadership, marketing and technology to his credit, Williams is a widely respected speaker, author and technologist. He has significant knowledge in marketing strategies and is the founder and CEO of Global Marketing, Inc. - a leader in business, marketing and sales consulting

Other valuable articles can be found at: http://members.cox.net/glmarketing/glmarketing/index.htm

When I was shopping for a new vehicle, a phrase I heard repeatedly was “What will it take to get your business today?” Again, some people used it with more finesse than others. Some people used it after 5 minutes, some used it after 20 minutes and others only used it after I had demonstrated interest in a particular vehicle, but everyone except person I bought from used this phrase. This one-size fits all approach to sales doesn’t take into account fact that individuals approach decisions differently. Some may be impulse buyers, others rely on peer information and still others like to spend time analysing sales literature. Sophisticated buyers tend to be deliberative in their approach, and such a question usually makes them feel as if they’re being rushed into a decision.

“Here’s lots of information on this product.” This approach says to give prospect as much information as possible and facts will speak for themselves. There is a big difference however, between information and knowledge. You don’t know which information prospect may find persuasive. It could be third party validation, testimonials, or safety ratings. Rather then dumping everything you have on them, ask what they’d like to know. Another problem with infodump is that salesperson talks too much. A key part of any sale is building relationship with prospect. The salesperson who substitutes telling for asking is missing an opportunity to discover points of interest to buyer.

Selling sophisticated buyer is more difficult. First, you must get away from sales scripts and focus more on adapting to needs of individual. This takes a great deal of interpersonal skill. Second, you have to rid yourself of sales cliché’s. If buyers hear same phrase two or three times, they know they’re being sold and no one likes to be sold. Third, and perhaps most difficult, it requires a shift from telling to listening. The right questions allow you to discover selling points and build rapport. These changes are well worth extra effort. Once you win this type of buyer, you are well rewarded with fuller customer engagement and a higher referral rate.