And what we really mean is, why should YOU listen to US? There are so many self-promoting sources of expert information out there, and all of them want you to take their advice on... well, whatever it is they’re selling, to be honest.
The modern world, especially but NOT ONLY on-line, is full of people with an opinion on any topic and almost all of it is best ignored. If it was exactly 100%, that would be easy, but it’s ALMOST, so how do you know what’s worth listening to? In a word, trust. Do you know that the source of the opinion/advice/information is genuinely trying to help your business succeed? Actually, how would you even assess that, what do you look out for in a cybersphere full of algorithms designed to draw you along a data-driven sales journey and pull cash out of your bank account? The marketing techniques are increasingly sophisticated and the ever-present data pool lets organisations know exactly what your particular personality will be likely to respond to. It’s a world where our ‘free will’ is literally sold as a manipulatable data set. But we’re not powerless to resist, provided we see it for what it is.
A CASE IN POINT:
We know of a customer who recently purchased a new bandsaw machine that runs 54mm blades, enabling them to cut the bigger sections required for projects they wanted to take on. Obviously, a machine that uses 54mm blades is not at the ‘cheap’ end of the investment scale, nor is it likely to have the smallest footprint of any bandsaw, so the machine was bought in anticipation that it would cut everything the customer needed sawing. What was never discussed, though, was the machine’s lower compatibility limit - what’s the smallest section that it can cut? Realistically, this comes down to the pitch options available in the 54mm blade and nobody makes a blade that size in the finer pitches needed for smaller sections, and to cut a long story short, the customer ended up with an expensive machine that could handle the bigger jobs they wanted to move up to but was not suitable for the lower end that constituted much of their routine work. Of course, their old machine which could cope with the smaller sections had been removed to fit their shiny new saw into the workshop.
HOW COULD THIS HAVE BEEN AVOIDED?
It’s arguable (and no doubt was by the vendor) that if a customer doesn’t ask about the suitability, it’s not the responsibility of the seller to carry out the customers ‘due diligence’ for them. It’s also arguable (and argued by us!) that this is a poor excuse for substandard service and is a great example of the difference between selling and consulting.
LESSONS AND TAKEAWAYS:
If you’re listening to advice, understand that someone selling you a product will TELL you the good points of that product whereas someone who is genuinely advising or consulting will ASK about your needs. If a consultant asks questions that you think are a bit ‘left-field’, a little bit outside the scope of the potential purchase, that could well be a good sign because they’re considering a bigger picture than you may be at the time. This is quite common, many purchases are made with a degree of urgency, or at the very least a focus on the immediate solution, but considering wider implications will usually result in better mid-to-long term returns.
Relationships matter. If you’ve bought from someone or taken on their suggestions and have found them to be beneficial, you can have some confidence that they see dealing with you as a partnership rather than just seeing your bank account as a resource for them. And the more positive experiences you have with them, the more confident you can be. Do you know trusted business colleagues or associates who have had positive outcomes from dealing with them for similar purchases? Do you feel that you can call them for advice without feeling pressured or obligated to buy anything from them? Do they ever contact you to ask how your tooling is performing, do they make suggestions that can actually save you money in costs, efficiencies or stockholding – have previous dealings with them produced measurable benefits? In essence, do you have a good level of trust in your supplier as a long term partner in your growth & success? Your level of fact-checking and questioning should be inversely proportional to your level of trust in the seller.
WHAT ABOUT ON-LINE ADVICE?
The same philosophy applies on-line. Is it a site you have benefitted from using previously? Do they have a good reputation amongst your peers? Can you point to examples where you (or someone you trust) made measurables savings or increases in profit by using information from the same source? Also, try to assess whether the site is all about selling you something – anything, is some cases! And bear in mind that this is not limited to the product that the website is selling you – if the pages are crammed with adverts and full of pop-ups, you know that a good portion of their revenue comes from using you as a resource, and that’s a complete reversal of how the relationship should work. Apart from anything else, it shows a high level of disrespect for the usability of the page for you, the customer, and that should tell you more than enough to affect your level of trust.
CONCLUSION:
We’re definitely not saying that you should avoid all other suppliers or sources of information, of course there are some valuable resources and vendors out there. Likewise, we’re not saying we always know the perfect answer to every question you ask or have every bit of information available for every customer, of course we don’t (we will, however, be honest with you when we’re unsure and we’ll do our level best to find the information for you). But what we do have is close to a century of collective experience in the industry and a group of advisors who are committed to finding the best solutions for every one of our customers on a broad range of product groups. What we want to give our customers is genuine, measurable improvements to their business, even when it means they spend less with us by making better choices or adopting better practices. What we definitely ARE saying is that you should be sure you get the same level of trust with whoever you’re getting your information and advice from.
