Why
focus on trust?
The
very nature of our industry, the pursuit of supplying
and dressing employees in uniforms, is based upon building
confidence through the visual image. When our customer’s
customer encounters an employee in uniform, the perception
created is one of reliability and dependability. If you
check for synonyms you will also find the word “trustworthiness.” While
the value of the uniform may be obvious on the surface,
the lasting value of the long-term relationship created
may not be readily visible; it is based on the trust built
in the companies that supply those uniforms. You depend
on your uniform supplier to help build the bridge between
your customer and your company and that bridge is “trust.”
One
major way to build trust is to consistently deliver value
to your customer. You benefit in enhancing trust with
the customer will be rewarded accordingly. Consider the
traditional cost-plus model, derived from the “Labor
Theory of Value:”
Product>Cost>Price>Value>Customer
Here,
the customer comes last with the first focus on the product.
But a value-pricing strategy known as the “Subjective
Theory of Value” puts the customer first:
Customer>Value>Price>Cost>Product
In this model you think first of how to serve your customer
better by adding value.
Adding Value
Where
and how can value be added? Take, for example, the service
Greco Apparel offers its clients. How do we put our customer
first? One approach is by becoming what could be termed
a “trusted advisor.” In his
book about trust, David Maister discusses “positioning
for value selling” by earning trust, building relationships,
and giving advice effectively. He points out that the more
clients trust you the more they will act on and accept
recommendations and share more information – information
that can help you to help them and improve the quality
of service you provide.
As a trusted advisor, you begin to offer advice proactively
and identify issues in their organizational context. You
support their strengths and compensate for their weaknesses.
Focusing on problem definition becomes more important than
technical or content mastery.
We
have found that there are concrete benefits from becoming
a trusted advisor. As a valued advisor to our clients,
we realize: repeat business; opportunities to employ
our most prized individual skills and expertise; more
time can be spent with the client’s decision makers
who have substantial power to affect their organization;
creating new initiatives; and getting more things done.
This trust has been earned over time and well deserved.
And it is a two-way relationship, where the client participates
and reciprocates.
Note, however, that you may have to select clients carefully,
as this practice may not work with all.
Improve the quality of interactions.
From the book, A Force of Ones, by Stanley Herman,
I learned that having clearly understood terms of engagement
adds value by avoiding misunderstanding. How often have
we wished our communications were better when we made a
deal?
In
our dealings, we use “The “Five C’s
of Better Interactions,” and find that they provide
a sound framework for clear communications:
- Contact – Get
in touch with your client. Pay real attention and
spend time visiting with the client, asking questions
and learning.
- Contract – Knowing
what is to be accomplished. An interaction focuses
on the task, problem, or opportunity under consideration;
what each party wants, and what each party is willing
to do. Develop a set of mutual agreements with two
objectives: the final product or output you and others
want to achieve and the goals for the particular meeting.
- Concreteness
- Make it simple and specific. What does each party
want and what is each willing to do?
- Checking
- Confirm the direction. Are we doing what we set out
to do in our contract?
- Closing
- Preview what has been achieved and identify the necessary
follow up action.
Measure
key performance indicators (KPI’s). To
be sure that your company is on target in
providing
value, you should maintain key performance measurements.
For Greco Apparel, these measures include metrics of
on-time delivery, order completion rate, quality attainment
level, efficient material utilization, quick turn time,
and timely and accurate delivery of manufacturing information
to support the customer’s inventory systems.
Value intellectual capital within your organization.
To enhance your infrastructure, knowledge should be shared
throughout the firm in a reusable format. We benefit by
making sure that we know what we already know. One useful
concept employed by the military is the “After-Action
Review.” Assembling everyone involved in a situation
in one room and discussing what happened for the purpose
of learning, improving, and performing better next time
is a way to internally increase value. The role is to be
analytical, not critical.
The Value of Value-Added
By truly adding value, Greco Apparel has become a trusted
advisor to many of our clients. As a metaphor, I see our
company standing shoulder to shoulder with our clients
looking out together at the challenges and opportunities
of the uniform and career apparel marketplace. By contributing
our competencies and assets in a collaborative manner,
we attain much profitable success. We truly establish strategic
relationships. In addition, this is also a fun way to work
than with the stress traditionally experienced in adversarial
(untrusting) vendor-customer relationships. In my organization,
I am committed to providing the leadership to accomplish
and nourish this environment, as I owe it to my clients,
my vendors, my associates, and myself.
In
future articles I will point out some of the mechanisms
and advantages of establishing strategic relationships
through “trust” and
adding value.
Joseph
Greco, president of Greco Apparel, has more than
30 years experience in the apparel business. He is
currently completing his Masters of Science degree
in Organizational Dynamics at the University of Pennsylvania.
