July 16, 2021
— Daniel Haider (Chief Sales Officer)
Better no match than mismatch
To raise the odds of lasting mutual benefits, it is our belief that every smooth sales process begins with a definition of expectations. Only this way can we determine and clarify what we and our clients can do for one another – and build a long-lasting relationship based on trust
Note: Currently, we only have English versions but we are working hard on translating and making it relevant for your country. Thanks for your patience and enjoy!
We are talking a lot about the digital transformation of the workplace these days. A transformation we simply cannot avoid. Even though we are all returning to a work life that in terms of physical presence at the office resembles the one we knew pre-pandemic, working more or less the same amount of hours or days at the office as prior to the pandemic, we are returning to an altered workplace. A year of working remotely has changed the way we work and how we collaborate – and we also feel the changes here at Pronestor.
But as we have learned how to collaborate in new ways with our colleagues, we have however not experienced a particular change in our collaboration with potential and existing clients. A very conscious choice on our end, by the way.
In this month’s blog article, we introduce you to the Pronestor approach to building long-lasting relationships with clients. And as you might have guessed from the title, our guiding star in the sales process is the match between our clients’ challenges and our solutions. In other words, it is imperative that we match with clients who we know we can help. And that is not to be confused with pickiness.
Defining expectations
Respect and trust are what we see as the cornerstones of a healthy, long-lasting and mutually beneficial supplier-client relationship. And gaining the respect and trust of each other all starts with defining expectations and displaying honesty and transparency in the process.
As we state it in our internal guidelines, the way we kick off potential relationships with clients is through an open, transparent dialogue in which we do our best to understand the challenges that these potential clients meet in their endeavors. Our ultimate intention with this dialogue is to obtain a mutual understanding of the identified challenges – and to define whether or not Pronestor can be of help in solving these challenges.
This is, perhaps, where we may differ from other suppliers in the market.
Because we do not continue the dialogue with all potential clients; We only enter relationships in which we know we can meet the clients where they need to be met. Relationships where we know that we can positively contribute to further development – and in which we can deliver game-changing assistance by challenging the status quo of the client.
In it for the long run
To us, establishing relationships with clients who we know will be disappointed from the beginning simply does not make any sense in the long run. Neither for the clients nor Pronestor.
If we at the very beginning discern a mismatch between client needs and Pronestor’s solutions or expertise, we can quickly conclude that we will not be able to solve the challenges to a satisfactory extent. We will simply not be able to deliver as expected, and we will not meet the expectations that we find so crucial to define at the beginning of every process.
Instead, we focus on creating relationships with clients who we know we can assist here and now – and potentially, and preferably, also over the course of several years – and with whom we quickly reach a mutual understanding of the expected outcome.
We base this approach on Pronestor’s ethics and values, but it also has its roots in commercial considerations – naturally, one would perhaps say.
We know for a fact that when we enter relationships having identified potential pitfalls and defined mutual expectations, clients stay with us for a longer period of time and we maximize the potential for up- and cross-selling while minimizing the risk of ending relationships with clients.
Developing tomorrow's solutions in cooperation with clients
At Pronestor we have a very low number of clients that discontinue using our service. We also have a very high number of clients who expand their commitment with us. These are essential metrics we follow to understand client happiness.
Particularly client happiness is something we take great pride in.
As it has probably become clear to you by now, we are in this game to deliver solutions that make every workplace work for every client. And if we do not have these solutions at hand, we do not shy away from trying to adjust our solutions or develop our product portfolio to close the small gaps that may emerge.
In this sense, we consider client happiness a driver of self-development here at Pronestor. We evolve and develop, as a business and a workplace management software supplier, alongside our clients and during their customer journey.
And in this process of constant development and collection of new knowledge, we ultimately deliver value to our clients. Because when our clients are happy, we know it is because of the extra mile that we are so willing to walk for them – thanks to the match that we so thoroughly work to identify at the very beginning of the dialogue.