198 Wayne Mullins How to talk to customers about delivering results

When we sign up a new customer, we make a bargain that looks something like this: Our customer will hold us accountable for delivering the product, the service, the results that they expect when they sign up. We can all agree to this. Most customers are not shy about telling us when and how we are falling short. The customer will hold us accountable. 

This is a bargain, to be sure, but it is a one-way bargain. 

According to Wayne Mullins, founder and CEO of Ugly Mug Marketing, there is (or should be) a two-way bargain that says that your customer expects you to hold them accountable for “using” the product or service and for “getting” the results they expect in the use of your product or service. 

Mullins calls this mutual accountability.

"It’s our responsibility to learn how to hold our customers accountable so that they are getting the results for which they came to us in the first place,“ says Mullins.

How many of us really think this way? 

It is a hard pill to swallow because holding our customers accountable means we will need to:

1. Confront our customers

2. Challenge our customers

3. Risk offending and losing our customers

4. Going outside our core product or service offerings in pursuit of helping our customers

That is scary. 

Mullins admits, "For the longest time, I was very afraid of the truth.” Of asking direct questions. Of challenging customers. Mullins turned that around when he accepted that the vendor / customer relationship is a two-way bargain. 

Mutual accountability.

A seller has a responsibility to help a buyer achieve the results they came to the seller for in the first place. 

Mullins goes on to tell a real world example with one of his own customers. Here are the highlights…which demonstrates the point of challenging customers. 

1. A four year customer

2. Not getting sales results

3. But Mullins’ agency was driving high quality leads to customer’s sales team

4. Mullins told the customer, “Your sales team is not following up on these leads."

5. Mullins was so confident in the quality of these leads, he offered to assign his own sales team to follow up

6. Then he asked for a commission on all sales that came from these leads

7. Mullins never offered this service before

Lessons:

1. Confront customers

2. Challenge customers

3. Risk offending and losing customers

4. Going outside core offerings in pursuit of helping customers achieve results

Mullins could have waited for the customer to come to him saying, “We pay you all this money for marketing, and our sales are going up. YOU must not be good. We are switching agencies.”

Or.

Mullins could sit around the office with his team and make excuses, “We’re sending all these great leads to our customer, but they are not doing anything with them. What are we supposed to do? Make our customers do their job?” 

Or.

Mullins could go to the customer and say, “We are sending you excellent leads, and you are not converting these leads into customers. Let’s fix this together.” 

That’s the bargain we make.

Mutual accountability.

Mullins has a saying at Ugly Mug Marketing, "Results and excuses are mutually exclusive.”

More about Mullins:

1. His marketing agency: Ugly Mug Marketing