A client told me this story last week. I had to pass it along.
He was trying to buy his first house in the 1980, when interest rates were still high, and banks were still skeptical.
The bank told him he just didn’t have enough credit history. As an automotive technician who watched his pennies, he hadn’t had a credit card long enough.
He tried to explain that he was good for the money–after all, he was on the Snap-on truck every week and could walk out with whatever he needed.
For the uninitiated: Snap-on is one of four tool companies that make weekly visits to the technician’s workplace in vans that are mobile warehouses. It’s a franchise model: The tech enters the van, does his or her shopping, and makes payments to the Snap-on dealer who drove over.
In this case, the bank was uninitiated. They asked Snap-on for more information.
We’ll never know who it was. But somebody at Snap-on took the time to put down, on company letterhead, that this particular technician was good for $15,000.
The letter said the company was comfortable with him walking out of the van with that much in tools.
It’s the reason my client received the loan and became a homeowner.
He told me the story as I looked at his massive tool cabinet. It’s taller than me and about as long as a car. It’s a Snap-on brand, filled with Snap-on tools. The cabinet alone costs in the tens of thousands of dollars. My client estimates he has spent $[NUMBER REDACTED, JUST KNOW THAT YOU’D SHAKE THE HAND OF YOUR TECH IF YOU KNEW HOW MUCH THEY HAD INVESTED] over the years.
“I’ll never buy anything else,” he told me.
Snap-on earned that loyalty.
Well, he or she earned that loyalty. An unnamed employee, probably working in a role that didn’t face the customer, wrote one letter. And earned the company tens of thousands of dollars.
“I’ll never buy anything else.”
What’s that one little act you will do today to earn business?
Who is that one employee “in the back” who will champion you to a customer?
We talk about big, heroic acts of service all the time.
Don’t forget about the little things that prove who you are to the market.
There are two applications here:
First: Perhaps you’ve mapped the processes that your customers go through. If not, please do so, and look for the small moments in that customer’s journey.
Those moments are the proof points. They illustrate what you are about and that you are worth doing business with.
Don’t forget about the “other touch points,” such as what happens when someone calls or emails. Would your system ensure you took a request from a customer’s vendor, such as a bank, seriously?
Second: Conduct a review of all of your back-end employees.
Which of them need better understanding of your proof points? Consider making a presentation around your company’s origin and the “why” behind its existence.
(You may find this inspirational not only to your people but to you!)
Hip Socket can help you tease out your story and effectively present it to staff and customers. Everybody has a great story. Some people need help telling it. Let us know if you need some help.