If you go down to the woods today

Author - Andrew Long

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If you go down to the woods today

 For many of us, when we go about our daily duties, visiting or greeting customers, we are on our own. This can make some people nervous, especially when visiting a new prospect that we want to impress, and may even prove to be too daunting – so we fluff it up, or just don’t bother.

The idea of collaborative working is not new, but for many, it is still an experience we have never had. After all, you want to concentrate on delivering your service or offering your product – you don’t need the distraction of someone else trying to pitch in do you? 

In my experience, the opportunity to bring complimentary services or distributors together can be very powerful, and surprisingly well received by clients. It demonstrates that you have adopted an holistic approach to a particular requirement of theirs, and not just restricted your efforts to a narrow brief.

An example of this might be when a customer tells you that they have plans to expand or move premises. You might be their telecoms provider, or you might supply their stationery, but this scenario opens a number of other opportunities for you to effectively use the close network that you have developed, to offer a total solution. Why not take along an accountant, a solicitor, HR specialist or even an insurance broker? Or perhaps you’ve identified that they would like to speak to a carpet supplier – you make the call.

Anyway, returning to the subject of my “blog”, my point is that there really can be strength in numbers, and you don’t need to always go it alone.  In the words of the nursery rhyme, if you go down to the woods today, you’d better not go alone.

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