Lose the Order? Or Lose the Customer?

By -

Lose the Order? Or Lose the Customer?
A Marketing Moment By Desiree Grace

For many salespeople, the knee‑jerk reaction is to tell the customer what they want to hear and figure out the rest later. That’s a BIG mistake. You may win the order, but what you lose is far more valuable: trust.

Let’s get real. Lead times and supply chain snarls are still the norm. Every contractor, distributor, and panel shop is supporting a data center project with the patience of a toddler. The idea that you can “figure it out later” is wishful thinking. You may not be able to move mountains internally. And when you overpromise, you don’t just lose credibility with the customer. You lose it with your own team. Your colleagues start wondering what else you’re not telling them.

We all HATE losing orders. We wouldn’t be in this business if we weren’t competitive, driven sales professionals. But the worst outcome isn’t losing the order. It’s losing the customer. 

Anyone who has spent more than five minutes in distribution knows customers have memories like elephants. Screw them over once, and they will NEVER forget it. Leave them hanging with electricians twiddling their thumbs on a job site? Not only will they remember it, some will even deduct the cost of those electricians from their next invoice.

Tell your contractor, distributor, or panel‑builder the truth, even when it’s ugly. They won’t like it. They will protest. They will share their opinions about your production team. But they won’t plan around a delivery that won’t happen. They won’t schedule crews for a shipment that isn’t coming. They will harass you repeatedly to expedite, while you sharpen your expectation‑management skills. It may cost you a lunch or an in‑person visit.

But here’s what won’t happen: you WILL NOT lose a customer because you were honest. Yes, you may lose an order. Let your competitors make promises they can’t keep. Customers always learn who tells the truth and who doesn’t. They come back to the people who do.

As for the others, good luck to them. Lost trust is almost impossible to recover. They can enjoy their time in the purgatory of black‑listed vendors. You, on the other hand, get to keep the customer. Try not to be smug. It pays to be a gracious winner.

Need help navigating tough customer conversations or managing expectations without losing credibility? RiverHeights Consulting can help you protect your customer relationships and your reputation.


TL;DR

Honesty may cost you an order, but dishonesty costs you the customer. In today’s supply‑chain reality, transparency builds trust, credibility, and long‑term loyalty. Tell the truth, even when it’s uncomfortable.



Author Bio 

Desiree Grace is a sales and distribution leader known for her practical,
straight‑talk approach to customer relationships. With decades of experience supporting contractors, distributors, and manufacturers, she helps teams strengthen trust, manage expectations, and win long‑term loyalty in a challenging supply‑chain environment.




...

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

50 Questions for Distributors

By -
Image
Last week I wrote an article titled “Six Questions that Demand an Answer.”  Sharing the article with a few trusted advisers, I received one consistent bit of feedback best summarized by this response. “Frank, I agree these are questions we must ask ourselves; they caused me to pause and ponder.  I used them as an exercise with my team to think about our overall strategy.  I believe taking the time to think about our business from an outside perspective to be justified and worthwhile.   Sometimes it’s hard to do this subjectively.  I would like to see more questions just like these.” The following is my first round of questions.  I have put them into categories to make them easier to digest.  Some will apply to your position, some will not.  I suggest spending a moment visiting these topics with members of your own team. A note:  The readers of this blog come from a variety of backgrounds, hold a diverse collection of positio...
Read more

Commission Policies in the Automation and High Tech Electrical Industry

By -
We are gathering information and building a list of frequently asked questions.   I am often asked about commission structures within the Automation, Electrical Distribution Industry and other knowledge-based distributor operations (Power Transmission Distributors PTDA, Fluid Power Distributors FPDA and Industrial Distributors). Considering the frequency of the question (from potential salespeople, experienced seller, managers and others,) I feel it appropriate to post some thoughts on the practice. While this is not our typical kind of post, I wanted to create a forum for discussion. Commissions based on Gross Margin are one of the most commonly used incentive practices on the channel side of the business. On the manufacturing side, many people are still paid based on their gross sales numbers. Often you will hear distributors refer to this practice as paying on “tonnage” because sales professionals compensated in this matter really aren’t required to worry about whether ...
Read more

Rebate Programs in Distribution

By -
Image
Many segments of the wholesale business use rebates as a plan to modify and reward distributor behavior. While the roots of these end of year rebates and similar programs are mostly lost to history, they have become an important part of the distributor financial sheet. For example, Electrical Distributors typically report around 40-60 percent of their bottom line comes by way of rebates. Other lines of trade indicate similar numbers. This information is not anecdotal. This is not beer talk, the Profit Reports published through groups like NAED and others back up the statement. Without rebates, the channel could be in serious trouble. Marketing and Buying Groups help drive the rebate dollars Many independent distributors receive their rebates through   marketing groups. Organizations like IMARK and Affiliated Distributors (AD) in the electrical industry come to mind, as do groups in other lines of trade. Here is a short list (mostly top of mind): • Distributor P...
Read more