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Relationships Are Everything

Successful sales hinge on speaking your customer’s language

By Kenneth L. Fields,CIC,CPCU | Updated on July 31, 2011

I’ve been doing business with the same dry cleaner for several years. The owners of the dry cleaner are a Korean couple who came to this country about 30 years ago. They are research biologists by education, who in their words, “got tired of staring into a microscope” and decided to go into business for themselves. They are in their store six days a week, from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. They have two daughters in college; one is pre-med. The store is convenient to me because I pass by on my way to the office.

About a year ago my wife mentioned a new dry cleaner had just opened up near our home, and it offered a sale on shirt laundering for 99 cents each—less than half what I normally pay. She was surprised when I showed no interest in trying out the new store. (To put it kindly, she believes me to be an overly careful shopper.) When she pressed the issue I said, “Look, I’m happy with our current cleaners and they’re convenient.” To which she responded, “But the new place is even more convenient, and they may do just as good of a job, for a lot less money.” After some additional back and forth, I finally said, “Lynda, we know these people. They eat in the same restaurants, shop in the same stores. I would just feel very uncomfortable if we stopped doing business with them.”

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