Ally Relationships: The Key to Sustained Success for Your Service Business

by Anthony O. Putman

Fun to read, engaging and very practical, Ally Relationships was written with one end in mind to contribute to the sustained growth of the reader's business. Success in a service business is hard to... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0977228606
• ISBN13: 9780977228607
• Release Date: July 2006
• Publisher: Burns Park Publishers
• Length: 176 Pages
• Weight: 0.85 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 5.7" x 8.8"

Customer Reviews

Alliance Marketing is Super-Powerful

Those of you who've read my award-winning sixth book Principled Profit know that I'm a big fan of marketing through relationships-and of marketing approaches that move your offering out of the realm of commodity, and into the realm of value. Anthony Putman is very much in alignment with this approach, pointing out that any service business's biggest asset is the willingness of the customer to buy from you-and that building strong relationships is a very good way to protect that asset. "You cannot differentiate a service...but you can differentiate a relationship," he says. I'm not convinced that services can't be differentiated. At least some of them can be; that's the whole concept of the unique selling proposition. However, it's always going to be much easier to highlight the strengths of your offer when you do in fact differentiate the relationship. In Putman's view, a business relationship will have one of three levels: * Service source-a vendor, pure and simple * Solution provider, there to solve your client's problems * Ally: a strategic partner who is thoroughly committed to your clients' growth and success, and who is always thinking about ways to grow the relationship by being more helpful It's not about selling-but about being seen as the go-to person for trusted advice, and thus products. Allies, of course, make themselves indispensable-and thus not only recession-proof, but also protected against clients jumping ship or price-shopping because they may be satisfied, but they're not inspired. One way to be seen as an ally is to decline business that isn't right for you, and couple that with a referral to someone who specializes in that need. There are many other paths as well, which involve your ability to refrain from traditional selling, think about your clients' needs instead of your own, and ask the questions that make the client understand how to grow (rather than those that lead toward a one-shot sale). While it may be easier to build ally relationships with new clients, Putman also includes specific steps to push you up the ladder with existing clients, one person at a time-and with often-dramatic results as clients subconsciously but happily accept the "free upgrade" in their status. One final point: this approach is rooted in high ethical standards. As Putman says, there is "no place for deceit or spin." In short, this is an excellent complement to my own award-winning book Principled Profit, especially if you're in sales. Shel Horowitz's award-winning sixth book, Principled Profit: Marketing That Puts People First, demonstrates how to build a business around ethics, environmental sustainability, and cooperative practices--and how to develop marketing that highlights those advantages.

A step-by-step primer to changing how one perceives and interacts with clients

Author Anthony O. Putman has spent over thirty years helping the leaders of service businesses seize a competitive advantage in the marketplace. Ally Relations: The Key to Sustained Success for Your Service Business distills his wisdom for service business leaders with a solid base of clientele. In today's modern world, providing excellent service is no longer enough to set one's business apart; "your most valuable asset is the inclination of your market to buy from you instead of your equally qualified competitors". Whether it's called "goodwill", "customer loyalty", or "sustainable competitive advantage", this quality is crucial. Ally Relations stress that while it's impossible to differentiate the service one provides from that of equally qualified competitors, the relationship between service business and customer can be differentiated, and skillfully honing these relationships is the key to success. From learning how to construct give-and-take dialogues with allies rather than drill them with interview questions, to learning how to listen effectively, Ally Relations is a step-by-step primer to changing how one perceives and interacts with clients in order to cultivate positive relationships and repeat business. Highly recommended for service industry leaders everywhere, whether the business they lead is a one-man show or a big corporation.