Será que os gerentes conhecem os clientes?

Mais uma sugestão de Holden para não deixar dinheiro em cima da mesa:

"Customers have different agendas for different vendors. Each agenda and subsequent buyer behavior requires a very different offering, pricing, and selling approach. We have identified four types of customers: price buyers, value buyers, relationship buyers, and a unique group we call poker-playing buyers.
...
Price BuyersThese customers buy exclusively on price. They don’t care about value-added enhancements, nor do they care about fancy bells and whistles. They establish purchasing criteria for a wide range of possible vendors and make sure they qualify every one to bid on the business. Price buyers are very careful not to let themselves get committed to any particular supplier by making sure they have no switching costs.
...
Value BuyersSome customers are willing to switch from one supplier to another based on their ability to improve their financial picture or impact for their clients. These customers have recognized the flaws of price only purchasing and often have very sophisticated technical and business process people who regularly evaluate the value that alternative vendors offer.
...
Relationship BuyersThese customers rely on close relationships with suppliers. Relationship buyers trust that their vendor partners will provide solutions and services the customers need to win market share against their own competitors. A surprising result of understanding the drivers of relationship buying is that many companies see their customers as being price-oriented yet they actually have customers that want stronger relationships.
...
Poker-Playing BuyersPoker players love to play the pricing game. They have learned that if they focus on price, they can often get vendors to leave money on the table and still continue to provide high-value features and services.
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most companies overestimate the ratio of price buyers to value and relationship buyers.
...
It is vital that a company going into negotiations with a customer knows in advance what kind of buyer that customer is. An excellent negotiating approach for one type of buyer will fail with a buyer working on a different paradigm."

Recordo 2008 e as implicações de trabalhar para diferentes tipos de clientes. Daí não me cansar de pregar esta mensagem: "Do your employees know who their customer is?".

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E mais, será que os gerentes sabem quem são os clientes?


Trechos retirados de "Pricing with confidence"