#329 Building Relationships in e-Commerce (Based on “7 habits of Highly effective people”) Part TWO

THE EMOTIONAL BANK ACCOUNT
“We all know what a financial bank account is. We make deposits into it and build up a reserve from which we can make withdrawals when we need to.

An Emotional Bank Account is a metaphor that describes the amount of trust that’s been built up in a relationship. “

Six Major Deposits [in the emotional bank account] 
Overview

Understanding the individual
Attending to the little things
Keeping Commitments
Clarifying Expectations
Showing Personal Integrity
Apologising Sincerely when you make a withdrawal

6 Emotional Deposits in the emotional Bank Account in Detail
Deposits 1 Understanding the individual 
Customer Avatar research

Talk to real people!
Understand alternatives ie your competitors
Ask them to use rivals products and test your prototypes or own PL samples

Understand your product supplier:

Business model
Daily life
Drivers
China etc. - Cultural differences

Direct no
QC etc.

Other Suppliers

What does a photographer need to do a good job?
Ditto Graphic designer (logo, packaging etc.)
Ditto industrial designer if you’re going custom product route

Business Partners/Stakeholders of all kinds

What are their aims in life? In business?
Do they align with yours?
Joint aim of business?

Eg create business to sell in 3 years? 5 Years?
Global brand? etc.

Deposit 2 Attending to the little things
Customer service

Followup in a brief respectful way
Include nice extras in package
Dealing with problems promptly
Not being bureaucratic

Product Supplier relations

Cultural niceties
Educated
Presents/birthdays etc.

Business Partners of all kinds

Presents etc
Meetings

Be on time for meetings
don't cancel last minute

Language in emails

Deposit 3 - Keeping Commitments
Customer

Make sure promises of your marketing are fulfilled in your product’s performance

Product Supplier

Pay them on time
Don’t move goalposts eg adding in QC or features AFTER ordering.

Other Suppliers

Pay as agreed
Give info as agreed

Business Partners of all kinds

Task/project management

Honouring Agreements on who does what
Doing things in agreed timescales

Deposit 4 - Clarifying Expectations
Customer

Eg sizes for clothes;
function for technological products

Product Supplier

HUGE - detailed specification
QC expectations
Timing expectations
Financial arrangements

Other Suppliers

What they provide eg photos
What they WON’T provide

Business Partners of all kinds

Long term goals
defining roles:

Who will do what
who WON’T do what

Amount of time each partner/team member will contribute
balance with rest of life

Weekend/evening work
Financial commitments rest of life

Financial commitments within business

Who contributes what
Approx pool of money available

Now
In future

Deposit 5 - Showing Personal Integrity
Customers

Deliver on promises
If you mess up, apologise, replace, refund ASAP

Product Suppliers

Be honest about future orders
Negotiate with respect

Other Suppliers

Try not to promise the earth at the beginning

Business Partners of all kinds

Do what you’ve agreed!

Deposit 6 - Apologising Sincerely when you make a withdrawal
Customers

If you mess up, apologise, replace, refund ASAP

Product Suppliers

If you’re late paying, pay up, apologise,  don’t make a habit of it

Other Suppliers

Try not to promise the earth at the beginning
If you’re late paying, pay up, apologise,  don’t make a habit of it

Tell them up front!

Business Partners of all kinds

If you’ve messed up, do the work, apologise,  revisit the practicality of the workload
If things change for you in regard to commitment to the business, have an HONEST conversation