The relationship isn't based solely on being likable. It's grounded in helping customers succeed. Account managers think like the customer and try to anticipate problems. For instance, before storms rocked Florida last summer, some account managers emailed clients there with battery and backup-storage solutions. "It's easy to fall into the trap of being an order taker in sales," says Shelly Troka, who runs orientation training. "Instead of just sending a purchase order, we want to ask, 'Why are you buying the router?' That's how you identify customers' needs."
But ultimately, the business revolves around lots and lots of phone calls, like one in early October between CDW's Beadle and Deborah Neff, an IT administrator at American Municipal Power-Ohio. The business part of the call -- details about digital cameras that Neff was considering -- could wait while Neff regaled Beadle with a story of how her PDA recently broke.
Three years ago, when Beadle tackled the AMPO account, Neff had a longtime local vendor, but she wanted a backup. She began testing Beadle with small orders. He came across as genuine and patient, not slick or pushy. He asked insightful questions. He was a good listener. He heard about the car Neff bought over eBay and about her sick cat. Because he proved himself to be conscientious and reliable with a sliver of her IT needs, he earned her
trust, and consequently got more and more orders -- color printers, laptops, a $10,000 plotter. What was once a $10,000-a-year account has grown more than tenfold. Beadle and CDW have replaced the old vendor. "Sometimes I'll present a problem I'm having: 'This is driving me nuts, Hayden. Got any ideas?' " says Neff. "And he always does." Does Neff think of him as a salesman anymore? "Never," she says. "He's my business partner." That's a leap any sales rep would love to make.
Chuck Salter is a Fast Company senior writer based in Chicago.
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