Here is a story that exemplifies the importance of long-lasting relationships. In my early years, I met a salesman promoting life insurance and the benefit of purchasing at a younger rather than older age. Ironically, life insurance is never on the mind of the young as the thought of needing it seems so remote. While providing “protection,” life insurance has never been a good investment with much lower returns on investment than other investment products, especially for younger people.
Nevertheless, the presentation by the salesperson was convincing, and perhaps naively, I made a purchase for some “Whole Life” insurance policies. This story is not about the purchase but about the long-lasting relationship that was NOT developed. The policies were acquired over 50 years ago, but the relationship seemed to have ended promptly after the sale. As a customer, the company knew I had the resources, willingness, and perceived need for life insurance. It would seem that I was a good prospect for even more life insurance or other products offered by the company.
However, over the past 50 years, I was never contacted again. As I began my sales career and learned more about selling and relationships, it became clear that this company truly missed an opportunity. Having found a customer, it did not try to build a relationship to retain the customer. I could have bought more but no one asked me to buy more.
Recently, I wondered why this happened and reached out to this company to try and understand why the relationship was not maintained. First, finding an agent for this company was almost impossible. It was remarkable that while the company surely wanted to sell life insurance, it was difficult to find someone to make the sale. After many frustrating attempts to find an agent, I stumbled upon someone who was on the other side of the country. You would think that there would be an agent where I lived.
After getting somewhat acquainted via telephone, I advised that I am a customer from many years back and asked why I was never contacted again after the initial purchase. His reply was even more amazing. Without hesitation and not apologetic, he replied that he has heard this criticism constantly over the years. Sad but true, their salespeople consistently ignored the customer and never attempted to build a relationship. Imagine how much business was potentially missed and lost over the years because the salesperson and company lost interest in the customer.
In sales, the consequences of not building a long-lasting relationship are very costly and the results are devastating.
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