I have been shopping online for a new car and I am getting a lesson in customer service – which REALLY surprised me. I chose my model with all the trimmings and emailed my very specific needs to both Honda and Toyota. I got back a reply via email immediately, acknowledging my request and received a quote with a notification of 1 car of my type in stock within half an hour and I had the guy’s email and direct dial. Oh yeah, and the Honda guy called me directly this morning and offered an additional discount if I showed up to buy it and even offered to cook dinner for me (True story!! I said I’d be bringing my husband and the offer was still good!)

If ONLY we could do business with pharma so simply and easily. They KNOW what they want and they sure as heck know how much they have to spend, so what’s with all the shenanigans? I would love to do things this way – maybe we’ll lead the pack…

Saw this tweet this morning and it really hit me: “Zen thought of the day- You know deep down what you have to do. Now SHUT UP and go do it. NOW.” (Radu) This was actually EXACTLY the thought I was having this morning – clients have started spending again, and I expect the 3rd and 4th quarters to be interesting. Not sure how 2010 planning is going to go, since most of our clients are just starting to pull the trigger on 2009 projects, but I digress.

The fact is I know exactly what I want to accomplish, not only in 2009, but through 2011 (after that I really hope I’m in a hammock somewhere in Italy, drinking a lovely glass of wine, not worrying about pharma, doctors or anything else for that matter!) So, I’m going to shut up and go do it. Now.

Good grief – got another one of those “sponsorship for speaking gig” calls again.  I’m always so optimistic when they call – maybe this one will just want a really good speaker…yeah right.  So I protested and made my point (on bored ears) – to which the person responded that if I wanted to sponsor a notebook (really, a notebook??) then I could stand up and pimp away.  I politely thanked her for the stunning opportunity, but declined.

Here is the follow up email I got:

Janet, I understand your frustrations with the pay to play type mentality. As I mentioned XXX’s primary objective is to create the most comprehensive, topic relevant agenda, addressing the bio/pharmaceutical industry’s top concerns/needs.  As such, our first goal is to identify the most qualified thought leaders to participate as part of our elite faculty within the bio/pharmaceutical industry,

Having said that, when all is equal, we do look to afford our sponsoring organizations the opportunity to participate on the agenda, especially, when we have significant interest from the sponsor community – as is the case with this event. Unfortunately, we are in a position where we are approached but many great vendor, consultant, and law firm speakers who want a place on our agenda . In order to choose we tie it into sponsorship and XXX provides a marketing and business development component which some Companies want  and understand. I completely understand it that doesn’t make sense for you.

Janet, I have attached the brochure and please let me know if you have any questions or possible interest in even attending the event.

So, if you are a “great vendor, consultant, or law firm speaker” – there is a great opportunity to sell out, sponsor a notebook  and put your audience into a coma – and hey, good luck with that!  I’m sure you’ll win tons of new business.

I’m glad she understood that this approach doesn’t make one bit of sense to me.

We don’t thank our good clients enough.  I was on the phone this morning to one of our favorite clients, who had just provided a lovely referral for us.  I realized I haven’t told this client how much we enjoy working with him, that he gives us clear direction, takes our advice and has helped forge a true partnership – and we work harder for him!  So I told him all that and more and thanked him for being a great client…and then I realized I have more calls to make – so that is what I am going to do.

Have you thanked your good clients lately?

We have landed some big-@$$ clients, and are we proud!  I’d like to crow from the roof tops, brag in a few magazines, send out some nice PR announcements and tell my mother.  But our clients have policies that prohibit vendors from telling they won business – what the ????  What’s the point of winning if no one knows?  Ok, the check in the bank, I get it, but truly, half the fun of getting the big fish is to have the bragging rights – plus, other companies take notice and you get more work.

We did convince one of our big wins to let us let the cat out of the bag within certain (and very specific) parameters – and we’re grateful – but c’mon, lighten up pharma – and I’m still telling my mom, no matter what.

I had asked a new client our ours if we could announce that we were working with them.  This was the response I got:

“I heard back from Public affairs on your submission(s).  Their general guidance, inclusive of your new request, was that if the business unit agrees and there is significant benefit to ****, then you could proceed with the announcement.  So, please provide rationale as to how this announcement benefits ****.”

I have to admit, that stumped me for a moment.   Truthfully, for the most part, new client announcements benefit us – we want to tell other companies – “hire us, and hang with the cool people, like **** and #### and !!!!.”   What IS in it for clients as far as these announcements go?  And then the answer came to me – we can help them be the good guys!   **** has put themselves out there as corporate sponsors of both small and women owned companies* – we are living proof that they are actually doing and supporting what they say – that’s beneficial, right?

Supporting small business helps America because small business provides about 55% of jobs in the private sector and small business has created about two of every three net new jobs in the United States since at least the early 1970s.**  And helping women is just, um, nice (ok, whatever – I’m not all that comfortable with the women owned crap – we know our stuff and do it well, that’s what matters).

So, depending on whether **** buys my argument that we should be able to announce working with them (and it took 4 years to land this business, by the way!) or not, I appreciate the fact that I had to stop and ask the question “what’s in it for them?” which I need to be asking a lot more often.

*We are a small business (defined as less than 500 employees), and a women owned company (defined as a minimum ownership of 51% by a chick).

I’ve been eagerly reading “How We Decide,” written by Jonah Lehrer, a neuroscientist.  Interestingly enough, it seems people fall into two camps:  you can make quick, good decisions on the fly or you can’t.  And being smart doesn’t have much to do with it.  You are probably wondering when I’ll get to the point of this blog posting – here it comes:

How do clients REALLY decide which vendor to go with – is it referrals?  Is it relationships?  Is it comfort level?  Does the pitch matter?  How much?  Price seems to be a factor, but randomly so.  I guess I’m studying this because we have won some really big pitches against some really big players and I want to really know why and how I can have it happen more often.  So, I am asking our clients for feedback, but I am also trying to understand the decision making process itself.  From what I am reading, it is pretty hardwired and a brain that has been “trained” will respond rather predictably in like situations.

I do get that we are not for everyone – we don’t wear suits, drag around lawyers or give PowerPoint presentations – if that’s your gig, I’d be happy to refer you to our competition.  We are looking for a few good people, those who do make their own decisions and are looking for people who can also think on the fly and are ready to really innovate – we’ll share the risks with you…and the benefits.