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Seven Greatest Ideas for Helping a Business Customer to Buy Wisely • 67

Then the board worries about organisational change. 'Does the project demand
difficult or uncomfortable changes in organisation?' 'Will the project still be relevant
and feasible after we have made other planned changes?' This last issue is made
more significant if the buyers and implementation managers of the project are una-
ware of the impending change. It's like bank technicians improving the back office
system while the directors are planning to close all the branches.

So, the end of the buying phase comes, you have seen it from the customer's
point of view and, hey presto, you've got your order. Well done.

Idea 42 - Deliver products on time and within budget

At this point in the process the customer is ready to take delivery of the products
and services he or she has ordered. All they want is for what was proposed to be-
come what actually happens. So we will look at this part of the buying process only
from the seller's point of view.

If building a business involves building satisfactory relationships with custom-
ers, then one of the best ways, not to say most obvious, of doing this is simply to
keep your promises. Put someone in charge of that and make it quite clear to the
customer who that someone is. That person then has the overriding concern of
ensuring that the supplying company achieves its commitments. He or she will en-
sure that it meets all its deadlines and produces complete customer satisfaction by
living up to expectations. People often say, and it is certainly true, that the job of
such a delivery manager is as much about selling internally as to customers. When
companies make complex proposals, particularly ones that involve new products or
services, there is always a risk that something will go wrong.

It is also frequently true that, during the sales campaign, you will have stretched
your company to the full to make sure that the offering is competitive. This stretch-
ing process adds to the risk and it requires some dedication to keep your company
up to the mark.