“Having assessed several suppliers, you appear the most professional and pleasant person to work with, so I would like to continue with you in fine-tuning what we need exactly.”
Recently I had to purchase some technical machinery. After inviting a few suppliers and receiving their pricing proposals, one supplier clearly stood out in communication style and client focus. While further technical and installation details still needed to be resolved and a new pricing proposal issued, I called him and started our conversation saying “having assessed several suppliers, you appear the most professional and pleasant person to work with, so I would like to continue with you in fine-tuning what we need exactly.”
Being kind, clear and inviting, it is that simple. Of course, I could have kept it vague whether to work with him or not, leveraging the classical client-supplier relationship. Doing so would have kept him on his toes for the next round of pricing negotiations. That would have been the usual way of dealing with such transactional service. But let me tell you something: I no longer have time for the usual way. Instead, I decided to trust him. He ended up delivering exactly what we needed in a smooth and pleasant way.
Experiments have demonstrated that, whereas 80% of people believe other people cannot be trusted, actually 80% of people are trustworthy. Isn’t this crazy? Therefore, let us stop spending time in the war zone. Life is too short for that. Let us trust others, without being naïve.
Some people like to fight, because fighting is all they know. Some get energized by openness and collaboration. Which people do you want to interact with? Which world do you prefer to live in?
I have since long made my choice. And what a wonderful world it is.
Till we meet again.
Wim Ottermans
Business humanizer & email-coach.
