Susan wasn’t home so the
call was recorded.

Later, she suggested, “Listen
to this and tell me what you think.”

I said, “It’s obvious that the caller
was using contact management or sales force automation software. She recalled
our visit to the home development she represents and our interest in a
particular model.

She asked if I’ve been
speaking in or out of town recently and how my wife’s new book is coming along
(Susan is published by Simon
& Schuster,
New York. Her web site is www.SusanFletcher.com ).

Up until then it was a great
act. Then her chatty, friendly approach was revealed for what it actually is… a
charade, all form and no substance.”

What turned a potential
partner into a pariah? How did she go from making points to being thrown out of
the league? How did she become the Great Pretender? Where did she go wrong?

Her mistake was talking
about my daughter Kelly as if she knew her and citing her upcoming graduation.
Unfortunately for her, Kelly was getting her PhD.

I told Charlie about my
reaction saying, “One mistake can ruin
all your hard work. That one simple error destroyed all the trust that had
been built up over a handwritten thank you and multiple letters. She had taken
good notes on our preferences and intimations, put them in the software and
then dutifully executed the planned actions. Someone had helped with
well-conceived letters that took advantage of both the information in the
system and the news at the project. But you’re only as good as the information
you use.”

Charlie, who optimizes CRM
systems for a living, put it this way, “You
can’t pretend and get away with it. You can and should record information
about your clients and prospects in a contact management database. You should
use the database to help you remember people and all the various and sundry
things you learn about them. Recording only what you really know is the
best way to assure long term precision.”

I’m telling you, “Record data accurately… for now and when
you need it. She wrongly recorded education data. Instead of not
commenting, she elected to fit an assumption into her telephone script. Any
comment about not being sure and we might have given her the benefit of the
doubt. But feigning knowledge from inaccurate facts cost her us as prospects as
well as the three other couples we might have sent her way.

The beauty of the computer
is that it can help you remember. But it will only remember what you tell it.
Before you act on data, be sure it is accurate. That way leads to satisfaction.”

Charlie is right. Mark my words: “True satisfaction
increases trust, sales and referrals.
Loyal customers will overlook errors on your part. They believe that you will
always act in their best interest. They will give you latitude if they have
been consistently satisfied over time.

Loyal customers and prospects are nobody’s
fools.

 Great Pretenders fool only
themselves.