I can't trust any outsourcing companies.

Concerns about how to treat customers

It was a story I heard from a client who visited after a long time, as the COVID-19 situation calmed down a bit.

The company relied heavily on blog marketing, so I wanted to draw a line since it was a different area from mine, but in the end, I'm also an outsourced company, so I just listened quietly. Whether it was anger about past work with me or anger about their recent relationship with another company, I thought it would help me understand the client in front of me. Above all, these situations happen more often than you think. I've experienced it when running my own business, and I've also received the same kind of look when I was working for a company, so I started to become more curious.

Why were they angry?

Actually, based on my experience, the biggest reason for these situations is the different expectations and misunderstandings regarding ‘responsibility.’ For example, let's assume that an external company used the expression, “We will take responsibility for your sales and increase them.”

Frankly, unless it's the company's representative, it's impossible for anyone to guarantee that they will take responsibility for someone else's sales and increase them. This is because sales are entirely determined by the representative's charm and capabilities, as well as the business's level of completion. Even if the number of new customers who found the company due to increased exposure has increased, it's not something an external company can control whether the client in front of them decides to make a purchase. This is the company's misunderstanding of the scope of responsibility.

Then, what about the representative who entrusts the work? Before claiming that they ‘believed what the external company said,’ I've actually seen quite a few representatives who haven't paid enough attention to the work themselves and have been neglecting their studies. (The company mentioned above doesn't fall into this category.) In such situations, it's difficult to judge the scope and meaning of what they want to achieve, so they end up with vague expectations and shifting responsibility, often being nothing more than greed for unattainable results.

In short, this is why it is absolutely necessary for both parties, those who assign work and those who receive it, to honestly acknowledge and recognize their limitations.

Here's one of the most intimidating CEOs I've met.

The strongest CEO I met after leaving the advertising company was the owner of a pork belly restaurant across from Yeongdeungpo Station.

“I want to fill at least ten more tables between 5pm and 6pm. I want office workers who finish work early to see our restaurant's ads. It doesn't matter if it's a blog or a Facebook video ad. But of course, the cost should be lower than the profit from ten tables, right?”

I'm not sure if I've successfully conveyed why I called him intimidating.

To explain, in this case, the CEO of the company has a very clear target they are aiming for, namely a specific sales figure (the average sales amount per table). And they demonstrate a wealth of experience by being able to specify the exact time their company's advertisement needs to be active and the target audience they are hoping to reach. Moreover, it's remarkable how clearly they understand the essence of the business, effectively negating any misleading online target analysis or data that companies often use to appear professional. And the fact that they clearly stated the limit of the proposed budget is the icing on the cake, if you will.

So, how should we conduct sales?

To be honest, I'm not very good at sales. The best I can do is keep visiting, asking questions about the situation, and listening before leaving. Jay Jirundon, the LinkedIn sales manager from Singapore, said that being very aggressive in sales is effective, but that's difficult for me. (If you don't use this solution, your sales will drop next year. Can you guarantee that they won't?)

So, in case it helps those of you who are struggling with the same concerns, I'd like to share the story of the best sales expert I've ever met.

His profession is a ‘Korean medicine doctor’.

Why a Korean medicine doctor? Some of you might ask, but being a Korean medicine doctor involves face-to-face sales with dozens of patients every day. I was surprised when I conducted interviews for a survey on the sales of non-covered items, such as Korean medicine.

And he's a Korean medicine doctor frequented by the wealthiest people in South Korea.

I heard that many private practitioners, including Korean medicine doctors, faced difficult situations during the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic, to the point where they had to consider closing down by early March. However, this particular doctor said that he had more patients seeking treatment related to immunity. This was because the wealthy individuals he treated had not only continued to seek his services but had also recommended him to their relatives.

Above all, the main reason why I'm specifically mentioning this person is

that, for him, sales are 100% driven by patients' voluntary actions.

He doesn't even have a website or a large clinic, just a small space next to a gym, yet patients continue to visit.
Now, let's reveal his secret.

“How is such sales possible?”
“There's nothing special. I just try to relieve the suffering of the patient in front of me as quickly as possible.”

Well, I know. I asked him again.
I was so curious about how he managed to have such wealthy people continuously visiting for over a decade.

But that was really it. Focusing 100% on the patient in front of him.

In fact, while other private medical practitioners spend an average of 2 to 6 minutes with a patient (initial consultations are slightly longer, as they need to see a certain number of patients to maintain the clinic), he spends 30 minutes. Even considering his personal preference for not seeing too many patients, how did he manage to interact with and build relationships with those discerning wealthy people, to the point of establishing a system where patients do the sales for him?

Among the things he told me, here are a few patterns that I can somewhat understand and summarize.

1. Never ask first.

Even if there are many treatment options, instead of recommending the most profitable ones, he simply mentions the cost and expected effects of each. And he waits. The choice is up to the client. Whether it's successful or not, it's the client's experience, not my achievement.

2. Solve the customer's immediate issue.

I almost died from a rare disease when I was young, so I believe that resolving a patient's suffering should be the top priority. Medical practice is bound to involve various interpretations and subjective assessments. Therefore, he empathizes with and resolves the immediate problem using all possible methods. If it's an area that he can't treat, he introduces them to other specialists and focuses only on eliminating their pain as quickly as possible.

3. Don't get carried away by achievements.

If it were me, I'd be tempted to leverage my long-standing relationships with top-tier business leaders in South Korea for promotional purposes. However, he doesn't do that. He says that the real wealthy people he interacts with share a common characteristic: they never look down on others, regardless of age. It's like respecting the other person as much as they respect themselves and maintain their own boundaries.

That's why, even if some patients who learn about the clinic through other channels come in and rudely assess his skills and cause inconvenience, he simply lets them go. And later, he tells himself, 'If they don't get treatment from me, it's their loss.'

From my experience, every client and related project is different.

Most of the time, they are unique and in fields I don't know much about, and the scope and meaning of what I can solve with them are not something I can decide alone. Often, we create, learn, and refine things together, and I've benefited more from those experiences, growing significantly, to the point that I'm being paid for it.

That's why clients are so precious. And for the same reason, they are intimidating, and they are the ones I need to persuade in order to survive. And the question returns to how can I make such clients seek me out and go to persuade them?

Perhaps it's about having an influence but pretending not to, being present in a nearby place. That's the conclusion I've been able to draw from my experiences so far. (If you have a different opinion, please let me know in the comments.)