Valuable Accounts

For those of you who think a Gee Haw Whippy Diddle is the same as a Thing-a-ma-bob or a Whatchamacallit or Doohickey, let me fill you in. In the Appalachian mountains, people would often make their own toys out of the resources at hand, which often meant wood whittled or carved with their knives. The Gee Haw Whippy Diddle is one such toy. The toy has a propeller that, by rubbing a stick across notches carved in the handle, either turns to the right (“gees”) or turns to the left (“haws”). If you make a good one and know just how to handle it, you can successfully make it gee or haw on command.

Let me tell you, it’s not that easy. I can usually make one gee or haw but not make it go either direction on command. To do both you must really know the toy, have lots of experience with it and then treat it just right.

Just like customers. In order to really help our customers succeed, we must first really know them. We must build strong, trustworthy relationships with them. We must strive to understand their needs. We must really understand how their business and their industry works.

We must also understand that in order to make our relationship strong we need to constantly work on it. Persistent focus on helping our customers succeed will help to develop the trust we must have. This experience is the ingredient that both comes from and makes for long relationships.

We can never lose sight of our responsibility to take care of our customers. Ask yourself, “What have I done today to make my company as important to our customers as they are to us?” What valuable insight can you offer them today? What have you heard or read about their industry that they need to know? Take care of them constantly.

It takes a lot of practice to make a Gee Haw Whippy Diddle gee and haw. It takes a lot of work to earn the trust of your customers. It’s a good feeling when you can get a haw to follow a gee. It’s a great feeling when your customers come to you for advice because you have earned their trust and respect.