i was recently reading a blog article from steph hyken, and the parallels could be applied to any business and their customer experience. in this specific article he discusses playing the 20 question game, but customer experience edition.
this immediately got my wheels turning – accounts people are pros at the 20 question game.
let’s break that down a bit. an account person should always be in ’20 questions’ mode.
💡 think:
- what’s keeping my client up at night?
- what’s the one thing we could cross off their wish list?
- what’s changing in their industry that they might not have told us about yet?
i’m consistently asked what i do and what my day-to-day looks like. i mean really what does it mean to be an “accounts person”? the truth is my role looks different everyday. i know, i know, lame answer.
for my corporate-ese people, you could say i wear a lot of hats. but personally? i like to think i carry a lot of different purses. (hats aren’t my thing.)
all of that aside, i will tell you that the one constant is the commitment to building, maintaining, and growing relationships. ever hear the saying that the grass is only greener where you water it? well, yep that is in fact how it works.
growing a relationship takes two things:
- time
- curiosity
number one is pretty self explanatory. time is obvious, but crucial. strong relationships aren’t built in one meeting. they require consistency, reliability, and showing up, even when things get tough.
for the purposes of this blog, we’ll skip to number two: curiosity.
one of my goals is to continuously push our team to be relentlessly curious. that word was chosen intentionally. curiosity is what fuels growth.
it means more than just asking questions. it’s about asking the right ones, listening actively, and being willing to constantly learn, knowing you’re not the expert in every field. the best account executives aren’t just note-takers; they’re detectives. specifically a detective who carries a leopard print bag for her notepad.
the more we ask, the more we know, the better we can work together as partners. remember that point above about watering your grass? yeah, it’s looking very green right now. might even need a quick mow.
so, i won’t ask you 20 questions now. but i will leave you with this: are you ready to play 20 questions?
