The link between trigger events and customer relationships

Hugh Grant may seem a strange answer but read on

I recently got caught up in a bit of a dispute (court date pending) over what makes a trigger event useful and whether or not they could be used successfully both in prospecting and inside business intelligence. When I say a dispute, it's really for dramatic affect, I'm afraid it was all very amicable but nonetheless I've run home to my blog to have my say.

Part of the debate centered around whether relying on sales triggers was more or less important than building solid relationships with customers. But see, in my opinion both come hand in hand. Take, for example, the classic social disaster of putting your foot in it. Asking a friend to go see the new romantic comedy at the cinema failing to realize they've had a fairly horrendous break up two days previously. Your relationship is likely to hit a bit of a wall, probably after several expletives are shared.

If you had the knowledge of the breakup, you would actively avoid the rom com (despite your desperation to see Huw Grant get Sandra Bullock for the 18th time) and focus on the friend's needs, thus making you look much better in their eyes.

This is the same in business. If a bank calls a company after hearing they're set to expand, they probably stand a better chance of matching that companie's need than if they phoned them say, out of the blue, not hearing the news that they'd just received a £500,000 grant. Thus, the relationship between client and company is much stronger, you've met their needs at a crucial time and they appreciate it.

So to separate strong customer bonds and sales triggers would be unfair. The sales triggers inside business intelligence is what builds the bond, not compensate for it.