'Building Authentic Customer Relationships' with John Maguire

The Connected Leadership Podcast

In this episode of the Connected Leadership Podcast, Andy Lopata chats with John Maguire, the Regional Vice President of Sales in EMEA for Sugar CRM. The conversation covers a wide range of topics related to managing professional relationships and customer relationship management (CRM) systems. They start by discussing the capture of information in conversations, the need to prompt interactions with customers who have drifted off the radar, and the ways technology can improve customer relationships.

John emphasizes the importance of using CRMs to reduce customer churn, increase customers, and reduce the cost of admin, as well as the role of AI in creating process automation workflows. Andy and John discuss the need for a 360-degree view of the customer and the importance of optimising each interaction with customers across the business. John Maguire also talks about how to avoid the dreaded task of inputting data into CRMs by building it within the flow of work and showing the value to users. He also touches on the balance between technology and humanity, how CRMs can support human interaction rather than replace it, and the applications of AI in the sales process. John highlights that AI can help with secondary selling, but primary selling still requires the human touch of sales professionals understanding clients and addressing their unique needs and challenges.

The conversation then shifts towards maintaining authenticity in sales automation and ethical selling. Andy and John emphasise the importance of customer success and staying connected with clients beyond the initial sale to ensure they get the most out of their investment and are happy with the purchase.

Andy and John explore the VCP model - visibility, credibility, profitability - and the significance of creating buying conversations rather than selling conversations. They look at the impact of gender differences on sales approach and customer relationships. The episode concludes with a discussion of the value of doing what's right and ethical in business, even if it does not result in immediate returns..

This episode explores ways to foster authentic relationships with customers, how to leverage technology to improve customer relationships, and the importance of doing what's right in business. Tune in to learn more.

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Andy Lopata

John Maguire

Sugar CRM