Show me the love and I'll show you the money

I got a call before the holidays from a prospective customer that I introduced to one of my portfolio companies.  He said he loved our product, saw it fitting in perfectly into their platform, but that we were not responsive enough to their needs.  I was able to get a second chance for our team but since deals are momentum-based, I knew that it would be an uphill struggle to win.  While our technology was the best, his guys told him that they were quite concerned about our ability to be there when the shit hit the fan.  In other words, they wanted to make sure that no matter what happened that they could rely on us to be there on a moment's notice to support them and help fix any issues.  As I have mentioned in a previous post, you only get one chance to make a first impression and if you are strapped too thin or chasing too many deals at once, it may come back to haunt you.  You see, many companies that try to partner or sell into enterprises forget that showing the love early in the sales process and stressing the support factor is as big a deal as the technology itself.  I am not saying that if your technology sucks and you are there 24/7 you will win, but what I am saying is that if your technology is on the margin and all things being equal, your ability to support that partner or customer will be a huge deciding factor. So if you want the customer to show you the money, make sure that you show the love pre- and post sale.