One common truth in sales is given the choice people would rather do business with their friends. Here lies the importance of having strong relationships with your customers. If you need further proof of this just listen to what author and professional relationship expert Keith Ferrazzi says, “Smart salespeople spend 80% of their time building strong relationships with the people they do business with and 80% of building and maintaining relationships is just staying in touch.” Having a strong relationship is more than just being good at small talk with your customers. Rather, it’s connecting with your customer on a personal level and building trust over time that will lead to a great relationship. This is not a onetime event. As in any relationship in life, it takes time and multiple interactions to build a solid relationship. Although most salespeople might not think so, the salesperson motives are usually easily read by the customer. Nothing damages a relationship with your customer more or prevents one from happening than when the customer feels the salesperson is only concerned with one thing, his or her own needs. This is what separates the salesperson from the good salesperson. The salesperson wants to just take your money and a good salesperson wants to make your life better.
Relationships are all about communication and customer relationships are no different. Communicating clearly and regularly with your customers is not only about sharing information. It is both give and take and if done correctly, will build trust and strengthen your relationship. If given the option, communication face-to-face is the most effective. However, not all sales are done face-to-face so communication via email or over the phone can also be effective. The key to remember and so often forgotten is that without being able to see the facial expressions and mannerisms of the person that is talking, words can easily be misconstrued. A lot of pain and heartburn can be avoided if the salesperson would just pick up the phone and speak directly with the customer. Email is a great tool for communicating with a number of different people in different locations, but should never be used as the sole way to communicate with your customers. Although technology has forever changed many facets of business nothing can replace the impact that meeting with your customers face-to-face can have. Many of my most successful sales calls and customer relationships have been built by stepping on an airplane and flying across country for a single meeting. Yes, it takes time and energy but then again what important relationship doesn’t?
It seems with all the training salespeople receive, the focus on customer relationships can often be pushed to the side or forgotten about entirely. Salespeople often feel internal pressure to hit their ever increasing sales goals that they mistakenly focus solely on the goals themselves instead of the relationships that will help them meet said goals. There could be a variety of reasons why but the reality is that if you are not focusing on building relationships with your customers you are missing out on a way to built trust with your customers and differentiate yourself from your competition. In Jeffrey Gitomer’s Little Teal Book of Trust he states this perfectly, “Customers buy because they trust you, but in order for them to gain that trust, they first had to like you AND believe you AND have confidence in you.”
Here are a few solutions to help you build and strengthen relationships with your customers:
1. Break bread with your customers- Getting your customers out of the office and sharing a meal or a cup of coffee is a great way to do this.
2. Be a business connector- Introduce your customer to someone you know they want to do business with.
3. Become a trusted business partner- share solutions and information with them that will help them grow their business and meet their Corporate Objectives.
4. Take them to a sporting event or concert- this is a great way to involve not just the customer but their spouse.
5. Thank them for their business by sending them hand written Thank You cards.
6. Stay in contact with them on a regular basis- this can be done simply by giving them a quick call to let them know you were thinking of them and asking if you can be of any further assistance.
One of the secrets to success in sales lies in one tiny word that delivers a powerful punch: why? The art of asking questions may seem too obvious at first glance but has a profound effect in sales and life. In the sales industry there is no lack of sales training programs and new sales techniques. It seems every time you turn around there is a new book or program out that promises that if you just follow their easy steps, you will have great success. The problem is that salespeople can get sidetracked by spending too much time focused on the sales process and with sharpening their sales tools, than actually taking time to learn about their customer and their customers business. Sales is more than just a process, but I will save that for a different article. A second cardinal sin that salespeople often make is when the salesperson does all the taking. How can you possibly understand what your customers needs are if you never let them talk? Most people are so busy that unless you find a way to get them talking they are not going to volunteer the information you need. There is no better way to learn about your customers business than by asking questions. Here are some questions you can ask that you might try:
1. What is your biggest challenge right now?
2. What are your short term goals?
3. What gives you the greatest satisfaction?
4. How do you define success?
5. What are you doing to help grow your business?
6. What are your corporate strategies?
Don’t be afraid of asking seemingly stupid questions. A side benefit of asking questions is that you get the customer talking and you inevitably find out much more information than you were originally looking for. We as humans love to talk about things that we are passionate about. This is no different for customers. Most customers are passionate about their business and when asked are usually willing to open up, assuming they have the time. Even if you know or think you know the answer the customer is going to give, ask anyway. Don’t assume anything. You would be surprised by what you hear if you just take a chance and ask anyway. Yes, you can and should do research on your customers before you meet with them. The internet has made it very easy to look up info on both the customer and their competitors. You can rest assured that if you are not doing your homework, your competition is. However, this cannot and shouldn’t replace you getting information and knowledge directly from the source.
If you are looking to strengthen the relationship with your customer, asking questions is one way to do it. This shows your customers that you are more concerned about them and their business than you are with making a commission. Nothing can be more of a turn off to a customer or prevent them from doing business with you faster, than when they feel you have not at least tried to get to know them and their needs. What if you only have a few minutes with your customers? It doesn’t have to take a lot of time to form a bond with your customers. Starbucks is a great example of this. One of the main reasons they have been successful for so long is no matter how large of a company they have become, they haven’t lost sight of the importance of their Barista’s connecting with their customers. They have proven that if the Barista’s can connect on a personal level with their customers, the customers will choose them over their competition, even at a higher price! If you really want to take a risk and speed up the relationship with a customer, ask this question “Tell me something you’ve never told somebody else?” Here are some other heart questions you can ask to help strengthen the relationships with your customers:
1. Tell me about your children?
2. What were your biggest challenges you had to starting this career or business?
3. What keeps you up at night?
4. What is your greatest accomplishment?
5. Who are you responsible for?
Believe it or not it does take practice for asking good questions to become a habit. Don’t get discouraged, if you don’t get the answer you were looking for with your first question, you may need to drill down farther by asking probing questions. The secret to your success in sales may only be a good question or two away. Go ahead take a risk and start asking your customers more questions, what do you have to lose?
"What you have to do and the way you have to do it is incredibly simple. Whether you are willing to do it is another matter." -- Peter Drucker
In business, vulnerability is often incorrectly viewed as a weakness. Vulnerability is not a weakness but rather a way to build further loyalty with your clients. At the end of the day vulnerability is about service. Being more concerned about your client and their needs, than you are about yourself and your own needs. An example of this would be a salesperson willing to risk a short term sale or commission for the sake of a long term partnership. In runner’s terms, this would be training for a marathon instead of a 5K race. The word service shares the same root meaning as servant and subservience. In order to build loyalty with your clients you need to serve them or more importantly, serve them better than your competition does.
While vulnerability builds loyalty, fear is what tears it apart. Fear can be a crippling emotion and can paralyze us from taking proper risks in business. Author Patrick Lencioni explains there are three fears that prevent us from building trust and loyalty with our clients:
1. Fear of losing the business- We can become solely focused on not losing the business that we get sidetracked and our fear can become a barrier to providing the proper service to our clients.
2. Fear of being embarrassed- We incorrectly think that if we are truly vulnerable with our clients and admit the limitations that our product or service has or if we don’t have an immediate answer or solution to their question or need, then we will embarrass ourselves. The truth is we can gain further respect and built further loyalty by being honest and forthright. The one thing that most clients feel is the unknown. They don’t want to be surprised by something that they were not expecting and that will have damaging affects to their business.
3. Fear of feeling inferior- We all at one time or another have felt a sense of inferiority. Of course we all want to be respected and not treated as those we are inferior to others. However, providing great service to our clients means that we do whatever it takes to help them even at the risk of feeling inferior.
Being vulnerable with your clients is not telling them what you think they want to hear but rather telling them what you know they need to hear, no matter how hard it may seem at the time. The loyalty and trust that you can build by being naked in front of your clients far outweighs the fears you may have. Go ahead, get naked!
Looking for a way to stand out against your competitors and peers? How often do you have a great experience as a customer but never say anything? If you are in sales, how often do you follow up with your customers? The vast majority of those who do respond when they have a great customer encounter or an experience that stands out will follow up with an email. The problem is your email probably gets lost in the ocean of emails that person receives or becomes another action item they must deal with. Also, you may never know if they actually read it and you lose the opportunity of creating a memorable experience for them. As a society we have transformed from an analog to a digital society and thus have forgotten the power of receiving a greeting card. It is one of those things in life that can have a dramatic impact on others but often gets overlooked.
Andy Horner, who is the Chief Architect at Jeffrey Gitomer’s Ace of Sales describes these moments as “Greeting Card Moments”. Those moments when you catch yourself saying “I should really send a special note” but the reality is that we rarely do. Instead, we most often send a more contrite email message and the opportunity to make a real connection or a memorable experience is lost. Why do we ignore these “Greeting Card Moments?”
1. I’m too busy.
2. The special moment with the person was far more special to you.
3. He or she will ignore 75% of the 100 emails they get daily.
4. When the person promises to get in touch with you, they won't.
5. Sales occur after establishing relationships.
The beauty of sending a greeting card is not only will it be a surprise when it lands in their mailbox but you can be sure it will be the only one they receive that day! You will instantly stand out in their mind as someone who cares enough to take the time to go the extra mile and create a connection that others most often overlook. Andy Horner highlights seven tips to help you capitalize on your “Greeting Card Moments:”
1. It's all about content. Your recipient will put as much thought into the card as you do. If you write a canned, two sentence "thanks," they'll roll their eyes and toss it. If you tailor a heartfelt message to the recipient with enough specifics to make it count, they'll show it around and prop it on their desk right next to the pictures of their family...for the week at least.
2. Follow this pattern: Start by reminding the recipient of the event you're writing about. "Bob, it was terrific to get to know you at ‘Cabo Fish Taco' on Friday!" Then include a casual comment. "That photo you showed me of the marlin you and your son caught was amazing! There's a big fish story you don't need to exaggerate." Continue by expressing your sentiments. "On a more serious note, I'm very grateful for this new project you've entrusted to me. Thank you for giving me this opportunity." Finally, use a traditional close like "sincerely" or "best wishes."
3. Know your recipient. For more analytical contacts, include your thoughts without a lot of fluff. If your recipient is more relational or creative, feel free to express your feelings, excitement, and emotions.
4. Add humor. Inside jokes, playful jabs, and witticisms are perfect to include right before your expression of sincerity. Humor will do more than make your recipient smile. It'll prompt them to write back with their own quip. Remember, the humor must originate from the conversation with the recipient. No random joke telling!
5. Add real value. If you're thanking a customer for a first order, substantial purchase, or referral, add a gift card. It's the guaranteed way to get a response back.
6. Send referrals. Make memorable events out of your referrals. First, make sure your referral is on board. Then send a greeting card to your customer with the referral's contact info and a note that they are expecting a call. It'll be a big win for your customer and you!
7. Personalize it. Take a photo when you're with your customer. Personalize the front of your greeting card with the photo. The worth of a personalized greeting card is 100 times that of a stock image.
I challenge you today the next time you experience a “Greeting Card Moment”, don’t miss the opportunity to actually send a greeting card.
The word networking is one of those words that we hear so often, it seems to lose its meaning and importance. What is networking? Dictionary.com defines it as, “a supportive system of sharing information and services among individuals and groups having a common interest.” To describe it in real life terms, it’s the process of connecting with others with the goal of making them more successful. It has also been described as “the constant process of giving and receiving, of asking for and offering help.” Networking is much more than just getting together with people, it is about strengthening your relationship with others, by giving more than you take.
Networking takes time. This is why it ends up far too often in the “I know I should be doing this but don’t have the time” category. Is it really worth your time though? These days most people would admit you have a much better chance of getting a job or a promotion through networking than you do through the normal application process. As well, for any relationship personal or business, you must put the work into strengthening the relationship. Author Maribeth Kuzmeski in her book “The Connectors” discusses the importance of relationships this way: “Cultivating relationships lead to success in just about anything that we do. This skill must be practiced and trained.” In addition, trust is not built on a single interaction and thus it takes time to prove to the other person that you desire to make them more successful.
Listed below are some ways to make connecting with others easier and to help you strengthen your relationships:
1. Use tools that make it easier- Every time you meet someone, follow up with a LinkedIn invitation (rather than an email). This allows the person to see everything about you and them, including shared connections and other information that you might find useful.
2. “Thoughtful Detail”- When you introduce two people, try to make sure you explain to the other person who this person is, what they do and tell them something about the other person they might be interested in.
3. Share a meal- If you want to strengthen the relationship with a colleague, customer or friend, get them away from their desk.
4. Email etiquette- Never use the word “I” in you emails until the third sentence. This is harder than you think so you have to take some time to practice it. This is especially important for someone you are trying to get a meeting with but that you have never met.
5. Volunteer- Not only will you feel great about serving but it allows you to make connections and build relationships on a different level.
6. Be a person of integrity- Make high integrity commitments to yourself and others and more importantly, make sure you keep every one of them.
One of the secrets to success is generosity. How can you start using networking today to make those around you more successful?
It’s a well known fact that the internet has changed how consumers get their information and in turn their buying habits. What may be less common is how these changing buying habits have forever altered the face of customer service. The customer service department at many companies likely does not exist as it did in the past. Consumers use to engage customer service if they wanted advice or help in picking out a product. It is now commonplace for consumers to get advice from their peers or to navigate various web sites on their own. This change alone has required companies to adjust their customer service model. However, a bigger change and another cause of the death of traditional customer service is customer service is no longer just left up to the employees working in the customer service department. Any employee that has the potential to affect the customer works in customer service.
As ecommerce business has grown for most companies, the need for over the phone or face-to-face interactions with Customer Service Representatives have decreased. At the same time, the need for exceptional customer service has never been greater. Consumers desire a relationship with a company’s brand and thus when consumers do make contact with a company they expect and demand great customer service from any employee they come in contact with, regardless of their position. The mistake that some companies make is they incorrectly assume customer service resides solely in the customer service department. This can lead to communication issues and eventually silos will be created within an organization. Once this happens departments stop communicating with one another which ultimately results in employees not understanding how they impact both the customer and their company. Radian6 conducted a study on customer service and describes the shift in company culture that is needed: “valuable customer service has to move outside departmental walls and into the roles of everyone who has the potential to impact a customer’s decision-making process. Customer service is no longer about doing triage; it’s about anticipating the needs of customers before they’re even aware of them.”
Here are 5 ways your company can remain customer focused and prevent silos from being built:
1. Get your customer service department involved with Marketing- Aren’t they two separate departments? Yes, but they are the ones who are in regular contact with your customers and know what they want, after all.
2. Cross training- A great way to ensure all employees understand the significance of providing great customer service is to train them outside of their own department. This also leads to great employee satisfaction as they will be challenged to learn new skills.
3. Social Networking responses- Who handles your social networking responses? Do you have someone dedicated to ensuring responses are timely and accurate? This is critical as more consumers are now using social networking sites for business.
4. Be your own customer- Is your company easy or hard to do business with? A great way to measure this is to place an order with your own company and find out. The results could surprise you!
5. Company culture- Tony Hsieh, CEO of Zappos advocates focusing your performance reviews not on sales goals or projects completed but on how closely employees’ actions match up with you company culture. Is your culture evident to your customers when they come into contact with your employees?
It takes a long time to build trust but only a moment to lose it. Most companies, particularly their sales people, know the value of customer trust. It is, without a doubt, the heart if their customer service strategy. In reality however, most companies and sales people only tell half the story, by telling their customers only what they can do for them. Though upfront this doesn’t seem such a bad business tactic, it has the potential risk of losing a customer. It simply is not enough to tell your customers what you can do for them. In order to build long term trust, you must set up realistic expectations for them upfront by also telling them what you cannot do.
Telling clients the other half of the story, you are creating a bond with them by showing them you are more interested in building a long term relationship, rather than just a quick sale. Companies that do this well, will stand out because they are willing to go against the norm. Southwest Airlines is a great example of a company that does this well. They are known as the “no frills” airline as they do not offer many of the amenities that most other airlines do and what experts view as “musts” for travelers. However, Southwest Airlines’ strength is that they tell their customers what they are and what they aren’t going to do for them. Proof of their success is found in a recent study where Southwest Airlines was the airline that received fewest customer complaints. I don’t believe they could accomplish this by only telling their customers half of the story. Some say they take a risk by not offering the amenities that their competitors offer, while others say they take a bigger risk by telling their customers what they won’t provide or do for them. However, the fact that Southwest Airlines has been upfront, telling customers the full story, they have built a mutual, long lasting trust between themselves and their customers.
Setting up expectations with your customers needs to happen at the forefront of your business relationship. This creates an atmosphere of trust. With trust comes better communication. And when, for example, if the customer has an issue with your product or service, they will be more apt to forgive you and allow you the time to resolve the issue before they decide to take their business elsewhere. They know you have their best interest in mind. It is my experience that customers would rather do business with a company that is upfront and honest, telling them the full story, than with a company who hides issues or hopes the customer won’t notice the issue.
Jeffrey Gitomer, author of “Little Teal Book of Trust” offers some simple but effective ways to make trust flourish with your customers:
Tell the truth (not just half)
Deliver what you promise
Do what you say you will do
Communicate in a timely manner
Bring value beyond your product or service
Be on time
Be friendly
Be sincere
Be appreciative of their business
Be grateful for the opportunity to be of service
Be consistent
Give trust
Source: Gitomer, J. Little Teal Book of Trust, 2007.
We are a culture of having regular check up’s. This applies to our heath with regular Doctor and Dentist check up’s, as well as with our homes and autos with furnace checks up’s and oil changes. The question then is does this same mentality transfer to our businesses, more specifically, to the ways that our customers interact with us? Depending on your business model this can be in person, over the phone or via your web site. Although the method of interaction may vary, the point that must not be overlooked is how easy is your company to do business with?
The old adage still applies today “most customers will not complain, they will just never come back” or worse, they will tell their friends and family members about the bad experience they had. Convenience and ease of use are key factors in whether a consumer chooses to buy your products or services. For instance, have you tried ordering a product from a company’s web site and found the check out process was so cumbersome that you abandoned the sale and shopped somewhere else? What about a web site that is not easy to navigate? Normally we just get frustrated which leads us to look for an easier site. In turn companies are giving business to their competitors.
Customer Service is another key factor that can make or break a sale. The experience that your customers have when they make contact with your Customer Service department will make or break a sale as well as ensure the loyalty of the customer. This includes not only the length of time you are on hold or waiting for an answer to a question but the length of time it takes to place an order. If your Customer Service Department is not easy to do business with you are forcing your customers to take their business elsewhere.
Since we have established the importance of how our customers interact with us, the next question we need to ask ourselves is how often do we perform a check up on our own company? What better way to find out if our company is indeed easy to do business with. Here are some things you can do on a regular basis to put yourself in your customer’s shoes and to experience what they experience:
1. Try buying something from your web site. How easy was it? How many clicks did it take?
2. Place a call to your customer service department with a question. Did you have to wait on hold? Could they answer your question?
3. Place a call to your company with a complaint. Who does the call get routed to?
4. Place an order with your customer service department.
5. Call your company right before it opens and right after it closes. Does anyone answer?
The above listed may seem like common sense to most of us, but the question is, are we administrating the check up that our companies need.
Author and professional speaker Jeffrey Gitomer states, "Customer Satisfaction is Worthless, Customer Loyalty is Priceless"
Read any good mission statements lately? Can you recall one that you read besides your own company’s? If so, I bet you the one word that you didn’t run across in it was loyalty. The usual mission statement contains talk of meeting or exceeding customer expectations, being number one in their particular industry, being fiscally responsible and bringing value to customers and shareholders. These are all good things but the one word that makes all of these happen is loyalty. It doesn’t matter what profession you are in, we all tend to strive to provide great service both to our external and internal customers. If you break down service to its core you will realize that great service is loyalty based service. The reality and secret is that loyalty must be given before it can be received. In addition to not being confined by internal policies or a “we have never done it that before” attitude, it is the realization that the heart of customer service lies in loyalty that requires us to above and beyond how we typically do business.
There have been many studies done and many books written on what makes a company great. Some of the qualities are great employees, great products, gives great service and is easy to do business with. These qualities have two things in common. They all are attractive qualities to both prospective employees and customers and create loyalty. Without great customer service companies would not be able to attract and create customers, but even more importantly companies without loyalty will have no longevity. We should view longevity in business, more like a marathon run than a quick sprint. Our processes and policies need to reflect that we are in it for the long run.
One possible reason that loyalty is not talked about or stressed in businesses is that it is more difficult to define and achieve than customer service. Our own experience as consumer’s day in and day out tell us that we know which companies provide better customer service but can we define why we are loyal to them? Is it simply that they provide us with great service or is there something much deeper going on that makes us loyal and repeat customers? Our own companies need to be loyal to our employees, product quality and of course our customers. Listed below are a few ideas from bestselling author and speaker Jeffrey Gitomer in how to incorporate loyalty into your business:
1. List all reasons that customers call you for service.
2. List all barriers that you place in front of a customer, connecting with you.
3. Once you have all the opportunities and all the barriers listed , have a weekend retreat with senior management and front-line people to determine best practices, generate new ideas for service, and making it easier to do business with your company
4. Put the ideas and the best practices into action.
5. Rather than announce all of these changes in the form of a bragging advertisement, or internal hoopla, let your customers have an opportunity to react and response to your new and better way of doing business.
6. All members of senior management must support this process both verbally and visually.
Source: Gitomer, Jeffrey. “Sales Caffeine”. (2009)
The key to differentiating our company, products and ourselves is to strive to provide loyalty based service, not simply customer service.
As we are at the beginning of a new year and decade, it’s important to take a step back and think about what is at the heart of our businesses. Sometimes we get so occupied with our daily tasks that we lose sight of the core of our business, the customer. Let's face it, it's pretty hard to turn a profit or make payroll without customers. It has been said that the customers you have now are your best customers, meaning that our focus is often centered on bringing on new business therefore; we forget the most important customers are our current customers.
The question is what are you doing to keep your best customers? How are you differentiating yourself, your products or your company from the competition? A few ideas to ponder:
·A new marketing strategy with a focus on building relationships with your current customers
·Rebranding your products to show how they help solve your customers business problems
·Continue educating yourself by reading, taking further business courses or attending industry specific conferences
·Attend local networking events
Customer referral program
The start of a new year brings hope for a brighter future and an opportunity for personal and professional growth. One thing is certain though, your competition is not sitting still waiting for the economy to turn around or for glimpses of hope to appear. They are working their tails off to keep everyone of their best customers. What can you do differently this year to keep the focus on your customers, your best customers?
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