Is does not matter what industry your customers are in or where they are located or even who is trying to sell to them, at the end of the day all customers want the following:
1. They want to feel important
2. They want to feel valued or appreciated
3. They want to be understood
4. They want and need your help
5. They want you to truly listen to them
6. They want YOU to stop talking about YOURSELF
7. They want YOU to stop talking about YOUR company
8. They want to buy something
9. They want you to WOW them
10. They want to have both success and happiness
The question you must ask yourself then is, how much different would you look compared to your competitors if you kept these ten things in mind with all your customers? Better yet, how much different would your sales results be? Now that you know what all customers want, the key is to either memorize these ten things or figure out a way to always have them with you at all times. It can be as simple as writing them down and taping them onto the mirror in your bathroom or laminating them and carrying them in your folder or purse. The goal of this exercise is to always remember that Sales is about what matters to your customer first and foremost. By focusing on what your customers really want you will avoid the cardinal sin of doing all the talking or worse, talking only about you and your products or services.
Your goal as a salesperson should not be just to win the next sale. Your goal should be to win your customers trust and loyalty and become a trusted business partner. Not only will you win the next sale but more importantly, you will keep your customer for life!
If you want to be successful you need to see your business through your customer’s eyes. How does what you are selling impact their business both positively and negatively? If you can’t this question you are missing a critical component to keeping your customers business. The processing of finding and getting business can be challenging but often less time and energy is spent on keeping the business. Having great after sale support or customer care will not only differentiate you from your competitors but will ensure your customers continue to come back for more. Focusing on providing great customer care is not just about getting the sale but rather keeping your customers for life.
Sales author and speaker Laurie Brown gives us seven qualities of customer care that will help you both win and keep your customers:
1. Accessibility. Start by making it easy for your customers to do business with you. Accessibility includes such things as ample parking, phone systems that are easy to use, responding to e-mail the day it is received, and a website that is clear and easy to navigate. It means you use language that is straightforward and readily understood by all. If you have diverse customers, it means translating your materials into their native language.
How easy is it for your customers to do business with you?
2. Availability. Are you there when your customers need you? Make sure that your business hours are compatible with your clients/customers needs. If your business takes appointments or reservations, allow your customers to make them for the same day that they call. On days when your business is closed, have a place or person that your customers can go to get information. This could be a website, a person on call, or a helpful message on your phone system. Nowadays, people seek information 24/7 — make sure that they can get what they need when they need it.
3. Affability. Everyone wants to do business with nice, pleasant people. Seems simple, right? But sometimes the simplest things can be the hardest to accomplish. Having to deal with the realities of life like traffic, arguments, or just not feeling well, can sometimes make being pleasant seem impossible. Even so, making a point of warmly greeting your customers on the phone or in person can have an amazing impact on the success of your business. Affability is everyone’s responsibility. Everyone (from the janitor to the CEO) should greet customers warmly. This will help ensure your customers get the welcoming, positive experience they deserve.
4. Agreeability. Customers want to hear “Yes” when they ask you for something, yet how often do you find yourself saying “No”? Or perhaps you defer to policies and procedures. Do you really think that a “No” feels better when your customers hear, “Sorry, it’s our policy.”? Obviously you can’t say “Yes” every time your customers ask for something. So how do you know when to say “Yes” without it becoming a problem? Put it through a very simple filter: If it isn’t illegal, immoral or unethical, then say “Yes”.Even when you can’t say “Yes”, don’t say “No.” Instead, stop, take a breath, and say, “Let me see what I can do.” Then do something. Find a way to solve the problem — call a supervisor, be creative, show the customer that you are doing everything possible to accommodate them. When you say “Yes!” you are showing your customer that you value their business and that you care about their best interests.
5. Accountability. Take ownership of your customer’s needs and issues. Let them know that you will do your best to make them happy. If there is a problem, be the one who gets it resolved, even if you didn’t create the problem. See a problem through until it’s resolved. When other people need to be involved, you still need to follow-up to make sure that the problem was resolved successfully.
Do you follow through until your customer issues are resolved?
6. Adaptability. Your customers’ desires are constantly changing. Make sure that you keep up. Adaptability is essential. Don’t just wait for their requests. Seek them out and talk to them, ask them about their experience of doing business with you. What do they like about your business? What do they dislike? Even more than keeping up, make sure you exceed your customer’s expectations. If you always provide something exceptional, they will grow to expect it, and it ceases to be exceptional. When exceptional becomes the norm, you need to figure out new ways to surprise and delight them.
What do you do to adapt to your customer’s needs?
7. Ability. It might seem strange that ability comes last on the list. If you do all the things described above successfully, customers will be far more willing to accept that you are not perfect. This doesn’t mean that you don’t have to strive for continuous improvement.
"Your customers are getting more and more knowledgeable. The Internet has made it easy for them to gain knowledge. You need to do at least as much research as they do. More than ever, you need to be an expert about your products and services. Take 15 minutes out of your day, every day, and learn something new. Read what your customers read; find out what others are saying about your products and services; learn more about your competition. You can truly set yourself apart from the competition when you acquire more knowledge and expertise every day."
One of the key differentiators in a customers buying decision is the salesperson. You are an extension of the brand that you represent. You are the ambassador of the company brand. At the end of the day, people want to do business with people they like. Even more importantly your customers want to know that you will be there to assist them if they have problems or something goes wrong. If your customers view you as just their salesperson and no different than your competitors then you are missing out on being “the great differentiator”!
Being liked is good, but being trusted and respected is better. This doesn’t come from a single interaction and thankfully for you, is not something that all salespeople practice. Salespeople can sometimes be lazy and assume that once they have their customers business, the hard work is done. However, the reality is it takes consistent, intentional work to become a trusted and respected salesperson and even more work to become a trusted business partner. However, once you reach this level with your customers not only will they willingly give you referrals but you will make it more difficult for your competitors to get in the door and take the business away. What then are some things you can do to ensure you become the differentiator and trusted business partner with your customers?
1. Show your customer how your product or service will make their business better, not just explaining to them what your product or service does.
a. Will your product/service save them time?
b. Will your product/service save them $$?
c. Will your product/service help them grow their business?
2. Stay in regular contact with them. If you can’t meet with them in person on a regular basis, pick up the phone and make sure they are not having any issues.
3. Research what their competitors are doing and share what you learn with them. (This will not only show them you are in it for more than just a commission but they will start viewing you as more of a consultant than salesperson.)
4. Continue to bring them ideas and/or solutions that you feel will help their business.
5. Return all phone calls and emails as quickly as possible. Don’t give them a reason to contact your competitors.
Take the next minute and a half to watch the following video to see how you can build relationships with your customers and earn referrals at the same time:
“If you walk in with information about you, you’re a salesman. If you walk in with valuable information about them (the customer) or for them, now you’re a resource.”-Jeffrey Gitomer
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!
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.
Can you recall a time as a consumer where you had a memorable experience? What were the circumstances around the experience and how did it make you feel? Without a doubt there was something concrete that you can pin point that made the experience memorable. What you inevitably experienced was a company or person going beyond the expected. Yes, it is important to provide what is expected and to follow through on your promise. However, I challenge you to go above and beyond the expected and to give your customers a memorable experience. Not only will you make a lasting impression on that person, but more importantly they will share their experience with those around them.
We don’t need to look beyond bookstores for a great example of an industry that has turned what was once a transaction into an experience. Bookstores were simply a place to go buy a book, pay for it and leave. The average bookstore consisted merely of isle upon isle of book lined shelves and a cash register. What you find today in a lot of bookstores are comfortable places to sit and read a book, magazine or newspaper while enjoying your favorite caffeinated beverage of choice or a sandwich or muffin. Bookstores have now become a comfortable place to socialize and have turned an ordinary transaction into an experience.
No matter what industry you are in if you only meet your customer’s expectation or perform a transaction for your customer, you risk becoming a commodity. I love how Maribeth Kuzmeski, founder of Red Zone Marketing defines commodity: “A commodity is something that’s capable of being interchanged or replaced.” The danger of becoming a commodity is that it becomes much more difficult to tell your company or product from everyone else. Said another way you are not going above and beyond therefore your product or service mirrors the competition. By going above and beyond what your customers expect, you will create a memorable experience that will no doubt ensures that your company or product stands on its own. “The Connectors” offers a story of an example of a company that understands the value and worth of creating a memorable experience. The company that the story is describing is The Gramercy Tavern in New York. This restaurant is consistently one of the top 10 Zagat rated restaurants in New York. They not only provide top notch service and a great menu but they create a unique and memorable experience for their customers. When the meal is over, the bill paid and everyone is getting ready to leave, someone from the wait staff comes over and hands you a gift- a cranberry orange muffin wrapped in cellophane and ribbons. They tell you “a little something for your breakfast tomorrow”. What makes this such a great experience is two-fold. First, no one is expecting to receive a gift as they leave a restaurant and so you are taking by surprise. Secondly, you can bet that as the person is eating the muffin the next morning they are thinking about what a great time and experience they had the night before. Now, tell me you wouldn’t share this experience with your friends, neighbors and co-workers. I bet you wouldn’t hesitate to give this restaurants name to those who are looking for a great place to eat.
Providing a consistent and reliable product or service to a consumer is needed and should be commended. However, as you can tell from the examples above, there is more value in going above and beyond and creating a memorable experience that will not only create a loyal customer but one that will want to share their experience with others. Here are a few ideas to consider:
1. Set up a brainstorming session with your Customer Service or Customer Care department along with your Marketing Department to think of ways to go about this?
2. Set up an internal contest with your employees as a way to come up with the best ideas. Incent them for their creativeness.
3. What can you build into your business model that would create a memorable experience for your current and future customers?
4. Look to your current policies and procedures for anything that you could adjust that would you to offer these kind of experiences.
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"
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