Finally out of frustration he, lets call him Geoff, came to me and said he was sick of waiting as he had not had any positive feedback from his friend on when he might finish. I agreed to take on the project and got to work straight away. Although I had another important project underway I finished Geoff’s job in about ten days.

After I had finished the job I coincidentally I met the other supplier for the job at a social event and on discussing building websites in general (a common interest) he mentioned Geoff and said “I have had a job sitting around for a year perhaps you should take it as I and my website techie guy are a bit busy”. He went on and said with a smirk ‘I’m sure if you do it within a year Geoff will be happy. I found this attitude appalling and I know the supplier had actually had plenty of time to get the job done much earlier.

I had also used the other supplier for some creative work and printing some time in the past. My treatment was the same; he promised a lot and delivered very little. In the process he managed to insult me by telling me my existing printed material that his designs would be replacing was rubbish. Unbeknown to him I had designed the existing material myself. Now rubbish or not I still felt insulted.

So if we are looking t advance our career or just work effectively what are the lessons.

1. If you agree to take on a task get on with it with some sense of urgency.
2. “Bullshit may baffle brains” as the old saying goes however not for long.
3. Respect your customer’s let them know where you up to during a job’s progress.
4. Don’t take on work you can’t handle, as your inability to perform will destroy your credibility.
5. The cheapest quote is not always the best quote.
6. Your reputation is important and your slowness to act will always be publicized to others and can destroy your market and your brand, particularly your personal brand
7. Never scoff at the current work or product of your customer because you never know the history of how it got to be what it was or how attached they are to what they have.

Whether you are an employee or an independent contractor the old rule still stands, if you want to be seen as effective “say what you will do ad do it and say what you won’t do and don’t do it.

I am sure there are other lessons that can be drawn from this situation and hopefully you can add a comment to express your similar experiences and the lessons that those experiences teach.

One article (“smartmanager.com”) I read suggested that “Empowering people is closely aligned with facilitative leadership.” Essentially facilitative leadership is all about helping your staff reach their potential and therefore improve operations. The article continued “If you look at leadership skills along a continuum from persuasion, through collaboration to facilitation, most managers would be required to engage a variety of approaches at different times”. If you take the “Situational Leadership” (Hershey Blanchard) approach of course you would only pass on authority to an individual in the task area in which they are fully competent.

An essential ingredient for any empowerment is an effective training process which tests for competence. As well as the technical skill training you will need to ensure staff have access to the information they require to make confident decisions plus a clear understanding of their boundaries. In addition you must develop a culture of accepting mistakes or errors of judgement as being a legitimate part of the learning process. Obviously one of the boundaries needs to be that the same mistake twice is not acceptable.

Empowerment can be a gradual process. As an example as a lease manager when I worked for a finance company some years ago empowerment for my staff could mean that staff member “A” was able do lease quotes and a second staff member “B” would then check them. The real empowerment came when member A was granted the right to check the quotes and give the quote to the customer. As a checker you had both responsibility for the accuracy and the authority to act. Similarly, when granting loans was the issue, the first step was to give the staff member the right to decline loans to see what the lending competence was. Lending approval limits where then given (real authority) after reviewing the loans that the staff member had declined.

Empowerment of course is not for everyone. Some years ago I had the opportunity to watch as a large international/US hotel company tried to introduce an empowerment program worldwide. I was living on an island in Malaysia at the time and the staff to be empowered where “locals”, mostly from the island itself. These people were bought up in a culture of “do what you’re told” with a strong religious tradition that reinforced compliance to strict rules that to my mind limited the development of their emotional intelligence. The program was a complete disaster for this particular hotel. The empowerment of staff will only occur and be effective if the staff are willing to take authority. Don’t get me wrong they all craved status (manager on their business card) however they definitely did not want either authority or responsibility for outcomes. Emotional intelligence as well as technical skill should be assessed before any though of empowerment can be undertaken.

Finally many see delegation as empowerment and it is not. Sure delegating is part of the overall process however there is much more to real empowerment.

For the employer: (as “about dot com”) puts it, “Empowerment is the process of enabling or [and] authorizing an individual to think, behave, take action, and control work and decisionmaking in autonomous ways”. For the employee: “It is the state of feeling self-empowered to take control of one’s own destiny”.

Here are a few issues you will need to address if you a setting up an empowerment program:

Assign tasks that will allow your subordinates to grow.

Explain why task being assigned to them and highlight “what’s in it for them.”?

Give very clear and detailed directions (the what, where, why, how and when of the tasks) and allow and encourage questions.?

Introduce the empowerment process in stages and allow reasonable time for the process.

Demonstrate that you trust those you are empowering or those process will be nothing more than a waste of time and energy.

Solicit suggestions from your employees as to better ways of completing the project.

Follow up on progress, act as coach however don’t constantly look over their shoulder and always be accessible when those being empowered need help.

Pay a great deal of attention to ensuring employees feel (and are) rewarded and recognized for empowered behavior.

Feeling less than empowered and that its time to move on? Use the resume template and perhaps empower yourself.

So if you are unavailable for any reason what is the best “can’t come to the phone” explanation (excuse) that can be given. I suppose a simple “he’s out of the office” is OK however there is something I believe is better. “He/she is attending to another customer” for my money is the only phrase that will let me hang up without being annoyed at my inability to reach the parson I wanted to contact.

While I’m at it forget the “who’s calling please” it makes the caller feel as if your deciding if they are important enough to be put through. A better question is “may I tell him/her who’s calling”.

One last thing… never tell a customer, as someone did to me today, “he’s at lunch can you call back in an hour“, that’s terrible. Telephone diplomacy can win or lose you and your company great amounts of business!

[  1% ]  was lost because of death

[  3% ]  were lost when their salesmen left the company

[  5% ]  left to buy from a friend or relative

[  9% ]  left because they found they could buy at lower prices

[ 14% ]  quit buying because of unadjusted complaints

[ 68% ]  quit buying from the company because the employees of the company were indifferent and showed lack of interest in the customer

What to do about it:

Provide recognition of your customers by setting up a system that instantly tells you who they are, easy with today’s technology!

Spend lots of time looking at your customer “touch points” and ensure your service systems are comprehensive and accurate and staff is well trained and committed to the customers.

Make sure full and accurate information is available on your products and services to all stakeholders, customers service staff and all contributors to the customer delivery process.

Make helpfulness, friendliness and professionalism core part of your corporate culture.

Protect your brand identity factors as a priority of your organization’s mission… look at Toyota as a good “bad example” and what failing to do this can mean.

Product quality and price – well if I need to write about these to basics I am wasting my and your time.

NB ***Before I finish… direct page viewers can go to main blog to check out other posts by clicking on the white “orglearn.org” in the header panel above!

and… While you’re here take a look at the free blank resume form!

Finally a few customer retention points based on an article by the Database Marketing Institute [www.dbmarketing.com]

Stop stressing price as a major basis for doing business

Know your customers are and treat them as valued individuals

Communicate with them effectively and often

Find special ways to build a relationship with them

Thank them for their business (thank you notes are still good)

Use your best customer service people with them

Build equity in the sales/buying process (through a system that provides rewards for volume business and for length of service/custom for both sides of the equation, staff and customers. i.e. Make it expensive to leave)

Train your customer service staff again and again and again

Helping the prospect through the buying process should be a conversation not a one person narrative. If you are using a script you are probably not listening to the customer nor understanding their wants… you are just pitching and pitching isn’t selling.

Are you working very very hard and still not making the sales?

THEY KEY TO BETTER SALES IS TRAINING YOUSELF TO BECOME THE CUSTOMER’S ‘ASSISTANT BUYER’

Do you look for the five steps of the buying process?

ATTENTION
INTEREST
CONVICTION
DESIRE
PURCHASE

Do you know how to respond effectively to the prospects state of mind and emotions at each of the five stages?

Have you done a sales training course, read a book or even an article on sales in the last 30 days?

If you want to be a real “SALESPERSON” which of the following phrases describe you…

1. long term associate
2. partnership seeker
3. trustworthy individual
4. communicative and a good listener
5. human relations expert
6. product/service expert
7. problem solver
8. referral getter
9. lead generator
10. attractive and well presented
11. caring and considerate
12. often with the customer
13. welcome if you call in unexpectedly,
14. always positive and active
15. someone to respect.

FLOGGING OR PITCHING IS NOT SELLING, IT’S A CON, SELLING IS KNOWING HOW TO BEST SOLVE A CUSTOMERS PROBLEM WITH THE APPROPRIATE SOLUTION

If you need the sales script you have not reached the level of selling competence in the product knowledge area (features, advantages and benefits) that you will need to succeed!

DO YOU UNDERSTAND AND PRACTICE THE “DON’T SELL, LISTEN” PRINCIPLE?

Being sold makes us all uncomfortable; pressure is pressure no matter how slickly it’s applied.

The book ‘High Probability Selling’ (Abba Publishing Company), by Ruben & Werth, proposes that the salesperson’s objective is ‘not to get the prospect to buy, rather to find out if there is a mutually acceptable basis to do business’. Sales success comes from being an expert in human relations; it’s about earning respect, using effective communication and particularly it’s about listening.

LISTENING to what you are being told during a sales appointment is still the best way to find a sale. By listening rather than talking you can uncover what the prospect is looking for and then you can provide the ‘fix’.

Just before I finish…

*Here is the link for direct page viewers return to main career success blog to check out other posts!

While you’re here take a look at the free blank resume form just in case after the last two posts you think selling as a career is just a bit too hard!

REMEMBER it is hard if not impossible to listen, think and talk all at the same time!

Finally: If you do stay in sales and practice long and hard enough it can be on of the most personally rewarding and financially rewarding careers you can have.

AND

Its the product of the product that your customer is seeking… they don’t want your ALKA SELTZER nor even relief from pain they want to get on with what is important to them!

Have you reminded yourself lately that you are in a crucial and honourable profession?

“Nothing happens until somebody sells something”

All businesses exist for one reason only… to serve a customer

“Selling is the key to all human activity and progress”

The greatest idea, the best system improvement or even the technically superior product is of no value unless somebody buys it.

“Passion is the pusher of progress and desire is the deliverer of destiny”

Unless we can convince all sections of our organization to passionately want to satisfy our customers and strengthen their desire to become the best in their field, someone else is likely to fulfil ‘our destiny’.

HOW ABOUT YOU… RATHER BE SOLD… OR TOLD?

SELL OR PERISH

If the ability to sell is critical to success, how much time are we investing in becoming more proficient at it?

Have you read at least one article on selling this week?

REMEMBER PEOPLE BUY WHAT THEY WANT NOT WHAT THEY NEED!

A notably successful ad from the past shows a hung over man who takes an ‘Alka-Seltzer’ and walks away looking refreshed and invigorated. For salespeople the question should be what did the man buy. An ALKA-Seltzer many will reply. Those with a little better understanding may realize he bought the product of the product, relief from discomfort. This product of the product or PRINCIPLE BUYING MOTIVE is often referred to as the buying NEED. There is however a more powerful buying motive, even deeper than the need, that is the all-important… SECRET BUYING MOTIVE. This ‘secret’ is what the customer REALLY wants. The man in the ALKA-Seltzer needed relief however wanted to be able to feel good and get on with what he wanted to do or achieve.

Remind yourself that a customer’s inner wants are far more powerful motivators than their perceived needs.

Am I finding out what my customers real motivators are or just pitching features?

Am I able through the sales process able to find out what the prospect really wants?

Am I asking questions or just talking?

Good questioning technique is important (and powerful), as people are usually SKEPTICAL ABOUT WHAT THEY ARE TOLD but generally BELIEVE WHAT THEY SAY.

OKAY YOU SAY ASK QUESTIONS… HOW DO I DO THAT!

TIP 1: Asking permission to ask questions will work 99% of the time.

A good start is to say… ‘In order to save you time and to ensure I fully understand your requirements, do you mind if I ask you a few questions’?

TIP 2: Some polite a relationship building questions based on what you know about the prospect and his or her company are a wise start. How are you? How many people on your staff? How long have you worked for XYZ? How’s your…whatever is appropriate…?

TIP 3: Effective salespeople do their best (through research) to know what to ask to ensure that their questions will get the answers they want. Example – Don’t ask about the last dealing the prospect had with your company without checking on the success or difficulties that have gone before.

OPEN QUESTIONS GET LONG EXPLANATIONS & CLOSED Q’s GET ONE WORD ANSWERS…

TIP 4: Do I only ask questions that will get yes responses? Can I rethink and rephrase my questions so a YES is the only logical response.

e.g ’Do you see improved effectiveness of your company as a key management responsibility’? The person you are talking to would have to be a very ‘hard nosed’ individual to say anything but YES (or a total idiot).

PRODUCT KNOWLEDGE IS VERY IMPORTANT…

PRODUCT OF THE PRODUCT KNOWLEDGE IS CRUCIAL

PEOPLE BUY FOR THEIR REASONS NOT OURS

Remember this useful motivation reference point that is common among many buyers.

Buying Criteria Guide: S – Security/Safety

P – Performance/Power

A – Availability/Appearance

C – Comfort/Class

E – Economy/Ecology

D – Dependability/Durability

Example… if the prospect wants a fast car don’t try to sell a safe green one… or if a prospect wants a ‘cheap’ computer don’t waffle on about a Pentium sixteen with 50,000 meg of ram and a 45 inch screen…

DO I TOTALLY UNDERSTAND THE SPACED BENEFITS OF WHAT I SELL?

CRITICAL POINT: PEOPLE BUY BENEFITS NOT PRODUCTS!

How do we discover the real benefits of our product or service? The best way is to complete a FEATURES/ADVANTAGES/BENEFITS analysis.

The Concise Oxford Dictionary defines a feature as a – ‘distinctive or characteristic part of a thing’ and an advantage as a – ‘better position, superiority, favorable circumstances’. A benefit is defined as’ ‘do good to, receive benefit (by thing)’.

Product features should be fairly obvious to anyone selling their product for more than a few weeks. Acknowledging that some products are more complicated than others the fact remains we can’t sell what we don’t understand.

List down six to ten of the most important features of your product or service. Check that they only have features listed buy checking if what you have written qualifies under ‘The Concise Oxford’ definition above. Examples may be, this pot has two handles, this traing is conducted over 3 days, it has a 3-litre engine, it has river views, or it has a 1000-hz ‘Pentium’ chip.

Then give each of the features at least two advantages. In the Pentium chip example the advantages could be, faster processing, quicker programme loading, superior movie viewing or quicker web browsing.

Review the features and advantages in light of the definitions and turn the advantages into real customer benefits. To do this it is best to line the three headings up side-by-side and turn the three categories into a sentence joining them with the words (feature) “which means” (advantage) “which gives you” (benefit). In the case of the two handled pot it could be ‘this pot has two handles which means it is better balanced when being carried improving your chance of getting from A to B with out spilling the contents.

SALES – QUICK TIPS

ARE YOU TURNING ONE CALL INTO THREE?

Go next door, both sides, or at least visit two more potential or current customers in the same area.

ARE YOU CROSS-SELLING and/or UPSELLING?

Sell aligned products or a range rather than having only “one product expertise”.

ARE YOU SENDING THANK YOU NOTES?

Everyone likes to be thanked, a quick note saying thanks for seeing me, or thanks for the order, or thanks for whatever can be a powerful relationship builder.

ARE YOU PLAYING THE NUMBERS GAME?

Rule of thumb, ten cold leads will get one prospect, ten prospects will get one customer. How many calls a week is that against the number of customers you are expected to see or sell?

ARE YOU GETTING TESTIMONIALS?

The best way to do it is to ring up the customer (when you know things have gone well) and ask questions that you know will get positive responses. Then ask permission to write the customers experience down, ask permission to send it to him/her and then ask that he/she put it on the company letterhead and send it to you.

ARE YOU ASKING FOR AND GETTING REFERRALS?

All to-do lists and of course sales reports should include a referrals section and if you don’t come back with at least one from each satisfied customer find a sharp object and insert it where it will inflict the most pain.

ARE YOU USING THE OFTEN OVERLOOKED PROSPECTING TECHNIQUE?

Look in the phone book, you think I’m joking, I’ll bet many sales staff have never even thought of it.

HAVE YOU CONTACTED ALL YOUR SOURCES?

Existing customers, suppliers, colleagues, investors, advisors, associates, family, friends, acquaintances, researched leads, past customers, public presentations, civic activities, networking, trade shows, competitors internet sites, next door

IT IS VERY HARD TO FIND NEW CUSTOMERS AT OUR DESK… GET OUT THERE. ARE YOU SPENDING TOO MUCH TIME AT YOUR DESK?

ARE YOU ONLY TALKING TO DECISION MAKERS?

How many secretaries, purchasing officers, clerks and other strange characters are you talking to, I mean wasting time with?

ARE YOU A NO FEAR SALESPERSON OR IS IT TIME FOR A RESUME UPDATE?

Have you overcome their fear of rejection and call reluctance? Do you to understand the biggest risk in your profession comes from developing too few customers and prospects, not from having too many!

Can’t do it?

Need a different career then? While you’re here maybe you should take a look at the free blank resume form!

OR…

Can you accept that as a professional salesperson rejection as part of your life and so you cannot allow a prospect’s rejection to effect and control your mental attitude? Fear can be reduced by planning, being prepared for every step of the selling process through practice and making sure you are backed up with solid product knowledge.

If a customer is abusive you must to make you first goal to calm the customer’s temper and take control of the situation. You need remain open and friendly, stay calm and keep your voice low and controlled. Tell the customer you are interested in his/her complaint and say ‘in order to help you I need to fully understand your problem’. Then ask ‘can you tell me what is wrong in a calm voice to ensure I focus on the problem (rather than the emotion) so I am better able to find a solution’. Let customer ‘vent his or her frustration’ and don’t interrupt. Telling you their complete story, and describing how upset they are, allows customers to release pent-up frustrations. It is wise to take notes as you go as it helps you with your response and shows the customer you are seriously interested in their problem.

BLAMING OTHERS IN YOUR ORGANIZATION

The worst tactic I have come across is a customer service officer trying to blame me, the customer, for the problem. Never play the blame game! Blaming the customer for the problem will dramatically worsen the situation. Also particularly never use the phrase ‘sir our system requires…‘ or even worse ‘sir you don’t understand our system’ (a common phrase with many service providers in Asia, especially bank staff).

Never blame others in your organization. Both the ‘system excuse’ and blaming others will be seen as evasive (or even worse cowardly) and destroy your credibility with the customer. No customer cares about your ‘problems’, they just want their problem solved. Accept responsibility as a representative of your company and place your efforts into solving the problem.

‘FRUSTRATION: HAVING TO RESIST THE TEMPTATION TO CHOKE THE LIVING S..T OUT OF SOMEONE WHO REALLY DESERVES IT!’ This is a funny saying however it has no place in customer complaint handling, in spite of the bad attitude of many customer service’s staff I have met (and trained) over the years.

GET THE ENTIRE STORY:

When the customer has told you the whole story regarding a complaint tell the customer what you will do to solve the problem. Do not tell the customer what he or she must do to solve the problem. Use phrases such as… ‘I will contact the xyz department’… ‘I will find the document’… ‘I will gather the necessary information’ etc. If you use ‘I’ in place of ‘you,’ you will help to minimise tension as it assures the customer that you are taking responsibility for the resolution of the issue. If you need to refer the matter to a third party always check back with the customer to ensure the other party has made contact and that the problem has been solved. Sure it’s wise to check with the third party to ensure a solution has been found first, however contacting the customer after the event will reinforce both your own and your company’s image. Important point never use the word ‘no’, either recommend a solution or suggest a compromise.

PROBLEM SOLVING AS A CHANCE TO LEARN AND IMPROVE

If you view problem solving as a chance to find out how to improve your company’s operation (or image) and as an opportunity to learn something, rather than a nasty experience, you can approach these difficult situations with a more positive frame of mind. In most complaint situations there are only win-win or lose-lose results. Everyone will win with satisfied customers as you can gain a positive company image and an advocate for you and your products/services (plus hopefully some personal satisfaction) or everyone can lose with upset customers and the gradual destruction of your company’s place in the market plus… personal emotional upset. Every time you allow someone else to change your emotional state YOU LOSE. Turn complaints into opportunities! In reality when you win, so does the customer and if you lose, so does the customer.

IT’S BETTER TO RECEIVE A COMPLAINT THAN HAVE AN EX-CUSTOMER THAT NEVER TELLS YOU WHY THEY LEFT!

FOLLOW-UP:

1. After you’ve resolved a customers’ complaint, it’s essential you place a record on file to ensure the next person handling the customer is aware of the problems encountered so they do not inadvertently ‘walk into a minefield’.
2. Best practice in customer service demands that we place a file note to give a little extra attention to the customer to reinforce the fact that the previous problem was a ‘one off’. This may well cement good future relations.
3. You must also ensure that the problem’s causes are analysed and counter measures are employed to make sure the same situation does not recur. If you learn a ‘better’ way you do business make the learning worthwhile and find a way for your company to make the changes required. Also the last thing you want is for any customer to have a similar problem let alone the same customer have two bad experiences in a row. If they do, chances are you’ve lost them (and all those they can influence) forever.

ONE UNANSWERED COMPLAINT CAN LEAD TO THE LOSS OF LARGE NUMBERS OF POTENTIAL CUSTOMERS

Effective or ’good’ customer service needs to be a company wide philosophy not just a procedure. Effective complaint handling is a key element to retaining customers. All job descriptions should contain a responsibility statement for all functions and levels of staff, regardless of their perceived requirement for direct customer contact (or not). In hiring interviews, orientation programmes and training sessions, emphasize that everyone is in the customer service business. Make sure that all employees understand how they directly or indirectly ‘effect’ the customer. Include customer service in all performance evaluations and set up a complaint recording system with a section to report outcomes and responsible personnel. Even if you don’t have a formal ‘Total Quality Management’ function ask employees to submit a list of the specific things they’ve done to help provide superior customer service. If ‘to serve a customer is the only reason for a business to exist’ (and it is) you need to be passionate about updating or modifying your staff’s attitudes and company procedures to eliminate as many complaints as you can.

LEARN TO LOVE COMPLAINTS, THEY ARE GUIDEPOSTS TO IMPROVED PERFORMANCE!

If you can view problem solving as a chance to find out how to improve your company’s operation (or image) and as an opportunity to learn something, rather than a nasty experience, you can approach these difficult situations with a more positive frame of mind. In most complaint situations there is only win-win or lose-lose results. Win with satisfied customers and a positive company image (plus personal satisfaction) or upset customers and the gradual destruction of your company’s hard fought place in the market and personal emotional upset. Every time you allow someone else to change your emotional state YOU LOSE. Turn complaints into opportunities! Remember when you win, so does the customer and if you lose, so does the customer.

Under the heading of “focus on the people who focus on the customers”, a manager’s customer service guide I once read (source unknown) stated:

“Make customer service a part of all written or verbal job descriptions—no matter the function or level. In hiring interviews, orientation, and on-the-job training, emphasize that everyone is in the customer service business. And make sure that all employees understand how they directly or indirectly ‘touch’ the customer.”

“Remember that people do what’s expected when it’s inspected! Include customer service in all performance evaluations. Prior to conducting evaluations, ask employees to submit a list of the specific things they’ve done to help provide superior customer service.”

“Go on a paralysing policy hunt! Ask employees to identify policies and procedures that get in the way of providing good service. Then do your best to update, modify, or eliminate as many as you can.”

*Link for direct page viewers return to main career success blog if you would like to read other posts by Ric at orglearn.

NOTE research indicates that:

1. Seven out of ten complaining customers will do business with you again if you resolve the complaint in their favour and if it is resolved on the spot, 95% will do business with you again.
2. A typical business hears from only 4% of its dissatisfied customers; the other 96% just go silently away and 91% of them will never come back.
3. A typical dissatisfied customer personally tells more than eight people about his or her problem. With today’s communication options and social media usage a dissatisfied customer may now publicize his or her dissatisfaction to thousands.

Talking of dissatisfaction… dissatisfied with your job? Take a look at the free blank resume form and update your resume perhaps!

1. Their Name- Nothing speaks to an individual faster than their first name. Use it to build your relationship with your customer.

2. What They’ve Purchased- If you know what your customers purchased in the past, you have a good idea what they will buy again. (And won’t waste your time promoting products of little to no interest.)

3. How Often They Purchase- Individuals who buy rarely from you may need additional encouragement – more marketing. Whereas, consistent customers may not need extra sales pitches, but might benefit from a newsletter or coupon.

Ric comment: Perhaps the sentence above should read “sales contacts” as “pitches” are an outdated and inefficient mode of selling.

4. How Much They Spend (on average)- Why spend precious time pitching (there’s that no no word again) products to customers that they can’t afford? It might embarrass your customer, shows your lack of personal interest, and may cause customers to lose interest.

5. The Last Time They Purchased- Have you lost a customer without even knowing it? Who’s still loyal? Who has strayed (and needs to be brought back)?

6. Each Interaction You’ve Had With Them- Documentation is important for obvious reasons. But being able to “recall” previous conversations will make your customer feel important and appreciated.

7. How They Feel About Your Business- Feedback from your customers is the best way to improve your products/services, meet your customers needs, and attract more customers.”

And from me:

8. What is the one thing (other than price) we can do to help you more- This is an essential question for all salespeople to ask

9. Who are his/her their friends- Do you know anyone that you do business with as a supplier or customer that would benefit from our product or service

Ric (orglearn) **Link for direct page viewers return to main career success blog to check out other posts!

While you’re here take a look at the free blank resume form!

This is something that I have learned about selling and customers.

“When your selling something first you need to make sure that it meets the needs [or wants] of people you’re trying to sell to however remember that no matter what… “your customer is always right”. You need to build a good relationship with them because if you can build trust with them then more than likely they will buy from you over and over as long as you have what they want to buy.

This is just my experience from being in sales for years. I’m no expert however I have learned a few things along the way.

- They [the prospects] are wanting something that will fix their problem or help them with what ever it might be.

- Also you need to have a good attitude with them in other words be nice to them ask them if there’s anything you can help them with or if they don’t want what they bought then offer them money back or see if they might want to exchange the item for something else or so [to maintain long term loyalty].

- Most important thing you will not always sell something, people like to look around first to see if they can get a better deal or for a lower price.

- Always treat your customers the way you would want to be treated and you just might see results. With out any customers then you don’t have a business. One thing I learned was that after they buy from you always tell them than you for doing business with you or buying because like I said before if you don’t have customers  then you want have a business at all to sell things.”

Gary Wilson
http://thewilsonenterprises.com

Thanks Gary… rictownsend [items are Ric addins/edits]

Something so basic you would wonder why it needs a mention. Know your product so you are the expert, know your company so you are an expert and know your customers real buying motives so you are the expert. So what is a real buying motive… hmmm it’s a Mercedes Benz and your customer says he wants it because its “safe”… rubbish he wants the prestige, go along with the safety game however sell the prestige. If you want to serve your customer well you must also know who to refer your customer to or who to go to yourself within your organization to answer all customer queries. Have you ever been told “oh you’ll have to see spare parts about the extra” whatever you wanted or… “accounting’s around the corner for that information”… don’t do that, if you are handling a customer you contact spares or sort out the accounting inquiry on behalf of your customer.

Handling Difficult Customers. The first and often forgotten rule is that complaining customers are referring to their disappointment with your company, product or service, so don’t take the complaint personally. It is easy to become defensive about your company however this natural tendency needs to be resisted. The thing you need to remember is it is always better to separate the person from the problem. So you’re not dealing with a difficult customer your dealing with a customer with a difficulty. At all costs stay calm believe you are good at your job and act professionally and dispassionately even if the customer doesn’t. Oh yes always take notes and ensure some learning occurs.

The Art of Selling All the Time. Often companies need to send out notices for issues such as say, changes in legislation, changes is service standards, product recalls, temporary closure of outlets, renovations, or changes in terms and conditions. All contacts with the customer need to be sales oriented and offer a positive for the customer. So the old “Please be advised due to blah blah blah and we apologize for any inconvenience caused” letter just won’t cut it. If you have some negative news at least add an offsetting positive to the communication. Example you have a hotel and your XYZ restaurant is being closed for renovation, don’t ‘please be advised’… instead, its ‘great news ABC restaurant is now offering an extended menu with a special guest chef’ then you add at the bottom, ‘during this wonderful promotion we will be renovating XYZ’.

Working as a Team. For a truly customer oriented organization to be in operation the entire company needs to believe they are… and act as if they are… “one team”, all focused on adding value for their customers and yes that means that sales and service are the responsibility of accounting, production, financial control and even the human resource department. Huh you say… are you crazy… nope all decisions need to undergo the “value add” to the customer versus, the “energy suckers” on the company test. This is often not easy to achieve as inter department culture wars are common in and a crippling reality in many companies.

EXCELLENT SERVICE NEEDS A TOTAL COMPANY COMMITMENT

A strong customer focus at all organization levels is basic to success in providing excellent customer service. Customer focus by all employees versus, the all to common, ‘IT’S THE SALES DEPARTMENTS RESPONSIBILITY’ is essential to prevent ‘cock-ups’ at the external customer service level. We all need to realize that there are three types of customers for most of us to service… ‘internal’, ‘ultimate’ and ‘external’…

We all know our internal customers (don’t we)… these are any individuals that receive our work output. In most organizations we also have ultimate customers… these are guys/ladies at the sales/buyer interface… and of course we are all here to serve the external customers or those (if we are smart) we refer to as ‘king’!

So who are our customers then? Anyone for whom we do anything is our customer, whether it is directly from one hand to the next, or indirectly through others in the service chain. Therefore if we need a strong customer focus by our non-sales staff they will have to buy into the proposition that they need to work to serve the ultimate customer and their priority must be to do their job in such a way that it makes the job of the next person in line as easy as possible.

In your company… HOW DO THE STAFF IN PURCHASING, FINANCE, ACCOUNTING, HR AND ADMINISTRATION SEE THEIR ROLES?

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