So one of your customers has called in…that’s good! They are
upset about their service…that’s bad! Let’s address their concern…that’s good!
And then, we’ll try to sell them something, anything…that’s bad!
We have taken an opportunity to provide excellent customer
service, a time when we could be encouraging our customer, and turned it into
an experience which leaves them with a bad taste in their mouth, feeling
discouraged.
It’s all about options,
value and creating a buying environment...
Once we have satisfied the customer’s concerns, most of us
are trained to transition into hard selling. But our customers aren’t dummies,
they recognize sales mode, they put up defenses, and we hit them with spaghetti
-- throwing everything we have at them. just hoping that something sticks.
We
never even ask them what they need and why they need it. Then, realizing we’ve
been rejected and what we’ve done, we thank them for being such a great
customer and try to salvage the relationship. Sound familiar?
It doesn’t have to be this way. We can begin by using words
that customers LOVE to hear, giving them options and value for their money and
creating a feeling where they are in control of what they buy.
When a
customer calls in, acknowledge their concern and then use a soft transition to
let them know we will be asking them some questions around their issue and their
particular situation to find a solution. Try these:
“Please
explain to me…”
“Describe
for me…”
“Tell me how…”
“Paint me a
picture…”
“Help me understand…”
These phrases will get them talking and telling us about
themselves. They might tell us how they use our products or services or those
of our competitor. We will potentially uncover any additional concerns they may
have with their current product or service.
It turns the call into a conversation, not an interrogation!
The whole time we are having this conversation we are
handling their original concern. Then, between all of the data input and hopping
from screen to screen to pull up information, we can use what we discover to uncover any gaps they may have that our products or services can
fill.
This is where we go into our recommendation, “From what you
have told me, you have “xyz” issue with “xyz” product/service, and I feel you
would greatly benefit from our “xyz” product/service or we could upgrade your
current product/service to help satisfy this issue.”
Now, we have created a buying
environment where we aren’t pushing anything
on our customer but just filling a gap
they told us about! We’ll end the call by asking them if we met their
expectations and telling them they are a valued customer. Except now, the customer is feeling served instead
of pelted with noodles. They are totally satisfied and we have just sold them a
product or service. Bon appetit!
The Carden
Group can help you improve your people and build a culture of excellence.
Contact us at info@chadcarden.com or visit our
website at www.chadcarden.com.
