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Introduction
Small and midsize business owners were asked
how they improve their customer service to increase sales.
The following highlight the findings.
Fire your headache
customer
Every business has a few problem clients. You can't please
them, regardless of what you do. Cut your losses, and move
on. By focusing in on your "good customers". your overall
profits will increase.
One Massachusetts based company found this out first hand.
"We recently got in a situation where, through no fault of
ours, things kept going wrong with a customer job. They mistakenly
approved the wrong stock. The printer made an error. A vendor
misquoted. Etc., etc., etc. It cost us several thousand dollars
for taking the "What do you see as a solution" approach. After
that, we figured out that we'd have to work five more years
for these people to make up the difference in profit margin
(and that's what matters, not gross receipts). Not a likely
prospect.
" Sometimes the best solution is to shrug your shoulders,
cut your losses and move on. You may lose some sleep, but
your employees won't lose their next bonus."
Have a "quality team meeting?"
Set aside some time to get the different members of your
teams together, and brainstorm how you can improve your customer
service. One of the hotels in New Hampshire started asking
all employees how they could improve customer service. One
of the employees noticed how they took good care of their
corporate clients, and summer clients. They didn't seem to
attract newly weds. So, they started beefing up their services
to the market of newly weds, by providing new services to
this target group. Within a year their number of newly weds
almost tripled.
Get your employees together, and ask them how you can improve
your overall performance (of course it also pays if you listen)
Make changes by listening to your
customers
Anyone can ask customers what they want. Frequently it stops
there, and companies don't make the next step to implement
the suggestions.
Victor Kiam, CEO of Remington Electric Shaver Company had
an employee who had surgery. When Mr. Kiam met her after the
surgery, the woman told him that she had to have her abdomen
body hair removed for the surgical procedure. The nurse nicked
her three times using a double-edge razor. The woman suggested
that a Lady Remington would be better. Mr. Kiam told the research
team, and they developed a now highly popular Lady Remington
as a surgical shaver.
Use common sense
Use common sense like using the customer's name, greeting
a new customer and smiling.
A local Cumberland farm had two locations in a relatively
small town. One of the sites had higher traffic in the store
then the other store. At one point the customers seemed to
shift to the other store. When the owner asked the customers
why they went to the other location, it turned out that two
of their employees were now working there. Since there was
no major issue with distance, customers went where these two
employees went. These two employees were polite, smiled when
new customers walked in, and used the customers name when
they were paying by credit card.
A dry cleaning company found a client for life. The woman
who worked in the store, ran the store as if she owned it.
One day a customer walks in, and the woman greets the frequent
customer. Next, she apologised when she asked him what his
phone number was (for the receipt). She explained that since
he was such a good customer, she should have know the number
by heart. She assured him, it would never happen again that
she had to ask for his information! This store just won a
customer for life!
Manage expectations
During the sales process, don't promise many things, and
then only deliver those things. Instead, promise a little
less, and when you get the new customer, give a little more.
A local car dealership never promised the buyer of a new
car that they would provide personalised attention to their
customers. If you buy a car at this dealership, you would
not expect to get a call after a week, and then after a month.
You wouldn't expect to get a personal Christmas card or a
1-year courtesy call. This dealership tops it all by sending
the customers a birthday card as well.
When asking the owner if it was worth all the effort, he
indicated that they found was that customers had a 83% return
rate (as opposed to 47% at their next door competitor). His
eyes twinkled when he mentioned that the retention rate of
his sales reps was the highest in their county as well.
The 30-second Hi-and-Bye script
This idea came from a business owner who got tired
of all the promotional mailings and calls to draw people into
his car detailing shop. He designed a marketing push that
didn't cost him a dime.
He had his employees call every local customer they had.
The script was very simple: "Hi, this is Joe from Joe's auto
detailing. I hope your car is still shining. It was a pleasure
to serve you. Have a super day, and good bye" That was the
whole script.
The customer who hung up the phone had no clue what just
happened, since they were never asked to buy anything. Imagine
the owner's surprise when 24% of these customers returned
the same month! All he did was a non-threatening and non-selling
approach. Suddenly people realised that it is a good idea
for a new shine for their car.
Use modern day technology
Numerous small business owners use technology to improve
customer service. A computer software company uses software
that will read the caller-id number that comes in, and automatically
pops up the customer record on the computer screen. The customer
service rep who answers the phone can immediately respond
to their needs.
Another business consulting company uses Wildfire, a voice
activated voice mail system. Instead of "Press 1 for sales,"
customers would hear in a pleasant voice, "If you like to
talk to Joe Doe, say YES." The customer gets a more personalised
feeling, even though it is software operated.
A commercial banker gives her customers an "Universal number."
This special number can be used to
- leave message,
- locate the person,
- accepts faxes, or can
- page the banker.
The banker gives this special number, because she
values the person, and want to make every effort to be respond
to any questions.
Summary
The technology and services are available and affordable
today for small and midsize companies. Why not use them.
Drs Marty Eerhart is a sales and management
consultant. Visit his web site at
http://listen.to/Eerhart.
Or call him at (800) 860-3547.
© 1999, Options Success
Coaching and Training
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