Secrets of Promotion by Christopher Given Dip in Bus Admin, Cert
in Mgt, ACMI
www.vitalvortal.co.uk
Sales does not have a very nice image. Salesmen ringing up out
of the blue to sell their latest product, untrained or
unenthusiastic sales staff knocking at your door, are some of
the images that spring to mind.
But service doesn't need to be like that in order to make the
sale.
What is Customer Service?
"Customer Service is the supply of that which satisfies the
consumer need and want"
This is about providing a physical product plus all the
individual tasks that make up the entire process. Please do not
confuse service with sales, as they are totally different.
"Sales is the use of language and presentation in order to
persuade customers to buy"
Elements of customer service
Availability of item
After sales service
Handling of orders
Reliability or quality
Most organisations employ people to handle customer calls,
emails and to wait on customer's needs The functions are to:
§be there when customers contact the company
§provide timely and accurate service
§support the sales organisation
All of this is designed for one purpose - Customer Retention
Who is the customer?
We usually think of customers as people outside of our company.
It could be agreed that a customer is a person who purchases.
Another definition could be someone with whom we have dealings.
Customers fall into external and internal types:
External customers
These are the lifeblood of every organisation. We deal with them
every day, either face to face or via the telephone. You may
have heard sayings like ‘the customer is king' or
‘customers are our no 1 priority'. Well, it's true,
because without them there would be no sales, no company and no
job.
Internal customers
These people work inside your company. Although they are not
traditional customers, they rely on us to provide services and
help within the organisation in order to get their work done. It
is vital that they are treated well, not only because we have to
work together, but if we upset one another the next time we
require each others services, either party could be reluctant to
carry out their duties, which could effect the business as a
whole. Not professional behaviour at all. And if work is held up
because of conflict, the eventual loser is always the customer.
Worth and Price
Businesses need to make a profit in order to survive. Assuming
that products are of excellent quality, have been tested and
market research has been done, clearly establishing a need and
want, then all we need to do is to sell. However, there is one
obstacle - the customer.
Every person will consider what the product is worth to them
before purchasing. The price has to be just right before they
will buy. One definition of price could be:
The price is the sum, consideration or sacrifice given in
exchange for goods and services.
An organisation will price a product and that price would
suggest it's worth to the company. But, imagine the customer
likes the product, but not the price - the customer now thinks
the product isn't worth purchasing at that price. In other
words, Something is only worth what someone is prepared to pay
for it. The customer may have been put off the purchase because
the price was too high. This means a balance needs to be made
between the price and the benefits/features of the product.
The company can either lower the price and produce more sales
that way, or it can make the product more attractive by e.g.
adding more functionality or re-designing to make it unique in
some way, this way the product can maintain it's current price.
Either way, the customer will be satisfied.
Personal selling is about communicating with people, and knowing
something about ways in which they can react in different
situations will help you to approach them, and find out whether
their a serious purchaser, require more information or just
browsing. Let's assume for a moment that we know how to sell
effectively. Businesses have external visitors that contact them
by different means. They will:
·use the telephone to enquire about products ·visit the company
website
We will tackle these in order.
1. Handling inbound calls
Every thing an organisation does will be noticed by the customer
at some point. From producing a web site to answering the
telephone, everything must be executed to a high standard in
order to generate the most favourable impression. When customers
enter the business premises, they will gain an impression of how
the organisation operates, the value it offers and this includes
the quality or level of service. And one of the ways customer
service will be noticed, is via the use of the telephone.
A lot of time, effort and energy will be spent on encouraging
prospective customers to contact your organisation. When they do
call, everything about their contact must go well. This call
represents a range of opportunities, from an immediate order to
securing follow up business for the future.
We will now look at how to make this kind of call sales focused.
Your voice is an important asset. But it's not enough just to be
well spoken and polite; every call must be treated as if there
is a genuine purchaser at the end of the phone line. You need to
go about it in a way that makes what is being offered truly
beneficial.
Every call needs planning.
Advantages of planning
§it overcomes nervousness §it assists ability to think/react
more quickly §it helps prevent being sidetracked §the call is
more customer focused
This will help you deal with most situations that occur without
floundering. Long pauses and extended time while thinking makes
you seem unprepared and unprofessional. Planning and practice is
the key. Do not adopt a scripted approach (customers will spot
this at once and do not like), you should respond, yet control
the direction of the call towards a specific objective. Please
remember to be genuine when dealing with people, customer
service and sales is obvious - you cannot avoid or disguise a
sale, because sooner or later the customer will want to know
about the nature of your call. If the customer senses that you
are just there to sell them something, they may not feel you
have their best interests at heart and will go elsewhere because
of it.
Preparation
§Have product literature and customer details at hand §Make sure
you're aware of objectives §Know your product/service inside out
§Be ready to handle objections §Listen to what the customer wants
Now, if you have the customer's attention and they are willing
to talk at some length, the sale is actually almost complete.
The intention is now to conduct the call in the way you want
(make it persuasive), yet make it a call the customer enjoys too
(it meets their expectations). Don't think you will make a sale
every time. It is unrealistic plus you will set yourself up for
failure, the art is to provoke interest, not to badger.
First reply
When answering the first call, you must make a link to what is
being said there, avoid repetition of information like the
customer's organisation name, if it has just been mentioned.
Have a pad and pen handy for note taking - A MUST
The purpose of the first reply
§To welcome the customer and put them at ease §To make it clear
you are there to assist them and not just sell them something
§Give the feeling of effectiveness - makes you look effective
Include a greeting - ‘Good Morning' - clearly state your
company name, personal name and end with ‘How can I help
you' Listen to what the enquiry is about and then move on
promptly to what you can offer.
Importance of Communication
Communication is a complex area for discussion, because we are
using the very function to study itself. Communication is the
transfer of an idea, in my mind, to yours, so hopefully, it will
be understood. Good communication occurs when ideas are
transferred and understood. Bad communication has many causes,
but it involves the non-arrival of a message or the arrival of
an inaccurate message.
Care should therefore be taken to ensure that the language used
is within the understanding of the receiver. One of the most
common problems of communication is not taking responsibility to
understand the message. If I throw a ball to you, you will need
to catch it in order for us to win the game. So, who's
responsibility is it for us to win that game? The answer is both
ours. Let's assume I throw the ball, and you drop it, is it my
fault if you fail to catch it? You, as the catcher may think so,
especially if you fumble the ball. I may have thrown it too fast
or the direction may be slightly more to the right than left.
Then I may feel I've made the best attempt to throw, so that you
may catch it, so I will blame you if it is missed. This is the
usual way people see things, people always blame each other for
silly things that could be put right or avoided altogether. All
it takes is a little thinking about what is being said and how
you say it.
Once we know how to communicate, we need to find out a
customer's needs and wants, if cutomer service and sales can be
attempted at all.
This article forms part of my e-book, and is available by
contacting me.
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