Go Beyond the Sale
Contents
1. all the information they need to make sound well informed decisions When customers are happy with their purchases they won t forget the salesperson who helped them sort through the options And last but not least salespeople can demonstrate qual ity customer service before the sale by making only promises that they can keep It sounds easy enough but it s amazing how many salespeople disregard this simple rule in an effort to close the deal If you tell a customer that Online Support s he can receive online support for a product 24 hours a day you must be Go Beyond the Sale certain that this is actually the case If you tell a customer that routine maintenance for the product will be performed free of charge you must make sure this is true and also take the time to explain what routine maintenance means to your company Customers will not forget the promises you make to them during Sales presentations If you cant keep these promises after the Sales close you will have unhappy customers and damaged client relationships After the sale closes is a critical time for businesses to provide quality customer service This time of follow through is often what separates successful businesses from unsuccessful busi nesses No doubt you made many claims about your company s high standards for customer service during your sales presenta tion Now is the time to make good on those promises Let s take a look at several ar2. ne Reso siya eae eS EF 5 ee Pe epee vids NEINAR aa SV Soe Pea os A ERE RAR Go Beyond the Sale Objective how to use the new copier Or it can be as involved as hosting a week long conference to facilitate the use of a certain software package Providing appropri ate customer training is a mark of a successful sales organization Many post sale problems can be prevented when sales people take the time to check on order status shipping status etc However providing quality customer service doesnt mean youll never make mistakes It does mean however that you take responsibility for them and work to correct them to your e Keep in touch The best salespeople recognize the customers satisfaction necessity of keeping in contact with their customers to maintain the partnerships they have established In some cases a simple follow up phone call is sufficient A thank you card in the mail can also go a long way to separate you from the competition For major clients a personal visit may be appropriate The important thing is to let your customers know they matter to you and that you appreciate their business Keys to Quality Customer Service Many companies make providing quality customer service a high priority How can you go a step further to set yourself or your sales organization apart from the rest of the pack Take a look at the following keys to customer service e Beprompt No salesperson can ensu
3. their business there Summary Customer service encompasses all activities and benefits provided by a business to its customers to create goodwill and customer satisfaction Servicing the sale is one of your most im portant tasks as a Salesperson The kind of customer service you need to demonstrate goes far beyond the boundaries of a mere business function Customers expectations vary and depend on past experience word of mouth information advertising and personal needs The two main benefits of providing quality customer service are building profits through existing customers and through new customers 1 What does customer service in selling mean 2 How does customer service affect competition among sales organizations 3 Describe the factors that affect customers Service expectations 4 Describe the two main benefits of providing quality customer service LAP SE 130 CS 2007 MarkED Lee s company is holding a contest for its salespeople and the winner gets an all expenses paid cruise Of course Lee really wants to win To do so he really needs to close the sale he s currently working on The customer wants to buy only if the product can be delivered by Thursday Lee knows it s a bit of a stretch for the shipping department but he promises the customer on time delivery for Thursday Even if the shipment is late he ll still win the cruise and he can smooth things over with the custo
4. aining to use this product whether that means going through the manual during the sales presentation or demonstrating it in the store The competition starts here In selling customer service is where the real competition among businesses begins Over time the quality of certain products can be easily matched among competitors One example is cellular phone service The product itself does not vary greatly among providers nor does the price Therefore customer service Go Beyond the Sale Objective e Advertising No doubt your business invests in advertising to let potential custom ers know that your products and services are second to none When those potential customers come to see you they expect you to make good on your advertising claims of Onlin Help an quality customer service Support i harp for ygu Armin Personal needs Some customers may place high value on extended product EPERERA Lookup Tools People Pages warranties while others may not be as one So a RBCS rata concerned Some customers may need more help than others obtaining financing or credit Successful salespeople will learn to read individual customers and discover becomes key What perks or advantages does one provider offer over another how to cater to their personal needs Which providers offer the best online support or the easiest bill paying op tions As a salesperson you must have the ability to show your pro
5. also bea frustrating part ofthe purchasing process for customers When the salesperson Stays involved throughout this step problems can be minimized For instance you may have promised your customer free installation but the delivery person may be unaware of this A quick call from you can clear up the misunderstanding in no time Warranty issues Warranties can be very confusing for customers A success ful salesperson takes responsibility to make sure his her customers understand exactly what their warranties cover instead of leaving them to figure it out on their own if something goes wrong with the product Maintenance and repair Certain products need routine service and may also need specialized repairs over time Cars for instance need regular oil changes and over their life spans will most likely require engine or body work Many sales organizations offer maintenance and repair Services as part of the overall sales package This is an important aspect of post sale customer service successful salespeople make sure their customers understand what maintenance and repair services are available and how to take advantage of them w LAP SE 130 CS 2007 MarkED Credit Financing Problems with obtain Wo CREDIT ing credit and financ Bankruptcy GooD CREDIT w ing are a main cause POOR CREDIT of customer service complaints for sales organizations Conflict canarisewhen a salesperson a
6. career in Sales youre going to learn a lot about how to make a sales pre sentation and close the deal And when the deal is done your work is over right Wrong Servicing the Sale is one of your most important tasks as a Salesperson Making the presentation and closing the sale are just the beginning of the long journey of generating and keeping loyal customers for your business Customer service in selling When it comes to selling what does customer service really mean Is it a counter at the back of a retail store that accepts returns and exchanges and provides gift wrapping Well maybe In that case customer service is more of a function than a pro cess more of a department than a relationship The kind of customer service you need to demonstrate as a Salesperson goes far beyond the boundaries of a mere business function It s an attitude a set of skills and a style of work that you should carry with you for your entire career simply put customer service encompasses all ac tivities and benefits provided by a business to its custom ers to create goodwill and customer satisfaction Cus tomer service should result in enhancing and facilitating the customer s use of the good or service For instance if a customer purchases a new digital camera how useful is it to him her without knowing how to use it A successful salesperson provides quality customer service to that customer by making sure s he has the necessary tr
7. eas in which post sale customer service is necessary r e Orderprocessing Your customer has Q just requested 30 boxes of personal ized stationery You enter the order in your computer and send it off to be processed This task is over right Of course not As a salesperson it is your responsibility to ensure that your customers order is processed correctly The best way to do this is to get to know the people who are processing the order By establishing a relationship with this department you can easily check on the status of orders to make sure your customers are getting exactly what they want Shipping and delivery shipping and delivery problems can be a major source of frustration for customers With so many variables involved a lot of things can go wrong Items can arrive too early or too late Items can be lost in transit Items can arrive damaged or accidentally be shipped to the wrong customer Even when a Salesperson takes the initiative to be involved in this process s he cannot control all the variables and ensure that nothing will ever go wrong However LAP SE 130 CS 2007 MarkED Objective Objective successful salespeople recognize the importance of Staying in contact with and being available to their cus tomers throughout the shipping and delivery process That way if Something does go wrong the salesperson can take immediate action to fix the problem Installation Installation can
8. mate the power of word of mouth a relationship with a current customer is information when it comes to business and sales Many new prospects less expensive and time consuming than will come to you based on the recommendations of family friends or generating a new customer relationship acquaintances They will expect to receive the same quality of customer service that others have received Although customer expectations vary from person to person there are some basic qualities of customer service that you can be sure customers are looking for These include reliability empa thy accuracy consistency and responsiveness Go Beyond the Sale LAP SE 130 CS 2007 MarkED Objective Besides repeat business another benefit of having loyal customers is referrals When your customers are Satisfied they will tell their family and friends about your good service In a sense these satisfied customers become another sales force reaching out to prospects for you What makes this benefit even better is that this Sales force can reach potential customers whom you might not be able to reach on your own Generating new customers Sales increase when organiza tions create new business and new accounts Providing high quality customer service can help generate new customers by building an excellent reputation for the company When a business has a reputation for good customer service prospective customers are more likely to bring
9. mer later What do you think Are Lee s actions justified Go Beyond the Sale ee e E Customer Service in Action You understand the importance of customer service in selling and how it helps build profits through new and existing customers But what does quality customer service really mean How can salespeople demonstrate it to their customers Although most of the time servicing the sale refers to actions that take place after the deal has been closed salespeople still have many opportunities to provide customer service before the Sale One way is through suggestion selling You can add value to a customers experience by suggest ing additional products or services that will enhance his her primary purchase For example if you are talking to a customer about a particular guitar you might also want to point out the strap that goes along with it Using the strap will make the guitar easier to play and should add value to the purchase of the guitar Appropriate well timed Suggestion selling 5 can go a long way toward building solid partnerships with customers Another way to provide customer service before the sale closes is to provide ample product information Customers can use all the help they can get when it comes to making purchase decisions especially for high ticket items such as vacations houses or expensive electronic equipment Successful salespeople make sure that customers have
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11. re that nothing will go wrong during the post sale time period But extraordinary o E salespeople can set themselves apart by treating ques P O a cannot now i EA tions and complaints as high priorities and responding customers are satisfied if they dont ask its quickly Often customers are less angry about what s important to provide convenient user friendly wrong with their order than they are about running into ways for customers to provide feedback A six delays while trying to get it straightened out Responding page survey isnt going to work However a short to concerns promptly can certainly mean the difference commentcard or even an online survey will probably between one time customers and repeat business be effective It s also important to solicit feedback ona regular basis Customer satisfaction is a dynamic thing constantly changing Acustomer may have been satisfied last year but what about last month Last week I ll make sure that a replacement gets sent out today You should have it 4 by tomorrow i aigi aaga a epecilic comment po you er Te rare j pira oF PA C I awe i a Ha r hali x e rye ye mE te 1 are tenie E nade e ppt LACHES Go Beyond the Sale LAP SE 130 CS 2007 MarkED wo Objective e Have a good attitude You can do everything a customer asks and provide quality service but if you do it with a bad attitude you
12. sa ba Attitude PerOrmnalice making pay Oall Da Cn Drala re ll 10 E e fo dic atl YIII 1 JIIN SN EGO Beyond the Sale 4 Customer Service in Sell ing Trey is a technology coordinator for a local school district He recently needed to purchase several new monitors and printers for one of the school libraries He found a great price on monitors from ABC Company and a great price on print ers from XYZ Company Neither shipment arrived on the expected date When Trey called ABC Company he was referred to voicemail When he called XYZ Company he was transferred to the shipping and de livery department right away He spoke to a representative who tracked the shipment and let him know that it was late due to bad weather and would arrive the next day He never heard back from ABC Company although the monitors did arrive two days later What does this situation illustrate about the importance of customer service in sell ing ABC Company gave Trey the best price but will it be enough to turn him into a repeat customer Customer service is a key component of the selling relationship Read on to learn more about this important aspect of selling Dhjectivesz Explain how customer service facilitates sales relationships a Identify opportunities to use customer service in facilitat ing sales relationships ww LAP SE 130 CS 2007 MarkED Beyond the Sale a If you re headed for a
13. spects that your company meets and hopefully exceeds these types of customer service SPoriziuis Benefits of customer service expectations The importance of providing quality customer Service in Sales cannot be overstated Customer Shifting expectations service benefits sales organizations by helping to build profits Businesses exist to make money and to do so they rely on their customers Providing quality customer service influences profits in two major ways One aspect of customer service that keeps salespeople on their toes is that customer service means different things to different customers Every prospect comes to you with his her own unique expectations These expectations may be based on e Building partnerships with current custom ers Loyalty is the name of the game suc cessful salespeople understand the im portance of repeat business They strive to provide high quality customer service so they can build long term partnerships with their customers After all maintaining e Past experience lf the customer has done business with you before s he will expect the same or higher quality of customer service If another Salesperson offered free installation on the last appliance the customer purchased you can be assured that the customer will be looking for the Same deal from you Customers will also compare your service to past service they have received from your competitors e Word of mouth Never underesti
14. ssures a customer that s he will qualify for credit and the credit manager does not then approve the financing There can also be problems with billing and invoices Perhaps you ve made a special arrangement with your client that the finance department isn taware of Successful salespeople are careful in these Sticky situations They also getto know employees in their company s credit department making it easier for them to go to bat for their customers when necessary Technical assistance and support Many products are tied to the need for technical assistance and support Computers and Internet service are great examples of this Let s say you work for an Internet service provider and you ve just sold your company s services to a start up business It is likely that over time the business will run into complications or have questions about its Internet connections These questions should be your concern as well It s important to make sure your customers know how to reach technical support whenever they need assistance ig 4 e t de aie oe fet mt ToS ek soe neat a Oh Soins Mont ma aes Rares NEAN N RET Zoe VEIAN ANN EEA E AN AT Customer training Not 4 x all products are complete a with a users manual alone Some products require a8 customer training even an tA classes Customer training a can be as simple as the salesperson visiting a busi ness to show employees a Tan Fee Le PTA ris
15. will still have an unhappy alienated customer Help your customers willingly as if theres nothing in the world you would rather do even when that s not really the case 1 How can salespeople provide customer service before the sale closes 2 How can salespeople provide customer Service after the sale closes Summary Salespeople can provide customer service before the sale by sugges tion selling providing product in formation and making only promises they can keep Post sale opportunities to provide customer service include order processing shipping and deliv ery installation warranty issues main tenance and repair credit financing technical assistance and support and customer training The keys to providing quality customer service are solicit ing feedback keeping in touch being prompt and having a good attitude Mane It P Take a look around your house and make a list of all the products you see that re quired or may still require customer service Examples might be kitchen appli ances furniture or electronic equipment Choose one or two items and ask your parent or guardian about his her customer service experiences with the businesses s he purchased from What was s he pleased with What could the businesses have done better Would s he buy from these businesses again 3 Describe the keys to providing quality customer service Mark 1375 King Avenue P O B
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