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Quick Tip of the Month
Give Customers the Benefit of the Doubt
When a customer contacts you
looking for a product that doesn’t exist, or to complain
about a problem they almost certainly created for
themselves, how do you respond? You are a busy person
with many other customers to take care of and numerous
customer cases to clear. How long should you spend
trying to satisfy this customer? The answer to this
question is: as long as it takes. The customer receives
no benefit – and neither does your company – when you
blurt out, “Hey, have you been using this laptop for a
coaster? Sorry; there is nothing I can do for you now!”
No matter how frustrating it may be for you to deal with
customer issues that seem to be more their problem than
your company’s, it is still your responsibility to
extend to them every courtesy and handle their requests
with the utmost professionalism. Even though it may seem
to you that the customer is the problem, their may be
extenuating circumstances about which you are unaware.
Ultimately, if the problem is one that originated with
the customer, this may limit the options you can offer
for solving the problem, but it never means that you
should deliver anything but excellent, courteous service
and try to make the best out of a bad situation.
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The Art of Consultative Customer Service
By
James A Baker
Chairman
Baker Communications
January 2008
These days many organizations have finally
caught on to the value of taking a consultative
approach to sales. Instead of just pushing
products, reps are learning to listen to
customers and understand how they feel and what
they really need. In this way, the final sale
will deliver something the customer truly values
and is glad to have, all of which may lead to
many more happy transactions in the future.
Of course, this is all well and good, but why
stop there? The sales process has gotten so
complex these days that is no longer at all
unusual for the sales end and the fulfillment
end of the transaction to be handled by
different people, probably working out of
different departments. This is almost
universally true in anything involving
sophisticated mechanical, technical or IT
products. After the sale is completed, the order
is turned over to someone who has the
professional expertise to carry out the
installation and burn in stages. That is where
the fun begins!
Don’t be surprised if the order itself is flawed
in some way. Perhaps the salesperson
misunderstood the customer’s situation, or the
customer lacked the understanding to represent
his situation correctly. In such instances, the
company rep who arrives to install the product
will likely discover that the product ordered
will not work in the way that the salesperson
promised it would. To complicate matters even
further, these technical geniuses are very good
at dealing with complex technical installations
and esoteric theoretical processes; they are not
always so great at handling people, especially
unhappy people.
For the full article,
click here
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Business In The Eye Of The Storm
 Listen
to our President, Walter Rogers' interview on
The Discovery Channel's Business In The Eye Of
The Storm
Click Here
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Questions or Comments? Please email
Christie Bissias or Call 713-627-7700
The articles in this newsletter may be reprinted in its
entirety if the following conditions are met:
1.) The complete tag with the author's
name and contact information is included immediately
after the article.
2.) A copy of the printed article is
mailed to the author at 10101 SW Freeway Houston, Texas
77074 within 30 days of publication.
3.) The article is presented in a
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©2008 Baker Communications, Inc.
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