The Value Of Good Customer Service
--Tom Hopkins
One of the biggest challenges faced in any business is in keeping their balance. In too many businesses, the emphasis is put on getting new business. That's all well and good, but what about keeping the business they already have? Next to sales functions, customer service functions must be given appropriate emphasis as well. Poor customer service will cost a company as much business as having a poor salesperson in the field does. Both can damage a company's reputation and potential for future growth.
When businesses don't properly serve the customers salespeople get for them, some businesses assume it wasn't a good sale in the first place. That is not often the case. So, where do customers go who don't buy from your business or who don't stay with your business once they've made a single purchase?
Many simply buy from someone else. Amazingly, a large number of salespeople who don't make the sale assume that most potential customers never made a purchasing decision at all. The sad truth is that because of this belief they have, they do not institute a proper follow-up sequence! However, if they would have followed-up, they would have discovered that the prospective client most likely bought from someone else and the reason they did was because the competition was more professional, more persistent, and provided good customer service!
I have a philosophy to share with you. Please note, "If I am a pro, they will buy from me unless they go out of business, or die." Commit to that statement. Commit to yourself that you are going to be so professional that they are going to invest their money with you unless they are no longer in business or the decision maker passes on to his or her heavenly reward. That may sound extreme, but that's the way you have to feel if you want to get the business every time.
Another
thing that happens to people who don't do business with you is that
the business relocates, or your contact person or purchasing agent is
replaced. In many businesses, purchasing agents change as they grow
beyond that position. Every time there's a new person charged with
making the buying decisions, your chances of making a sale change as
well. That's why it is important to keep watching every company in
your territory for the change of the purchasing agent or decision
maker in that firm. When they change you can start afresh in your
attempts to get their business.
The third reason people don't do business with you is that you have lost them to the competition. I hope you will be mature enough to say, "If I lost the business, I got beat because of skill and talent and I'm not going to blame my company-I'm going to increase my skill level." You cannot please everyone. There will always be those clients that you simply cannot please. I've had clients and customers I've given so much service to and I know I earned the business, but for one reason or another I didn't close, I didn't do my job, I didn't follow-up well enough and I lost the sale. At first, I used to blame everyone else for these failures. But I'll tell you, the more I look at selling, the more I realize that if you lose to the competition, it's usually because they've outperformed you. Don't be upset about it. Just learn the game and get better and get the business!
The last
reason customers don't buy from you is you lose because they no
longer use your type of product. And if they have literally changed
their whole way of doing business and your company hasn't got a
product to satisfy the needs, you're going to lose the business.
This material has been reprinted with permission of Tom Hopkins International, Inc. For more information on these and other sales training materials write: Tom Hopkins International; P.O. Box 1969, Scottsdale, AZ 85252
