Hardwood Floors April/May 2017

SALES SAVVY BUSINESS BEST PRACTICES

By Paul Reilly

Turning Service into Sales

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customers reward you with their loyalty. So when a heated customer is complaining about your products or services, it’s actually an opportunity. Never write off a customer as far gone. There is still an opportunity to gain his or her loyalty. In Value-Added Selling, sales and service professionals learn to define value in the customer’s terms. This customer- focused approach requires a clear understanding of the buyer’s expectations through the entire experience. Too often, organizations attempt to define value in their terms, not the customer’s. This is a seller-focused approach to serving customers. It’s the customer’s definition of value that matters. A customer-focused approach requires taking the perspective of the customer. You must view the world through the eyes of the customer. Also, you must understand the buyer’s expectations throughout the buying process. Here are some tips to help you be more customer-focused. Delivering exceptional service throughout the end-to-end experience requires empathy. Putting yourself in the position of the buyer helps you understand his or her perspective. It provides you with a deeper level of insight. However, empathy levels are at an all-time low. A study by Sara Konrath, from the University of Michigan, found that today’s

The greatest sales tool is not your salespeople, it’s your end-to-end customer experience. The sales team might sell the first customer experience, but the entire organization sells the next and the rest. How you manage the customer experience determines customer satisfaction. If your customers are dissatisfied with their experience, they are not going to buy again. A Bain & Company study found that customers are four to six times more likely to leave a company because of bad service rather than price or even product failure. Granted, there will be hiccups in the customer experience. Customers understand this and are willing to look past it. For example, a study conducted by TARP Worldwide, a company that specializes in customer satisfaction, shows that customers who complain and are satisfied by the resolution of the complaint are actually 30 percent more loyal than a non-complainer. This creates a service paradox. How could a dissatisfied customer become more loyal than a satisfied customer? Service failures are service opportunities. Customers understand that no service experience is perfect. If you address their concerns and satisfy their complaints,

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