Stay - Say - Pay
Would you like to have customers that stay with you anddon't buy from your competitors?Customers that say nice things about your business to otherpeople; pay you on time and accept the fact that you might be a bit more expensive thenother suppliers?Of course you do but how do we perform this miracle? It'sdead easy really; you only have to consider two factors: be Reliable and be Likeable.
It almost goes without saying that it's vital to have areliable product or service. Most businesses spend a great deal of time and money ensuringthat their product does what they say it'll do and striving for exceptional customer service.
However, if you do this consistently, don't expect any "brownie points" and it won't ensure stay,say and pay. Providing reliable products and service isvitally important however after a while customers start totake it for granted.
I can remember the days when a motor car was difficult tostart on a winters morning. When atelephone engineer took a week to fix your phone and aretail store wouldn't take back an item you'd purchased.Nowadays, cars start first time, engineers come the same dayand retail stores give you your money back immediately. We now take this kind of reliability and service forgranted.
To give your business the competitive edge and ensure stay,say and pay you, your business and your people need to belikeable. Too many organisations forget that their customersare humans and the thing about humans is - they don't alwaysmake decisions logically. Customers are driven by theiremotions and they make decisions about organisations basedon their interaction with the people in the business.They'll even forgive your mistakes if they like yourbusiness.
So what do we need to do to ensure the likeability factor?Run your eye down the following list and see how many youcan tick off:
* We always have a genuine smile for every customer.
* We are warm and friendly to all customers.
* We listen carefully and make it obvious that we'relistening.
* We use the customer's name and our name appropriately.
* We give the impression that we care and are interested inthe customer.
* We empathise with problems and complaints and respondquickly.
* We occasionally do something to pleasantly surprise thecustomer.
* We always keep our promises.
* We give the impression that we're fun to deal with.
* We treat the customer the way they want to be treated, notthe way we want to be treated.
(The * We means everyone in the business be they salespeople, delivery drivers, accountants, engineers, managersor directors.)
How well did you do? If you've got lots of ticks then youprobably have lots of customers who like you. Just a word to the managers and employersamongst you; run your eyes down the list again and replacethe word customer with the words employee or staffcolleague.
How many ticks did you get this time? Lots of ticks meanyour staff like you and it probably follows that yourcustomers do as well.
Have you noticed how being likeable cost so little? A lotless than advertising or other promotional activity required to replace lost customers.
Working a little bit harder on the emotional connection withyour customers will increase your likeability factor andensure they - stay, say and pay.
Discover how you can generate more business without havingto cold call!Alan Fairweather is the author of "How to get More Sales without Selling" This book is packed with practical thingsthat you can do to - get customers to come to you.
Click here now:
http://www.howtogetmoresales.com
http://www.alanfairweather.com