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Give Customers the Benefit of the Doubt
When a customer contacts you
looking for a product that doesnt 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 companys, 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! Dont be surprised if the order itself is flawed in some way. Perhaps the salesperson misunderstood the customers 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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