Today we wrap up our look at the customer service standards. It’s important to remember that each one of these standards that we’ve touched on are important in their own right, but they are all intertwined, and the truth is that you are going to float between all of these in any presentation. The professional salesperson will be able to read which standards are the most important based on each customer.
- Smile, smile, smile: No one is going to want to buy from a salesperson who appears to hate their job and would rather be anywhere else. When you smile, the natural reaction is for the customer to smile in return and your selling relationship is off to a great start. One of the primary goals of a salesperson is to cultivate relationships with their customers and a simple smile is a big step towards doing just that.
- The Golden Rule: Do unto others as you would want them to do unto you. Again, it sounds simple but in reality, it’s the essence of quality customer service. No one, especially customers, wants to be mistreated, lied to, dealt with rudely, abused or pushed around. Salespeople, right or wrong, have the reputation of engaging in these types of behavior. There is no place in the field of sales for these kinds of things and the best way to combat that reputation is the Golden Rule. Treat people (customers) right and the rest will take care of itself.
- Make it fun: Whatever you are doing, if it’s fun then chances are going to be better that you are good at it. The selling process should be fun for both the salesperson and the customer. Your customers want to enjoy the process of buying and it’s up to the salesperson to ensure that the entire process is enjoyable. In addition, if you are not enjoying your work then your life is going to be miserable. Make sure you are having fun; life is too short not to.
- Go the extra mile: The best salespeople will always do a little extra to make sure their customers are happy and satisfied. It’s often little things that make a big difference; a follow up phone call, assisting the customer to their car with their purchase or writing a thank you note. Those are little things that take very little time but can make a huge difference. If you don’t go the extra mile, someone else will.
Just remember this, if you treat customers right then good things will come back to you.
To review the previous installments of this series, visit Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3.
