Powerful Customer Service - Twenty Key Questions to Ask Yourself (6-10)

How effectively do you actually ask your Customers for feedback? The old adage: “Don’t ask them how we’re doing because they might tell us” is long since out-of-date (if it ever was “in-date”). Remember the dissatisfied Customer from earlier? This is the breed who show their dissatisfaction by finding another source to spend their hard-earned dollars or pounds. So, it’s up to you (and your company) to find as many pro-active ways as you can to find out how your Customers really rate the service you offer (and the associated products). And, remember, you might well be pleasantly surprised! For every “unpleasant” surprise there is an associated benefit – there may well be other Customers out there who feel the same way or have the same complaint – but haven’t brought it to your attention. So, whether it’s a “complaints line”, a questionnaire in your products; even a phone survey – whatever – you want ever-more feedback from your Customers. And, in fact, from those past Customers who don’t use you any more. You never know – the very approach might start the process of reconverting them!


Have you your own personal in-built “speakometer”? And, it’s bosom buddy, the “listenoscope”? No – well, if you’ve never heard of them, let’s invent them! These two devices will measure the amount of listening you do – and compare it to the time you are actually talking. And, what should the proportion be? Well, there’s no perfect answer, but if you spend more of your time in a sales call talking than listening, then you are likely to be selling “at” or “to” a Customer rather than “with them”. Whilst most people enjoy the pleasure of buying; far fewer are pleased to be “sold to”. You might have all the techniques – but these need to be matched with the skill to know which ones to use, how to use them, and to choose the best time to do so


If you had an appointment with me for 10am – what time would you actually turn up? Is it ten o’clock or around “tennish”? Is “almost on time” good enough? Now, occasionally, there might be a good reason (e.g. traffic hold-up caused by an accident) for not quite being on time. Being busy doing other things is not one of them! Because, if I, as your Customer knew this – how satisfied would I be with the attitude you were showing towards me? Of course, you are entitled to expect your Customer to be ready to deal with you at the agreed time too! If you are always waiting around for 10, 20 minutes – even half-an-hour – you have just become the person who doesn’t mind waiting! This might be a touch controversial – but sometimes you just have to leave a Customer be for a little while. Imagine you are in a shop and you are constantly harried by the salespeople to buy things (no matter how nicely this is put). You are quite likely to gently leave! Equally, with some Customers, over-harrying might not get the results you want. Leaving it to another day might just pay dividends. Please note: this is not an excuse to be used with an awkward Customer when all you want to do is escape! It’s only in a genuine situation where backing-off today might bring long-term gains when you go back and see them in a day or two


Do you follow-through with your Customers? Or, as soon as a sale has been agreed and copy taken are you “out-of-there”? You might get away with that for a one-off sale ( if you really want to). But, in most cases, your aim is to build up a long-term mutually beneficial relationship. Your aim is genuinely to work with your Customer to get things right and help their business. Being willing to risk any flak if an ad or campaign didn’t produce the expected results is a key part of this. If you don’t know what any “bad news” is, what chance have you ever got of turning it around? Allow your customers to say “no” occasionally. I remember, years ago, I had a great idea for one of my motors Advertisers. Now, of course, this sentence actually means that I thought I had a great idea! Sadly (or happily) he didn’t agree. I found this very frustrating and kept pushing at it. Eventually, he said to me: “You know why I’m really not going ahead with this?” I shook my head. He smiled and said: “Because it’s totally ##@@)+# crap”. I’d never even heard him swear before. Thankfully, I thought this was a good time to leave with as much grace as could be mustered! You see – he knew more about his business than I did. And, he was right!


Isn’t it nice to be able to show your depth of knowledge and expertise from time to time? And, equally, isn’t it marvellous for others to be witness to this? The answer may be “yes” for you. But probably “no” for your Customers who have to sit through the performance. Here’s a tip: know just enough to help your Customer achieve their aims. And, encourage them to be a willing expert in their field of expertise. That way, you are both harnessing your talents to the maximum!




Powerful Customer Service - Twenty Key Questions to Ask Yourself (6-10) - To learn more about this author, visit Gordon Veniard's Website.

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