• CHAPTER 14
    BUILDING RELATIONSHIPS
    WITH
    TOTAL CUSTOMER SERVICE
  • THE NATURE AND PURPOSE OF TOTAL CUSTOMER SERVICE
    Service is an Ongoing Activity
    • Selling is the courtship; Service is like “permanent dating”
    • You become part of the customer’s team
    • You establish a basis for a long-term relationship
    • You might get new prospects (your current customers give them to you)
    • Think of each customer as your only account
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    “A lot of people have fancy things to say about customer service, including me, but it’s just a day-in, day-out, ongoing, never-ending, unremitting, persevering, compassionate type of activity.”
    - Leon Gorman, L.L. Bean
    Service Quality Strategy satisfied_customers
    • Can be a strategy to acquire and maintain customers.
    • Segment customers
    • Inform specific customers what to expect
    • Exceed expectations
    • Must be a way of life
    Moments of Truth
    • Each time a customer contacts your firm a moment of truth occurs
    • At each moment the customer becomes aware of your service quality
    Value Added Values
    • Everything the salesperson does during and after the sale provides value added.
    • Value added .
      1. Means going above and beyond what is merely expected of you
      2. Warranty and repairs are part of what we sell.
      3. Our service must go beyond that.
      4. There is no speed limit on the extra mile
    Service After the Sale
    The sale is not complete until the customer is satisfied
    Ten elements of service after the sale.
    1. Follow-up on delivery schedules.
    2. Checking on the performance of the product after delivery.
    3. Training or instructing the customer in using the product.
    4. Making adjustments of mistakes in delivery quantity or quality.
    5. Assisting in securing replacement parts.
    6. Helping to arrange and check displays.
    7. Checking customer's inventory of related supplies to make the product or service work properly.
    8. Answering questions related to the product or other products or services your company provides.
    9. Giving prospect referrals to customers for their business when you discover one.
    10. Sending appropriate remembrances on occasions of importance to the customer including birthday, holiday seasons, public recognition or business achievement, promotion, etc.
  • PROVIDING QUALITY SERVICE HAS ITS REWARDS
    Problem Prevention
    • If complaints are intercepted and solved quickly then they don't become major problems
    • Quick service can turn a lemon into lemonade
    Staying Informed - frequent service calls keep you up to date
    • Personnel changes
    • Competitors activity
    • Upcoming structural changes in client firm
    Retaining Existing Customers
    • More technical sales are lost through poor follow-up than anything else
    • Average firm looses 20% of customer base per year
    • Any reduction in that number greatly increases profits
    Building Goodwill
    • Service is the only way to justify a price differential
    • Goodwill makes a repeat sale possible
  • WHEN AND HOW TO SERVICE upset.gif (6875 bytes)
    Service as an Ongoing Activity
    Selling is the courtship. Service is the marriage
    • You become part of the customers team
    • You establish a basis for a long term relationship
    • You make sure that customers get what they thought they were buying
    • You get new prospects
      1. By referrals
      2. By learning the customer's industry
    • Think of each customer as your only account
    Gaining a new customer cost five times more than keeping a current customer
    Service in Response to Needs
    • Service the old accounts as well as the new
    • Anticipate complaints and intercept them
    Technical Assistance Research Programs, Inc findings
    • Only 4% of unhappy customers actually complain. Even some with serious problems
    • Complainers are more likely to do business with you again
    • 50%-70% of complainers will give repeat business if the complaint is resolved
    • 95% complainers will give repeat business if the complaint is resolved quickly
    • Dissatisfied complainers will tell at least 9 or 10 people. 13% tell more than 20 people
    • Satisfied complainers will tell about 5 people
    Some types of problems a salesperson, could solve before they become serious.
    • The product is not functioning properly.
    • The personnel handling the equipment cannot operate it efficiently.
    • They are not getting replacement parts quick enough.
    Phone Calls
    • the phone is a great tool.
    • Gives personalized attention quickly
    • Customer service hot lines have proven themselves to be profitable
    		 Phone Calls
    Problem Solving
    • Coordination Within Salesperson’s Company
    • Assistance With Training
  • SERVICE AT DIFFERENT LEVELS IN THE CHANNEL
    Servicing Retailers
    • Keep customers informed of promotional programs
    • Supply display items
    • Help with displays and arrangements
    • Check inventory regularly
    • Train the customer's people
    Servicing Intermediaries
    • Call on the distributor.
    • Call on the distributor's customers.
    • Train distributor's sales force.
    Technology and Service Quality
    • Service ability has been enhanced
    • Electronically mediated sales conversations - two computers sharing
  • Tracking Service Activities
    A written specific plan should be developed
    Call Frequency
    • Rank your customers (criteria may vary)
    • Allot service time and call frequency accordingly
    Follow-Up at a specific time interval after each sale.
    Mail - keep your name in front of them
    • Promotional material
    • New product information
    • Company newsletter
    • Newspaper articles
    • Letter with a reply card
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    SERVICING ATTITUDES
    • Personal Reliability - don't be a flake
    • Second-Mile Action - there is no speed limit on the extra mile
  • Winning Back Former Customers
    Reasons for losing an account
    • Something the seller does
    • Something the seller fails to do
    • Something the company does
    • Something the company fails to do
    • A question of service
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    List of excuses - "It's not my fault."
    • Competition too cheap
    • Competition unethical
    • Customer is too difficult
    • All customer cares about is price
    • I don't have time to follow up
    • I've been doing sales for ## years. It can't be me.
    • My company fails to back me up
      • delivery is late
      • quality deteriorates
      • I never lose a customer through any fault of mine
    Ask the tough questions Ask Tough Questions
    • Do I get mad at small orders?
    • Do I stay away too long between calls?
    • Do I keep customers informed?
    • Do I keep all my commitments?
    • Was our service ineffective?
    • Can I help you in any way to get the account back?          
    Listen carefully and politely wpe39.jpg (44184 bytes)
  • 12 COMMANDMENTS OF TOTAL CUSTOMER SERVICE
    by David J. Lill
    Customers
    • are the life-blood of every business
    • satisfying them is an income-producing endeavor.
    Customers
    • are the most important people in my business.
    Customers
    • are not dependent on us
    • we’re dependent upon them.
    Customers
    • are not cold, hard lifeless statistics
    • they are flesh and blood human beings with feelings and emotions just like our own.
    Customers
    • do us a favor when they call with a complaint or service request
    • customer retention is the bottom line.
    Customers
    • are not an interruption of our work
    • they are the purpose of everything we do.
    Customers
    • are the key components of our business
    • they are not outsiders.
    Customers
    • deserve the most courteous and attentive service we can give them
    • develop a servant’s heart.
    Customers
    • are people who bring us their wants and needs
    • it is our job to thrill them.
    Customers
    • are not opponents to argue or match wits with
    • why win the battle and lose the war?
    Customers
    • should be considered economic assets
    • manage them to maximize your return on investment.
    Customers
    • make it possible for a company to pay your salary
    • whether you are a secretary, production employee, office staff, salesperson or sales manager.