TyBoyd

TyBoyd

Written By Jeffrey Gitomer
@GITOMER

KING OF SALES, The author of seventeen best-selling books including The Sales Bible, The Little Red Book of Selling, and The Little Gold Book of Yes! Attitude. His live coaching program, Sales Mastery, is available at gitomer.me.

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51 Ways
TO GET CLOSER TO THE REAL BOSS, YOUR CUSTOMER!

  • Make it a policy to return all inquiry or complaint calls within one hour.
  • Set a goal to resolve every complaint within 24-hours. Then shorten it to 12.
  • Make it a point to personally call or better yet, visit a large cross section of your customers. Ask them how you can better serve them.
  • Personally call non-customers. Listen to why they are NOT buying from you.
  • Send out thank you notes to both new and regular customers or clients.
  • Send out 1000 cards a month – Birthday, Thanksgiving, New Year – whatever. Make sure they hear from you somehow 5-6 times a year.
  • Install a customer “hot line”.
  • Put up signs all over the place saying “(our company) MEANS SERVICE.” Put it on your letterhead, on uniforms, tattoo it on your foreheads.
  • Have your top staff personally answer complaints.
  • Make the product or service you sell a customer OVERWHELMINGLY cost justifiable from the customer’s standpoint.
  • Take a “How Are We Doing?” survey of your customers at least every six months.
  • Have your top management people make sales calls regularly.
  • Become a growth-partner with each of your customers.
  • Encourage innovation – from your employees and your customers.
  • Listen to everyone. Ideas come from anywhere.
  • Avoid moderation in all things.
  • You can measure service. Do it! Everyone!
  • Study the leaders in other industries. Examples: Fed-X for delivery. Xerox for quality. AutoZone, Nordstrom, L.L. Bean for service.How can you adapt?
  • Have everybody who works in your operations area go along on at least five sales calls per year.
  • Make sure that everybody takes customer relations training (and graduates).
  • Act as though you are always on the verge of losing every customer.
  • Conduct “exit interviews” with every customer you lose. Have your CEO do some of them.
  • Install some form of group bonus based on reducing customer turnover.
  • Conduct a group brainstorm at least once a month on “How can we make customer service even better than it is now?”
  • Add a service incentive program.
  • Start a service-to-the customer drive. Do it with lots of “hoopla.”
  • Let quality and service by your goal instead of growth. The growth will come.
  • Let your people know every time they do something that gives extraordinary service to the customer. Reward them at small ceremonies.
  • Combine sales & service into the same function.
  • Dock the commission of the sales-person every time you lose a customer no matter who was the original salesperson. (A tough one that communicates the message that servicing the account is just as important as getting it.)
  • Understand that you are in the PEOPLE business first-everything else is in second place.
  • Never allow your customer to feel they’ve been victimized.
  • Make it easy for your customers to build a strong trust relationship with you.
  • Understand that the faster you help your customer, the more they will appreciate how much you value their time.
  • If something goes wrong, take personal responsibility. Don’t blame your company…say you’ll take care of the problem. Even if youdidn’t cause it.
  • Be over-responsive to customer needs and suggestions.
  • Have group brainstorms on }how can we make customer service even better than it is now?~
  • Don’t knock or belittle a competitor! Your competitor may be just as good a person as you -possibly better; and it you don’t keep your eyes open, he/she may have a good chance to prove it!
  • Never break a promise to a customer, whatever the cost. Always keep your word. One failure raises doubt-the next one raises the roof.
  • Seek existing customers opinions about your new ideas or prospective products.
  • If you’ve turned a situation with a customer over to someone else, follow-up to see if everything worked out as expected.
  • Outserve your competition!
  • Make it easy for customer to express any dissatisfaction. Give them “How Are We Doing” forms. Put the completed forms on the bulletin board every week. Post a graph for all to see… tracking customer satisfaction.
  • Become a conscious consumer. Carry a notebook and write down the things that really irritate you as a buyer. Then correct similar things as you deal with customers at your own place of business.
  • Enthusiasm breeds enthusiasm. The service-person who serves with a dead-pan attitude might just as well work in the cemetery. Customerswant vim, vigor, and vitality!
  • Don’t let yourself get too thin-skinned. It takes a tough hide to be a salesperson who can }take it~ and bounce back smiling.
  • Don’t be afraid to ask for the order! What do you think your customer is doing – making a social call? If pleasure interferes with your business, who do you think is going to draw down your next paycheck?
  • Don’t be too sure your customer is a dumbbell. He/she may turn the tables on you and prove to be as dumb as a fox!
  • Sweat the details. Take care of the small stuff.
  • Take every chance to talk quality and brand. There’s a definite return to quality buying and every bit of it affects you directly and indirectly.
  • Want to know how to treat the customer? Simple! Just like you want (expect) to be treated when you’re the customer.
  • Always remember to thank your customers for their business.

And… Thank You!

compliments of:
Ty Boyd Enterprises
1727 Garden Terrace o Charlotte, NC 28203
office 704/333-9999 o toll free 800/336-2693 o fax 704/333-0207
“TY BOYD” faxback #102