One of the chief complaints from customers about the way business is conducted these days centers on customer service. Either the service aspect is completely lacking or what has been promised to the customer hasn’t been kept. Dealing with the latter category, it is easy to see why customers are disappointed: sales people routinely over promise and then fail to deliver.
A disappointed customer is not only unhappy with your services, but they won’t recommend you to their friends. Even worse, an unsatisfied customer may tell their friends to simply not do business with you! Read on for some tips on how you can deliver right on time, every time and leave your customers satisfied and recommending you to their friends.
Successful sales people thrive by getting referrals from satisfied customers. You not only have a satisfied customer, but the opportunity for receiving highly recommended future prospects increases as well.
Here are a few things you should keep in mind when working with any client:
Keep your promises. If you tell your customer that you will provide x, y, z then you must deliver on x, y, z. Delivering anything less than what you promise makes you look like every other guy out there: a liar…at least in your customers’ eyes!
Do not over promise. Likely, your intentions are to come through to your customers as planned. However, are you tempted to give them the shortest possible turn around time just to close a sale? Don’t do that! Instead, build in some buffer time to allow for problems to arise, to be addressed, and to be moved out of the way.
Be a Hero, not a Zero. Smart salespeople have a very good idea when a job should be completed, but add in the buffer time anyway. Let’s say a job takes 10 days to do. Tell your customer that you will have it completed in 15 days. When you deliver earlier than planned, you’ll come out looking like a hero. Deliver late and you’ll look bad – And you will have to come up with some sort of costly “extra” to soothe their wounds!
So, what do you do with those customers who have a, “I want it done yesterday” mentality? Emphasize quality! That’s right, instead of falsely promising that you can get the job done within their ridiculously short timeframe, give them a realistic timeframe and mention that this is the time needed to “get the job done right the first time.” You’ll help move them away from an untenable deadline to one that is based on reality. Emphasize quality over everything else and you will have their attention.
Remember: a satisfied customer is a happy customer and they will cost you less in the long run. Meet or beat your deadline each and every time and you’ll have a customer who is very satisfied with your services and they will recommend you to their friends. You will save money, time, and aggravation – and you will profit immensely over the long run.
