It’s that time of year. I am having far greater interaction with a whole host of vendors, suppliers and merchants, as I prepare for Christmas and the New Year festivities, and to say my experiences have been exasperating would be a gross understatement. Does anybody care anymore? In their frenzied, frantic, and relentless pursuit of new business, companies are leaving their existing customers behind, discarded like  used tissues, to fend for themselves.

These are the same customers who were once prospects themselves, and who were converted at considerable cost and investment of time and resource. It seems to me that these days the “Customer is King” commercial philosophy of years gone by has been replaced by  the “Customer is a Nuisance” mentality.

As a consequence, you will not be surprised to learn that customer complaints and general dissatisfaction are at an all time high. It is not just the quality of the goods or service that are wanting, it is vendor’s ability to deal with the expectation gap which has been created. 

The reality is that the focus of all modern management thinking, and strategic business practice, has to be the customer. Keep your customers happy and your sales will continue to soar – neglect them, or take them for granted, and your bottom line will suffer accordingly.

To respond to a customer who has a legitimate complaint you must, in my opinion, keep these six rules firmly in mind.

Rule One
Listen with understanding and sympathy – This diffuses anger and demonstrates your concern. Tell the customer something such as “I am sorry you have been inconvenienced. Tell me what happened, so that I can help you.” It is vital to show a sincere interest and willingness to help. The customer’s first impression of you is all important in gaining co-operation.
 
Rule Two
No matter what or who caused the problem, never ever blame or make excuses. Instead, take full responsibility and the initiative to do whatever you can to solve the problem as quickly as possible.
 
Rule Three
Paraphrase and record what the customer tells you. Whenever you hear an important point say “let me make sure I understand; you were promised delivery on the 10th and you did not receive the product until the 1st of the following month. Is that correct?”

Rule Four
Find out what the customer wants. Do they want a refund, credit, discount or replacement? The customer is complaining because he/she has a problem and wants it solved as quickly as possible. Find out what their problem is so you can work towards it – and not towards a solution they do not want.
 
Rule Five
Propose a solution and gain the customer’s support. When the customer tells you what he or she wants, the solution is usually obvious. State your solution in a positive manner. “I will be happy to give you a full credit for it or other merchandise. Is that acceptable for you?” If it is acceptable, act promptly.

Rule Six
If the customer does not like your solution, ask what they would consider a fair alternative. Never let a customer lose face. If you cannot meet their request, say so, but never say they are wrong, and never get into an argument with a customer. It is vital to be considerate of the customer’s feelings and to be courteous. Sometimes the customer knows full well that there is nothing you can do. All the customer really wants is someone to hear and respect his or her point of view, and you can always give them that.

In Summary

Do remember that a customer’s loyalty is only as strong as the success of their last contact with you, and by transforming an unhappy customer into a satisfied one, you have proved that you value their custom – and this may well lead to a strengthened relationship and repeat business.

If you want to experience consistently excellent service – service like it used to be, and still should be – go buy something from Johnnie Boden. Don’t take my word for it, try them for yourselves, you will be truly stunned that any company could be so good.

Latest News: I’ll have a couple of guest posts over the w/e, and of course an update on the most significant online sales event of the year – 2010 Top Sales Awards - voting is getting very “aggressive” and it is going to be very exciting next week – have you voted today?

Also next week, as we begin the countdown to 2011, I’ll be giving away a free ebook every day, right up until Christmas Eve – so be sure to join me.

For many harassed sales leaders, this time of year means only two things; Driving for year-end results and trying to forecast and plan for next year. Does this sound familiar?

“I want you to deliver ….

- More profit

- More sales

- More productivity

- More customers

- More quality

Oh, and, by the way, you’ve got…..

- Less money

- Less staff

- Less time”

Year on year, sales leaders are being asked to achieve improved results with fewer resources or at least, more from the same. To most Sales Directors, the attainment of a permanent increase in sales revenues must seem like the search for eternal youth; unending and, ultimately, unavailing.

Unfortunately, the task of selling never becomes any easier and as competition continues to intensify, sales people will face issues that can be extremely difficult to deal with e.g. decreased product uniqueness, increased competition within ‘safe’ markets, longer sales cycles and shorter product life spans.

The reality is that whatever got you where you are today will not be sufficient to keep you there. A rapidly changing environment is the regular background against which organisations must develop.

Change is continuous and will become more rapid as we move forward over time. Sales management must be capable of reacting to those changes, be prepared to take advantage of them and yet stay within the overall framework of a formalized strategy.

The role of strategy is fundamental if the people within an organisation are to be enabled to make the level of contribution of which they are capable. Strategy, based on a good grasp of the core competencies of a business, is an essential precursor to achieving optimal shareholder value.

Getting more for less or more from the same level of resources, is my simple definition of efficiency.

Here then are six steps you can take next year that will help you achieve those increased targets:

Step One: Understand your operation

- Do you know your operation well enough to improve it?

Step Two: Set the right objectives
 
- Do you have the right objectives to steer improvement?

Step Three: Check customer perception

- How can you identify non-value-added (wasteful) activity?

- How can you remove it?

Step Four: Increase capacity

- Are you meeting demand?

- What action(s) can you take?

- How efficient are your resources?

Step Five: Continuously improve
 
- Do you have a systematic approach to constant improvement?

Step Six: Check customer perception

- How effective have your efforts been?
- How can you tell?

And finally, when you review your performance this year, consider benchmarking yourself against the Sales Management Acid Test:

The Acid Test – When thinking about your own sales force in 2010
 
- Did you understand their motivators – what was driving them?

- Did you always have visibility of their numbers – year to date, forecast vs. required performance?

- Activity levels – did they work hard and smart enough?

- Engagement – did they always meet with the right level in their prospects/accounts?

- Messaging – were they capable of delivering an appropriate message at the right level?

- Qualification – did they only spend time on deals where they could compete and ultimately win?

- Closing – did they construct successful campaigns and close enough business?

Latest News: Now you can read the JF Daily, packed with great posts, loads of interesting news – and it’s FREE! – Jonathan Farrington Daily

Finally, here’s a message from that jolly good egg, Nigel Edelshain ….

“For the first time ever, I’m launching a public sales training workshop.

My goal is to bring together a small group of sales people who want to change their sales career dramatically. We’re going to meet for two intensive days. In those two days we’re going to arm ourselves with the latest sales techniques so we blow away our competition and our 2011 quotas.

This boot camp is going to contain sales ideas that are seriously different from those in sales training courses we’ve all attended before. It’s going to contain everything I know about Sales 2.0 and Social Selling. I’ve spent hundreds of hours preparing this course to date and I’ve tapped my sales expert friends for their knowledge too to make sure this thing rocks.

But the real magic (and the bit I’m most pumped about) is going to come from YOU. This is going to be a super-interactive, high-octane experience where your peers (and you) will teach each other by bringing your real-world experience to the table.”

Learn more HERE

With the ongoing explosion of social media as a tool for business marketing, reacting to opportunities to make contacts and pitch your business online has become more and more important for small businesses. With the huge level of business activity within Twitter, LinkedIn, blogs and forums, it’s unsurprising that businesses are focussing their attentions on these new opportunities. However, online networking is a time sink, so getting to the point quickly and effectively has become even more important.
 
Everyone talks about the importance of the elevator pitch, but how many of us talk about the importance of the Twitter pitch? It’s not surprising that small business owners worldwide are investing time and money into doing this better.
 
So the question being asked by T-Mobile is this: Who is the best at pitching their business in only 140 characters? With a prize fund of £4000 (first prize of £2000), T-Mobile are asking for the best 140 character (or less) business pitch you can give. Furthermore, each pitch entered will be featured on their business site, so even if you don’t win, the opportunity to see your business on such a large brands site may be pretty hard to pass up. Enter the competition here: http://t-mobile.co.uk/pitchyourbusiness
While 140 characters isn’t a lot to work with, it’s a great way to get you to think about exactly what your business aims to do. Here are a few tips for getting that message out efficiently and effectively in every day life, offline and online:
 
Identify your objective: What is the key message you want to communicate? Boil down your business into it’s most important function and start from there.
 
Keep it short: The person who you are speaking to should know exactly what you are talking about and where the conversation is going by the second sentence. Be concise and to the point and get them hooked in early. If you feel you need to explain your experiences, business mantra or any other aspects of your role before you want talk about your business, then you may want to look at building your confidence in what it offers. It should always be one of the first things you want to tell people about.
 
Have a hook: The objective of the first 30 seconds should be to get whoever it is that you are speaking to interested in the next 45 or 50 seconds. Get them interested by telling them how what you have to say will benefit them. Answer the question “why should I care?” and build on that answer.
 
Don’t forget your objective: It is easy to get caught up in little details about yourself or the bigger picture of what you are talking about. Stay focused, keep your purpose at front of mind.
 
Don’t overwhelm: Try not to include too much information pertaining to statistics or jargon. While mentioning one or two memorable phrases or figures may be useful you don’t want to confuse anyone or lose their attention. You can provide any other information later on.
 
Practice: Say it out loud. Get comfortable with delivering short and clear messages. The most important ting about an ad-hoc business pitch is that you sound comfortable and confident in what you are talking about, so practice and be sure to know what you’re going to say.
 
Listen: It is just as important to listen as it is to talk. This can be a great opportunity to observe the way others communicate. Evaluate what is effective and what is not and look for opportunities to learn about what they need from your business.

What are you waiting for? Go Pitch & Win

Full Disclosure: I am receiving no reward, remuneration, or any other kind of “kick-back” for highlighting this brilliant competition. However, this blog is featured in T-Mobile’s business section