What visitors find is a glorious culmination of every poor customer service event, failed sales call, or negative fear-based emotion all rolled into one-sentence witticisms to which everyone can relate.
So as business professionals, how do we prevent ourselves from becoming poster children for regretful service and outright sales failure?
The Boy Scouts said it, and it's critical: Be prepared. But beyond that, quit sabotaging yourself and be prepared to succeed.
- Be prepared for questions - questions are good! It's the silence you've got to worry about. Questions are often not contrary, but rather a crystal-clear look into the visceral purchase motivators for your guest.
- Be prepared to involve your customer. It sounds so simple, but many veteran salespeople go into an auto-piloted spiel and forget to pause and let the customer participate in the presentation. If we learn to interact and ask our guests pertinent questions, they listen more closely to what we are saying, and will formulate invaluable questions to help them begin visualizing themselves using your product or service.
- Be prepared to write the sale - then stop selling. If we've been hearing a few 'no' responses in a row, an enthusiastic 'YES!' can be unnerving. We naturally start to second guess what we've said and reiterate, and ultimately talk ourselves out of a sale. After a hearty, 'Let's do this!' Excitedly answer, 'OK!' and get out the necessary tools to complete the sale. Don't try to show more features and confuse the issue. Don't offer things in a different colors or levels or anything. They bought what you're showing them. So let them buy already!
- Be prepared to be challenged. Some people will only buy from people that can provide intelligent, informed answers and show grace under fire. It's easy to sell to the person who says yes all the time; it takes moxy to sell to a grouch. Confidence grows from knowing your business inside and out. Hey, you chose it as a profession, now dig in and do your homework!
- Be prepared when things go wrong. Working with a car dealer, it was always the most painful, awkward situation when we gathered the whole team - sales, service, office - around an excited new owner and their shiny new car, showcased front and center on the showfloor for all to see. We would say a little cheer for them, hoot and holler a little, and swing wide the doors for the proud new owner to drive off into the sunset... And every once in a while, all anyone would hear would be a faint little 'click' from under the hood. Managing those shattered customer expectations was a challenge, but when handled correctly, those disappointed owners became raving fans.
A very wise man named Leonard Rydell once said, "Don't invite the customers in, just to disappoint them."
Consider your personal experiences with both superior and dismal customer service. Then consider how you treat both your favorite customer, and your worst living nightmare of a curmudgeonly guest. If they differ, visit that website. One of those posters could be about you.
