Sales Training: Keeping a customer part 1 - Problems - how easy it is to be proactive

“But if we tell all of our customers about (INSERT SOMETHING THAT WENT WRONG), we will be needlessly upsetting the apple cart. Why not just let the people it effects contact us.”

I cannot tell you how many times I have heard a top ranking executive say something suprisingly similar to this. Worse, I watch sales reps shake in fear at the thought of sharing problems with customers. HEAR ME SCREAMING FROM THE ROOFTOPS! TREAT YOUR CUSTOMERS WITH RESPECT. Here is a thought, tell everyone when an issue arises and explain what you are doing to fix it.

BE PROACTIVE!!!

Send an e-mail, make phone calls, post it on your website, list it on the login screen of your service. and make sure everybody knows from you and not the irritation of discovering the issue for themselves. Some thoughts:

  1. The people it effects will appreciate your candor and not have to go through the pain of disocvering the issue for themselves. They avoid wasted time trying to troubleshoot other things besides your problem. Best of all, they know you are working on it and did not have to go out of their way to notify you of the issue. Nothing is more irritating than calling someone about a problem and having them respond with, “We are aware of that.” Well, why did you not bother to tell me? While they might not be happy with the issu, at least they respect you as a business partner.
  2. The people it does not effect will be grateful that you are so forthcoming and prepared. Why? Because if anything ever did come up that would cause them concern, they know you are the type to be up front and let them know. This is a tremedous advantage when looking at time. Now you have shown respect to someone who is not hampered by a problem.

When people are wooed by your competitors, the issues they had with your offering are not what gets them thinking about leaving. The way you handled an issue is what sticks in their mind. If you are a professional that shows the customer that you are looking out for them first and all else second, it will not be forgotten. A better price, a neat feature, they cannot succumb to these enticements, for the greatest benefit has already been delivered…trust.

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This entry was posted on Sunday, June 15th, 2008 at 3:16 pm and is filed under Customers, Sales Training. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

4 Responses to “Sales Training: Keeping a customer part 1 - Problems - how easy it is to be proactive”

  1. Nesh Thompson Says:
    June 16th, 2008 at 1:02 am

    As I am often having drummed into me, “a sale only starts after the sale is made” which is to say that customer retention through quality customer service is the key to satisfying the expectation that a customer has in you. Treating them with respect, surely has to be one of those.

    I think the fear that managers and sales have is that by admitting that you have problems you are enforcing negativity. Certainly, if you were to constantly make aware of bugs and issues then that might be the case but what is certain is the “head in the sand” approach that you allude to in your article isn’t a great long term strategy.

  2. Skip Anderson Says:
    June 18th, 2008 at 3:17 am

    Excellent point, Karl. A dozen years ago, both our cars had a recall issue. One manufacturer contacted us via mail with instructions about how to get the quality issue resolved. The other manufacturer did not notify us, but I learned of the recall through Consumer Reports magazine. Guess which manufacturer left the positive impression?

  3. Karl Goldfield Says:
    June 20th, 2008 at 3:25 pm

    Skip and Nesh,

    It is about treating your base with respect and you both share great stories. If you do not treat them well, you have to fight to keep a customer buying much like getting another new one. If you do treat them well, they are the easiest sales every cycle.

  4. Brad Trnavsky Says:
    June 21st, 2008 at 10:02 pm

    Karl, that was some awesome advice. I believe we should operate with complete honesty and transparency to our customers. When we have issues we should tell them, and immediately correct the situation in addition to taking steps to “make it right”. You hit the nail on the head when you said it is not the issues you have that make customers leave. It’s how you deal with them.

    -Brad

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