If you’ve been in sales for any length of time you’ve heard the saying
“People buy from someone they Know, Like, and Trust.”
You’ve probably also heard this one by the world-renowned sales trainer Zig Ziglar
“If you help enough people get what they want, eventually you will get what you want.”
No matter what business you’re in there are a few things that share a common theme among those who are most successful.
Customer Service and Client Relations.
Think about the titans of the industry right now…
Apple has the Genius Bar for its continuously growing user base to visit when they need help with one of their many devices. Apple recently announced they reached 1.4 Billion active devices worldwide with the average user owning somewhere between 2-3 different Apple products. They even gave the support location a fun and catchy name so you wouldn’t mind going there.
You can book appointments that meet your busy schedule or if you happen to walk in, the store is filled with staff who greet you at the door eager and ready to help. Everything is monitored and tracked to provide the best customer experience possible. You can even purchase products right off the shelf by scanning the barcode with your device.
This is what I meant when I said: “your customers will sell themselves.”
If you want your business to grow and create larger profit margins you have to make the sales and service process as simple as possible. You have to meet your customers where they are and match their busy lifestyles.
Sometimes that’s allowing them to do everything themselves and making it simple. Chatbots, FAQs, Tutorial Videos, anything you can provide that offers value and assistance will create goodwill with your clients.
If you’ve visited a grocery store lately you’ve probably noticed the growing number of “self-checkout” lanes. These companies have taken the pain of waiting in long lines because they recognize that society is busy and wants to move things along as fast as possible.
Instead of worrying about staffing and sick days, these companies can now focus on improving the customer experience in other areas such as deeper discounts on products and customer care.
How To Serve Your Clients So Well They Sell Themselves
These companies have focused on building the know, like, and trust components of the sales process. Their customer base is being marketed too daily on almost every platform possible which creates brand awareness. Each business studies its clients’ needs, wants, and feedback to consistently make their shopping experience better to create the trust that each product they need will be available.
Customized coupons for items purchased regularly, special discounts for birthday’s and anniversaries create a feeling of appreciation for the business. There are thousands of data points being collected and monitored by these companies which are fed into computer algorithms to determine what you may need before you even realize it.
This is how they know to send you coupons for shampoo right around the time you start getting low.
Service starts from the moment you begin a conversation with your prospective clients. Whether it’s face to face or with an advertisement you run on Facebook, the modern-day billboard, you have only a few seconds to capture their attention and keep them interested.
Having a deep understanding of who your client is and what your product or service does to solve their biggest issues is immensely valuable.
The bigger the problem solved the more people will pay to solve it.
Once the client knows you can solve their problem the next step is making the process easy and painless. Like the self-checkout at stores, convenience is key.
Think about what part of the sales process in your industry typically creates friction and how can you eliminate it.
What about after the sale?
Do you have a support process in place to care for your clients and make sure they’re getting everything you said they would? Remember to under-promise and over-deliver… it’s easier than the alternative. You’ll also leave the client feeling so satisfied that the next time they, or someone they know, need your product or service you’ll be the first to mind.
In our company we have new salespeople call current clients to find out what brought them into the program and what they enjoy most about it. This helps clients feel like they are being cared for at all times. You should be doing the same for your business. Help your staff understand how best to serve clients while giving the client a chance to always get more help if needed.
Creating a business and a culture that is based around service first will always lead to long term success. Providing value to your marketplace in abundance will create an audience who asks to do business with you instead of you having to ask them for the sale.
If you’d like to know more about creating a culture of service for your business and brand that attracts clients who want to do business with you, head over to www.apexentourage.com and find out how.
