Sales & Service Tip Of The Week

How good are your people skills?  Everyday you work with people.  How well do you do in your human relations?  Human relations means getting along with people….customers and the people with whom you work.  Use the following questions as a checklist and circle “yes” or “no”.  If “no,” list the action you want to take to improve.  Review every 90 days until you are satisfied with your on-the-job human relations.

Do I show a real interest in people?                                             YES               NO     

Do I keep my promises?                                                               YES               NO                               
Do I treat people as individuals?                                                   YES              NO                                   
Do I listen to people?                                                                     YES              NO

Do I accept certain people despite certain mannerisms?              YES              NO

Do I avoid judging people by the clothes they wear?                    YES              NO

Do I keep personal confidences?                                                  YES              NO

Can I apply customer discipline without making the

person angry?                                                                                YES             NO

Am I willing to see the other person’s viewpoint?                          YES             NO

Can I accept constructive criticism?                                              YES             NO

Do I avoid making sarcastic remarks?                                          YES              NO

Do I maintain dignity in my actions with people?                          YES              NO

Do I sincerely want to provide service to the customer?              YES               NO

Do I cooperate with the other employees in my

company?                                                                                     YES               NO
 
Do I cooperate with my company’s management?                     YES                 NO

Sales & Service Tip Of The Week

“LEARN TO CALL CUSTOMERS BY NAME.”  Have you ever “just met” someone and “forgot” their name?  Remembering names is very important in providing quality service.  Customers appreciate being called by name.  It’s the old story.  You can remember names if you want to.  Step One – You must want to.  Wanting to is the key.  It is your positive approach to remembering customer’s names.  Step Two – Learn the name.  As you interact with customers you will note names printed on orders, service requests, business cards, correspondence or notes.  Use the name to address the customer.  Repeating the name will help you to learn it and remember it.  Step Three – Use association.  Use words, scenes, and other names that are familiar to you.  Mr. West could be a compass, Mrs. Crane, a digging machine, and Monroe could be the former president or the famous movie actress.  Work out a system with which you are comfortable.  Step Four – Memorize the name.  Repeating the name will help.  Have a piece of paper handy and write the name quickly.  Later, review the new names you learned that day.  By using association and by memorizing, you will remember the name.  What do you do and how do you remember names?

Sales & Service Tip Of The Week

“DO NOT BE CONDESCENDING!”  Have you ever walked into a store and the sales associate treated you like “dirt”?  How did you feel?  Did you go back to that establishment again?  Probably not!  Customers don’t like to be treated like they’re stupid.  Avoid talking down, belittling or being sarcastic with customers.  People don’t like it.  Be careful using names or words like “honey”, “sport”, “buddy” or “dear”, in you’re interactions with your customers.  They’ll react negatively, which creates a further barrier for you.  Don’t fall into the trap of using trite sayings such as, “to be honest with you,” or “to tell you the truth.”  Haven’t you been honest and truthful up to now?  Eliminate these sayings from your vocabulary and focus on providing quality service for every customer you come in contact with daily.  Your beliefs equal your sincerity and that’s what comes across to your customers.  What have you been called as the customer?

Sales & Service Tip Of The Week

Have you heard, “courtesy is good manners in business?”  The ability to say “please” and “thank you” goes a long way in serving the customer (it works well at home too!).  Some people think being courteous to customers is a sign of weakness – absolutely not!  Your customers are coming to you for help and by being polite and willing to serve, allows the customers to “feel good” about dealing with you.  When customers “feel good” about their experience, they want your ideas and suggestions, so they buy more.  Don’t forget to “smother” your customers with kindness, but be sincere.  Your behavior signals to the customer your true feelings about wanting to serve.  Apply the Golden Rule:  “Do unto others as you would have others do unto you,” and you can never go wrong.

Sales & Service Tip Of The Week

“Negative information has twice the impact of positive information on purchasing decisions!”  That’s right!  Did you know that dissatisfied customers tell an average of ten other people about their bad experience, while satisfied customers will tell an average of five people about their positive experience?  Did you know that?  It’s all about choosing your attitude when you show up for work.  Keep your personal problems at home and be positive when interacting with your customers.  Allow your P.R.I.D.E. to shine through along with your willingness to serve and your customers will thank you for it.  Remember, People Really Interested Deliver Excellence.

Sales & Service Tip Of The Week

“People buy from people they like.”  Have you ever heard this before?  Well, it’s true!  Think about it:  Do you always get your haircut at the same place?  Go to the same dry cleaner, drugstore, bank or gas station usually?  Customers like to shop or buy in similar surroundings, where they know what to expect and appreciate being recognized.  Don’t you?  So remember, to the customer you are your company.  You make it happen.  Don’t blame others or make excuses when things go wrong.  Serve each customer as if you were in your own business.  It is YOU, INC. that the customers come to know and ask for help to solve their problems.  Catch this entrepreneurial spirit and watch your sales grow as your customers keep coming back!

Sales & Service Tip Of The Week

By now, as a sales and service professional, you should be able to recite the 6 A’s by memory.  Any volunteers?  More importantly, you should be “harvesting” the rewards by applying these skills, concepts and techniques with your customers.  It’s never too late to “go back to the well” and replenish your mind and body with the spirit and desire to Apply Service, so you can develop lifetime customers.  A famous coach once said “The will to win is not nearly as important as the will to prepare to win.”  Master these sales and service tips and there’s no stopping you.  The progression on learning today is:  training and practice, which leads to habits.  It starts and ends with you.  Are you willing, able and committed to the journey of self-improvement?  Allow these tips to provide the framework for your continued sales and service success.  Remember, “Winners execute fundamentals skillfully…by habit.”  Be strong, stay well and sell often!