I’ll tell you how I handle selling and then the buying situations I was in this week where customer service both fell short and exceeded my expectations.

on follow-up and follow-through….
So I’ve been driving a 2004 Honda CR-V for hmm about a dozen years - I almost managed to hit 360,000K when I “traded” it in last week. I started my shopping with a dealership where I thought the salesperson knew I was serious and we narrowed my watch list down (they didn’t have any in at the moment). I left thinking she was going to advise when next one came in — nope, a few days later I went on their site only to find three possibilities that she did not follow up on with me… a couple of days after that I sent her a followup to see if in fact she was watching for me. Several days after that and in fact, just after I went to another dealership and bought a vehicle she replied… That is how to lose a sale.

I personally had an issue with followup — not recognizing the urgency to a customer I missed the opportunity to do a commissioned piece of art (won’t do that again!).
 
on assumptions…
I try very hard not to assume my customers know all about the products or services I offer, and I try to balance that and investigate the level of understanding they do have before I ‘pitch’ — whether they are wanting to book a team-building event, explore an art experience or a collector that wants to buy a piece of art from the studio.

Back to the car story - I went to another dealership and the sales person there assumed (I think because I was asking about a particular model) that I knew everything about the vehicle when I did not and in the end I bought a model that was one if not two levels up from my first choice. Was he a good salesperson? Not really, I only knew that the model I first thought I wanted didn’t have some of the features I wanted and so I had to ask him to show me one that did — maybe he initially disqualified me as a buyer for it? Now the story doesn’t end there - I did buy it, however it was the next two people I encountered at the dealership that actually detailed the features and sold me on the vehicle. So what that means is I would recommend the dealership but I will not recommend that salesperson and will tell people to avoid him if they go there. That is how to lose referrals but save a client through team work.

What is your system to qualify your customers or clients? Do you have a process that involves more than one person in a team — do they complement and build on each other or does one carry more weight than another, are there safeguards in place to keep customers happy and make the sale?

on customer appreciation
How do you thank your customers for coming to you rather than your competition? Does your team realize how important it is? — we all like to feel that we’ve either contributed to someone’s well being or filled a need on their side as we do business with them. I know, sometimes the ‘thanks’ ring false but other times a simple ‘thank you’ shows you value their business. When I bought my vehicle the actual salesperson did not even thank me for the order! knowing the salesperson is on commission I have to say it did not make me feel valued as a customer. The other two people that followed through on the order and process were much more appreciative of the sale. How weird is that?

Whether a service or product, you want them to go away feeling good about doing business with you.  It will keep you top of mind for the future and/or for referrals. For instance, I do an art experience through Airbnb and at the end of it their takeaway is a journal, a sketching pencil, the art they create and I gift the participant with a sketch that has a note of thanks.

on customer feedback...

I have encountered good and bad in this regard of late.

accolades…
I had a box of canvases delivered to me for a workshop and when I opened it one of the canvases was damaged. Shout out to Deserres - as soon as I sent them an email with photo’s and the explanation they shipped out a new product immediately and did not even make me go through the hassle of figuring out how to return the others (said I could use as I see fit) — what a relief and they arrived in time for the session!

I also had a major issue with my computer when I upgraded the system (a persistent pop-up that I had no idea how to deal with). I dreaded the idea of having to take it for service (never mind the down time that might have been involved) however shout out to Apple! and Canon! support — those teams worked through chatlines with me and we eventually resolved it and I didn’t have to venture to a store or replace or buy items to fix it.

not so good…
It took me a good deal of hunting around to get a real person at Apple although as soon as I did manage to find them, the follow-through was amazing, Deserres was easy, Canon was manageable — however I am presently trying to figure out how to contact a real person at FaceBook (shrug) that is seeming quite impossible at present — my issue with them is an ad I was trying to place for a ‘date night art experience’ was rejected — they took it to mean I ran a dating service and it did not comply with whatever rules they have in place for those types of ads — I still have not been able to reach someone to explain and dispute the algorithm that lumped me in that category lol.


 
Whether you’re working with a team to ensure great customer service, product development or fulfillment, I believe the elements within your communication all entail sales and some of the key ingredients are follow through, assumptions and availability. Addressing these areas in a complete and clear manner lead to happier teams, happier customers and with a little luck goodies in Santa’s sleigh for all :)