How to achieve good customer service

If you look, the difference is important: the first professional is at home and the client comes in to ask for something. It isn’t very difficult to end up selling him what he demands. But I think you’ll agree with me that it is more difficult for the professional who goes to the customer's house without being called and offers him something he didn’t ask for. Isn't the difference palpable?

Inciting customer’s needs

But if your sales instincts come out, which I do not doubt they would, you will surely say:

-Do you know about the new solution that has been released on the market to carry out that process? (Here, it helps a lot to know something about the client's business).

The response you may receive from the customer may be on the lines of:

-No, but we're happy with the one we have.

And then what will you do, give up? Never. Obviously you will have to flatter their current solution by saying:

-Of course, they have a very good solution in place. In fact, at the time it came on the market it was the best.

What have you achieved with this little dialogue? Two things: firstly, you have recognised that the client is a great professional, as he knew how to choose the best option on the market when he bought the solution he currently has in place. Secondly, you have made it clear to him that there is now another solution that is obviously better. And, of course, he is an intelligent professional who seeks efficiency through the best options on the market.

Here, as a salesperson, you have done something as simple as highlighting a lack, the lack of something the client is not aware of: in this case, the best option on the market.

And is this where it all ends? No, not at all. Now you could say that your potential client is aware that he lacks something, that is, you have turned his lack into a need.

Encouraging customer's needs

You'll likely agree with me that many customers are aware that they don't have the best option available and that they don't buy from us. Isn’t that so? Probably. So, in that case, what are you going to do?

I propose you encourage the client's need to be effective as an organization, efficient as a professional and intelligent as a person. You have to make them feel that they need to and can improve their profitability (income, expenses, margins, performance), the efficiency of their processes (production, logistics, after-sales, returns and complaints) and their professional position (power, autonomy, relevance and security) within the organization and in the market.

Provoking the customer's desire

And how do you do it, you'll ask me. Let's see: are you able to make your client see that he can achieve more by having the solution you propose? But not only that, your solution will provide him with higher gains than other options on the market. If you achieve this, there’s no doubt that you will make him focus his attention on your proposal as the best option.

Making your proposal attractive to the client

Here you must draw your client to your proposal, not only because it is the best one to satisfy his wishes, but also because you offer it to him in conditions (service, payment method, etc.) that will allow him to utilise it comfortably. If you manage to make the client see the relationship between the benefits of your proposal and the facilities to access and enjoy it, you will have all the tools to make him inclined to buy from you.

In conclusion, we could say that as a salesperson you have to:

1. Incite needs of which the client was not even aware.
2. Encourage those needs in such a way that the customer's priority is to satisfy them.
3. Provoke the desire to make the client identify your proposal as the ideal instrument to satisfy his needs.
4. Make your proposal attractive to meet their needs by adapting it to their circumstances and characteristics.

If you've taken these four steps, the sale is close. However, never forget that the sale is not made until the customer signs on the dotted line. Or as some of the more cautious ones say, until it's cashed.