SECRETS OF PROMOTION BY CHRISTOPHER GIVEN
Secrets of Promotion by Christopher Given Dip in Bus Admin, Cert in Mgt, ACMI
Promotion does not have a very nice image. Salesmen ringing up out of the blue to sell their latest product, untrained or unenthusiastic sales staff knocking at your door, are some of the images that spring to mind. But service doesn't need to be like that in order to make the sale.
What is Customer Service?
"Customer Service is the supply of that which satisfies the consumer need and want"
This is about providing a physical product plus all the individual tasks that make up the entire process. Please do not confuse service with sales, as they are totally different.
"Sales is the use of language and presentation in order to persuade customers to buy"
Elements of customer service
Availability of item
After sales service
Handling of orders
Reliability or quality
Most organisations employ people to handle customer calls, emails and to wait on customer's needs The functions are to:
§ be there when customers contact the company
§ provide timely and accurate service
§ support the sales organisation
All of this is designed for one purpose - Customer Retention
Who is the customer?
We usually think of customers as people outside of our company. It could be agreed that a customer is a person who purchases. Another definition could be someone with whom we have dealings.
Customers fall into external and internal types:
External customers
These are the lifeblood of every organisation. We deal with them every day, either face to face or via the telephone. You may have heard sayings like ‘the customer is king' or ‘customers are our no 1 priority'. Well, it 's true, because without them there would be no sales, no company and no job.
Internal customers
These people work inside your company. Although they are not traditional customers, they rely on us to provide services and help within the organisation in order to get their work done. It is vital that they are treated well, not only because we have to work together, but if we upset one another the next time we require each others services, either party could be reluctant to carry out their duties, which could effect the business as a whole. Not professional behaviour at all. And if work is held up because of conflict, the eventual loser is always the customer.
Worth and Price
Businesses need to make a profit in order to survive. Assuming that products are of excellent quality, have been tested and market research has been done, clearly establishing a need and want, then all we need to do is to sell. However, there is one obstacle – the customer.
Every person will consider what the product is worth to them before purchasing. The price has to be just right before they will buy. One definition of price could be:
The price is the sum, consideration or sacrifice given in exchange for goods and services.
An organisation will price a product and that price would suggest it's worth to the company. But, imagine the customer likes the product, but not the price – the customer now thinks the product isn't worth purchasing at that price. In other words, Something is only worth what someone is prepared to pay for it. The customer may have been put off the purchase because the price was too high. This means a balance needs to be made between the price and the benefits/features of the product.
The company can either lower the price and produce more sales that way, or it can make the product more attractive by e.g. adding more functionality or re-designing to make it unique in some way, this way the product can maintain it's current price. Either way, the customer will be satisfied.
Personal selling is about communicating with people, and knowing something about ways in which they can react in different situations will help you to approach them, and find out whether their a serious purchaser, require more information or just browsing. Let's assume for a moment that we know how to sell effectively. Businesses have external visitors that contact them by different means. They will:
· use the telephone to enquire about products · visit the company website
We will tackle these in order.
Handling inbound calls
Every thing an organisation does will be noticed by the customer at some point. From producing a web site to answering the telephone, everything must be executed to a high standard in order to generate the most favourable impression. When customers enter the business premises, they will gain an impression of how the organisation operates, the value it offers and this includes the quality or level of service. And one of the ways customer service will be noticed, is via the use of the telephone.
A lot of time, effort and energy will be spent on encouraging prospective customers to contact your organisation. When they do call, everything about their contact must go well. This call represents a range of opportunities, from an immediate order to securing follow up business for the future.
We will now look at how to make this kind of call sales focused.
Your voice is an important asset. But it's not enough just to be well spoken and polite; every call must be treated as if there is a genuine purchaser at the end of the phone line. You need to go about it in a way that makes what is being offered truly beneficial.
Every call needs planning.
Advantages of planning
§ it overcomes nervousness § it assists ability to think/react more quickly § it helps prevent being sidetracked § the call is more customer focused
This will help you deal with most situations that occur without floundering. Long pauses and extended time while thinking makes you seem unprepared and unprofessional. Planning and practice is the key. Do not adopt a scripted approach (customers will spot this at once and do not like), you should respond, yet control the direction of the call towards a specific objective. Please remember to be genuine when dealing with people, customer service and sales is obvious – you cannot avoid or disguise a sale, because sooner or later the customer will want to know about the nature of your call. If the customer senses that you are just there to sell them something, they may not feel you have their best interests at heart and will go elsewhere because of it.
Preparation
§ Have product literature and customer details at hand § Make sure you're aware of objectives § Know your product/service inside out § Be ready to handle objections § Listen to what the customer wants
Now, if you have the customer's attention and they are willing to talk at some length, the sale is actually almost complete. The intention is now to conduct the call in the way you want (make it persuasive), yet make it a call the customer enjoys too (it meets their expectations). Don't think you will make a sale every time. It is unrealistic plus you will set yourself up for failure, the art is to provoke interest, not to badger.
First reply
When answering the first call, you must make a link to what is being said there, avoid repetition of information like the customer's organisation name, if it has just been mentioned. Have a pad and pen handy for note taking – A MUST
The purpose of the first reply
§ To welcome the customer and put them at ease § To make it clear you are there to assist them and not just sell them something § Give the feeling of effectiveness – makes you look effective
Include a greeting – ‘Good Morning' – clearly state your company name, personal name and end with ‘How can I help you' Listen to what the enquiry is about and then move on promptly to what you can offer.
Importance of Communication
Communication is a complex area for discussion, because we are using the very function to study itself. Communication is the transfer of an idea, in my mind, to yours, so hopefully, it will be understood. Good communication occurs when ideas are transferred and understood. Bad communication has many causes, but it involves the non-arrival of a message or the arrival of an inaccurate message.
Care should therefore be taken to ensure that the language used is within the understanding of the receiver. One of the most common problems of communication is not taking responsibility to understand the message. If I throw a ball to you, you will need to catch it in order for us to win the game. So, who's responsibility is it for us to win that game? The answer is both ours. Let's assume I throw the ball, and you drop it, is it my fault if you fail to catch it? You, as the catcher may think so, especially if you fumble the ball. I may have thrown it too fast or the direction may be slightly more to the right than left. Then I may feel I' ve made the best attempt to throw, so that you may catch it, so I will blame you if it is missed. This is the usual way people see things, people always blame each other for silly things that could be put right or avoided altogether. All it takes is a little thinking about what is being said and how you say it.
Once we know how to communicate, we need to find out a customer's needs and wants, if cutomer service and sales can be attempted at all.
Finding out what they want
This is basic yet very complicated. Customers may or may not have an idea about what product they want – the more expensive the product, the more time is required to make a decision on whether to purchase or not.
Take Personal Computers. There are dozens of manufacturers, that each have lots of different models and they hold different types of software programs. The buyer has to decide on which one is most useful, do they purchase now or wait for the more expensive but better model to come down in price.
Customers are basically undecisive creatures, who distrust easily and are constantly worried about reducing the size of their disposable income. This is where the sales expert comes in. It is your job to help them come to a decision – to remove the doubt and worry, therefore making shopping a more pleasant experience. To do that, you are going to have to help them decide:
Helping the decision process
§ Try to appear focused on their needs. This makes the customer feel important. § Give them a maximum of three different types of product to think about. Any more and you risk overloading and confusing them even more than they are already. § Companies spend a fortune on product information. Ensure customers receive copies.
The product description has to be appropriate for them and for you, don't launch into a thorough technical breakdown if they are after a brief overview. Make sure you are understood. Use simple language, people are impressed by clear descriptions that allow them to understand the first time. They can easily absorb more information if it is basic, and is especially true if they have just been talking to another salesman who has ‘blinded them with science'.
Product attractiveness
Before a product is sold, the customer will consider the important things to them, in other words the benefits. Why should they purchase your product over someone elses? Simple – they want to get as much value for their money as they can, plus they are looking for something amazing and different. If you provide a service, make sure you're giving something that they won't find anywhere else, and if it's a product, make sure it's totally original.
Credibility
Please remember that customers know you're selling them something. They expect you to say the most wonderful things about the products, because you want the money. So, any product/service needs to be guaranteed of quality – to make sure it works and therefore won't break down or cause injury etc. This means adding someone elses opinion to the presentation. Tell them what standards your product meets or who has been impressed with it's performance or how many have been sold. Client testimonials work – make sure you place contact links to the customer – this is so any comments can be checked.
Web Site Promotion
Here are some of the most important issues to consider as your company begins to sell and service customers on the Web:
§ Do you make it easy for customers to find your site?
§ Do you make site navigation modern and visible?
§ Do you give your customers an incentive to visit your site?
§ Is your site visually attractive?
§ Does your site offer lots of contact information?
§ Do you answer your email promptly and professionally?
Announce yourself
First of all, do a press release to all media. Be sure to include your web site URL address, also choose a press release agency that will write the release and advertise it for you.
Use all forms of advertising
Advertising is important for any product. Without it, potential customers will not become aware of what your selling.
You spend money on advertising and direct marketing, why not use it to drive traffic to your Web site? From your business cards to your classified ads, make sure your web address is clearly displayed. Directories are excellent for advertising your web site.
Keep Your Site Navigation Simple
Two of the reasons why your customers use the web are speed and convenience. Your customers usually have little patience and want to find what their looking for quickly and easily. Once they have found your site, you want to take full advantage of having them there by making it easy for them to find your information about products/services. Some basic rules to follow are:
· Make sure that your site's section names are easy to understand. Intelligence is more important than cleverness when it comes to navigation bars/links. Don't make your section names so unclear, that people struggle to figure out what they mean.
· Give customers descriptions of the benefits of the links, explaining why they should select them. This way they will be more motivated to explore more of what you have to offer. A short sentence placed underneath a link is an extra touch that shows people you care, and like any service action, when you go the extra mile, people respond.
Give Your Customers What They Want
Many companies are missing out on providing their customers with as full an experience as possible by limiting the use of their sites to electronic brochures. These sites tend to have a lot of ‘About Us' information, company history, client testimonials and so on, but they often neglect to devote as much effort to advertising the product. Don't make the same mistake! Customers are after value when they visit, so give it to them.
· Offer online subscription to an electronic newsletter or if your company has one, a hard copy newsletter. Always give customers a choice, some like their newsletters online, some by mail and a few like to have both.
· Create a resource page on your site that directs and connects customers to related useful sites for them. Customers will appreciate not having to ‘surf' for ages trying to locate a related site.
· Have a ‘contact us' page, for complaints, comments and enquiries. It is critical that you give customers a choice about which method they want to use, and equally important that you get back to them as promptly as possible. A forgotten customer is a lost customer.
Ok, let's get through some basics first.
Search Engines
These can be very good or a pain in the backside – depending on your company size and what you need to achieve etc.
I think we'll start with Yahoo! cos it the most established, and I bookmarked it. It's perhaps the 2nd oldest after www.galaxy.comwww.galaxy.com and the most traditional of the lot. With Yahoo! you have 2 choices to pay or not to pay – that's the dilemma most web site owners wrestle with.
They charge £200, which is quite a hefty price to pay – in directory listing terms. They claim to list you in 7 days time. Nice, except if they don't like your site, you're not getting in anyway so save your money, and submit your site using a couple of submit services.
There are only 2 to consider:
ADD ME www.addme,comwww.addme,com
I NEED HITS www.ineedhits.comwww.ineedhits.com
The first you do yourself, Ineedhits only charge £2.50 and will list you with 300 SE's.
Finding Stuff
When you want to find lots of little facts, websites etc, Yahoo works just great, except when you want to find the last bit of info, you can't find anywhere, it's not great – so use another engine.
The entire list of search engines probably runs to about 700ish – er- but they aren't all SE's. Most are directories - mostly hand compiled and that house search engines to search from their own databases. Real search engines use BOTS (little robots) that travel the vast web seeking out websites to list. Examples of real SE's are: Webcrawler, www.webcrawler.comwww.webcrawler.com infoseek www.infoseek.comwww.infoseek.com and Ask Jeeves www.ask.comwww.ask.com
For the best guide on search engines www.searchenginewatch.comwww.searchenginewatch.com is worth a visit, worth bookmarking or requesting their newsletter. It gives SE rankings, stats and articles etc. Very Good!
Getting listed in all except 2 is easy. Yahoo and Google are difficult. Each engine has it's own rules about getting listed. Sites claiming to get you listed for £200 are a rip off, so leave well alone.
FREE ADVERTISING SECRETS
There are none! Website ‘experts' or gurus have invented the following to take your money:
Self replicating websites
Sales websites
Information Products and Get rich quick schemes
Various programs or pyramid schemes
Chain letters
Start page exchanges
Other scams (mostly illegal)
They make money for the owners and nobody else.
Okay, there is some free advertising out there, but it's mostly useless. Except for 2! These are:
Press Releases and Reciprocal linking.
Reciprocal links are very valuable. But be careful! Ensure you link to the high ones, if you want high SE ranking and lot's of visitors.
Press Releases are Free. The problem is that unless you've studied PR, you 're going to have to pay somebody to write it. So, in a way – they aren't exactly free, but well worth hiring a professional to do this. Press releases have to be written well cos you are going to send them out to all media where journalists have the final say whether you get into their paper or not.
Other freebies
Software Tools
If you don't have a website or the cash to get one designed, I recommend these web site generation companies. You know the kind of thing – you pay a small charge, you sign up and Bingo! Instant website. Oh the joy – to run your own profit making, money spinning, forever churning net business. Oops, sorry didn't I tell you, before there is no such thing as an overnight success – unless your name is Richard Branson.
Seriously now, the instant sites are not bad for personal worship, but not great for a serious business – isn't that why you bought this book? Serious businesses requires serious cash, a great idea that nobody has got (very important), bags of resilience, energy, commitment – oh yeah and CASH. But if you decided to go for it then I suggest you employ the services of a web designer/developer. Shop around, get 3 or 4 quotes before you buy, but to really get a nice looking, functional site – you're looking at spending about £3000 in total – er that's just for starters boys and girls. Then you've got other considerations like:
Hosting fees
Internet Service Providers (go for broadband)
PC maintenance fees (60p per minute)
Phone bill (get a business line)
VAT
Corporation Tax
Registration with Data Protection Registrar (legal requirement)
The list goes on and on……..
But the web is cheaper so…..
Sorry got side tracked, oh yeah, software tools. Right once you have a website, hosting etc you're going to need a couple of tools to assist you with all those tasks. A Banner – very important for all those banner exchange sites and for normal advertising too.
There are free banner sites www.addesigner.comwww.addesigner.com is okay, but to tell you the truth, you can get one designed for about £20 – just go to Yahoo! and type Banner Designers. You will need at least 3. Why I hear you ask, well cos you need one at your site, to use for your ‘in site ' promotions. This one is going to grab their attention and direct them to whatever page that you house your offers etc.
2nd one is for those banner exchanges – either use it to banner swap with all the others – or pay for some ad space with the exchange owner. That way, you don't need to permanently set your browser settings – think about it! Or worry about downloading some nasty bug or Trojans horse worm thingy.
Oh the 3rd is for the real advertising – this is the serious version of banner ad. The others are just to bring up your Alexa rating. (very important!!!!!!!!!).
Service Etiquette
Be on Time
Being on time for appointments with your customers is a sign of respect. Now and again you will encounter situations that force you to be delayed – traffic jams, bad directions and sods law – the golden rule is to call as soon as you know you are delayed. The sooner you let customers know that you will be late, the less irritated they will be. Don't wait until the last minute and hope everything will work out.
Follow Up on Those Promises
A major pet hate of customers is service providers who promise something and then simply don't provide it. For example, a customer is told that she will be telephoned when her order is ready – then as if the promise were all a dream – no one from the company calls her!! Keeping your word is so important, if we lose that, we may as well all pack up and go home.
Under-Promise and Over-Deliver
Sometimes, in your enthusiasm to give excellent service, you find yourself promising something that is difficult to deliver. By making a promise, the customer now expects it to be fulfilled. Only promise the customer what you can be sure of – not what you hope will happen.
For example, your customer wants his television delivered by 3pm. You know that this is possible, but not guaranteed. By promising him a delivery time of 4pm, you avoid disappointing you customer and ensure ‘customer delight' if it arrives earlier than promised.
Express Empathy
No, matter how good your service skills, you will get an unhappy customer. Developing the habit of expressing empathy is so important. This means understanding their point of view or complaint. I said understand not calm them down or brushing them or their problem under the carpet. There are lots of companies that use the tactic of fobbing off the customer. You have to give them what they want, and it's even more serious when you have made the error!! You don't always know who you are dealing with, and these customers can cause a serious image problem for your company if word spreads.
They write letters of complaint to head office
Contact company directors etc
May have knowledge of contract law when you don't or are knowledge experts.
Don't forget, you are apologising on behalf of your company, not personally.
Unwanted Mail
This is probably my most hated subject of all – SPAM! Junk e-mail is known as SPAM, or unwanted mail. It is usually made up of various types of sales letter which you get when you submit to Free For All pages. Not only is it unwanted, it fills up your inbox.
Never send sales pitches/letters, even if the're good one's, chances are anyone receiving them will think "Oh No, not another product sale" and will treat it as spam. Web sites are designed for selling, people will accept a sales site over an e-mail any day, I think it's because a person' s inbox is personal, their own little gadget, which has to be perfectly managed or arranged.
Don't let it bother you. Everyone gets it. Just delete those messages. And never reply, even if you're requesting to be removed from the spam list; replying signals the sender that you're a live one, and your name will be added to the list of suckers.
Think of your customers. They are human too, and sending them large amounts of company information unrequested will irritate rather than promote.
Do The Right Thing
We all know about company policy. Where refunds are concerned, it sometimes feels like it's designed to benefit the company – right? If a customer requests a refund but the product appears in good working condition, then the company doesn't have to refund. The internet is different, in order to keep the customer happy, in certain cases it can be a good idea to refund, especially when the customer is angry. We have all accidently made impulse buys, and you will find that this is the most common reason for a customer's request for one.
The best solution is to refund. You may feel that you have lost the sale – but you will have kept the customer. There is an alternative to a refund. The customer may be willing to accept another product in it's place, this in turn can cement further business for your company or at least generate more interest.
"We don't win once in a while, we don't do the right thing once in a while. We do the right thing all of the time! Winning is a habit, unfortunately, so is losing. - unknown
How to Deal With a Difficult Customer
Poor old service staff who don't learn to deal with difficult people, lose their hair and customers. The nature of the job requires that quite often you will be serving these dominators. This part of the training teaches you how to keep your head when others around you are losing theirs! The golden rules are:
§ Let the customer vent. When your customers are upset, they are telling you they want two things: Firstly, they want to blame somebody for the error, and then they want it put right! A customer's need to release this anger, can be so strong that they may vent to the first person in the company they can find. Most sales staff are going to view this as personal and a complete waste of time, but the biggest mistake is actually to ignore or play down the seriousness of the customer's anger/frustration. Only after the customer's rage/complaint can you really understand the message they are trying to put across, and to ignore the anger will only give the customer more ammunition to use against you and the company – which is the same thing.
§ Keep quiet. Nothing offends more than to be told to calm down while you are venting. The best way is to stay calm and quiet, never interrupt the customer or use these words:
You don't seem to understand….
You have to do this in order to….
We won't or can't….
You are wrong….
It's not company policy….
Although you don't want to interrupt customers while they are speaking, you do want to let them know you are listening to their problems and not just going through the motions. I recommend that you do this:
Nod your head – this shows communication and that you understand what is being said.
Mirror back what the customer is saying – this reinforces the above.
Maintain eye contact
Never take it personally
As customers vent, they are expressing frustration, disappointment and anger. Anger is the worst because it's the one you are going to take personally – it's such an in your face emotion. Anger is an emotion that is always looking for someone or thing to blame. If you hit your hand with a hammer, you will probably yell some four letter word, and then you blame yourself. So even though the customer blames you, please remember that you are just the first unfortunate person they have met – so don't take it personally.
Understanding phrases to use
Empathic phrases are a simple way of showing you understand a customer's problem
§ I can see why you feel this way….
§ So, your point is that….
§ You must be very upset….
§ And you feel this has inconvenienced you?….
§ I'm sorry about that…. Let's correct this for you….
"Nobody ever won an argument with a customer" Christopher Given
Service Do's and Don'ts
Here are the worst phrases that are used:
"No"
YOU SAY: "What I/We can do for you is…."
Every time a sales person says "No" the customer takes that as obstruction to them getting their rightful way. This is a cold, hard no, which irritates and will initiate conflict. The easy solution is to start the conversation with "What I can do for you is….". this will show the customer that your willing to solve their problem and that you're not going to waste their time with "Not company policy, I'm afraid" statements.
"It's Not My Fault"
YOU SAY: "I'm sure we can solve this…."
We all know that the problem lies with another department or colleague – but the customer doesn't! It's very easy to become defensive when being verbally abused. But if you react to this, you will be concentrating on your anger, and not on what you are being told. The message being communicated has now become blurred, and the message isn't fully understood, which leads to more problems, which you don't need. My point is that the customer obviously isn't satisfied, so the last thing they wish to hear are what they perceive as ‘excuses'. Now, you can't reverse the error, so you are going to have to repair the damage, using your customer service skill, you might not have the authority to do much, but you can do something, even if it means getting a member of management involved – there you are, you have helped the situation without even getting involved much.
The end result needs to be where the customer leaves satisfied, they have a replacement hoover, refund or whatever. Then perhaps they will return to make additional purchases, this is the result the company wants at the end of the day…
"I'm Afraid you will have to speak to the Manager."
YOU SAY: "How can we resolve your problem"
The only reason customers ask for the manager, is because they feel that this will guarantee them a result. Customers don't realise that these manager's are employed and trained to trouble shoot or calm hostile confrontations down. Managers legally have to perform in the company's best interests, and only in rare circumstances will they over compensate the customer.
Once you suggest "You need to speak to the manager" the customer will rightly assume:
§ You can't solve the problem or handle complaints § Passing the buck because you can't be bothered
If the customer demands the manager, you have little choice but to comply – little point in making matters worse for you or the customer. But most problems can be solved by you, without disturbing your busy manager.
If your manager needs to be involved, explain to the customer that you will find out, or get advice, then go to him and return to the customer with a solution in hand. This makes you look professional and wins you brownie points with the customer.
Top Ways to Sell using Service
Get the Customer's Attention
I can't stand it when an over enthusiastic sales person ‘cold calls' me, and delivers a pathetic sales pitch about his product.
These people actually believe that by forcing themselves on us, we are going to listen – but it doesn't work, because it's too aggressive and intrusive. This is bad technique that will irritate the potential customer – and an angry customer is a lost customer.
One of the first steps is to get the customer's attention by using a less intrusive form of communication:
Send an email and/or literature first, then follow up.
By sending potential customers written material about your product, you are paving the way for a follow up call – that's if they don't contact you. When you eventually speak to them, they already know who you are and what you are selling, this makes the process less intrusive and makes your job easier, because any barriers have been eliminated by your first contact.
Choosing the right moment.
There are two things to consider:
Firstly, you could prearrange and agree a time to call. This may be 4.00pm on Tuesday or whatever – "I will call after midday."
This is obviously not possible when calling someone for the first time. Asking will appear courteous to the customer, and is done to give you a better chance of selling.
Secondly, you can use your judgement about when to telephone, it is about appreciating the customer's schedule as well as your own. Perhaps the customer's business is such that it's busy period is during the lunch hour, the time to call could be the afternoon.
Tell them what you want and ask if it's alright to talk.
Always start a conversation with customers by asking "Is this a good time to talk?" Don't go rushing into a sales pitch, especially on a cold call. If you do, the customer will get annoyed and block out most of what you're trying to say. Also the customer may have their boss standing near them, and people always get nervous when the boss is in the same room, so they probably won't feel like talking there and then.
Mention the Benefits of What You Are Selling
Customers buy products because of benefits. For example, if you are trying to sell a PC, one benefit might be
It has 256k of Random Access Memory – which allows you to perform more tasks at the same time.
Ask Questions
Many salespeople are so intent on making the sale that they forget to ask customers questions about what their exact needs are.
Service is about fulfilling the consumer need and want, and you can't do this effectively without asking the right questions.
Open questions – Use open ended questions to gather information about what customers want . These questions don't require a yes or no answer and are designed to get the customer to talk at length. They usually begin with:
How Why What When Who Which Where
For example:
What do you need?
Who is going to use this product?
Closed questions - Use closed questions when you are looking for straight forward answers. These are useful when you want the customer to make a fast decision about something. They usually begin with:
Is Are Do Does Has Have Would Will
For example:
Is this a good time for you to talk?
Will Thursday be alright to deliver?
Objections, Objections
Now, you are going to gets these! You are not going to make a sale every time, you are not going to satisfy the customer every time and you will have to face distrusting people. These objections are just the customer's way of filtering through the pros and cons of whether to buy or not, the good versus the bad points about the product or service.
No product is perfect, and perhaps yours has certain disadvantages for the customer. It is about perception – how each customer feels about what they 're buying, what has your product or service got over another? Here, you are going to have to make up for any disadvantages in the customer's mind, by highlighting the benefits and reassuring the buyer that you are there to provide any after sales support if and when needed.
Closing the Sale
Whatever the objective, you have to ask for some kind of commitment, otherwise you won't know whether the customer is serious about purchasing.
‘Does that give you all the information you require at this stage?' Can leave them with the option to leave without purchasing, the conversation has ended before you can complete what you set out to accomplish. You could close the sale with a question: "Can I get that dispatched this week?", or "This version comes with a free whatever." When you are closing a sale, you aren't actually forcing them to purchase – you just need to know if they are willing to talk further. In fact it isn't a good idea to ‘force the sale' out of fear of getting a bad reputation, and annoying the customer in the process. What closes the sale? Simple – it is everything you do before that, the makes the sale.
Christopher is a Sales Promotion Expert and owner of Busigen.com - an Office directory portal that holds company information to do with an Office environment.
Copyright 2002 Christopher Given Associate Chartered Management Institute
No part of this publication may be reproduced in any form without prior written consent from the copyright holder.
About the Author
Christopher is a Sales Promotion Expert and owner of Busigen.com - an Office directory portal that holds company information to do with an Office environment.
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