101 Ways to Improve Customer Service: Training, Tools, Tips, and Techniques

Appendix D. Sales

Customers have become more sophisticated and responsible; they have less time and a more complicated environment in which to operate. This has far-reaching consequences for businesses that rely on sales contracts with their customers. A client establishes a long-term association with a company by building a rapport with its salespeople. The degree to which this connection exists depends on how satisfied the client is with the sale (transaction) and with how he or she is treated by the vendor (relationship). What customers need today are partners they can trust to understand their needs and problems, recommend the right solutions, and help them handle the details.

It is important for salespeople to lay the foundation for satisfaction by helping customers set realistic objectives and expectations for products or services. Customers are interested in what the services and products can do to help solve their problems or make life easier for them. Sales staff must transform the features and advantages of the company’s offerings into terms a customer can understand, appreciate, and apply to his or her own situation. When this is done, salespeople build customer loyalty and ensure return business. It is critical that salespeople actively listen to what clients say and how they say it. That means having excellent communication skills to clearly and accurately articulate information and ideas, as well as to ask the right questions for determining customer needs.

Increased ...