Service After the Sale

1. Service After the Sale Learning Objectives: • Examine the purpose of total customer service. • Determine what constitutes service quality. • Know when and how to service. • Understand your role in servicing. • Appreciate how to upgrade and cross-sell current customers. • Develop a systematic plan for follow-up activities. • Chapter 14

2. Building Partnerships with Customer Service • You first create a customer—and then keep that customer! • You establish a basis for a long-term relationship. • You become part of the customer’steam. • You will gain lifelong clients and getreferrals along the way.

3. - Leon Gorman, L.L. Bean Quotable Quotes “A lot of people have fancy things to say about customer service, including me, but it’s just a day-in, day-out, ongoing, never-ending, unremitting, persevering, compassionate type of activity.”

4. Second-Mile Action • Service Quality • Can be a strategy to acquire and maintain customers • Don’t talk customer service, live perfect service • Inform customers of what to expect • Exceed their expectations • Moments of Truth • Each time a customer comes in contact with an employee, a moment of truth occurs • At each such moment, customers become aware of your service quality

5. Service Techniques That Support Relationships • Value Added • Everything the salesperson does during and after the sale provides added value • Means going above and beyond what ismerely expected of you • Warranty and repairs are part of what issold • In the automotive industry, a brand-loyalcustomer represents an average of$300,000 to the dealer.

6. Get More From Current Customers • Upgrading or Up-selling: the process of persuading a customer to purchase a better-quality or a newer version of the product. • You want to sell to the real needs of the prospect. Professional salespeople don’t sell products… THEY SELL RESULTS.

7. Get More From Current Customers • Cross-selling: the process of selling products that are not directly related to the primary products being sold. • An example: Gus walks into his bank to discuss a loan with the loan officer and casually mentions the expense of keeping his daughter in a private school. Days later that loan officer sends a note to Gus discussing how a limited trust fund could help with college tuition. The loan officer is cross-selling.

8. Service in Response to Needs • Service the long-standing accounts as well as your new ones • Anticipate complaints and intercept them • Types of problems a salesperson should solve before they become serious: • Product is not functioning properly • Personnel cannot operate the equipment efficiently • Not getting replacement parts quick enough

9. Service in Response to Needs • Technical Assistance Research Programs, Inc (TARP) found: • Only 4% of unhappy customers actually complain. Even some with serious problems • 54% to 70% of complainers will give repeat business if the complaint is resolved • 95% of complainers will give repeat business if the complaint is resolved quickly • Dissatisfied customers will tell at least 9 or 10 other people. 13% tell more than 20 people • Satisfied customers will tell about 5 people

10. Retaining Existing Customers • Service after the sale is critical to retaining your customer base • In technical sales, up to 50% of the sale involves the follow-through stage of the sales cycle • A bad customer service experience will have lingering, negative consequences. Make sure that does not happen! • There is no substitute for asking your customers how they feel about the customer service they receive

11. Win Back Angry Customers • Excuses salespeople give for losing accounts: • If it isn’t the price, then it’s because the competition uses unfair tactics. • My company fails to back me up; delivery is late or quality deteriorates. • That customer is just too difficult foranyone to get along with. • The customer never cares about anything but price, so I was helpless. • I just don’t have time to make all the service calls I’d like to make.

12. Win Back Angry Customers • Listen Carefully and Politely • Give angry customers time to blow off some steam

13. Win Back Angry Customers • Ask the Tough Questions: • Do I get angry when you place a small order? • Do I stay away too long between calls? • Do I keep customers informed? • Do I keep all my commitments? • Was our service ineffective? • Can I help you in any way in order to win back your business?

14. Win Back Angry Customers • Reasons why you may lose the account: • Something the salesperson does • Something the salesperson fails to do • Something the company does • Something the company fails to do

15. A Systematic Plan for Follow-up • Stay Informed • The sale is not complete until the customer is satisfied • Don’t simply “pass the buck” to a service representative • Keep up-to-date on personnel changes in your customer’s company by making frequent visits Remember, gaining a new customer costs FIVE TIMES more than keeping a current one.

16. A Systematic Plan for Follow-up • Make Phone Calls • Even with all of today’s electronically-based communication, a phone call is still a salesperson’s best tool • Customers will respond positively to the time you take to follow up with them • Phone calls save time when you can’t fit in a personal visit • Take advantage of customers’ social networking pages by reaching out through LinkedIn, Facebook, or Twitter

17. A Systematic Plan for Follow-up • Determine Contact Frequency • Develop a system for contacting customers • Rate your accounts as A, B, or C, much like you rate your prospects • Decide what form of communication to use each time. • Send Mail (Email, Letter, or Card) • When your customer has no specific need, stay in his mind by sending: • Direct mail pieces • Your company’s in-house newsletter • Information about new products via Facebook, Twitter, or email • A birthday card or holiday card