A Note To Kick Off The Holiday Season
Customer service, as we all know, is the foundation of all successful salespeople. With that said, I thought a couple of reminders during the busy holiday season and the pending new-year would be a good topic for the week. The busier a salesperson becomes, the better their customer service should be.
Chances are decent that if you are in the sales field, you will be busier during this time of year. Being busy, of course, is wonderful because your sales go up and profits increase. However, wouldn’t it be nice to turn that surge of holiday shoppers into a customer base that you can count on throughout the rest of the year? If you take care of business during these busy times, then you can be receiving presents long after the holidays have past.
The first thing that you must remember is that despite the so called Joyous time of year, people tend to become grumpy when stores are busy and time is running short. The biggest factor that you can control is your attitude. If you choose to remain upbeat and polite to all your customers, chances are better that, you will receive the same treatment in return. When you do encounter a customer who is having a rough day, you need to remain positive and stay focused on your task. This, of course, is satisfying the customer. They may or may not appreciate it at the time but they may appreciate it in April, and that will bring them back. Repeat business in the sales field is golden.
The second thing to keep in mind is the idea that EVERY customer is important. Not every customer is going to buy from you and even if they do, what they buy may be less expensive than what others may buy. The point is, that every contact and every sale you make is precious. Everybody, including those who make smaller purchases, has friends, and if they like the way they were treated, chances are they will tell those friends. By the same token, they will also tell those same friends if there were not treated well.
The bottom line is, take the time to provide excellent customer service to your customers during the holiday season, then chances are good that those customers will return throughout the year. It is a great time of year and quality customer service should never take a HOLIDAY!
FINAO - Brad Huisken - President, IAS Training
