I received a call one year a couple days before Christmas from a sales rep.
"Hi Dave, how are you doing?"
"Merry Christmas, Jim. What's up?"
"Dave, I am just calling you to tell you that you need to spend another $3,000 before the end of the week."
"Why is that, Jim?"
"Well, sales have been slow and the sales manager is on my case. I have to get my sales up. I need you put in an order today. You just haven't bought enough from us this year."
At this point the call went from bad to worse and, after a heated exchange, I hung up on Jim.
Needless to say, I didn't place the order and I made it a point of dropping our purchases by 25 per cent the following year as a result of this poor customer experience.
Jim eventually apologized for the call and I realized what incredible stress he had been under, but that was beside the point.
The point is that we could have easily stopped buying from them all together and I would have felt justified.
It's a fact that customers leave us for a variety of reasons that are out of our control: some die off, others move away and, typically, there is nothing we can do about that. However, some customers leave for reasons that are within our control. There are ways you can prevent customer loss.
Sometimes we forget that our customers are the reason why we are in business.
We get too focused on our plans for expansion, changes and profits (among other things), causing our relationships with our customers to flounder. Customers know when they are not appreciated and tend not to shop with us.
What to do about it?
We need to ensure that our staff are continually focused on adding value for our current customers and treating them like royalty.
The first time a customer engages with us sets a lasting impression. If we wow them with great service the first time they come and do something different the next time, we are inconsistent.
If our service from one sales staff is different from another (because of our failure to implement systems that work), we have a problem. Every time your staff communicates with your customer, it should have the same tone and manner that you have taught them.
If there are differences in the delivery of the service model or product, you have a problem.
If you are putting pressure on your sales staff to get sales under any condition, you have a problem with your sales model. Any company that encourages their staff to be dishonest, or has staff that replicates dishonesty that they see in you, is in trouble. You are bound to lose customers that you will never regain.
Consistency in business is essential. You need your customer to be able to count on you, and you need to know that the money you have invested in your staff training is going to be put to good use.
Your customers build relationships with your staff, so having a high turnover is frustrating to your customers and costly to you.
Dave is a certified professional business coach and the author of Profit Yourself Healthy. Email [email protected]
