Great customer service is essential to building and growing your business. It all starts with knowing your customer and actively listening to their requests. I always take pride when I hear great stories in our weekly Sales huddles at the Wish Group. It’s an amazing feeling to see my associates grow their skills and tell me their stories on what they did to successfully land a client.
In one instance, my associate Peter received an inbound request from a client looking to inquire about both audio and web conferencing services. They were currently set up with audio conferencing, and within a few poignant questions were willing to share their rate. On the spot Peter was able to save them 50% off their current rate, and they agreed to move forward with us on audio conferencing.
Customer service is about being courteous, professional and knowledgeable. By confidently communicating with the client he was able to illicit relevant information quickly, and create immediate value.
Since then, Peter has gone above and beyond by touching base with two different members of their team, and our audio conferencing service is meeting all their needs, while reducing their budget. Not to mention he has grown our business by adding another product to their account which will be implemented January 2016 once their new year’s budget is available.
Even though Peter was able to close the client and gain revenue for our business, if Peter hadn’t actively listened to the clients immediate needs and requests it could have hurt us in the long term rather than help us in the short term. Nothing is worse than short term gains, and long term pains and it all starts with active listening.
Next time you connect with a potential client, colleague or customer, ensure that you try the technique of active listening. Really, all it requires is for the listener to feed back what they hear to the speaker by way of re-stating or paraphrasing what they have heard in their own words, to confirm what they have heard, and moreover, to confirm the understanding of both parties.
Trust me this will go a long way and as my mother used to say, “Those who don’t listen, must feel.”
Have a great week.
Frank