How To Win and Lose Sales

I am a real stickler for good customer service, because I don’t think it costs you anything to be helpful.

I came across two businesses recently that were in the same industry, but poles apart in terms of how their people interacted with their customers.

How To Get It Wrong:

I had been using this business for about 6 months. I entered their shop and there was nobody about, so I rang the bell and waited. After 5 rings I gave up. Even my 4 year old said, ‘Why aren’t they coming Mummy?’

It took me a while to get Daisy back into the car, (I think they’d thought I’d gone) and who should appear, but the chap who covers reception to put the ‘Closed’ sign up. I approached him and explained the issue I had with my equipment. He looked blankly at me and said, ‘Sorry love, we’re closing. You’ll have to come back.’ Granted it was a Saturday and now 12 pm, (it was 11.50 am when I’d arrived). I let them off.

When I went back, the shop was busy and there were four Sales Assistants. There was one that looked like the ‘boss’, because he had a special shirt on, which looked as though it hadn’t been washed for a good while. He wasn’t serving anyone, just staring at the TV. So I moved closer to the counter; he glanced at me and then continued to watch TV. I was tempted to say something, but managed to keep my cool.

Another customer entered the shop and ‘the boss’ came to life. ‘Alright mate…’

I won’t be going back.

If I were to sum up the negative values of this business they would include:

Being unhelpful
Lack of standards
Not bothered about retaining customers
Untrustworthy, (I didn’t mention that I was quoted 3 different prices for the same equipment / service).

How To Get It Right:

So, I have broken ‘equipment’. This time it’s a different company. I enter the reception and I’m welcomed and directed to the appropriate desk. There isn’t anyone at the desk, but I am asked by 3 other employees if I’m being dealt with, which included a chap from the workshop in overalls – impressive!

In order to fix the problem with my ‘equipment’, they went the extra mile to double-check their advice and contacted someone else, then told me about it. (Don’t be afraid to tell your customers how you are going the extra mile for them).

On my way out, I’m carrying [too many] shopping bags and they offered to help me back to the car with them.

After they had fixed my ‘equipment’, I got a call in the evening, (which regretfully I didn’t answer); followed by a text, to ask whether I was happy with the level of service I had received. Now that’s what I call a lined up strategy!

They were so good, I’m going to tell you who they were: Lookers in Derby.

So How Easy Is It To Get Your Sales Strategy Right?

Determine what behaviours the company needs to focus on to gain more sales and express them as values. In the ‘good’ example, you could summarise their values as:
- Being helpful
- Delivering a quality service
As a leadership team, understand what this means in terms of behaviours, e.g. what would our employees be doing differently, which would be a measure of them being helpful?
Communicate and explore (1.) and (2.) above through either a working party or group coaching. Attain their ideas and contributions, (they’ll be more inclined to deliver what you want and they’ll understand the front line better).
Lead the behaviour you want your employees to demonstrate. In the first example, the ‘boss’ was great at setting a bad example. Offer coaching for those that are struggling to make the change.
Show staff how you want them to sell.
Systematise. Not all businesses will be able to afford a call centre and texting system to measure the success of their people strategy. There are many other free and cost effective methods, e.g. Survey Monkey, Social Media. Also, think about your People Systems. How can you align behaviour through them, e.g. performance appraisal, reward and recognition.