When I say usefully, I mean do you actually give them something to work with.
All customers have questions. Some are easy to answer, other are not so easy. Some are great questions and others are hard to work with. Some questions are very predictable and others are very un-predictable.
The thing is, when someone is spending money with you for your service or product they have a right, as a buyer, to ask questions. How you respond or if you respond makes a big difference in whether or not you build credibility and, of course, whether you make the sale.
My suggestion is always, always, always be respectful and always avoid defensive behaviors.
Many of us are so connected to our product or service we can’t see how someone many not like it the way it is. Our initial response is to become defensive or angry.
Most of the time, the customer has no idea they are pushing your buttons or making you angry. It’s not like the customer is a spouse or a sibling! They can’t know what your buttons are, although it may feel like it.
An example: recently I purchased a large dollar item. I had ideas about what I thought I was going to get for my investment. I realized that I wasn’t gonna get what I thought I was gonna get! I raised the issue with customer service. Customer service emailed back to me saying that the program was arranged as it was and it was not open to change. Hmmmmmmmm
I was kind of annoyed I guess. The response felt very “slap on the hand”. Now, the program/service has a guarantee, so basically it is a no risk situation for a set number of days. I tried a different method of trying to understand why there was no flexibility and got no response. Finally I sent a direct email to one of the primary people and received a response with suggestions but that ignored my initial flexibility issue. When the issue was raised by someone else in the program I chimed in. Well the person I had made contact with questioned my move, was defensive, sounded upset that I had commented on the lack of flexibility with someone else in the program.
Okay here’s the problem, and I’m sure you can see it playing out. No one from customer service, to program people answered the initial question of flexibility thoroughly. Everyone that asked was left with nothing useful. No one understood and keep looking to understand by continuing to raise the issue.
What should have happened?
First, everyone in the organization should have had a uniform response. Second, the response should have been clear about their reasons and it should have, at the same time, expressed understanding for our question.
It is what it is, deal with it is NOT an appropriate response.
It is what it is, at this time we are going to proceed in that fashion for the following reasons, since you are in the guarantee time we can give you a refund but we sure hate to lose you because we think our program is valuable… here’s why and there are some other things that might help you use the program better or more to your liking. Much better approach. Listen and reason with your customer. As the seller, it is your responsibility to keep the relationship going, to keep it solid and keep it profitable.
Don’t lose a customer for the sake of being right. I’d rather work towards understanding and profitability than to be right and lose a sale.
When I say usefully, I mean do you actually give them something to work with.
All customers have questions. Some are easy to answer, other are not so easy. Some are great questions and others are hard to work with. Some questions are very predictable and others are very un-predictable.
The thing is, when someone is spending money with you for your service or product they have a right, as a buyer, to ask questions. How you respond or if you respond makes a big difference in whether or not you build credibility and, of course, whether you make the sale.
My suggestion is always, always, always be respectful and always avoid defensive behaviors.
Many of us are so connected to our product or service we can’t see how someone may not like it the way it is. Our initial response is to become defensive or angry.
Most of the time, the customer has no idea they are pushing your buttons or making you angry. It’s not like the customer is a spouse or a sibling! They can’t know what your buttons are, although it may feel like it.
An example: recently I purchased a large dollar item. I had ideas about what I thought I was going to get for my investment. I realized that I wasn’t gonna get what I thought I was gonna get! I raised the issue with customer service. Customer service emailed back to me saying that the program was arranged as it was and it was not open to change. Hmmmmmmmm
I was kind of annoyed I guess. The response felt very “slap on the hand”. Now, the program/service has a guarantee, so basically it is a no risk situation for a set number of days. I tried a different method of trying to understand why there was no flexibility and got no response. Finally I sent a direct email to one of the primary people and received a response with suggestions but that ignored my initial flexibility issue. When the issue was raised by someone else in the program I chimed in. Well the person I had made contact with questioned my move, was defensive, sounded upset that I had commented on the lack of flexibility with someone else in the program.
Okay here’s the problem, and I’m sure you can see it playing out. No one from customer service, to program people answered the initial question of flexibility thoroughly. Everyone that asked was left with nothing useful. No one understood and keep looking to understand by continuing to raise the issue.
What should have happened?
First, everyone in the organization should have had a uniform response. Second, the response should have been clear about their reasons and it should have, at the same time, expressed understanding for our question.
It is what it is, deal with it is NOT an appropriate response.
It is what it is, at this time we are going to proceed in that fashion for the following reasons… since you are in the guarantee time we can give you a refund but we sure hate to lose you because we think our program is valuable… here’s why and there are some other things that might help you use the program better or more to your liking. Much better approach. Listen and reason with your customer. As the seller, it is your responsibility to keep the relationship going, to keep it solid and keep it profitable.
Don’t lose a customer for the sake of being right. I’d rather work towards understanding and profitability than to be right and lose a sale.
