Simply Business Coaching

When Pleasing the Customer has to Stop

There's a fine line between providing great customer service and being too accommodating.

With great customer service you deliberately set out to provide an exceptional experience and delight your clients. You may periodically send little cards in the post to inspire or congratulate; surprise them with a small gift (a thought-provoking book, or some cinema tickets perhaps).  However you do this, it's part of the client package and overall experience you chose to create.  Both of you feel valued by the other.

Being too accommodating is where you break your own boundaries in response to a request.  For example, a client may ask for an appointment outside of the hours you normally work or for special payment terms that will play havoc with your cashflow.

In my (sometimes painful) experience, if you agree to these special requests once, the client will expect the same treatment in future and you'll feel obliged to continue being accommodating.  In fact, your customer probably won't even be grateful after the first time, and you may come to resent the arrangement.

It has taken me several years to realise I won't lose business by clearly stating my terms upfront and sticking to them.  Of course there is some room for flexibility, but only as far as it suits me.  For example, I work best in the mornings so no longer make evening coaching appointments (I don't want to give sub-standard service).  So to be flexible, I'll offer an 8am or even 7am call if asked.

Providing great customer service isn't the same as accommodating every wish and request.  Being business-like will result in mutual respect and understanding.

Have you ever been 'over-accommodating' with customers? Do comment below.  And if you enjoyed today's post, I'd appreciate if you shared it by retweeting!

Quiet please ...... I'm thinking

As a coaching tool, silence often yields the greatest insights for the client.  Used as part of the sales process, it can mean the difference between closing a sale or walking away empty handed.

Waiting in silence can feel uncomfortable, but you need to resist the urge to be the first to speak.  Keep waiting.  It usually isn't for nearly as long as it seems.

Silence means the other person is thinking about what you have just said.  Whether they're considering an answer to a question you asked, or thinking about  information you've shared, it's important to give them enough time and space to finish processing.

When I work with business owners on their selling technique, I find they often come close to 'talking themselves out of the sale' because they don't feel comfortable with the silence while waiting for the prospect to consider the deal.  This is especially true just after saying the price - they almost feel compelled to justify or excuse it in some way!

The best piece of advice I've heard is to :  "Say the price and then shut up!"

Another occasion when silence is a good tool to use is when faced with an angry customer (or anyone angry really!).  They need to get the stuff that's making them angry off their chest so allow them to say everything they need to, and then remain silent for a further, slow, count of 5.  This pause will enable the other person to add anything else, in case they hadn't completely finished.  It will also show them that you have listened and are thinking about what they said.

I'd love to hear if you've found using silence to be powerful in your business.  And if you enjoyed reading this post, be sure to re-tweet it so others can read it too!

Don't leave any part of your customer service to chance!

So many businesses (large & small) proclaim in their marketing materials that 'they take pride in giving great customer service', or 'their mission is to provide an exceptional customer experience' and even 'our customer service is second to none'. 

They would say that wouldn't they?  No business is going to say 'our customer service is OK, sometimes' or 'we do get complaints when we forget to complete the order' even though that's probably nearer the truth!

But what businesses say and what they do to ensure they actually do provide great customer service often don't match up - because they haven't developed a catch-all system (or they don't follow it).

Customer service starts the moment the customer says yes, or completes the order form, and it needs to continue long after they've received your goods or experienced your services. 

• Do you have a new customer welcome system that will thrill & delight - and do you follow it EVERY time? 
• What about your past clients? Do you have a system in place to keep in touch with them?
• Does your customer complaints system ensure you turn dissatisfied customers into raving fans?  It should!

Your relationship with your customers is far too important to leave any part of it to chance, putting systems in place will make sure you really do provide an exceptional customer experience - every time!

What can your customers expect when they do business with you?

(See details of my new Teleseminar : Using Systems to Get More Done in Less Time)

Don't Delegate Your Customers

A delegate at one of my recent time management workshops was telling me he’d taken someone on to help in his web design business.  As he explained how he’d been so relieved to hand over a number of customer accounts, alarm bells started to ring.  Here’s why:

• Employing someone to manage any of your customer accounts is risky – especially if that person has similar skills to you.  What’s to stop them from setting up their own business once they’ve learned everything from you, and then ‘stealing’ those customers away from you?  

Being on your best behaviour

Back when I worked in corporate land, I was responsible for hiring sales support staff and making sure they provided the vital back-up services to the sales team out in the field.

The candidates I employed were always very keen to please and would be on their best behaviour – for the first couple of weeks!  Then the timekeeping would start to slide (always with great excuses); they’d forget to pass on messages or even miss the post with urgent quotes (this was in the days before email!).

What I could never understand was why they applied for the job in the first place if they weren’t prepared to do it well – all the time.

Unfortunately now I have my own business, I find many suppliers behave like this too; the size of the operation is irrelevant.  Not only is it disappointing to receive sub-standard products or services, it’s incredibly stressful for the consumer who really doesn’t want to have to keep checking up or chasing something they’ve paid good money for!

Anyone who’s on their best behaviour just to get a job or win a new client is wasting everyone’s time.  It’s also a sure-fire way to get a reputation for being unreliable or providing slipshod service. 

Before the advent of social media, it was well known that a dissatisfied customer would tell many more people about their experience than would a satisfied customer (unfair but true).  Social media enables us to write about our customer service experiences, both good and bad, and broadcast to hundreds or even thousands of people. 

So to those suppliers who are only on their best behaviour for a short while, I say think carefully what you want to be known for!

Related post:
Who are your VIPs?

Who are your VIPs?

The other day I was trying to get through to my new email service provider on the phone as there was an irritating problem which I didn’t understand and couldn't fix myself.  I like to think I’m reasonably intelligent but some of this ‘technical’ stuff has me running scared in case I break something!

I should add that this same supplier has been my domain registrar of choice for quite a few years, and I’ve always found them helpful and friendly, so they were my obvious choice when I needed to switch email providers.

After dialling in and selecting the ‘Support’ option I was placed in a queue.  After 5 minutes I gave up and got on with some work.  Then I got an email from one of my newsletter subscribers reminding me of another email related problem.  Now anything that concerns my subscribers is top priority, so I dialled the provider again, selected ‘Support’ and waited to speak to a human being.  And I waited..... and waited ...... After 10 minutes I was getting pretty steamed up and seriously wondering if the support desk had taken the afternoon off!

I hung up and dialled in again, this time selecting the ‘Sales’ option.  Wouldn’t you know it, that line was answered after two rings!   I won’t bore you with the rest of my story, but it got me thinking about how we sometimes treat existing clients and potential clients differently, without realising it.

Great efficiency and helpfulness are often deciding factors for potential clients in the buying process.  These factors can outweigh price objections and see off competitors, even in a crowded marketplace!  But the reality has to live up to the promise and that’s often where the problem lies.....