Vince Lombardi, famous football coach of the Green Bay Packers, after opening the training season with the now famous phrase: “Gentlemen, this is football”. The team had a devastating defeat that ended the previous season. The team gathered for training camp hoping to pick up where they left off. They were probably ready to learn new plays to take advantage of the previous year and complex strategies to beat the teams that beat them the year before. Instead, Lombardi opened training camp by going back to the beginning: “Gentlemen, this is football.” From there he had them open their playbooks to the first page. These professional athletes, who were at the top of their game and at the height of their careers, were learning basic blocking, tackling and catching.
With all the technology and new marketing tools, it can be easy to forget what helped us succeed in the first place: taking care of customers one-on-one. It’s easy to get swept up in the vortex of social media, search engine optimization, geofencing, email marketing… and the list goes on, growing every year with new tools, new apps, and new tactics.
However, the main function of sales is simply to create customers. If you can get people to “know, like, trust” and recommend you, your business will never want to have customers. Word of mouth remains the king of all tactics. By the way, the “know, like and trust” framework is from John Jantsch, my Vince Lombardi.
What do people experience when they interact with your store? Do the people who care for your customers really care? I’m talking about the customer service reps, the ones who answer the phones, the ones who collect the payment at the end of the repair. They are warm, energetic, empathetic and listen to the individual needs of each client.
Let’s take a quick, closer look at each of them.
Warmth is primarily communicated through body language and eye contact. Genuine care manifests itself when we stop a conversation that we need to attend to the needs of a prospect in front of us. Or if we’re on the phone, we can at least make eye contact and mouth the words “Be good to you.” This simple recognition puts people at ease. I had the opposite experience at the restaurant recently. I stood waiting to be seated for a very uncomfortable 10 minutes. Ten minutes! in silence To make it even more awkward, there was someone doing the dishes watching me from around the corner, and when we made eye contact, he would avert his eyes to the task at hand. And there was a waitress who probably doubled as the hostess who clearly saw me but stayed at the table she was serving, carrying on a conversation. Do not take an order. Do not express any concern. Talking as if they were his friends. I checked the sign and the internet to make sure they were still open, and it was at least an hour before closing time. I finally left feeling uncomfortable and a little embarrassed that I had wasted 10 minutes of my life that I will never get back.
The energy, also expressed through body language and words, brings a sense of positivity and confidence that we can help. And we are ready to do it!
Empathy, often perceived as a natural gift, is actually a skill that can be learned. Some may have a higher capacity than others, but anyone can learn with practice to be more empathetic. Start by simply watching people. Which is pretty much the opposite of what I found in that restaurant.
listening The client is not there to hear about your weekend. They don’t care about your personal problems or even your entertaining stories. They are there because they have a problem, a need, and they believe you can help. Prove them right.
If you want to find out if your front line exhibits these qualities, just watch them in action. You can get great buyers and hire secrets, but actually observing their interactions with a few customers will tell you all you need to know. Use the above articles as a checklist and just walk into your store and watch your team interact with customers. It won’t take long, and if you find a teachable moment, you may be setting your store up for great success. In some ways, it’s sad that good customer service has become a differentiator, but with the bar so low, this is your chance to shine.
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