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May

Customer Service Training How not to Impress your Customers

As a trainer who offers customer service training I am always on the look out for good customer service. Unfortunately it is not always easy to find, it is often easier to find examples of poor customer service rather than good service.

Approximately 2 years ago my wife telephoned me and asked me to go into a large department type store on my way home from work and pick up a few items for her.

I am not the greatest shopper in the world but I agreed to do this and it led to me seeing what can only be described as one of the funniest episodes of customer service I have witnessed. To be honest although I say it was funny, the reason for it being funny was that it was so bad and I could not believe it.

The department store is a shop that is renowned for excellent value for money and is the kind of place that you go in to buy 1 item and because of the value often end up buying 5 or 6 items.

Anyway the long and the short of the story is that I was standing behind a lady at the checkout who was paying for her items. When the assistant on the till was ready she literally shouted ‘next’ the lady moved forward and put her basket on the counter top. The assistant without saying another word or smiling or giving any eye contact proceeded to scan the items in the basket.

When the shop assistant had scanned the items she just stated what owed without looking at the customer and without adding any other words.

The customer then said to the shop assistant ‘a please or a thank you would be nice’ in an instance the shop assistant answered ‘it’s written on your receipt‘. To be honest I could not believe what I was hearing, the customer said nothing but looked at me and although I am no expert in body language I knew she was not happy.

I know it is wrong but I did laugh as I did think it was funny, how the shop assistant was so quick to answer like that I do not know.
The shop assistant was unbelievable, only I was there and witnessed what was said I would not believe it. The amazing thing about it is that it is often said that customers leave companies because of an indifferent attitude by a member of staff and this was definitely an indifferent attitude.

I do not know who does customer service training for this department store or indeed if they even send their staff on customer service training courses. One thing is for sure if they do spend money on training this sales assistant must have been absent that day.

May

Three Ps of Customer Service on the Telephone

Categories: Customer Service Training, Telesales Training

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Need to Improve Customer Service?

How important is attitude one of the delegates asked me on a recent customer service training course, my answer was attitude is everything. Skills and knowledge are important but if the attitude is not right, customers will sense this immediately.

We all know what it is like to deal with an individual who is in a customer service role who does not have the right attitude. Even when dealing with customer service representatives on the telephone we can sense those with a good attitude and those with a bad attitude. I always think it is amazing that you can get a sense of the other person through a phone line thousands of miles away.

When you use the telephone it does not matter whether you are short, tall fat or thin, the thing that makes us successful on the phone is a good self image and the right attitude. In fact this applies to all walks of life people who have a good attitude and positive self-image always appear to do better.

As Kenneth Blanchard states in one of his many books on management ‘people who feel good about themselves produce good results’ This is of paramount importance when dealing on the telephone with customers –if you do not believe in yourself, your company, your product and service and what you are doing, how can you expect your customers to believe in you.

Positive perceptions are vital on the telephone and remember enthusiasm is contagious, some one told me years ago it is so easy to become enthusiastic, all you have to do is act enthusiastic, I have tried this out many times and it is true, if you want to become enthusiastic just act enthusiastic—it works.

As we know our voice on the telephone is our greatest asset but it can also be our greatest liability. A voice that is dead and monotonous can create a negative state of boredom within seconds of starting the call. On the other hand a positive projection of your voice with enthusiasm portrays a belief in yourself your company and your services

I know all this is easy but how do you gain confidence and create a good self-image?

Well there are books all over every library about confidence image and self esteem and I definitely cannot give you all the answers in a short article like this. It does start with understanding and knowledge, you do need to have the knowledge of what you are doing and why you are doing it etc. You need to have sufficient knowledge of your product procedures and processes and then you need to create effective communication skills, customer service training will help to give you some of the key basic skills and practice often makes perfect

It is often said that we should think of the 3 Ps Preparation, Practice and Polish and if we can do this effectively we will definitely improve our customer service communication over the telephone.

May

Customer Service Training: What is a Customer?

Categories: Customer Service Training

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We have all heard it before, ‘this job would be brilliant if it wasn’t for the customers’ it always amazes me when working on customer service training courses that people often feel like this.

I was working with a company recently and one of the staff stated, it’s very difficult because customers keep phoning in, every time I try and get something done a customer is looking for me.

Well although I can fully appreciate and empathize with this individual, the bottom line is that the day customers fail to contact is probably the day that they will find themselves looking for a new job. The reality is without customers we have no business and without any business we have no work..

We have to somehow get away from this attitude of a customer is an interruption of my work.

The following are useful keep in mind when we ask who is a customer:

A customer is the most important person in our business
They are not dependant on us, we are dependant on them

A customer is not an interruption of our work, but the purpose of it
A customer is not a person to match wits with or argue with
A customer is someone with wants and needs and we have to provide solutions which are profitable to all parties
A customer is a person who comes to us because he/she needs help; it is our job to provide it in a way profitable to them and to
A customer is not a ‘fact’ or a step in the process, he/she is a flesh and blood human being with emotions and prejudices like our own…
A customer is us we are all customers and we all know how we like to be treated

Every transaction with a customer is known as a moment of truth and how you deal with the customer in your transaction will either help or hinder the customers perception of you.

The reality is that if we as customer service representatives believe a customer is an interruption of our work and not the purpose of our work the chances are this will be seen by the customer.

There are a few things very important in customer service such as performance managing the expectations of the customers, following through on promises, establishing the customer needs and providing effective solutions, but in my mind the most important attribute a customer service representative needs is the correct attitude.

You can learn the skills of customer service you can gain the knowledge but you cannot really be taught attitude, that has to come from within and if the attitude is not right customer service is not the right position for you.

So remember the next time a customer interrupts your work, instead of moaning why don’t you just thank the customer for paying your wage cheque.

Apr

A Moment of Truth in Customer Service Training

Categories: Customer Service Training

Tags: customer service training

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On a recent customer service training course we spoke about the importance of each transaction you have with a customer. Some people call these transactions ‘A moment of truth’.

It is that moment when the customer either subconsciously or consciously makes a decision whether the transaction has been good, indifferent or bad. In fact it is said that every transaction you have with a customer can help the customer’s perception of you or hinder the customer’s perception of you.

Yesterday I walked in to a coffee shop with 2 colleagues, this was my first time in this particular coffee shop and from a decorative point of view I felt the shop looked well and I was quite happy to sit down and order a light lunch.

At this time the waitress appeared and asked the 3 of us what we would like to order. Two of us ordered soup and the third person said ‘could I have a bagel with cheese and tomato please?’

At this point the waitress said nothing but picked up the menu and scoured through the menu, I assume to check whether the bagel could be allowed,
without saying another civil word the waitress made a slight groan looked up to the sky and went off with the order.

I immediately said to my colleagues, ‘she is not a happy bunny today’ and one of my colleagues answered ‘no she isn’t and did you notice how dirty her apron was?’ To be honest I had not noticed.

The truth of the matter is that in customer service, each customer transaction is vital and we must remember that each moment of truth will help or hinder the perception we have on the individual or the business.

We had the food and my colleague got her bagel but if I was asked tomorrow ‘where will go for lunch’? I am sure I would not be recommending this particular coffee shop.

It is interesting to also note that in a recent survey a question was asked ‘why do customers jump ship? In other words why do customers leave and go elsewhere for their goods and services. Obviously there are numerous reasons and every business will lose customers, some die, some move location, some cease trading etc. The point that interested me in this survey though, was that it stated the majority of customers jump ship because of an indifferent attitude of a member of staff.

The interesting part of this are the words indifferent attitude, it does not state rude it states indifferent, it also does not mention the skill levels of the staff it mentions the word attitude. Although customer service training is useful and beneficial to all people who work with the public, the difficulty is that on a customer service training course you can teach new skills and you can also increase knowledge, but attitude is harder to get right, as it has to start from within.

So if you are looking at ways to lose business without trying just remember, it is simple, all you have to do is show an indifferent attitude to customers and the business fall off will look after itself.

Feb

Make your Sales Team the Best with Excellent Sales Training

Categories: Sales Training

Tags: Sales Training, sales training courses, training courses

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When you are looking to build a sales team that continually meet targets and go that extra mile you need to make sure that they receive quality training, otherwise you will have a team that occasional hit their targets and rarely get above this. Some organisations have in-house training teams who cater for all the training needs within that organisation but for smaller businesses training courses which are delivered by outside agencies are normally required. Often these training agencies have a fixed set of training courses which they will alter slightly to make it relevant to the business they are training in. This is not a useful or productive method of training as the training of sales teams is a highly specialised area due to the nature of the role.

Maximise the potential of your team

If you have a sales team that is in need of training or if you have an established team that would benefit from a refresher course Premier Training can help you. Premier Training will work with you to create a sales training course that will not only meet your expectations but exceed them by creating a sales training course that is target driven and maximises the potential of each of the your team. After your initial contact you will be assigned a dedicated training advisor who is not a salesperson but a professional trainer who will run through your objectives and aims of the course to make sure nothing is missed ñ here you will also have the opportunity to make any suggestions for areas you would like to include in the training course.

Next you will be shown the outline of the proposed course to make sure that it is exactly as you would like it to be, usually such courses are a mix of theoretical information sessions, group activities, one to one training, practical demonstrations and question and answer sessions to ensure that every member of staff who attends has got the maximum from the course. If there is any aspect you are not happy with let your trainer know and the necessary adjustments will be made. When this has been agreed it is time to book a suitable date for the training to take place, this obviously is down to you to decide upon this based on business needs. When the training course has taken place you will also be offered follow up advice for a set period which can be of great help to some sales staff if they need an extra boost.

Tailored Sales Training

Premier Training offer sales training that not only produces some excellent results, but as they tailor each course to suit each business you know that every aspect of it has been created with your sales team in mind. This results in a sales training course that will deliver what it promises and will ensure that each member of your sales team is hitting and exceeding their targets each week. Training is important so it is essential for you and your sales team that you get it right, so use the best Premier Training.

If you want to learn more about the tailor made sales training packages available from Premier Training please contact us.

Feb

A Guide Down The Path to Sales Success

Categories: Sales Training

Tags: sales success, succeed in sales

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Sales training courses will remind you that telesales is a path full of potential bumps and potholes but remember that there is always a rainbow in that puddle.

Customers do not want to feel as though they are being sold, they want to feel as though they are being served. On an average day a person is met by over 2,300 adverts for the next big thing so it is no wonder that when it comes to sales a customer could be numb and unresponsive.

Trainers in sales training courses will encourage that you are aware that as a telesales representative there may be a lot going on this persons life and if they are unresponsive do not take it personally. There are a number of psychological reasons why a person will successfully achieve their telesales and personal goals. Below are 7 key steps to follow to effectively achieve your goals.

Get Their Attention. Be mind full of the first few seconds of the call as this will determine weather they will take the time to speak with you. Simply begin by explaining who you are, your company and what the customer can benefit from you. Sales training courses will tell you that this is a vital and effective step as customers need a clear reason to take time from their busy schedule. These seconds are a moment of curiosity in the customers mind so make the benefit powerful enough to measure their interests.

Build Credibility and Trust. As a sales trainer I know you will ask how the customer is going to trust a stranger over the phone. The fact is they are either unconsciously or consciously asking questions like how I know I am not being conned or that you can be trusted. Be brief and to the point that you are a well respected company with a great track record and you are not trying to separate them from their money.

State Purpose. You want to see whether their needs match those that your product could provide. An important tactic to remember is to forget selling and concentrate in serving. Put their needs above yours.

Gather Information. Keep in mind that everyone is not suitable to your product or service. To find out if they are simply ask questions about their current product supply. These questions show your interest whilst adding to their subconscious desire to feel valued and appreciated.

Agree on need. This is a psychological benchmark, a moment of truth. If you do not agree on the needs it will fall through however if you do agree on the needs it will open the mind so that it is receptive to hear what you can do for them. A tool used at this step in sales training is to summarise in 2 short sentences.

Solution to Problem. This is the sign post ahead that lets you know you are getting closer to achieving your goal and your customer’s satisfaction. It is known in sales training courses that we tend to buy things that we do not need because we want it. The distinction between want and need is logical and emotional. After you buy something you want you will receive feelings of security, ownership or peace of mind, this gives them a feeling of reward. Tailor the product to meet their needs then inform them of the benefit that will give them this rewarded feeling.

Close. You need to build the value of the product or service first before you discuss the prices. Imagine a scale in the customers mind, put money and considerations on one side and value of the solution on the other. Now summarise all they will receive. Describe the product positively and comfortingly.

Sales training courses will ask you to imagine a car ad for example. The ads will bring up security, family times, love and happiness. This is tailoring to their emotional needs of the customer, pulling at their heart strings rather then their minds, this works.

Feb

Does Role Play Work in Sales Training?

Categories: Sales Training

Tags: role play, role playing, Sales Training

Comments: No

Is role playing and videoing a good tool to use on sales training courses? This is often a question I am asked when meeting prospective clients who are looking at the possibility of running a sales training course.

Well think of it this way, it’s a Monday morning after the big match at the weekend and the premier league football coach brings the team in to review the match. On goes the video and the coach and players watch, each move is analysed, the tape is stopped and the coach asks the group what was good, what was poor and what can they do different next time.

If video evidence is good enough for premiership footballers to see their strengths and their development needs then surely it is a tool that should also be used for sales training courses.

I was in Spain recently and I decided I would go and get some golf lessons. I used to play a lot of golf but moved a number of years ago and really got out of the habit. I decided now is my chance to get back into it and guess what, the first thing the professional golf teacher did was admire my swing and then video it.

The video was then played back and the professional golfer slowed each part of the swing down and analysed each part—he pointed out the good bits and then the areas I need to work on, the amazing thing about it was that I did not need him to point out I moved my head as I saw it myself.

I suppose the real point of this article is to say we all need to take a step away from what we do every day and analyse the good points and the areas we need to work on.

It is a known fact that on sales training courses when the experienced top salespeople sit down and analyse what they do, they will find areas where they can improve.

We really do need to take stock every now and again and check are we cutting corners, are we missing opportunities for up selling are we really dealing with objections as effectively as we can are we missing buying signals etc. So to answer the question is it a good idea to video role plays on sales training courses, I again say if it helps professional footballers and helps professional golfers then surely it will help professional salespeople.

Feb

Revealing the Secrets to Sales Training

Categories: Sales Training

Tags: Sales Training

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The truth of the matter is that there are those that are born with the natural ability to sell. As a sales trainer I have come to realise and accept this but I also had to accept that I unfortunately was not one of those people. I have had to work hard and realise that I did need an extra step in the right direction in sales training. My biggest lesson was to realise that it is not a sin to make a profit.

I started to change my way of thinking and believe that if something is humanely possible then I must consider it to be within my reach. There are some methods and practices that I have followed through sales training courses to improve my sales training to get the best out my abilities and lead to better success in my earnings.

It was time to stop dabbling in sales and make a commitment to start taking my self and my career seriously, to make a positive, effective change in my sales. It was time to look at what areas I needed to concentrate on improving and studying each week to enhance my overall sales performances.

The areas that I have come to comprehend are significant to enhance my sales techniques are as follows;

Appearances. If you are a lawyer you will not present your case in combats and a t-shirt. If you are a beauty therapist you will not work with messy nails or patchy fake tan. Practice what you preach. You are a trained professional so look like one and act like one and stand up proud because you have worked hard to be here. In a study I read recently poor first impressions account for more loss in sales than all other reasons combined.

Attitudes. We are all born with the ability to feel an array of emotions and we are all born with the ability to show these emotions. Your potential prospect does not need to know any negative feelings that you are or have been feeling. Transfer these negative feelings to ones of enthusiasm and excitement so that you appear confident and positive.

Compliment. No one can deny that they do not like getting compliments, sure you may be a bit embarrassed but it makes a difference. However always be genuine because most people can tell when you are lying.

You are in Control. Always remember that you are the sales person and in full control of what you earn. As a sales training course provider I explain to my clients that there is always something that can be done to increase your income and therefore your living standards. The sooner that you sharpen your strategies and abilities the faster you will see changes for the better.

In my view the ultimate key to sales training is to remember that time is valuable. You must make the most out of your day. Ask yourself are you doing the most productive activity right now that will help you to improve your income? If not stop what you are doing and become industrious in you sales.

Feb

Wouldn’t you love some more action?

Categories: Sales Training

Tags: sales action, Sales Training

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Wouldn’t we all love a bit more action! If you are working in sales, sales requires movement, sales requires action. You need to get commitment and get action from your prospective clients and act yourself too. You need to do this in a planned time frame. Recently on a sales training course I asked the participants whether they had anything in common with Barrack Obama or Bill Gates. They all replied with a no. The truth is that they do and so do you and I. We all have the same 24 hours in a day but it is what you choose to do with that time that counts.

In sales training we pinpoint that you need to spend the quality time with those that actually can and will be interested and not on those that can not and will not be interested. Whilst talking wit your potential prospect you need to think big. Set your asking as high as possible.

By thinking big we are automatically getting further than we would be if we are thinking small. By suggesting that we think big on sales calls we can then bring the person down as little as possible so that it will appear more reasonable. A common trait that I have seen on sales training courses is that the person that is successful is the person who is constantly thinking bigger and asking questions such as; “well why shouldn’t we…” or “why couldn’t we…” these professionals realise that they are trying to help their prospective clients and want to help them.

The acronym that I use to remember to follow on every call is A.C.T.I.O.N

Authority. Have you ever phoned a company and they seemed generally interested? Your excited about making the follow up call to set things in order and all of a sudden they say “no, sorry, Jack did not like it” so your there thinking who in the world is Jack and why did I not know there was a Jack? Basically the problem is that you did not ask what channels it has to go through before making a decision or you did not ask is there anyone that they feel may oppose your proposal. You need to get an understanding on the decision making hierarchy.

Commitment. When you get a prospects commitment whether it’s that they will go before their committee with your proposal or that they will agree to follow up. You need to commit to a day and time to call back when they will have their side of the agreement complete. Without this commitment you are only hoping that it will follow through.

Time Frame. Where there is a commitment there should be a time frame set to seal the next process. On a recent sales training course I heard an example of this, you are in the local shop and you meet an old acquaintance, you say to each other that you must meet up. Yet you never do. This is because you did not agree to a time or place.

Interest in Needs. Ask yourself why you are talking to them and what they are specifically interested in and why. Lack of information regarding their needs and interest can lead to them not committing.

Overview. This is a tactic. Basically summarise your conversation. What action you and they are going to take, what you have discussed and what needs to be done to help achieve their needs. This will also ensure an easier follow up call.

Next Action. What did you get them to agree to? And follow it up.

In sales training we stress the importance of taking action, the more movement the more sales.

Feb

Take These Steps to Successful Sales

Categories: Sales Training

Tags: sales success, Succesfull Sales

Comments: No

“Too many people in sales blow their chance in the first 10 seconds of the sale”

Imagine you could avoid reluctance and avoid rejection on your sales calls. Now who would not like that?

To be a professional sales representative you need to go through a process of steps. In sales training courses it is said that if you do not go through theses steps it would be similar to a professional builder building a house and leaving out the foundation, the house will inevitably fall in on top of you and you will not achieve your most desired goals.

Success of your sales is entirely up to you. As frustrating as this may sound you are the sole key to your success, there is no easy way or magic button that you can press to achieve your deepest desires. On previous training courses I have noticed that the people that are thriving in their sales are the people that never quit learning and that have a desire to keep going till they achieve the ultimate happiness in their work and personal lives. For example a man walks into his doctors and says to the doctor “I want to be a physiotherapist, what is the easiest and quickest way to do this?” This obviously does not happen for professional physiotherapists so why would it happen for professional sales representatives?

What do you think the definition of sales is? I know there are so many, how are you supposed to know? Well a favourite in sales training courses is that it is helping people to buy. Individuals have built in a resistance to sales people, you know this and do this yourself. However what you are trying to do is help the people to make the decisions on their own. Isn’t it great that you can get people to make the decision on their own even though it’s the decision you wanted them to make in the first place.

A sale involves getting the information and then giving information. The problem is that too many people in sales blow their chance in the first 10 seconds of the sale. They have skipped getting the information and have gone straight into their presentation. Answer me this, how in the world can someone present something to someone without knowing what they wanted in the first place?

Take this story I heard at a sales training course before. A tourist walks into a shop they want to get their son a souvenir from the country, they are not sure what is native and what is not so they ask a local. The local will obviously reply with questions such as how old is he? What are his hobbies or how much would you like to spend? Simple, you need the information first to serve the customer to their satisfaction.

Without these defining questions the result would be your choice, not the customers. The key in sales training courses is to always let the prospect feel as though they have made the decision.

I understand that you may have seen this all before and read it so yes you know it already but the question is are you practising it? For example we all seem to be aware of the negative effect fast food has on our body and our energy but are we practicing health eating because if this? The chances are we are not. It is known through sales training that the key is to master the fundamentals of sales, practice them and use them when they are needed.