Are You Truly Customer-Focused?
Just how prepared are you to stick with your customer and stay solely focused on them until they leave? Are you ready to make a proactive decision today to put the customer in front of you first?
It can be difficult, but in the long run very rewarding.
I’ve watched in amazement as salesperson after salesperson left their customers in the middle of the sales process to answer a page or take a sales call.
“Excuse me,” they say, “I’ll be right back!”
So what does that say to a customer who’s right there in front of you?
It says plenty:
- You think the customer in front of you is a waste of time
- You think a customer on the telephone is more important than someone on the lot
- You think all customers are equally important and you have the ability to deal with more than one at a time
- Your manager says to do it that way
- You learned it from someone else
Unfortunately, the latter is likely more accurate than the others.
Most salespeople have never thought about the impact that leaving a customer could have. They’ve just watched others do it that way so they followed along.
Even their managers stop everything they are doing when the phone rings so they assume that is appropriate behavior.
The end result of leaving your customer can result in lost opportunities. Among other things:
- You lose momentum if things are going well
- Questions may come up while you’re gone
- The customer might feel neglected
- The customer could leave
All of these will lead to lost sales and a complete waste of the efforts you’ve invested. And customers who are calling in usually understand when you are with someone else. Leaving a voice mail in those situations is just fine for them. So what’s the answer?
Customers want to feel that you are there for them. Allowing yourself to be distracted by other calls will result in more lost business than the incremental advantages of taking every call.
Starting today, take the time to truly focus on the customer who is in front of you, in all your interactions. They’ll be glad you did. You will too!