effective customer communication
This morning, I looked out the window and was thrilled to see blue skies. I’m a magnet for sunny days and whenever I see rays of sunshine, I just want to go outside.
I have always adored the outdoors, especially wandering around my garden. Over the years, I have been fascinated to see the plants develop and change throughout the seasons. I know I still have so much to learn, still every day I am spellbound by the majestic beauty of the landscape.
Have you ever been in store where you stop to look at an item and immediately the salesperson asks you “Are you interested?”, “Would you like to buy it?” or “Would you like to try it on?”
I don’t know about you, but in these situations, I immediately feel trapped and under pressure. And all I want to do is run out the door. The same thing can happen when I am on the phone or in meetings where the sales person is just too pushy.
Frequently in training, I ask attendees, “how long should you wait before responding to a customer or even a colleague using emails?”. The answer can vary from “one to two hours”, “the next day” to more surprisingly “as quick as you can”.
Interestingly enough, from an email etiquette perspective, the answer is 24 hours or the next day.
Naturally, depending on our job role, the situation we find ourselves or level of urgency needed in a given time we might respond sooner. However, the idea that we need to come back to someone instantly or within the hour is unreasonable and unfair to both parties.
I am an optimistic by nature and a firm believer that most people are kind and have good intentions. We may reach out to help others, possibly admire them and make polite conversation.
However, human nature is that we will always judge people and make assumptions.
We may be aware of what we are doing. Yet, there are times when we can unconsciously react and don’t even realise it. One example always comes to mind – it’s a story some of you may be familiar with or perhaps can relate to.
A number of years ago, I received a call from a company asking me to help them generate new business and recruit new customers.
Up to this stage, their sales team had looked after existing clients and handled incoming enquiries only. Even so, they were now under pressure to proactively generate new business.
They wanted me to help them source new leads and develop a sales strategy. They also asked me to train their staff to enable them to confidentially pick up the phone and effectively “cold call” new customers.