Training and mentoring

People often ask me about how they can go about sourcing lists of potential customers when selling in a business to business market. They may know who they wish to target. Yet, they may wonder where to go or how to go about acquiring decent leads.

Sometimes they go online and find a list of companies in a particular industry or profession. They may find a name, telephone number or even an address. To have this information accessible is incredibly helpful. However, many people underestimate how much time they lose searching for additional contact details before they even think about keying the notes into their own sales database.

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Many of us experience varying degrees of customer service on a daily basis.  It can range from being an amazing and pleasant encounter to a downright awful and rude experience.

A great experience may entail walking into a local cafe, where the person welcomes us with a beaming smile. If they know us, they may greet us by name and even remember our order. And if they don’t, they make helpful and sincere recommendations. This simple but friendly experience makes us feel good and can set us up for the day.

On the other hand, we may encounter a surly, bad mannered person who obviously doesn’t want to be there. They don’t bother look up, they mutter and chat to their colleague leaving us waiting.

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As customers, we can all relate to times when we contact a company or pop into a store enquiring about a product or service.  Generally, the person answering the phone announces the company name in a friendly and professional manner. Likewise, if we are in a store the person welcomes us, each of them asking how they can help and the conversation begins.

If we know exactly what we want we tell the assistant what we need. On occasion, they may ask us a few questions to clarify further and determine the exact fit. The order is taken and the transaction completed.

However, there may be times when we are unsure about what we want, we may need more information or perhaps guidance to make the right decision. This is where the sales person moves from being the “order taker” to the “order maker”.  

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Human nature is such, that when we witness or overhear a conversation, we instinctively make assumptions. We listen to what people said and how they behaved. So, we naturally draw our own conclusions thinking we have the information.

Yet, how often do we stop and consider there may be another perspective? That we may be missing some key facts vital to the story?  That we may have misunderstood what the person actually said?  Or there may be a reason why they behaved the way they did?

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Frequently, at the beginning of my “Customer Service” training workshops I ask people, if they are likely to speak up and complain when they are unhappy with a product or service?

The answers I get vary greatly ranging from an assertive “absolutely, I am a paying customer” to the person who replies “sometimes, it depends” right through to someone who is very apprehensive to say anything at all.

What concerns me most is when people are afraid to speak up. As buyers, we are spending our hard-earned cash and deserve to be treated well. So, what is it that stops people from expressing how they feel?

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