Chapter 3: Develop a Customer-First Attitude

1. Chapter 3: Develop aCustomer-First Attitude • Who is your company’s most important person? The customer. • Why does your company exist? To satisfy its customers. • What can you do to help your company? Help its customers. • How? By developing a customer-first attitude in all that you do.

2. Chapter 3 Objectives • Recognize potential customers & how you can help them. • Use your company’s reputation as a sales tool. • Approach customers, satisfy their needs, solve their problems. • Deal constructively with complaints. • Manage customer service employees.

3. 1. The Importance of the Customer • The customer always comes first before your convenience or needs because • Without the satisfied customer, there is no business. • To put the customer first, you must know your customers – their wants & needs – and then work to satisfy those desires.

4. What Do Customers Need? • Your company’s products & services. • The support behind those, such as a clean store; knowledgeable, polite sales clerks. • The commitment of your company to deliver what it promises & more – going the extra mile to ensure satisfaction.

5. How Do You Know What They Want and Need? • Certain people need certain types of products & services and not others. - Does a couple with 3 growing children need to buy kids’ clothing more than a couple with no children? • Think of the demographics (characteristics of a group of people) of your potential customers and • Think about how you can match customers with your products or services. • Look for new opportunities to satisfy customers.

6. To Keep up with Change, Watch for Trends How can you tell what styles or products are becoming more popular? • Retail trends: Monitor sales, watch movies & TV to see what’s being worn or used, look at ads. • Industry trends: Study trade magazines (publications for particular businesses), go to trade shows (events put on by a given industry to showcase their products), talk to colleagues & customers to see what’s new & hot.

7. 2. Advertising & Public Relations • Marketers make people aware of a product to get them to want & buy it. • Customers consider a product’s image(the idea that people associate with a product) • And look for a trusted brand (a company’s unique name for a product) that is usually trademarked (registered with the government so no one else can use it) • Or the brand’s logo, a symbol that represents the company, such as the Nike swoop or McDonald’s golden arches.

8. Marketing • Marketing is all the business activities that present a product, its brand, image & reputation, to the customer. • Advertising is a message that appears in a media time slot or space & is paid for by the advertising company. • Media include all means of communication that can present an ad to the public, such as newspapers, radio & TV, billboards, signs.

9. Are You a Marketer? • Not working in marketing? Pay attention to your company’s marketing efforts so you know your products better to help your customers appreciate your products more. • You are an important part of your company’s public relations efforts because • You represent the company in dealing with the public or dealing only with internal customers (people who purchase the products or services of the company for which they work) because • Your professionalism will make your company look good.

10. Public relations is marketing activities that put a company and its brand name in the public eye without having to buy space or time slots. How? - Sponsoring events or activities, such as a concert or Special Olympics games. - Sending to reporters “press releases” with newsworthy information about the product. - Displaying brand names prominently, such as having logos on free key chains or water bottles given away at fairs.

11. 3. Interacting with Customers Marketing principles: • Have a customer-first attitude. You’ll help them buy by matching their needs to your products. • Be professional—friendly, helpful, knowledgeable. • Understand the customer’s needs. How? Ask! Use open-ended questions that can’t be answered with just “Yes” or “No.” • Help the customer see how you can satisfy those needs. Show how your product/service fills those needs. • See the customer’s objections as more needs. • Thank the customer—even those who don’t buy. • Give the customer a reason to come back.

12. Selling to Business-to-Business Customers • While retail customers’ needs are often psychological desires, business customers’ decisions are based on real needs. • The business buyer will have to justify the purchase to his or her superior. • You may not be able to talk with the actual decision-maker. • You may need to work as part of a team on a large purchase. • Otherwise, the same marketing principles apply.

13. Cultivate Customer Loyalty and Respect • Customer loyalty is based on good service given before, during & after the sale. • Nurture loyal customers. • Follow up with any problems. • No sale? Find out what went wrong & correct the problem to prevent future costly mistakes.

14. 4. Managing Customer Complaints • Customers may complain about product quality (how well the product was made) or product performance (how well a product does what it’s supposed to do). • The process of constructively resolving these complaints is called customer support or customer service. • Think of complaints as opportunities to prove your commitment to your customers.

15. Handling Customer Complaints Resembles Selling • Selling = helping a customer by identifying a need and then satisfying it by finding the product or service that satisfies the customer. • Customer service = helping a customer by identifying a problem & then resolving it by finding a solution that satisfies the customer.

16. If You are in Customer Service: • You should receive training because you will need to know: - what complaints & questions to expect - the answers to common questions - what solutions are available - how to implement those solutions - how to handle angry customers - how to report & follow up on complaints

17. 8 Steps to Handle Complaints • First, tell the customer you’re sorry there’s a problem. • Say you will do everything you can to help. • Identify the actual problem by asking questions. • Resolve the problem by choosing from options your company has given you. If you can’t resolve it, find someone who can.

18. Apologize if the solution is inconvenient; minimize the inconvenience & expedite the solution. • Document the incident. • Follow up by contacting the customer to see if the solution worked & the customer is satisfied. • Prevent future problems by telling someone in the company who can fix the problem’s cause.

19. If You Work at a Help Desk • The quality of your assistance is nearly as important as the quality of the product or service purchased. • You, like many people, may have had bad experiences calling help desks or technical support. • A positive experience with help desk staff will go a long way to keeping a customer.

20. To ensure good customer assistance over the telephone: • Speak in a warm, friendly, sincere tone. • Tune in to the customer’s tone of voice. • Let the customer know you’re paying attention to his or her explanation by briefly making positive remarks like, “Yes,” and “All right.” • Own your customer: Stay in touch with the customer until the problem is resolved, even if you have to transfer the customer to another department. Get the customer’s number & follow up to make sure the customer is satisfied.

21. If You Manage Customer Service Personnel You will need to • Train them. Monitor their performance. Help them when they can’t solve problems. • Hold periodic staff meetings to discuss problems & solutions. • Track customer service problems with your personnel. • Track customers’ complaints to spot recurring problems & find patterns. • Tell your manager where there are problems with products, your phone technology, training, or resources.

22. 5. Interacting with Internal Customers and Internal Suppliers • You may work directly with external customers (the customers who pay money for your company’s products or services) or • You may support the people who work with external customers. Those co-workers become your internal customers who need the products or services provided by you. • You will also have internal suppliers who provide products or information to help you do your job.

23. Internal customers are your link to the paying customers. • Satisfy their needs as you would those of paying customers. • Every employee in your company is both an internal customer and a supplier. • Identify your internal customers by seeing who is on your team & who gives you assignments. • Identify your internal suppliers by noting who gives you information or service.

24. Tips for Maintaining Good Internal Communication 1. Develop a rapport with your internal customers. Treat them with respect. 2. Ask internal customers what they need; tell them what you can offer. 3. Tell internal suppliers what you need; ask them what they can offer you. 4. Keep everyone informed.

25. 5. Watch for signs of miscommunication such as missed meetings, delivery errors, clarification requests. 6. Eliminate obstacles to communication such as poor handwriting. 7. Bridge gaps in communication due to poorly run meetings or poorly designed forms, etc. by following up in writing. 8. Improve your own communication skills in writing, speaking, leading meetings, giving presentations.

26. Friendly Phrases to Use with Internal Customers “How can I help you? “Thank you for bringing this to my attention.” “I’m sorry.” “I apologize.” “I can see how you would feel that way.” “I don’t know, but I’ll be happy to find out for you.” “Perhaps my manager can help you.” “Let me give you that phone extension number.” “I want to be sure I understand. Do you mean…” “Is this solution acceptable?”

27. Increase Efficiency, Reduce Costs • All companies want to increase efficiency (do things in less time, with less effort, or with fewer errors) and reduce costs (reduce amount of money spent by reducing the time it takes to do tasks & eliminating needless tasks) so profits will increase. • You can help by identifying & anticipating needs, satisfying needs, admitting mistakes & figuring out what went wrong to avoid future mistakes.

28. Chapter 3 Recap • The customer comes first. Know the customer’s needs and satisfy them. • Stimulate interest in your product through advertising & public relations efforts. • Develop a let-me-help-you attitude to provide external customers what they need. • View customer complaints as opportunities to identify and solve problems. • Communicate respectfully & well with your internal customers & suppliers, focusing on reducing costs & increasing efficiency.

29. Who Always Comes First? THECUSTOMER!