Business Advisor Network Blog

How would you react if you got a call from the panel beater a week after having you car repaired just to make sure that everything was OK?  You got a call from the pool shop after you purchased chemicals to balance the pH in your pool, just to check that the levels recommend turned out fine.  You got a questionnaire in the mail from a restaurant you dined at asking for your comments and suggestions and offering you a special deal.

Some business owners think its asking for trouble.  It is really the opposite – it’s looking for rapport, loyalty, satisfaction and repeat business.  If follow up turns up a lot of dissatisfaction you need to make some changes.  The truth of the matter is that there is dissatisfaction whether you discover it or not.

How would you react if you got a thank you note a few days after buying a new suit from a clothing store, you got a birthday card from your insurance agent, you got a free dinner gift certificate as a thank you from a hotel chain, you got a personalised luggage tag in the mail as a gift from your travel agent?

Recognition and appreciation can be very powerful and very inexpensive as a marketing strategy.  It is true that comprehensive follow up and follow through may reveal some inadequacies in your business operation and that’s good if you use those discoveries as impetus for improvement.

Of course every business, no matter how well managed, will have to deal with dissatisfied even angry customer from time to time.  Sometimes the customer is justified in their complaints, other times they are not, but the handling of the dissatisfied customer can have a far reaching impact on your business.

Virtual Business Advisor

How to book a meeting with a business advisor, mentor or coach?
Find out about Government Grants for Queensland business?
Would you like to become an Accredited Advisor?
Need information on how to prepare a business plan?
Do you want a step by step guide to growing your business?
Become a sponsor or partner of BAN and connect with small business decision makers?
I wish to make a donation to help small business.

Looking for an excellent sales role-model? Then look no further than your Doctor.

In the medical profession they have an adage that says ‘prescription without diagnosis is malpractice’. In simple terms, it means that if a doctor prescribes a treatment without first taking the time to find out what you need, then they’re potentially guilty of malpractice.

The same applies in selling. If we’re going to be professional, WE should not prescribe or recommend a solution either …until we’ve diagnosed or found out what the customer really needs.

Seems fairly obvious, but how often have you seen a sales person launch straight into a presentation as soon as you paused in front of a product? Apart from anything else, apart from the fact that this approach is unprofessional and possibly even malpractice, it’s also the hardest possible way to sell.

For instance, imagine you visit the doctor and the moment you walk into their office they say ‘Here, take these drugs’. You’d probably feel a little uneasy about taking those drugs.

But if the doctor began by asking questions about how you felt; if they took your blood pressure; listened to your heart, had you stick your tongue out and so forth … and then they prescribed some drugs, you’d probably feel a whole lot more comfortable with their recommendation.

The same applies in selling. By asking questions – by diagnosing the customer’s requirements before we make a recommendation – we achieve two important results.

First, we build trust and rapport. And secondly, our questions will help us to unearth the customers concerns, requirements, budget, expectations, time frames … and so forth. That in turn will let us make the best recommendation to them.

And when THAT happens, we’ll make more sales, more profitably, to happier customers … who’ll refer us to their friends.

Virtual Business Advisor

How to book a meeting with a business advisor, mentor or coach?
Find out about Government Grants for Queensland business?
Would you like to become an Accredited Advisor?
Need information on how to prepare a business plan?
Do you want a step by step guide to growing your business?
Become a sponsor or partner of BAN and connect with small business decision makers?
I wish to make a donation to help small business.