Service Not Products Will Make Your Business Grow
Friday, September 28th, 2007No matter what business you are in, you must understand what you sell in order to thrive and grow to your potential. You might say ‘well that’s easy I sell lawn care’ , or maybe ‘I have a restaurant, I sell food.’ If we were together right now what would you tell me that you sold? Think about it, before you answer. Surely there must be millions of answers depending upon the nature of your business. Wrong!
No matter what business you are in, one universal answer is applicable always. Your product is a solution which lead and will lead your customers to your door!
Customer service is your product!
Contrary to much of the world’s popular opinion, most customers frequent a certain establishment far more for the personal experience and service they can find there than for the actual product it provides. Problem-solving help and suggestions of possible products to meet their needs is equally as important to each person as the individual item itself that meets their particular need. An experienced sales person who is knowledgeable about all of their various products and product lines and what they do, and who can steer a potential customer in the right direction to solve their particular problem is invaluable to your business. Service in this case is far more important than the products you carry! Pleasant conversation and taking a personal interest in every person who walks through your door will go so much farther than any of the items you may choose to stock on your virtual or actual shelves. If this is not your current mode of operation, you should consider revising your service and sales plan.
You don’t have to take so much time that you learn their life history. However you should try to understand why they came to you, and make a sincere effort to fulfill their needs. This might sometimes mean selling them something more expensive than they originally had in mind. It might sometimes mean selling them something less expensive instead. Other times you might not having anything at all appropriate for them at the moment. Even if you don’t have anything to fulfill their need at the moment, your honesty still provides a great opportunity to establish a relationship, which will lead them to come back to you again when they have a need that you can fill.
What you need to take away from this section is the important realization that what you’re selling is not just simply “things”, but fulfilling the specific needs of your clientele. In the end, your customers aren’t necessarily most interested in the features of your products, but in how you can solve their problems, and how you can satisfy their specific needs.
You can get a free copy of my latest ebook by clicking here: The 7 Keys To Business Marketing Success. Eric Menzies writes about Marketing And Customer Service at http://www.BizRave.com
- Eric Menzies