It’s about time we talked — no, not about how much time you spend on your phone — that’s between you and the sales manager. You and I need to talk about your customer service and communication. I’ve been in the game long enough to have communicated with thousands of customers and fellow sales professionals, and the chasm spanning Neanderthals to Pulitzer Prize winners is vast.
I’m not talking about intelligence or even education level for that matter. I’m talking about living up to the title on your desk, cubicle or office, and it doesn’t matter if you’re in technical sales, order desk or engineering sales because you’re a sales professional. It’s not enough to provide price, lead time and datasheets. Those activities are the minimum requirement for the job. You owe it to your employer, your customer and your pride to offer etiquette, graciousness and urgency in customer interactions.
“But Josh,” you say, “I am all that and more. I’m the busiest salesperson at the office.” Sure, you are. More than likely, you’re just busier than you need to be because you’re slow and inefficient. You might think your years of experience are all that’s required for you to be great, and there’s no doubt you know your catalogues inside and out. But if you’re coming across as crass and unresponsive, you’d better hope you’re selling the equivalent of Kleenex in a daycare.
Perhaps you need to see an example of poor salesmanship to see where you’re going wrong. It’s easy to spot, so if your communications look anything like this, you’re actively contributing to your company’s reputation for poor customer service. Read this example like an email chain, with the newest message first.
On Mar 4, 2024, at 9:10 AM, John Smith <jsmith@sellingstuff.com> wrote: 2 weeks John _________________________________________________________________________________ From: Josh Cosford <jcosford@higginson.ca> Sent: Friday, March 1, 2024 11:19 AM To: John Smith <jsmith@sellingstuff.com> Subject: Re: Accumulators Hi John: Great, thanks. What is the lead time for one piece? Best regards, Josh Cosford Higginson Equipment Inc. 1175 Corporate Drive Burlington, ON L7L 5V5 P: 905-335-2211 / 1-877-CALL-HES ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- On Mar 1, 2024, at 11:10 AM, John Smith <jsmith@sellingstuff.com> wrote: $398.80 net John ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Josh Cosford <jcosford@higginson.ca> Sent: Wednesday, Feb 28, 2024 1:19 PM To: John Smith <jsmith@sellingstuff.com> Subject: Accumulator Required Good morning John: I hope you’ve been well. Can you please provide price and delivery for one piece of the following accumulator? ABC08-050N1 Thanks John, and regards, Josh Cosford Higginson Equipment Inc. 1175 Corporate Drive Burlington, ON L7L 5V5 P: 905-335-2211 / 1-877-CALL-HES
Can anyone spot where John went wrong? If you think John’s professionalism was entirely acceptable, you’re definitely part of the problem, not the solution. Did I eventually receive my price and delivery quote? Well, yeah, I eventually did. But it took me two emails over six days and John was robotic in his responses. Did I need a salutation or any extra information? No, but the unnecessary response time and lack of etiquette made me feel he cared nothing for me or my business. He’s a representative of Selling Stuff but left me wanting to find my accumulator elsewhere.
It takes little effort to be courteous and responsive. Firstly, greet the customer in your response to their request. Building rapport encourages a sense of relationship and goodwill that customers want to return to. And responding quickly shows you care and understand they have their own customer who may need an urgent answer.
I get that we’re all busy, but when your only job is to help customers, take that altruistic attitude to heart so they feel valued. You can speed up your process in two ways to help you and your customer. Firstly, if you’re not typing fifty words per minute using your fingers on the home row, visit one of the hundreds of free online practice sites to improve your game. Single-finger button smashers who have to stare at their keyboards take exponentially longer for mundane tasks. It doesn’t matter how old you are; you just have to care enough to practice.
While you’re at it, improve all your computer skills, not just with typing but within any software your company requires from you. Understand and master all the screens in your ERP software and learn how to navigate quickly. Keep your eyes on the screen while you type to pick out mistakes as they occur, allowing you to quickly correct and move on. Tab between fields, if possible, and even learn how to use your keyboard’s special characters. If you don’t already have one, get a second monitor to keep one open and dedicated to your ERP program and the other to your email.
The faster and more efficiently you work, the more time you will have to form relationships, provide concise information and offer a courteous greeting and salutation to your customer in every communication. Not every customer will care about etiquette but the ones who do are judging you and forming opinions. So take pride in your role and champion your company as a leader in sales – you’ll grow your reputation, career, and company.
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