Is Customer Service Cancelling Your Sales ?
While I spend some quality time relaxing on the tile floor in my master bathroom, curled in a fetal position, being visited by this years demon spawn of a flu virus, my friend Debbi Bressler has graciously volunteered a nice customer service story. Thanks Debbi !
Not unlike the police officer who is frustrated by the judge who lets criminals run free, is the salesperson who sees their effort thwarted by incompetent customer service personnel and policies.
With the cost of acquiring a new customer in the $200-500 range, it is incumbent on all of us to be sure that the new customer has as flawless and positive an experience as possible. To do otherwise cuts income from the sales staff and company’s bottom line.
Alas…some companies have a harder time realizing this than others. And some…well… they never “get” it!
Case in point is my experience yesterday with Bright House Networks, a local cable and broadband provider in Orlando, Florida. Over the past few days, I’d received a number of calls on my Grand Central account from Bright House to Joshua. Seems that he was a new customer who didn’t know his phone number and used mine instead.
First Bright House called to thank him for his business. Then they called to confirm an installation appointment. Then they called to inform him that the technician was at his door – but he wasn’t.
For those of you unfamiliar with Grand Central, it’s a one number service. This means that when someone calls my number, it calls all the contact numbers I have listed, as well as leaving a voice mail which I can access online. If I’m in my office when Grand Central beckons, a veritable symphony erupts.
I’d finally had enough and decided to call Bright House to let them know that Joshua was unlikely to ever get their messages and to please quit calling me.
Me: Someone named Joshua keeps getting phone calls on my business number. Can you please make a note and take my number off because I don’t know this guy and he will never get the message ?
CS: What is the number ?
Me: 407-000-0000
CS: You are correct. This account does not belong to you. Well, since this is not your account there is nothing we can do. Our system will have to keep calling this number until the person whose name is on the account calls in and changes it.
Me: Excuse me ?
CS: Yea, sorry, there is nothing we can do ’cause you have no authority even though it’s your phone number.
Me: So whom should I send the bill to for my time and cell phone minutes ?
CS: Umm … can I put you on hold for UP TO FIVE MINUTES while I talk to a supervisor ?
And off he goes…..only to return five minutes later to say:
CS: Umm … I am still talking to my supervisor. Can I put you on hold again for up to five minutes ?
The rep finally came back – after I was on hold a total of about 12 minutes – to say “ I’ve put a notation on his account and when he calls in we will ask him for a correct phone number. ”
To which I replied: “ Five years ago when I moved to Orlando, I used your broadband service. At that time your customer service was the worst I’d ever experienced. In fact, a supervisor offered me free service for a few months and I turned it down. Thanks for reminding me that I made a really good decision back then. ”
Imagine how much money Bright House Networks spends to acquire new customers. And think how much money they have lost because incompetent personnel and policies have allowed those customers to slip through their fingers – never to return.
Remember…the sales process doesn’t end with the handshake.
Use The S.A.L.E. Method To Sell More
” On the road again ….”
Driving down the road today, doing my thang - selling - I was thinking about, uh … selling.
Naturally.
I was thinking that a large percentage of sales people don’t study sales or marketing. I know the one’s I run across sure as hell don’t study or they wouldn’t be as awful as they are at selling.
They don’t even come close, for the most part, to anything that faintly resembles a sales person.
They mostly are lazy order takers or maulers.
Lazy Order Takers just wander around and hope that enough customers call them and do all the work for them.
Maulers show up, mostly unannounced and ask you what you want to buy.
If you don’t want to be like either of these groups, all you have to do is learn The S.A.L.E. Method.
Stop. Ask. Listen. Elevate.
Stop - You absolutely must find a quiet place and think about the ways your product or service can alleviate some type of pain that your customer has.
If they have no pain, you have no shot. Literally.
Your product or service must be more tolerable than the pain they’re experiencing.
People email me every week and ask about how to fight the issue of pricing.
It’s pretty simple. When you figure out how much their pain is costing them, price your solution accordingly.
If you can’t find out how much their pain costs them …
Ask - Simply sit down with them and say something like this:
” I’m not sure our product/service is a good fit for you, so I’m just going to ask you to tell me what causes you the most pain. If my product can alleviate that pain, we can proceed, if not, I’ll move on down the line. “
If the company you work for or are thinking of going to work for won’t allow you to work like this, find one that will.
You’ll enjoy life a helluva lot more and you’ll make more money.
Don’t try to sell your product, just try to cure pain.
Think about it this way:
You go see your physician. Does he come out with a prescription before he finds out what your symptoms are or does he sit down and ask you a few questions first ?
Does he start pricing you right away or does he run a few tests and get back to you ?
Simple.
Listen - Just like a great physician does, you need to really listen to your customer.
How many times have you heard someone say their doctor is the best ever because he sits down, looks them eye to eye and listens to them.
There are doctors out there who make six-figures for listening. Just listening.
Don’t listen and try to think of an answer, just listen.
Don’t listen and look for a place to try and interject a great feature of your product or service, just listen.
Listen.
Because when you actually listen your sales will …
Elevate - You’ll complete ( I refuse to use the word close ) more opportunities than you ever have. You’ll elevate your standing with your customers. You’ll elevate your standing within your organization.
Nothing makes your confidence grow like success. Nothing.
Try the S.A.L.E. Method for 30, 60 or 90 days and if it doesn’t work for you, I refund every penny you paid for this post.
What have you got to lose ?
Ask David Meerman Scott About Viral Marketing
Do you have a questions about viral marketing ?
Have you read The New Rules of Viral Marketing ?
If either of these apply to you, run, don’t walk, run over and Ask David Meerman Scott your question.
He’ll do his best to answer our questions about viral marketing on February 26th at 5 PM EST, during his virtual book tour.
I’m the host for the virtual book tour and I’ll be compiling the questions that are submitted, but the answers are all David’s, so you don’t want to miss it.
His last ebook has been downloaded over 250,000 times over the last two years and I expect this one will beat those numbers.
It’s already been downloaded over 40,000 times in the first couple of weeks, so if you haven’t read it yet, head over to David’s blog and get your copy.
And if you’re interested in doing a virtual book tour or ASK methodology campaign for your book or topic, use the Contact page and simply ask me if about it.
27 Secrets to Interviewing Like Larry King - Part Three
” Remember that the right word - the one instantly recognized and understood by your listener - is most often a simple word. ” ~ Larry King
The final installment of this three-part series is finally ready and I’m proud that The Headmaster of Headlines himself saw fit to call on me to write this post.
It’s been so good for me and I’ve gotten so many emails about it, that I just may go back to Brian for more homework assignments !
As my favorite boxing referee, Mills Lane, always said, ” Let’s get it on ! “
19 - Solicit opinions - don’t just state yours. Without a doubt I have an opinion about almost everything. Without a doubt, if all I do is give ‘em away, they won’t be worth much.
In an interview, it’s all about the guest, so keep your opinions to yourself, unless the guest calls on you to give yours.
The only time you might need to interject your opinion is if the one the guest gives is far and away too controversial for you to not point out just how different you feel about the topic.
20 - The perfect volume of your words is hard to quantify. You don’t want to use too many words, but you don’t want to use so few that people think you’re not too bright, nor too interested.
I wish I could tell you how much to talk and how much to listen, but you’ll have to gauge it for yourself and change it every single time you interview someone.
21 - Be curious about everything. The best conversationalists are curious.
” That’s why they’re so good at listening and why they have broad horizons - they’re always learning something new. “ ~ Larry King
If you’re gonna excel at this skill, you’re gonna have to want to learn just for the sake of learning, which is why I love it.
22 - Show empathy. You absolutely must relate to what the other person is saying to get optimum results.
Even if you’re not genuinely interested, you need to be … if only for that short period of time.
Without empathy, the other person will never turn loose of all the nuggets of gold that they have hidden in their heart and mind.
23 - Show your sense of humor. ” When I’m giving a speech, one of my own cardinal rules is ‘ Never stay too serious too long. ” ~ Larry King
People don’t come to be lectured to, they come for entertainment. If you want to try to ramp it up to edutainmen, that’s fine, but stop short of lectures … unless you’re teaching at Columbia Law School.
The easier you smile and laugh, the easier it will be for the other person to smil and laugh. Simple, but entirely necessary.
24 - Don’t blow the show. Nothing’s worse than using tired old phrases, catch phrases, trendy talk and ill-fitting cliches.
Metaphors, which are like cliches, only better, add visual proof to the phrase your using. Cliches just add weight to the basket and make it harder to carry.
Avoid nothing words like ” Basically… “, ” Hopefully… “, ” Whatever… ” and their ilk. ” Umm… ” and ” Uhhhh… ” and starting an answer with ” I mean… ” are for athletes, not interviewers, so avoid those at all costs.
” Sprinkle enough of those around your converation and people will think you’re incapable of talking like the rest of us. “ ~ Larry King
25 - Break bad speech habits. First of all, you must, absolutely must, liten to yourself as the words come out of your mouth. Listen to replays of your interviews.
Even better is to have someone else review your talks and give you ideas of what to do to improve.
Get rid of the mistakes, little by little, and over time, you can break every bad habit of speech that you have at the start.
Remember, you’re at your worst when you begin and you can only get better over time.
Don’t let not being perfect stop your starting. Sloppy success is much better than perfect inaction.
26 - Time is money. Don’t waste the other person’s time talking about unimportant things.
If you do, they won’t come back, they won’t refer people to you and they’ll call your Mother and tell her you stink.
Well, maybe not, but you’re stature will be stunted and you’ll need a growth serum to get rid of the bad mojo they put on you.
Be professional in your approach and treat the other person with respect and dignity.
27 - If you aren’t at ease with the subject, your demeanor will suffer.
Regardless of your ability, remember this:
A) If you feel you’re not good at it, you can be.
B) If you feel you’re good at it, you can be better.
~ Larry King.
‘Nuff said.
27 Secrets to Interviewing Like Larry King - Part Two
I sat, I blogged, I loved it … after it was done.
Kind of a take-off of my tag line, but true to life. The first post in this series may have been the toughest post I’ve ever done, but this one feels like it’s going to be easier, because the work’s already started, so I may as well finish.
That’s what kills more good ideas, and people, than any other variable - Getting started or taking action.
So let’s get more meat on the table and see if we can find any more nuggets of gold in my coal mine mind.
10 - Practice ! Talk out loud to yourself around the house or when you’re driving.
I drive 200-350 miles a day, 3-5 days a week, so I get a lot of time to listen to mp3’s of teleseminars, interviews and the like, but nothing works as well for me as having time to conduct the interview, out loud, answering my own questions, while zippin’ around the highways and byways of Kentucky.
Think about it. If you know in advance the questions you’re going to ask, you can practice the delivery and even practice what the interviewee will say and try out some follow up questions.
Try it tomorrow and then come back here and let me know what you think or how it worked for you.
11 - Be open about yourself. Nobody likes a perfect person. Nobody.
And you ain’t perfect anyway, you just like to think you are.
Let go of some of your personal likes and dislikes, some of your quirks and maybe even a little TMI, every now and then and those who follow you will bond a little deeper and spend a little more, time and money, with you.
12 - Overcome your shyness to keep from making a shy mess.
Larry says, ” The best way I’ve found to overcome shyness is to remind yourself of the old saying that the person you’re talking to puts his pants ( or skirt ) on one leg at a time. “
There’s really no reason to put anybody on a pedestal so high that you can’t tap ‘em on the shoulder and whisper in their ear, as far as I’m concerned.
Even the Emperor needed to be told he had no clothes and you can’t tell ‘em if you can’t reach ‘em.
13 - Enjoy the conversation. That’s all an interview really is - a conversation.
Pretend it’s an old friend, a favorite teacher, a trusted advisor, whatever you need to imagine, but find some way to talk with a faint smile on your face, because that’s a sign of comfort, confidence and closeness.
Those three C’s will make your guest feel like a friend and friends always enjoy talking with friends.
14 - Avoid Questions that can be answered Yes or No - they’re a conversation killer. It’s not that hard to rephrase a question to enable an answer that’s worth hearing.
Hearing a yes or no, most of the time, means you were lazy in assembling the question.
Practicing the questions, like in Secret #10, will help you avoid this situation.
You listenership will drop you like a hot rock in a heatwave if you ask questions like this often enough.
15 - Be prepared. Have your notes ready, but listen to the answers, like in Secret #7 and jump on any opening like a duck on a junebug.
Sure, it’s your job as the professional to be ready and stay on track, but there are times when you hear something that has to be followed up on, even if the next question might get lost in that shuffle.
If I’m interviewing, let’s say Donald Trump, and he intimates that he could give me a tip that would enable me to retire with $5 million in 3 years, if I was interested, I’m going after that secret and the next question in line be damned !
16 - Realize that, especially with someone you don’t know well, there are some topics that are taboo. For example, salary, how much they have in the bank, if they have tattoo’s or piercings, if they’re pregnant, etc.
Like my friend Clint says, ” A man’s gotta know his limitations. ”
And you, as the interviewer du jour, must know the limitations to your interview … or have a good lawyer !
17 - Stay informed. Know what’s going on in the day’s news and what’s going on in the world. To be a really good interviewer, you have to be able to converse about what’s on the other person’s mind, not be willing to tell them about what’s on yours.
All day long I deal with people who don’t know about anything outside of what’s on TV that night and what’s happening in their little, bitty lives.
You, as the Interview King in waiting ( did you catch that ? ), must be well read and widely engaged.
You should read a local newspaper, the USA Today and another nationally circulated daily each and every day. Several magazines, books off the Best Seller lists and some trade magazines should also be part of your monthly regimen of reading.
How can you do that ? Turn off the TV sitcoms and keep the weekly series, like my beloved Survivor, to a minimum of one or two hours per week … not per day.
18 - Remember that ” Why ? “ is the greatest question ever asked. Bar none. My man Larry say’s it’s the simplest and surest way to keep a conversation lively and interesting.
Don’t believe it ? Try this:
Mike: I love watching Survivor ?
Larry: Really ? Why is that ?
Mike: Because I think if I played, I’d win.
Larry: Really ? Why ?
Mike: Well, because of my Army training, my survival skills and my having been a salesman for two decades. I think I could manipulate the whole tribe like paper dolls.
Larry: You’re delusional !
So there’s Secrets 10 thru 18, with numbers 19 thru 27 to follow. I fully intend to prove to Mr. Copyblogger himself that I can finish what I start, have the skills to play like the big boys and am an all-around good guy.
Brian Clark: You’re delusional !
Mike: Sigh.
27 Secrets to Interviewing Like Larry King - Part One
I got called on and called out.
The Headmaster of Headlines himself, Brian Clark, over at Copyblogger.com called on me to write a post by using the headline you see on this post.
His wish, my command.
” I remind myself every morning: Nothing I say this day will teach me anything. So if I’m going to learn, I must do it by listening. ” ~ Larry King
Regardless of your profession - butcher, baker or professional sales maker - you gotta listen to learn.
That’s what I’ve been doing since Copyblogger started - “listening“, although I have to use my own voice, because I haven’t been able to talk Brian into doing enough telewebcasts to fill my mp3 player up with the spillings of his minds matter.
It’s also what I have to do on a daily basis. I have to listen to my customers and potential customers, otherwise I wouldn’t find their pain points and without those, I’d not be able to move $200K to $300K worth of product each month, the profit of which seems to feed my family fairly well.
So, in the same vein, I invite you to listen to me as I try, try and try again to teach you how to interview like Larry King … 27 times over.
1 - Get it on the human level. Larry says that Ted Koppell once told him that if they both covered a fire and one of the firemen came running out his (Ted’s) first question would be, ” What caused the fire ? “ My (Larry’s) first question would be, ” Why do you want to fight fires ? “
Larry always tries to get it down to the human level.
2 - Know little more than the average listener. Larry says, ” If I’m too knowledgeable, I’m not a good interviewer. For example, I’m a baseball freak, so I know a lot about baseball. But I’m not a great interviewer of baseball people because the knowledge impairs me. “
Unless you’re extremely curious about the interview topic or the person you’re interviewing, you risk not paying close enough attention to what’s being said and you may miss following up on and digging deeper into the answer to a question … one that’s never been asked before and holds the key to that person’s gold.
3 - Give all of the power to the one being interviewed. Larry gets interviews with high profile people because they feel like they’re going to come out on top.
The secret to a good deal is for both parties to feel like they got the better end of the deal.
Remember that. Use it. Profit from it.
4 - Don’t let your emotions get the upper hand. Larry says, ” I’m not a good interviewer when I get angry. ” He once remarked about an interview with then Alabama Governor George Wallace, ” Racists make me angry. Wallace got to me. We started getting confrontational. And he won. “
Wow. Is that not a powerful lesson to learn ? Personally, I’m fortunate enough to only have one or two clients, in my offline career, that “bother” me.
In my online career, which seems to be moving towards being the host, interviewer or moderator on virtual book tours, ASK methodology campaigns and creator of E-learning content, I don’t have to work with people who “bother” me. I suggest you try very hard to remove the negative influences from your world as well.
5 - A good interviewer is like a train engineer and keeps his interview on track. Larry seems to be able to “ever so gently” push his guests back to the task at hand and not let them get to far off-topic.
That also means you and I get the goods and the guest doesn’t get off easy.
Some people don’t take a hard enough line with their guests and we don’t really get enough meat to satisfy our appetite. You have to be willing to butt in and stop a wanderer before they waste your time and the listeners attention span.
6 - Realize there’s nobody you can’t talk to, if you have the right attitude. Larry’s proven time and again that you can get an untouchable to sit and spin, if you take the right attitude.
That attitude is one of service or of being a servant. You want to go places ? Let someone take you and your chances are greater.
If you’re a Lone Wolf McQuaid type, the journey’s a bit harder, a lot lonelier and a lot less fulfilling.
I’ve got what I consider to be a few big names lined up for telewebcasts. One of them will be on Tuesday, February 26th. The other’s are somewhere in the process of picking a date and agreeing on content.
In Part Three of this series of posts, I’ll divulge my current crush, or put another way, the one person I really want to interview on a telewebcast, so stick with me til the bitter, or sweet, end.
7 - Be genuinely interested in the other person. Why’s Larry the man ? Because he makes the guest feel comfortable.
Why do they feel comfortable ? Because they feel like he actually wants to know the answer to the questions he asks.
Why do they think he wants to know the answer ? Because he looks them in the eye, listens until they finish and thinks about it before he says anything else.
He’d make a helluva salesman. Learn from him and you might just make one out of yourself.
8 - Be honest. This one’s pretty damn tough for most of us.
I spend my day trying to think before I speak and deciding if total honesty will benefit the person I’m with or will they be better off if I just keep my opinion to myself.
Larry seems to just feel free enough to be totally honest with his guests.
More money than I could spend might do that for me. Until then, I will be honest, but I’ll try to be quiet when possible.
9 - You have to have the will to conduct the interview, even if it makes you uncomfortable or uneasy. Look at the lineup of people who’ve been on Larry’s show.
You know he had to have some moments of unease asking tough questions of tough people.
Life’s the same way. You’re gonna have to deal with people who make you uncomfortable. Get over it.
Be a professional. Be prepared. Be done with it.
Nothing’s finished til after you start, so Just Do It !
That’s the first 9 of 27 secrets. Stick around to the end and you’ll be well on your way to interview success.
I want to thank my friend Brian Clark for calling on me and forcing me to do a professional series of posts. Given the chance to be lazy and do a half-ass job, I may have done so, but when the Blogger of All That’s Copy calls on you, you have no choice but to come thru and do it in a big way.
The biggest props and thanks of all goes to my better half, who did some major research for me. Without her, I’d have fallen as flat as the roads to Wichita !
Great Quote From Vince Lombardi
” I am not remotely interested in just being good. ” ~ Vince Lombardi
While reading the PARADE magazine part of my Sunday newspaper, I came across a great article about Bart Starr, written by Jeremy Schaap, whose father was one of the best sport writers ever. Ever.
The story is that on day 1 Lombardi came to them and said,
” Gentlemen, we are going to relentlessly chase perfection, knowing full well we will not catch it, because nothing is perfect. But we are going to relentlessly chase it, because in the process we will catch excellence. “
Then he uttered the quote that leads off this post.
That’s the way to conduct your sales career.
Don’t settle for just being good.
Strive for perfection and along the way, you’ll find excellence and that’ll be more than good enough to beat each and every one of your competitors … just like Bart Starr and his Packers did winning the NFL Championship five times ( 1961, ‘62, 65-’67 ).
Starr is still the only quarterback to win five NFL titles, two of which were Super Bowl’s I and II.
Take a lesson from Coach Lombardi’s playbook and you’ll never have to worry about the economy, the price of oil, the housing market or the hotshot college grad they just hired.
Pepsi and Coke Kicked Bud Light’s Butt During The Super Bowl
Just in case you weren’t watching, Bud Light had the worst series of Super Bowl ads they’ve ever produced.
Coke, on the other hand, went simple and easily outclassed Bud Light, who seems to have run out of inspiration … or just likes looking stupid.
The Coke spot, dubbed ” It’s mine ! ” was far better than any of Bud Light’s tired ol’ stuff. And in case you think Bud’s ads are “generational“, let me help you identify what “stupid” and “tired” look like.
Even Justin Timberlake’s Pepsi / Amazon mp3 Store ad was notches above Bud, who seemed to have just mailed in the check this year.
Justin’s commercial may actually come in a close second this year, right behind Shaq and vitaminwater.
vitaminwater kicks Gatorade’s Butt During Super Bowl Commercials
After the lamest commercials in Super Bowl history, we can at least say that vitaminwater easily kicked Gatorade’s butt, commercial wise.
Using Shaq as a jockey easily was the most creative commercial in 2008.
Not only did they easily have the best, Gatorade’s commercial with a dog lapping up some ‘rade was easily one of the lamest of the night and of all time.
Thanks to the censors who make it almost impossible to do anything really good, poor ol’ GoDaddy, and to the economy for being a bit shaky, we endured some really crappy commercials, but enjoyed a great football game.
My favorite part of this is I stop at a local convenience store every morning to see my buddy Jim, grab a USAToday and a vitaminwater, with the XXX pictured being my favorite so far.
Cheers to vitaminwater for having the best commercial during Super bowl XLII !
Sometimes The Two Lane’s Better Than The Interstate
It’s new ! It’s easy ! It’s fast !
Is it better ? Maybe not.
Notice I said maybe, so save the crucifixion comments.
I had an interesting conversation, thru the comments section of a blog, the other day. I’m not going to link to it here, not because I’m mad, but because I don’t want them to think I’m picking on them and calling them out. I read that blog every time they post. Always have, always will.
I’m also going to use some off topic quotes that aren’t so off topic, from Seth Godin. The blogger noted that he would respond to text messages in 15 minutes, but hated voicemail. Wow. That, to me, in my industry, would be equivalent to death. And I’m sure a LOT of below thirty-somethings feel the same way.
The basic problem with this is it’s circumvents one of the basic tenets of selling, which is learning how to interact with, deal with, respond to and work it out with human beings.
Voice transfers emotion, text does not. Smileys are cute, but they don’t allow someone to say, ” Did you mean thisorthat ? ”
Being unable to stop a text message in the middle and say waitafreakingminute means you’re shortchanging yourself, the other person, the conversation and the product or service.
Here’s a recent quote from Seth:
” I don’t use Twitter. It’s not really me. I also don’t actively use FaceBook, and I’m not adding any friends, though I still have an account for the day when I no doubt will. I also don’t use Flickr or MySpace or Meebo. “
Me neither. This example by Thom Singer is one of the reasons why you should think about avoiding these like the bubonic plague.
Another reason that you might consider not using social media if you’re a professional sales person is simple - You can’t do 55 things and do them all well.
If Seth can’t do it, you can’t either:
” My reasoning is simple, and it has two parts. First, I don’t want to use a tool unless I’m going to use it really well. Doing any of these things halfway is worse than not at all. People don’t want a mediocre interaction. Second, I don’t want to add a layer of staff between me and the tools I use and the people I interact with. I think both of these ideas go together, and unfortunately, they’re also a paradox. If you want to be in multiple social media and also have a day job, you’re going to need a staff. Scoble is the poster child for being everywhere, all the time, but it’s all he does. “
Just because they build it doesn’t mean it’s good. There are millions of products and services launched every year that should have never seen the light of day.
Technology’s great, but learning the basics of your profession first and then making an intelligent decision as to whether or not to use a piece of technology is better. By far.
” In 1993, we installed a primitive form of chat on our network at work. I think it was called SnapMail. I discovered pretty quickly that I was spending three or four hours a day using it. I was really good at it. And I also didn’t get as much done as I needed to. So we ripped it out. Just because it was stimulating doesn’t meant it helped with our goal. “
Don’t get caught up in technology. Use it if it improves the customers experience, not if it makes you feel like you’re ahead of the curve.
Use it if you can create a better atmosphere for your support staff, not just because it means you can have fewer exchanges with them on the phone.
My support staff needs to hear my voice, even if it’s voicemail. If I call and let them know about a potential volcano-ish problem on a jobsite, they need to hear, feel, smell and experience the emotion in my voice, so they can drop the things that can wait and immediately attend to the customers need.
Exclamation points in a text message won’t get it done. They’ve been there done that and are now ignored, because they were used improperly and conditioned people to ignore them.
Sorry. I didn’t cause it, but I know it true.
Tools and technology are wondermous thangs. I love ‘em. But in the B2B and professional B2C world, you’ve gotta know the basics before you can try to change the way people have been buying and interacting for eons.
And don’t change anything that doesn’t benefit the customer or your support team.
It ain’t all about you, whether you believe it or not.
