Set yourself apart by thing the little things
KEY 5A: Customer Service- Say Thank You!
Building relationships with your customers and hostesses creates loyalty and repeat business.
“People don’t care how much you know, until they know how much you care — about them!”
One of the greatest things about working a party plan or direct selling business is that you can work with, and get to know lots of people. When you show your customers that you care about them they will care about you and your business. Many times your good customers become hostesses and your good hostesses become your team members. So taking the time to let those “good customers” know you appreciate them is building relationships that builds your business! But, do you know in advance which customers will become your GOOD customers? No, so the trick is to treat EVERY customer as a GOOD customer and see what develops.
“Treat every customer as if they sign your paycheck…because they do.” — Unknown
“If YOU don’t take care of your customers, someone else will.” — Unknown
What constitutes good customer service?
Two people go into a fine restaurant. The food is as delicious as it is expensive. The meal takes nearly three hours.
A soccer mom pulls up to the drive-up window of a fast food burger joint. Running late, she is delighted that the line of cars moves swiftly. The entire process takes three minutes. The kids eat their food on the way to the game.
Of the two different restaurants – which had better customer service? Each group was very happy with their experience, but if we had switched the restaurants, neither group would rate the customer service very high.
What constitutes good customer service is specific to each business and each individual. It is a function of the customer’s expectations. If customers expect products or services delivered quickly, then the faster the delivery, the better the service. If customers expect finer service and quality, then the person giving the service should focus on that.
To be effective at customer service an organization or person must manage two key areas of its operation effectively:
Ability— Provide your customers with the products and services they want in a swift and efficient manner.
Attitude— Have a courteous and helpful attitude to all you come in contact with.
Exceed expectations to win their hearts and business.
What are your customers’ expectations?
“Here is a simple but powerful rule – always give people more than what they expect to get.”
– Nelson Boswell
Many customers come to a party expecting to be introduced to products, make their purchases, and after they receive their products in a timely manner they figure they may never hear from you again. The trick in this business is to EXCEED THEIR EXPECTATIONS.
The first step is getting to know your customers. Before each party get a copy of the guest list from your hostess. Bring that list with you on a clipboard. Then, when guests start arriving you can greet them, get to know them, and make notes by their names so you can remember them and gear your service to meet their needs.
For example, if you sell makeup and skin care products you might greet a guest who immediately tells you “I don’t wear makeup. I don’t have time for all that stuff.” During your demo and your one-on-one time afterward you can point out the quick-and-easy skin care products and the long-term importance of it. Or, maybe she doesn’t wear makeup because she doesn’t know how. You could schedule a personalized make-over with her. On the other hand, other guests may be used to using the most expensive products on the market. Therefore, you can focus on pampering them, pointing out the luxurious higher-end products.
Most of all, exceed your guests expectations by keeping in touch with them and letting them know you look forward to helping them with all of their product needs. Let them know you would love to give them more great ideas over time, keep them informed about special offers, and even help them pick out gifts they will need throughout the year. Make them feel like they can call you for any personal need or any gift need and you’ll do the work to make it as easy, affordable, and timely as possible for them.
When your focus is to MEET THE NEEDS of your customers they will interpret that to mean you care about them as individuals not just dollar signs. Let them know they are special to you.
Offer gift wrapping, custom decorating sessions, put them on mailing lists, call them when their favorite items are on sale, etc. Do whatever you think they will appreciate and will win their hearts and their business.
“There are no traffic jams along the extra mile.”
– Roger Staubach
“Biggest question: Isn’t it really ‘customer helping’ rather than customer service? And wouldn’t you deliver better service if you thought of it that way?”- Jeffrey Gitomer
Keep in touch with your customers
So many times we have parties, take the orders, deliver the products, and then focus on our upcoming hostesses. But, what happens to all of those past guests and hostesses? Many times we get busy and forget them and we find ourselves out “beating the brush” searching for new ones. What is the value of a customer? To GM’s Cadillac Division it is $426,000 for Pizza Hut it is $12,400.
Did you know…
• The top 6% of cellular phone users represents 69% of the total usage.
• The top 6% of the United Kingdom’s cola users represent 60% of its consumption.
• 25% of cars are rented by the top .02% of clients.
Add that “Special Touch” at a price you can afford!
Once you understand the concept of developing long-term relationships with your customers, you may wonder how to get started doing it. The Booster makes LOTS of products to make it easy.
Here are a few ideas.
1) Let your customers know that you appreciate them as a person, and as a customer. Put stickers like “Thank you for your order” (S50223), “I value your business and loyalty” (S50433), and “I really appreciate your business” (S50500) on their order forms or the products you deliver.
2) Frequently send customers and hostesses sale flyers. Inform them of special offers, new products, benefits of joining your team, and keep your name, products, and services fresh in their minds. Use stickers like “Customers like you make my day” (S51464) and “I value your business and loyalty” (S50433 or PSA5206) to seal envelopes and flyers. The printable stickers are also great mailing labels and return address labels or put them on magnets and give them to your customers to put on their fridge.
3) Send thank you notes, and Christmas cards.
Send notes to hostesses, customers, etc. Included in your keypack are a variety of Thank You and Christmas cards. Key 2 Postcards are also great to use for hostesses “Thank You’s” as well as Key 5.) Remember, a handwritten note is always appreciated. Your goal is to create loyalty by setting yourself apart from others they may do business with.
HINT: Fill out the Christmas card at the same time as you do the Thank You card. It will make it more personal as you’ve just worked with her. Then when the busy Chrismas Season comes, you are all done!
4) Send the “Birthday” Printable Postcards (PP40545 with our text or purchase them without text and print whatever you want using our FREE templates) to your customers who are having birthdays that month. Then, follow up with a phone call to see if you can help them with anything. Offer them a certain percentage or dollar amount off any order placed during their birthday month.
5) Stick the “To reorder…” stickers PSM4501 printed with YOUR info ) directly on the bottom of the products that customers will use up and need to reorder. Point it out and tell them something like “I’ve included my phone number and email address on the bottom of this product, (candle, makeup, mix, etc.) so when it’s running low, you can EASILY contact me for more.”
6) Use stickers on free gifts (S51114 or S50282) so they know you’ve given them something extra!
7) Use Printable stickers or the “Save this receipt for your guarantee” (S50382) to remind customers about free samples and guarantees!
8) Let your customers know that you look forward to helping them again. Put stickers like “Call me anytime to place an order” (S40247 or S47008) on their receipts. They’ll know that you’d love to help them again, and they are welcome to call you anytime.
9) When someone books a party, immediately give them an “I’m so excited to work with you bookmark” (BM52609). It will make them feel special and get excited for the party too. Print your contact info on the “I value your business and loyalty!” printable sticker and put it on the back of the bookmark, catalogs, hostess information, etc. Follow up with Bookmarks like “Thank you-Value Business (BM52610) or “I’m so excited to work with you.” for your customers.
10) Treat every customer with respect and be sincere! You can even WRITE little notes on the bookmarks or printable stickers and put them on the outside of envelopes, on invoices, etc. to add a personal touch!
Put this TEAM CARD “If YOU don’t take care of your customers,someone else will.” up in your home. Put it by your computer, or on the fridge! Every time you read it ask yourself the question, “So what am I doing for my customer?” Even if it is just as simple as droping them a card, making a quick phone call, putting a sticker on your order forms, or any of the other suggestions we’ve given you, they DO make a difference and help to set you apart! These little things are the special touch that make a BIG difference.
What to do about “problems” with customers.
After you’ve done your best when working with a customer, you may find that you’ve made a mistake. That’s OK. We all make mistakes. Just admit it to your customers. If you mess up on an order and need to fix it, send that customer an apology note with the correct product. They’ll appreciate that you are taking responsibility and doing your best to make things right. Put an “Oops” sticker (PR50527) on the note. (Or use the Oops Postcard PP58209G.)
“Once we realize that imperfect understanding is the human condition, there is no shame in being wrong, only in failing to correct our mistakes.” —- George Soros
Great customer service is about making people happy, but the fact of the matter is that there are some people – luckily very few – who will never be happy, no matter what you or anyone else does. They take special pleasure in making sure that your costs are as high as possible. They demand premium service but refuse to pay anything more than bargain basement prices.
These are not customers. Customers are those people who contribute to your bottom line. If someone cannot sleep at night because he thinks you may have made a profit by doing business with him, then that person is not a customer; he is a distraction. Worse, these are usually the same folks who take delight in abusing relationships.
Companies spend far too much time trying to please people who just can’t be pleased. They become distracted by the “squeaky wheels,” while effectively ignoring the silent few who are responsible for driving bottom line performance. All of this they do in the name of customer service.
Instead of spending time, money, and effort on the squeaky wheels, wouldn’t it be more profitable to focus on improving service to people who will appreciate it? People who will therefore buy more? People who are honestly glad to see you succeed?
World class customer service doesn’t mean you have to make everyone happy, just your true customers. It’s OK to send the distractions to your competition; just make sure you’ve done your best, and do it politely.
See ALL the products mentioned in this training AND the BONUS PDF about what to do when you meet one of “Those” on our website under KEY PACK CLUB INFO > KEY 5A http://www.thebooster.com/288-kpc-key-5a-customer-service
In addition to all the things building customer relations does for your business, it also makes doing business rewarding and fulfilling. Enjoy working with your hostesses, customers, and team members! Set goals to build better relationships today!
See the new Book Make Your Connections Count VB5126 for wonderful information from 20 Top Experst who share strategies that work. http://www.thebooster.com/vbbooks-192/2428-vb5126-make-connections-count-book.html
