I want more! Give me more!

Steve Farnsworth is a serial entrepreneur and a student at Fort Lewis College and at the age of 24, a Young Go Getter! Check out his site Burner Sports, where he serves as the President.

The time for change is NOW! Cliché you say? As over used as that phrase is these days, it is very true in our business environment. The only thing that you can always count on is change; everything in our daily lives change rapidly. A decade ago you could deliver a product or a service as promised to your customer at the quoted price and the sale would be complete. Now-a-days customers always want more. Customer demands and expectations are higher than ever before. Are you ready to fulfill those needs?

Anyone that has ever worked in a retail setting during the holidays can attest to consumers always wanting more! If you have ever sold products or services than you can certainly relate to this as well. As a sales person, reflect on the last sale that you completed. What did the customer want? What were their expectations? Did you at least try to meet the customer’s needs? Did you get frustrated or upset when you had to go beyond the “norm” for the customer? Every sales person at one time or another has gotten frustrated with a customer, and complained about it. My question is why?

Customers are very important to any business. Customers “push” you to do better. Yet many people in an organization complain about that, why? Many sales people and company’s think that having a “pushy” customer is a negative. When in actuality the customers “pushiness” holds you and your company to a much higher standard. The customer is “pushing” you to be better at what you do. A customer’s job is to push for more; push for better pricing, push for a speedy delivery, push for better quality, etc. Your job within your company is to not only meet their expectations but also to remind yourself and your co-workers that customers are not the root of your frustrations, stress and failures. They are the root to your success, profit and growth.

Knowing how to handle your customer’s when they are unhappy is a crucial part to your success in any position that you have in an organization. Knowing what techniques to use and when to use them is just as crucial. I have some helpful tips that can be used by anyone that works with customers.

Manage Their Expectations:
Our business environment is no longer what it was 10-15 years ago. Many changes have been made to make our businesses better. The evolution of business is forever evolving, and we must learn to adapt to it or face failure. Customer’s expectations are high these days and will continue on this path. Customers generally are unhappy when there is a gap between their expectations and reality. This is why we must put forth some effort to manage our customers’ expectations.

Being honest and upfront with your customers will pay you dividends in the long run and they will respect you more for it. Do not tell your customers that you can make a 2 week delivery when you know it will take 4-5 weeks. Looking only in the short-term (getting a sale) can cost you in the long run (losing a customer), because you were not upfront and honest with them. Of course not everything will go as planned with every customer, but realizing uncertainty and communicating it to your customer’s will show them that you are a ‘straight shooter’ and that you have their best interests in mind.

Contact and Timing:
Your timing when dealing with customers is very important. There is a point where sales people can lose their credibility by overexposing themselves to the customer. The more time you spend with the customer the more chances you have to offend the customer. You can expose the fact that you are not very knowledgeable in your field, or you can start to promise things that cannot be met, etc. There is a fine line between being out of touch with customers, staying in touch, and touching them the wrong way. This is where timing comes in to play. Customers expect you to be there for them as needed and to be in the shadows when not needed. Not showing them your hand all at once creates a special niche that only you can fill. The basic rule of thumb is to always leave your customers wanting more, and asking more of you.

Apologize and Take Action:
Sometimes customer’s expectations are not met and they become unhappy. It is important to apologize for the inconvenience and take immediate corrective action to make the customer happy again. Most people look at an unhappy customer as a complete disaster, but the most effective people look at this as an opportunity, why? Unhappy customers usually give you another chance to make things better, thus you have an opportunity to make things right. I was once told that we are judged by how we handle our mistakes. If we can take corrective action and make the customer happy, they will remember it, and the mistake will be void.

Have you ever gone to a restaurant and your food was not as expected, or you had some foreign object in it? You probably told the waiter or waitress and they rectified the situation by taking care of your bill, or giving you a free meal next time, or some sort of immediate action. Restaurants are a great example of when to apologize and how to apologize. The same can be done in business. If you have a system for keeping customers happy, it is imperative that you have a system for dealing with unhappy customers as well.

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