By CAREEREALISM-Approved Expert, Deborah Shane
We have come to the last step in our sales journey. We have covered prospecting, qualifying, analyzing, negotiation, closing, and now retention.
People will remember how you made them feel! Follow these tips from career expert Deborah Shane to create and maintain great relationships with your customers.
What kind of experience do you want customers to have with you and your business?
How do you keep customers happy, engaged and continuing to refer you?
We are all working so much harder today to find, qualify, develop and close new customers. The effort you put into retaining customers is almost more important than finding them. Loyalty? Gone. Poor customer service has compromised loyalty more than any other factor. Why companies cut back and cut corners on customer service is so short sighted.
The impact of customer retention is felt in 3 ways:
1. Profitability: 5-20% more expensive to find a new customer than to keep one.
2. Revenue: Just 5% more retention can translate into 77% more revenue over 10 years.
3. New Business Development: Reputation plus referrals equals growth!
Information from www.sba.gov.
I know for me, if a vendor is NOT paying attention to me, not speaking to me with respect, and doesn’t show me an appreciation for being a customer, I am gone to one that will and does.
There are very few “exclusive” companies (besides the IRS) where competition doesn’t give you a choice.
So, what can and should you be doing today to ‘always be retaining?’
I love the concepts in Seth Godin’s Lynchpin, where he talks about the new world of work. He defines the lynchpin mentality as, working toward being “indispensable,” someone who makes a difference, leads and connects others. Treating your customers with this kind of attitude and mindset will set you up for long term customer relationships and success. Invest in training your employees to ‘always be retaining’ and it will pay off big!
As I look back on my long career path, sales and customer service underlie all of the parts, cycles and phases. Business is sales. Without sales there is no business. I am not sure why this fundamental idea is not taken more seriously, by businesses and professionals today. They still view sales as a dreaded activity they have to do. Well, you absolutely are in sales.
There is a NEW FACE AND LANGUAGE for sales today. It is based on the six fundamentals we presented plus the qualities that make you ‘indispensable,’ someone your customers can’t envision living or being without. That is a coveted position to work yourself into.
So the six step sales process finding a prospect, qualifying that prospect, analyzing their needs and matching them with your assets, negotiation, closing and retention remains the same...adding that intangible quality of being indispensable is what sets you apart.
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We are all “salespeople.” Front desk to back stage, anyone in the chain between the customer, sales person, sales team IS IN sales. When that experience is unified for the customer through the chain and they have a consistent memorable experience, then and only then can you retain them and foster them becoming you biggest cheerleaders!
Here are 5 tips for creating consistent and memorable customer experiences.
Train your entire staff to “always be retaining” by being:
1. Polite: Speak and act respectfully no matter what.
2. Knowledgeable: Know your company, product, service, market and competition.
3. Sense of Humor: Nothing bonds people more than an appropriate sense of humor.
4. Personal: Own your time with people on the phone or in person. Focus on them.
5. Out-Servicing Your Competition: Know what they are not doing and do it.
There are so many social tools today that make communicating, rewarding and surveying your customers at the same time easy. Use them and leverage them to engage, connect and serve.
Customers are hungry for real people to simply answer the phone and say, “Welcome to Train with Shane, this is Deborah, how may I serve you?” Yes, it costs more, but, trust me it costs way more when customers flee and go somewhere else!
How do you retain customers?
Did you enjoy this article? You can read more articles by this expert here. Also, check out all of our free webinars!CAREEREALISM Expert, Deborah Shane delivers business education and professional skill development specializing in women in business, those in career transition, sales and personal and social brand strategy and integration. Follow her on Twitter and LinkedIn.The photo for this article is provided by Shutterstock.
Bigstock
Is your job search turning into a grind with no end in sight? It may be time to take a step back and reevaluate your entire approach.
In cold weather climates, the beginning of spring is a time to clean the house and get organized—a practice known as spring cleaning. Through the years, spring cleaning has taken on a larger meaning with people using the time to organize and declutter things in their lives.
For professionals on the job hunt, a little spring cleaning (metaphorically speaking) could be a great way to reinvigorate your job search. Here are a few strategies your job search spring cleaning should include.
Reevaluate Your Job Search Approach
BigstockMake a list of the last handful of jobs you applied for and see if you can identify any positive or negative trends. Consider things like:
- How did I learn about this job?
- How did I apply for the job?
- Did I earn an interview?
- What was the ultimate result?
A lot can be learned about your job search approach just by answering these questions and identifying patterns. For example:
Negative Trends
You discovered five jobs through job boards, applied to all of them via the job boards, and never heard back from any of them.
The common pattern here is applying through job boards. This isn't to say that job boards don't serve a purpose in the job search process, but they have their limitations, and you can't run your job search entirely off of them. When you apply through a job board, there's a good chance that your materials will never get past the applicant tracking system (ATS) and never be seen by an actual person.
One simple fix is to research who the hiring manager or recruiter is that posted the position and email your materials to them directly.
The more efficient fix would be to take a proactive approach by putting together a bucket list of companies that you want to work for and start making connections on LinkedIn with people who work at those companies. You may already know some people who work there or have connections that can refer you to some individuals.
This is a great way to network your way onto a company's radar.
Positive Trends
You applied to three jobs via referral, were invited to two job interviews, and made it through multiple rounds of interviews for one of the jobs before being passed over for someone with a little more experience.
The pattern here is that getting referred to a job by a professional acquaintance is a great way to land a job interview. This indicates that you're leveraging your network well and you should continue to focus on your networking efforts.
The next step is to review the interview process and determine what went well and what needs to be improved. Sometimes the interviewer will provide feedback, and that feedback can be valuable. However, not everyone is comfortable with giving feedback.
Chances are you probably have a good idea about areas of improvement and the skills you need to gain. Put together a plan for addressing those shortfalls.
The good news in making it deep into any interview process is that it indicates that the company likes you as a potential employee (even if the timing just wasn't right) and the experience could be a roadmap to a job with that company at a later date, or another similar opportunity elsewhere.
Give Your Resume & Cover Letter Some Much-Needed Attention
BigstockAre you continuously sending similar resumes and cover letters to each job opening with only minor adjustments? If so, your strategy needs some serious spring cleaning.
Let's start with resumes!
Every resume should be tailored to the position in order for it to stand out to recruiters and hiring managers. It may seem like a lot of work, but it's actually less work than submitting the same resume over and over again and never hearing back.
The reason why it's so important to tailor your resume is that throughout your career, you acquire numerous skills, but the job you're applying for may only be focusing on 6-8 of those skills. In that case, those skills must rise to the top of the resume with quantifiable examples of how you successfully used those skills at previous jobs.
Remember, recruiters go through hundreds of resumes. They need to be able to tell from a quick glance whether or not you're a potential candidate for the position.
While updating your resume, you could also spruce up your LinkedIn profile by highlighting the skill sets that you want to be noticed for by recruiters.
As for writing a good cover letter, the key to success is writing a disruptive cover letter. When you write a disruptive cover letter, you're basically telling a story. The story should focus on how you connect with the particular company and job position. The story could also focus on your personal journey, and how you got to where you currently are in your career.
If your resumes and cover letters aren't unique, now is the time to clean things up and get on track.
Build Your Personal Brand
Just because you're looking for work doesn't mean that you don't have anything to offer. Use previous career experiences and passions to build your personal brand.
Ask yourself, "How do I want other professionals to view me?"
Pick an area of expertise and start sharing your knowledge and experience with your professional network by pushing out content on your LinkedIn and social media accounts. Good content can include blogs, social media posts, and videos.
By sharing content about your experiences and passions, you slowly build your personal brand, and others will start to notice. The content could lead to good discussions with others in your network. It could also lead to reconnecting with connections that you haven't spoken to in years, or making new connections.
You never know when one of these connections could turn into a job lead or referral. The trick is to get on people's radars. So, when you're cleaning up your job search, be sure to build a plan for personal branding.
Maintain Healthy Habits During Your Job Search
BigstockYour job search is important, but it's even more important to know when to pull back and focus on personal health and spending time with family and friends.
There are actually things that you can do for your own enjoyment that could help your job search in the long run, such as:
- Grab coffee with a friend - It's good to engage in light conversation with friends during challenging times. And if your job search does come up, remember that most people have been through it themselves and you never know when a friend may provide you with a good idea or lead on a job.
- Volunteer - Volunteering is a great way to get involved in the community and help others. In addition, if you develop a little bit of a career gap while looking for a job, you can always talk about how you filled that time volunteering, if you're asked about it during a job interview.
- Continue to focus on other passions - Are you a fitness nut? Blogger? Crafter? Continue to do the things that bring you happiness. And if you're in a position to profit from your passion through a freelance job or side hustle, even better!
Spring is the perfect time to clean up and improve your job search so you can land the job you want. If you're struggling to find a job, follow the tips above to reinvigorate your job search—and watch your career blossom!
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This article was originally published at an earlier date.
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