Top Ten Ways to Stand Out In Sales and From Competition

“It is not the employer who pays the wages. Employers only handle the money. It is the customer who pays the wages.” – Henry Ford

Every time a customer comes into contact with any aspect of your business, they have an opportunity to form an impression about you, your brand and business.

How do you keep your customers engaged and loyal?

David Brooks, the New York Times columnist in his op-ed column dated February 3, 2014 “What Machines Can’t Do”, states that We’re clearly heading into an age of brilliant technology. Computers are already impressively good at guiding driverless cars and beating humans at chess and Jeopardy. As Erik Brynjolfsson and Andrew McAfee of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology point out in their book – The Second Machine Age, “computers are increasingly going to be able to perform important parts of even mostly cognitive jobs, like picking stocks, diagnosing diseases and granting parole…”

He asks “But what human skills will be more valuable?”

We are in an age where there is an overload of access to and availability of information and the attention spans are becoming shorter. Customer engagement has become even more important and thus the necessity to understand the customer’s perspectives and to add value to the buying process.

Is customer loyalty important to your business?

In order to develop relationships with your customers that result in repeat business, referrals and valued relationships, customer care is essential and here are some counter-intuitive insights

1. Know your customer’s different behavioral styles and understand them

Each customer is different and cannot be stereotyped or generalized. Think about it, even you, as a customer many times behave differently in various situations. An element of care is essential to understand the different customer behaviors – Emotional, Intellectual and Behavioral in the various stages of the buying process. Know who you are talking to, what motivates and interests them now and how to approach them.

2. Know your products, programs and solutions

Context is key in the buying process and this is about being prepared by researching the customer’s business, gathering the necessary information, meeting the necessary representatives from the customer’s company. [Tweet “Listening to understand is key in fully understanding what benefits the customer the most. Do the ground-work in advance in terms of what they do, challenges they may face and what they might be thinking.

4. Know your competition’s niche and weaknesses

What are the key benefits for a customer to deal with your company? What are the key strengths of your products and those of your competition? How will you be able to maintain the niche that your firm has created? Have you explored and understood the weaknesses of your competition? How do they stack up against your own company’s limitations?

5. Set specific goals and follow through

Your relationship with a customer is not based on a single deal or transaction. It is a long-standing relationship and one that requires you to set specific goals in the buying process and follow through. Are processes in place to make sure customers are having loyalty building experiences throughout the customer life cycle? Do you facilitate customer feedback and what is the process set up to take action?

6. Ask questions

Understanding the customer needs and adding value to their buying process requires you to ask thought-provoking questions that lead to discussions about the things the customer values most. Asking questions is essential to validate your understanding, and clarify and share ideas in the entire buying process. Understand the customer’s business, objectives and the overall industry and market environment by asking the right questions of the right people at the right times.

7. Deal with resistance and handling objections effectively.

What do you do when the customer’s expectations have not been met or when you face resistance from the customer? Do you have the mindset and the right frame of mind to handle the different types of objections – objective (fact based), subjective (opinion based) and tactics (where the customer may be trying to test your ability to handle objections or counter views)?

8. Understand the value of customer service.

It is estimated that in 40% of the cases where a customer isn’t loyal, it’s because the customer is not treated with care after a sale has been made. In the financial services industry it starts right from the first call or meeting with the customer, account opening, all the way up to supporting the operational and administrative aspects of the various transactions.

9. Maintain a positive mental attitude.

Optimism is key. If your thoughts are negative, your feelings, behavior, words and actions tend to become negative, too. If you don’t show a positive attitude you will not be putting your heart and soul to your relationship with the customer. Do it right and say “yes” to yourself that you can do it and the right behavior will follow naturally.

10. Know yourself

Self-awareness is crucial. How well do you know yourself in terms of being able to handle your customer no matter what the situation may be?  

Every interaction with customers (or lack thereof) tells customers how much they are truly valued. Create and differentiate the unique value that will be most important to your customers and valued by them more than any other alternative.

Republished With permission of Lalita Raman, Executive Coach & Facilitator of Progress-U Ltd. Please refer http://www.progressu.com