People Strategies: After-sale evaluation key to repeat business, referrals

Linda Bower is a speaker, executive coach and human performance improvement consultant in Rogersville.

Supporting, the final stage of the Counselor Salesperson process begins after the buying decision is made. It is here that many customers can assess a salesperson's true credibility and intent.

Enter this stage with the attitude of a leader. It is up to you to recognize how a customer is feeling about their buying decision and the implementation. You need to determine how to guide the customer forward. Above all, anticipate and circumvent customer apprehension and implementation problems to the best of your ability.

It may not be obvious immediately, but you will know you have succeeded throughout the sales process if one of two things happen: You get additional business from your customer, or you get a referral to another company, department or person.

The following four areas require salesperson attention during the supporting stage. Consider including these activities in your daily customer contact priorities.

Support the buying decision

To do this, reduce buyer anxiety, make follow-up calls, ask for feedback and provide value-added service.

Manage the implementation

To do this, keep in touch to minimize post-sale anxiety, assist with the approval process, introduce support resources, monitor and report progress, and determine when and how to stay in touch after implementation.

Deal with dissatisfaction

To do this, empathize with the customer's feelings, respond to problems, continue to anticipate concerns and expectations, and reinforce the benefits.

Enhance the relationship

To do this, be available. Arrange for continued personal communication; facilitate open, candid, organizational communication; maintain the quality of the products/service provided; provide ongoing updates and progress reports; become a resource for information, help, ideas and problem-solving; and establish interdependent networks between your organization and your customer's company.

In situations where there is customer dissatisfaction I've watched the adage, "The customer is always right," beat salespeople and companies into the ground. Customers are not always right, but they do always have the right to be heard and their perceptions understood.

Responding to concerns is a skill not to be taken lightly. It can level the playing field by giving both sides a voice. Here's an introduction to how it works.

Listen: If you sense any kind of tension, ask an open-ended question to invite the customer to share his or her perception. Ask follow-up questions to gain more clarity. Otherwise, be quiet for as long as it takes to hear the whole story.

Share: After all this time spent establishing trust, don't start lying now. If you agree with the customer's perceptions, say so, even if it means admitting to a failure by you or your company. If you think the customer's perceptions of the situation are incorrect due to inaccurate or missing information, say so.

Clarify: Now pull both of your perceptions together into a logical conclusion about whatever has been causing the tension.

Problem solve: If you are jumping to problem-solving before steps 1-3, then you are putting your customer relationship at risk. No matter how solid the relationship, you must earn the right to get here. Once here, suggest some options for resolving the situation and invite your customer to suggest options. Don't rush to conclusions.

Action plan: Formally agree on actions, deadlines and what to do differently. Be sure to write a confirmation letter summarizing the issues and your agreements for going forward.

It sounds easy to do, but it isn't. Try using this tool with your friends, family and colleagues to get ready for live customer situations. You won't regret the practice.

Remember, customer tension and expectations usually increase after buying and during implementation, they don't decrease. Customers who still trust a salesperson after implementation consider the relationship unique. If they trust you, they will share you as if they were giving a gift.