Sales team make a sale and then fob the client off onto other departments with no regards for what happens next. How to make them see the importance of looking after the client from start to finish?
This is so common and it’s a major reason why the word ‘salesman’ can have a bad name. It’s those minority that ruin it for the sales professionals.
It’s been statistically proven that you are four times more likely to sell another product or service to a happy customer than to a new prospective customer. That should be a good enough reason to look after your customer from start to forever; if this is done correctly, you should never need to have to cold call again.
Now sales people will argue that they only have one offering for their customers and therefore there is no chance of repeat business.
It’s been said that everybody knows 1,000 people. When I first heard that at a business conference, I remember thinking to myself that’s rubbish, I’ve got 5 mates! However, in hindsight, I have 7950 LinkedIn connections, 350 clients and 5 mates; so I exceed the 1,000.
So, if you look after your customer from start to forever, then when you ask them for a referral to 1 of the 1,000 people they know, it’s likely they’ll know someone that you can help.
I hate the word closing. You’re taught in sales A, B, C – Always, Be, Closing. This implies asking for the business. Don’t get me wrong, I’m all for asking for the business, in fact I insist upon it, however I feel the word closing implies that’s the end point. I think it should be called ‘opening’; we open a client and that’s when it becomes the start of our real business relationship.
They say the first 10 seconds of speaking to a prospective customer is the most important. I understand this to a degree, as you need to engage the prospect, create a need and build rapport. However, once they become a customer, the last 10 seconds is what they’ll always remember, not the first!
