Creating Your Best Competitive Advantage

In a recession economy, where the pool of people spending money is shrinking in size, it is more important than ever to have a competitive advantage in your market.

The consumers making purchases understand that they are extremely valuable. Therefore, their expectations of excellence in customer service actually increase as the economy worsens. One of the most effective ways to distinguish yourself is by the exceptional way you treat your customers.

Given the choice of two companies, with comparable price, quality, and product, the buyer will always choose to do business with the one that demonstrates it values its customers. That’s a competitive advantage.

As you prepare for a new year of business in an uncertain economy, look at the connection, or disconnection, of sales and service functions at your company.

Are sales and service two separate departments? Are there two very different job descriptions for the people who work in these departments? If yes, you may have a business culture that makes superior sales and service impossible to attain.

Sales people need to know how to do more than sell; they need to understand how to provide service to the customers they sell. Service personnel need to understand that sales, both current and future, are only possible if there is satisfaction with the level of service shown.

Every contact with a customer or prospect requires both sales and service skills. Which means that everyone at your business or organization is involved with sales and service. However, many are most likely not trained in these skills.

Here are some tips that can make everyone in your business better skilled in sales and service, and therefore more effective at building your competitive advantage.

Learn how to listen. Listening is the most important skill in dealing with customers. Great sales people listen. When they do, the customer will usually tell them exactly how they want to be sold and what they will buy. Likewise customers will let you know exactly what level and type of service they want.

Many sales are “lost” when the salesperson is so focused on his or her own agenda, that they ignore what the customer is saying, and instead go through their pitch. Instead of selling what the customer wants, they try to sell what they want to sell, and the frustrated customer who was ready to say yes, now has too many decisions to make and says no to all of them.

Smile. It doesn’t matter if you’re having a bad day. There is no excuse for not smiling at your customer. Even when the exchange is by phone, customers can hear you smile. Studies have proven that the simple act of smiling influences people by making them feel better. When a person feels good he or she is much more open and receptive to the interaction that is taking place.

Be on time. If you have an appointment to meet with a customer or prospect, be sure you are there on time. Not early; not late. Just on time. If you are in a business where meeting by appointment is the norm, you will establish a great deal of respect with your customers when they know they can always count on you to be there at the time established. This is especially important in service industry sectors. If you are delayed, always call. With today’s technology there is no excuse for not communicating a delayed arrival.

Respect their time. When meeting with a customer, or waiting on a customer, keep a balance between the conversation that builds rapport and the conversation essential to the purpose of the meeting. Creating a friendly relationship is key to building trust. But rambling on and on about non-essential information, shows a lack of respect for the person’s time. And, it can make it that much more difficult for you to get time with them in the future.

Acknowledge people quickly. When someone enters your place of business, have them acknowledged immediately. Not acknowledging someone is essentially ignoring them and that sends the wrong message. The same is true of contacts by phone. Today’s phone systems do more to destroy customer service and customer satisfaction than to expedite it. If your phone contact for customer service is a prompt or voice system, regularly evaluate it by placing calls yourself and test it with a service need. Track how long it takes to satisfactorily complete the call.

Integrate sales and service functions into your Website with easy-to-find links that let customers and prospects send questions and orders directly to you. Respond and acknowledge the communications immediately. Use email to keep people informed about what you are doing or the status of their purchase.

Provide little extras. Doing something that is unexpected is an effective way to get a competitive advantage by turning customer satisfaction into customer loyalty. This can be a small service done for free, an unexpected gift given as a thank you, a favor that solves a problem, or a simple phone call or email just to see if everything is OK.

Pick up on verbal signals. In a sales or service situation there are certain phrases that are clues that you can now ask for the purchase or confirm that service has been provided to a customer’s satisfaction. When customers ask things like “Is there a delivery charge?” “Do you take checks?” “Is there a warranty?” they are already thinking about buying.

Know how to talk to an irate customer. An angry customer, who has a problem that gets resolved quickly and satisfactorily, can be turned into one of your most loyal customers. How you handle problems is key to maintaining a competitive advantage.

The four steps to problem solving are:

1. Listen without interrupting.
2. Apologize and show empathy by re-stating the problem.
3. Solve the problem. The first step to solving is to simply ask what the customer would like you to do.
4. Thank the customer for their business.

Getting a competitive advantage through better sales and service is a quick and low-cost way to keep your business healthy during a bad economy. Joe Girard, who was honored as the “world’s greatest salesman” for twelve years in a row by the Guinness Book of World Records, said, “People don’t buy a product. They buy me, Joe Girard.”

He’s right. Each contact with a customer, by anyone at your company, is getting that customer to buy that person. People do business with people they like. Whatever business you are in, from restaurants to retail, trade services to professional services, big corporations to small businesses, the competitive advantage is the relationship created by people.

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