It is often said that customers are the backbone of every business. Indeed they are. Without customers, businesses would be out of service. It is therefore important for businesses to pay careful attention to what customers want. Make sure that your customer service is able to deal with their issues in a courteous and friendly manner. The following 5 signs are indicators that your customer service is broken:

Ignoring The Requests Your Customer Makes

Customer service agents need to listen to customers. If the culture within your organization is not to do so, then your customer service is broken. The top management may sometimes also worsen the situation by policies they expect to be implemented.

For instance, when a customer calls for a refund; it is the role of your company to reimburse them if the due process has been followed. This may sometimes be a loyal customer who has purchased a defective product. Ignoring him or her may lead to business loss.

No Interactions Through Mobile

There are times when customers can call businesses and get no responses. Phones may ring and never be answered. Other times the phones might be completely dead.

It is the objective of a business to make processes seamless and smooth. This can only be done through excellent customer service. During this day and age, there is no need for customers to send emails or present themselves physically for minor issues.

Inadequate Training

Customer service evolves with times. Training needs to be done regularly. If this is not done, customer service levels will drop.

All employees of your company need to know how to deal with customers. They should have some knowledge and skills in customer service. Employees who interact with customers need to have listening skills. They should be able to personalize customer experiences. Rudeness should not be entertained in customer service.

Not Understanding Customers

For businesses that are starting, it may take some while for you to familiarize yourself with customers. This learning curve grows as the business grows. You are able to get to know your customers well and their specific needs.

However, for businesses with dead customer service, there is no learning initiated. If it was initiated, then it died off along the way. Whatever customers want is not understood by a business at this point. Companies should be able to learn consistently on how to deal with the specific needs of their clients.

Employees Are Not Empowered

Employees who deal with customers need to be empowered. They need to be able to give customers the help they need. This makes customers see that their needs are handled promptly without long waits.

Having these employees seek approval for employee details need not happen. Once a customer arrives at a customer care desk, he or she should be served without an employee telling him or her to wait for someone else. This puts jeopardy into customer service especially when approvals and the waiting time is long.

Customer service is key to any business. You should ensure that you strive to promote high customer service levels. This will lead to customer satisfaction. When customers are satisfied, they will always return. They may also be with them their referrals thereby growing the business.

Employees who deal with customers need to provide concrete solutions to problems. This will have to involve a lot of listening from them. In turn, a customer can get whatever he or she wanted.

After vigorous training, some employees may still not be good at customer service. Not all people are good at people skills anyway. Such employees need to be placed in other jobs in which they can deliver better. In the long run, this will enable better service delivery.

7 Selling Techniques That Work

Selling is an art. One has to learn how to interact with customers in order for selling to occur. Salespeople need effective strategies that can enable them to be able to convert sales. It is important for businesses to train their staff to be able to learn selling techniques.

Some may say that selling is a talent. Well, it is not. With the proper techniques, one can be able to learn how to go about selling. The following 7 selling techniques can be applied to ensure that effective selling is achieved:

1. Be Proactive

Do not sit and be comfortable. As a salesperson, you need to get out and find prospective customers. The more customers you talk to the more likely you are to make a sale. Always remember it is a game of numbers.

An individual needs to be outgoing for this to work. The energy levels within oneself need to portray confidence. A positive attitude works well when one is selling.

2. Helpful

Appearing as helpful and concerned assists in selling. Offering information to a customer makes him or her pay attention to what you have to offer. Being helpful somewhat camouflages you as a salesperson. This technique is one of the most effective currently.

Being helpful appeals to customers. One needs to come off as genuine in order for it to work. If customers sense that you are untrustworthy, it will not work. This technique can be applied by anyone.

3. Aggressiveness

Salespeople need to be aggressive when in fast-paced environments. In such environments, salespeople have to be go-getters. This selling technique is where one goes straight to the point. You don’t beat around the bush. This technique, however, is not suited for many personalities.

4. Do Not Be Desperate, Make It Scarce

At no point in time does a customer need to feel as though you are desperate. It should not come off as though you really have to sell something. You should be composed throughout your selling. The attitude that you portray should reflect that you are selling something worth a customer’s time.

Scarcity should be used in the place of desperation. Make customers feel that what you selling is the only one left. This plays with their emotions. A little bit of convincing will make customers feel like they should really buy a product or service. The thought of a commodity being scarce will make them get into rash decisions.

5. Customer Led

Selling does not involve talking alone. You also need to hear what your customers are saying. After you listen to them, you need to agree and let them know you are aware of what they want.

This technique needs people who are patient. This is because it may take a long time before reaching an agreement. Several meet-ups may need to happen before a sale occurs. However, the conversion rate is high with this technique.

6. Rapport Focused

Salespeople need to build rapport with customers. Body language is very essential in this technique. Effective application of this technique can increase sales tremendously. It is applicable in almost all industries when making sales.

7. Learn From Mistakes

Mistakes are an important stepping stone. Learn from your mistakes. Find out what you should have done better. Embrace your own successes and learn how you can build on them.

Learn from the mistakes and successes of other salespersons both experienced or not. Consulting experienced sales person on how they would have gone about a sale can provide insights that you need. One on one coaching and observing an experienced salesperson pitch can greatly help you.

Selling is a learning curve. You have to master it day by day. You don’t wake up and be a great salesperson. These techniques can be implemented in order for you to brush up your skills and become better at selling.