- Handling Phone Calls from the customers perspective:
- Don’t interrupt – you may think you know what I want but let me tell you, your wrong more then ½ the time!
- Don’t use your industry slang when talking to a customer. They have no idea what a “HJHDS” is and they don’t care!
- Remember they are your paycheck!
- How to retain your customers: CART
A portion of this article was written by Carl Woodard, SCORE Orange County Vice Chairman
- First, look at your profitable customers and do all you can to keep them. It is far easier, and less costly, to keep a customer than to find a new one.
- Cultivate them. Do your good customers buy all that they can from you? How can you sell them more? Do you offer another product or service that they currently buy from a competitor? Convert them. They already know that you are reliable.
- Ask for references. Ask them to recommend your company to others. Good customers usually know other businesses that you would like to have. Actively pursue them, especially if they will be profitable.
- Return the favor. Can your company buy more of what your customer offers?
- Thank them. Write a personal note telling them how important they are to you. Wish them continued success, especially in hard times, and ask how you can make their business better.
