Questions and having the confidence, interest and ability to ask them are as essential for the customer service professional as they are for the top salesperson.
I was reminded of this twice in a week. The first occasion was to do with a restaurant and the second with the tough world of door to door selling.
Both occasions demonstrated the power of questions not just to identify the customer's needs but to actively involve them in the communication process. If you do this, you have the opportunity to change their behaviour - positively - and you both benefit
First, the restaurant. I was driving in my car while listening to Melbourne based marketing guru, Winston Marsh, on his Business Marketing audio magazine - 60 minutes of practical ideas and marketing tips each month. I can recommend it. A fantastic way to keep motivated, up to date and use your time in the car effectively.
He recounted the story of a restaurant, which like many service businesses that see people by appointment, such as doctors, dentists and vets, is plagued by people making a reservation then failing to turn up.
This restaurant typically had 31% "no shows" (not unusual in that industry) even though when taking bookings they concluded the call by saying "Please let us know if you change your plans."
Two words were added to this statement to turn it into a question It became "Will you please let us know if you change your plans?" PAUSE. Following this pause the caller typically said "yes, sure"....and they did!
"No shows" dropped to 9%. Why? Because the customer made a commitment. Aren't human beings fascinating creatures?
The next situation I'm sure you will relate to.
My colleague, Jan Collins, was frantically preparing dinner after a busy day. She was interrupted by a knock on the door. With a sigh she stopped what she was doing, went over and opened the door to be confronted with two unusual looking door to door salesmen. One very tall and the other rather small.
Jan's immediate impression was that 'The Tall' looked like a sleazy salesperson. He lived up to this first impression by launching into a fast paced spiel about free restaurant meals. Jan said she wasn't interested.
As she was about to close the door 'The Small' said, "Could I just ask, have you eaten at La Restaurante?" (For obvious reasons I've changed the name).
"Yes", said Jan hesitating.
"Did you enjoy it?", asked The Small.
"Yes", Jan replied.
"Would you like to do it for free?", asked The Small.
"Yes", said Jan, realising what was happening but powerless to do anything about it. As she explained to me later, "It would have been really dumb to say 'no'!"
"For just $30, each time you eat there you get one main course free", said The Small. "It's valid for 6 months, which means eat there twice and you are ahead. Is that good value?"
"Yes", said Jan as she parted with $30.
Initially Jan had no intention of purchasing anything. Yet, within two minutes she had agreed to part with some of her hard earned money. Why? Because 'The Small' knew what questions to ask. 'The Tall' would have lost the sale because he talked too much, didn't qualify the customer and didn't demonstrate any interest in her.
Whether your people are in a customer service or a sales role, they need to know how to ask questions, what questions to ask and above all they must be interested in the answers. As these stories demonstrate, it's a powerful process that can generate amazing results.
About the author: Jurek Leon is a speaker, trainer and consultant who presents seminars on marketing, motivation, selling and customer service. You can contact Jurek by phone on +61 8 9312 1075, fax +61 8 9312 1076 or email:info@terrifictrading.com, web page: www.terrifictrading.com