Among the many hats I wear at my firm, I am head of sales and Chief Rainmaker. That doesn’t mean that I enjoy sales though.
For many – myself included – that word “sales” has such a negative connotation to it. That’s one of the reasons I affectionately refer to myself as Chief Architect instead of Chief Rainmaker. What I’m passionate about is solving people’s problems by designing effective solutions. When I think about it that way, it doesn’t feel like sales at all. It simply feels like delivering value-added service.
The reality, though, is that I’m in the customer service business. Whether you’re an external professional service provider or internal business leader, I would offer you’re in the customer service business too. If you think about it, even my wife and children are customers I serve on a daily basis, and I definitely want them to always be happy with what I deliver! Towards that end, I invite you to consider the following three power play questions sure to improve any customer relationship.
1. How are you doing?
This is an easy ice breaker to open any conversation, especially when you may be nervous or otherwise reluctant about your customer interaction. It lets the other person know you care about him/her and creates a non-threatening environment, gently disarming him/her, as you gradually get into the heart of your conversation.
2. How am I doing?/How are we doing?
Maintaining focus on the other person rather than talking about yourself can be very effective with your current customers. This further demonstrates how important they are to you and keeps you from talking too much about yourself and what you think you can do for them. It’s amazing how many of us forget this simple strategy for maintaining – and extending – our existing customer relations.
3. What else can I/we do to support you better?
Some sales people position themselves and the potential for any additional/ongoing support from a place of being “perfect”, simply wanting to offer more from there. This bit of humility – implicitly suggesting you may not be perfect! – can further ingratiate you with your customers by asking what else you can do to better support them. It puts them in the driver’s seat and allows then to guide your way.
Give it a shot. Even your most critical customers may walk away saying, “Thank you!” asking you for more. And if you have any sales people or other business leaders who need to enhance their internal or external customer relations, we invite you to visit the Executive Coaching page of our website for more information on our coaching programs.
