Think Big, Live Large by Andrew Darbyshire

Author:Andrew Darbyshire
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Biography & Autobiography/Personal Memoirs
ISBN: Think Big| Live Large
Publisher: Exisle Publishing
Published: 2009-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

Delighted Customers

We live in a customer-service-driven economy; look after your customers or someone else will!

I maintain there are two important things a business owner or manager has to continually do. First, ask questions of their team. People won’t always tell you what is important because it may not seem important to them. But it may be critical to you and your clients. Generalised questions won’t turn up the same issues that very specific ones will.

Hotel guest to clerk at reception: “Does your dog bite?”

Clerk: “No.”

Guest to dog: “Nice doggy.” [dog bites guest] Guest to clerk: “a-aaaah.... I thought you said it didn’t bite.”

Clerk: “That is not my dog.”

If I am following up on a customer issue and I ask, “Are they happy?” I may be told “Yes”. If however I were to ask if a specific issue has been resolved, I may get a long winded answer that reveals the issue isn’t resolved; so how can the customer be truly happy? Secondly, always be on the lookout for ways to simplify your business. Asking questions of your staff will disclose where complexities are creeping into your business – because complexities only introduce room for error!

When you put your customers first, this means more than just turning up on time with the goods. You have to listen to them, hear them out, ask questions, confirm their objectives, and only then should you attempt to deal with their issues. This is true whether you are selling something, negotiating an outcome of any kind, and in particular when you are dealing with a customer complaint or crisis.

People like to know they are listened to and understood. They must be given the chance to explain the situation fully, to their satisfaction. Only then should you deal with the situation to the best of your ability. If a problem is unresolved then apologise and do what you can to make it right. Often talking about the situation is enough for the person to either exhaust it or identify how they can deal with it themselves.

Prescribing a cure without proper diagnosis is malpractice.

Sometimes it is necessary to dig deeper than the surface. Nuggets of wisdom and opportunity can arise from a deep-seated level of satisfaction-or lack of it. It may take some extra attention to uncover and resolve underlying issues, but don’t be afraid to ask the tough questions.

An excellent way to grow your business is from referrals from current clients. The best way to go about that is to call them and ask a series of questions.

The following is a good template to use for this exercise;

“Do you have a moment to speak? I’ll be brief.”

[customer responds]

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