Customer Relations Service Skills | FOLLOW UP
The end of the transaction is not the end of the relationship. Follow up with customers.
Too often customers buy something and that is it. They disappear, never to be seen again. Nothing has happened except for an exchange of money for a chosen purchase. End of story. End of any opportunity to follow through and build relationships, let alone generate sales. One estimate is that an additional 20 percent revenue can be generated through effective follow-up.
While most companies obviously want to increase their sales, the purpose of the follow-up is not to force a second purchase from a customer. It is to develop the relationship by determining whether or not the customer is happy with the item recently purchased, whether any problems have been encountered, and generally to obtain feedback from each customer about their experience of using the product.
Here are some little things you can do to follow up:
✔ For all big-ticket purchases, call the customer after a week and then again after three months.
✔ For small-ticket purchases call a random selection of customers the day after the transaction.
✔ Use at least half an hour of off-peak time each day to follow up with customers.
✔ Devote the occasional evening to following up with customers who are not available during the day.
✔ Send a follow-up note, card, letter, or email immediately after a purchase.
✔ Working with the team, call up your colleagues’ customers on their behalf and vice versa (it is important that a customer relates to more than one person).
✔ Invite the customer to an event that your company is holding.
One major international telecommunications company encourages its board directors to phone at least three customers every day. The customer services department provides them with a list of all customers who have called the previous day and each director randomly selects at least three customers for follow-up calls on how the initial call was handled.
The follow-up need not necessarily wait until the customer has disappeared. It can be as simple as a waitress asking with genuine interest: “How did you find your bowl of laksa? Was it too spicy for your liking?”
Here are some further examples:
“Good afternoon, Mrs. Alan, this is Jake from the insurance company. One of my colleagues, Debbie, recently settled your claim for damage caused by a burst water pipe. I’d be keen to receive your feedback about how we dealt with the claim.”
“Good morning, Mr. Simpson. I’m Hanif from the computer store and you bought your new laptop last week from me. I just want to know how you are getting along with it and especially the new Bluetooth remote control for your presentations.”
“Mrs. Sandy, this is Megan from the travel agency. You will recall that my colleague Charmaine and I arranged your recent stay at the Heritage Hotel in Mauritius for you. I’m keen to learn how you enjoyed it, as I’ve had quite a few enquiries about that specific vacation recently.”
“Mr. Singh, I hope you don’t mind me sending you this little note, but I would just to like to thank you for your custom yesterday, and your patience when I was urgently called away. I do hope Mrs. Singh likes the watch you bought for her when she returns from New Delhi.”
“Mr. Isaac, forgive this short email but I wanted to let you know it was a great joy to meet you yesterday. I am sure your daughter Annah will be thrilled with the doll you bought for her. She looked such a lovely girl in the photo you showed me.”
By following up you show customers that you and your team are genuinely interested in the purchases they have made and their experiences, and furthermore keen to help with any additional service information, advice, or action required. You also provide reassurance that there is a willing team available to provide support when needed. By reinforcing the relationship in this way you put yourself in the best position to obtain additional sales when the customer is next in need.
EXCELLENCE CUSTOMER TRAINING PRACTICE
Initiate a team campaign to follow up with customers so that each customer has a relationship with more than one member of the team.
EXCELLENCE CUSTOMER TRAINING POINT
The more you follow up with customers the more they will follow you.
