Valhalla Business Solutions - Business Management Consultants

Sales Management Consulting Specializing In... Sales and service Systems, Managing younger generations, Management protocols Coaching effectiveness

Tuesday, June 9, 2009

Do What's Right For A Customer?

Genuinely know your client
Be a solutions based business
Follow up to ensure the solutions are correct

I am baffled at how often I walk into a customer situation to see a company not providing the right solutions for them. There are ways to ensure you do whats right, but are often skipped by company managers, sales people and execs. Below are some solutions to help you do what is right for your customer. Keep in mind a good organization at its root genuinely care about their customer and doing the right thing every time. If this standard is not at the forefront of your business philosophy, then make it and communicate it to your teams every day.

Genuinely know your client! Get to know what is important to the person or persons you will be working with. Ask simple questions like; What got you started in this field?, What do you like most about working here?, Tell me about your family? If the setting isn't appropriate for those questions, do some research about the company first and ask about a related news story an their opinion on it.

Be a Solutions Based Business! Set the standard with your organization to only make recommendations which makes sense for your customer. To do this appropriately you must profile! For techniques on profiling visit www.valhallabizsolutions.com/blog.html. Once you have a good understanding of what your customer needs, you have a moral obligation to match those needs. This creates loyalty and in turn more cross sell opportunities.

Follow Up! Sounds simple, but always make sure you follow up after any solution is given. If its installing signs, to a large consulting project, inquire about the results and ask if their is anything else they need from you.

Labels: banking, calendar management, Coaching Teams, development, economic crisis, economy, effective manager, internal customers, printing, profiling, Restaurant Management, Small Business CEO

posted by Valhalla Business Solutions at 7:47 AM 0 comments

Saturday, February 28, 2009

Profiling Your Customer

Understand Your Customer

Analyze your products and services
Work backwards assessing needs for your products and services
Develop an open ended questioning system

The first step is to categorize and write down all of your products and services. In this case lets use a cleaning services company.

Products

Environmentally safe cleaning aids
Carpet cleaner
Super Vac

Services

Commercial cleaning
Emergency event cleaning and set up
Cooking prep and clean up

2nd step take each product and assess the potential needs for each product and service

Carpet cleaner needs

Unexpected stain
Large party
Allergy issues
Pets in home

Cooking prep and clean up

Large wedding
House party
Graduation
Christmas party

3rd step establish an open ended questioning system uncovering current needs and potential future needs.

Current Needs

What is the reason for your call?
What type of party are you having?
What kind of allergy issues are you having?
How many pets do you have in the home?
What are your thoughts for the wedding?

Future Needs

What do you do when you have an unexpected stain?
What types of hosting events do you have in the next six to twelve months?
What months are your allergies the most intense?
What other life events are you anticipating in the upcoming future?

i.e., pet purchase, new child, Christmas party, etc.

Developing a detailed questioning process will set you up to be very successful at cross selling and scheduling future contact points. Taking this step in your business, not only helps you understand your customer better it creates an easy sales process. Discovering what is important to your customer sets you up to be a solution oriented business. Consumers by solutions, not products.

Labels: economy, knowing your customer, making money, profiling, Sales Coaching, Small Business CEO, teleconsulting

posted by Valhalla Business Solutions at 11:10 AM 0 comments