October 1, 2009

Sales - Recovery Addicts

In Chapter Forty of the Serving Customers section of my book, I discuss the four ways you can vary the way customers are treated wth the out come of dazzling them to build loyalty. They are:
1. Hire human being lovers
2. Bend the rules and empower frontliners to ‘say yes’ to customers
3. Kill dumb rules
4. Recover: Fix your blunder and do the unexpected

Sales are in a critical position in the organization to influence the outcome of a customer screw-up yet they are rarely held accountable for it. Service Recovery is not a vital component of Sales’ performance plans and as a result it is not reflected in their compensation plan for bonus pay.

To BE DiFFERENT in Sales, recovery needs to be front and center in what they do. Who is in a better position to initiate action when a customer has been disappointed? When the organization has broken a promise? When the solution provided doesn’t work to specifications? When the solution was not provided when it was promised? Typically, if the salesperson has developed a trusted relationship with a customer they will get the call and will be expected to get things back in order. Yet in too many cases, the salesperson will pass this ‘service complaint’ off to others in the organization whose role is to deal with ‘after sale’ matters.

Sales needs to take the lead in the service recovery process. They are responsible to build meaningful relationships with customers and therefore must include actions taken when things go wrong. The Sales Behavioral Charter defines those behaviors that sales must continually demonstrate - Recovery must be part of it.

Cheers, RoyOsing

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Related Blogs
Recover from Your Blunders
Hire Human Being Lovers
Kill Dumb Rules
Sales as Secret Agents
Discover Customer Secrets
Sell Relationships NOT Products
Brand your Sales Warriors
Lose a Sale But Save the Customer
Sales as Recovery Addicts

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Posted 10.1.09 at 05:39 am by Roy Osing | Read Comments (0) | Leave a Comment