Why having Great Customer Service is Vital to Sales Success

The tale of Good and Bad customer service

Why Customer Service is so Vital to the Success,
or Failure of any Business.

Today the chance of having a good experience that you can actually say you remember is rare when it comes to customer service. When you go to any store,or anywhere else to purchase something from a pack of gum, to a vehicle. You, the customer are treated with the usual amount of respect. With a side of complacency .How often do you have an encounter that you remember for days and even weeks? If it’s really bad you will, because you will tell the story to as many people as possible. If it’s really good, speaking for myself, I will also tell as many people as possible.So why is a sales trainer speaking on customer service? It’s the backbone of any business, the tail of the fish, the trunk of the tree. Without good, or better “great” customer service your business will not gain,or retain clients.The demise of any business is just a few rude comments away. I recently went into a Verizon store for cellphone issues. I was greeted at the door as it was opened for me and the gentleman asked my name immediately. Then the gentleman extended his hand in a professional handshake, made eye contact, and gave me a big smile and said,” Hi ,I’m Eric, thanks for coming in Nan”,” I will send someone right over to help you.”I then watched Eric take about twenty steps. Turn around and come to me again stating, “Hi Nan, I’m Eric and I will be helping you today, let’s step over here and you can tell me what’s been bothering you about your phone”. Yes I know that sounds funny, but it was also somewhat endearing.I told him, he professionally diagnosed and fixed the problem, then he asked, Can I help you Nan in any other way today? I said no, I’m good. He then gave me that eye contact and enormous smile shook my hand again,and said thanks for coming in today. He walked me to the door, opened it with another gentleman and my husband and I were gently ushered through the doorway. Wow! Yes I remember this encounter. Whatever genius invested in this training will do wonders for Verizon. Now let me give you the bad news.

Customer service story number two:

I often use the service 411 to look up numbers while driving on long trips. It is convenient for me , and allows me to do business without having to pull over( I use sync technology, hands free) to look up phone numbers. This time I spoke with a gentleman who started the conversation the usual way. “What City and State please”? For which I responded in my most clear voice, Saginaw,Michigan. He then responded , what listing? I stated the persons name which he got completely wrong. I then spelled each letter out for the name as”S” as in Sam “T” as in Tom, you get the picture. The 411 operator then stated” “we would not have this problem “Ma’m” if you would just speak clearly” quote unquote . What he did not realize is the nerve damage in my lower lip area from recent surgery,which by the way is not noticable ,unless I am using the phone. What if I had a stroke? Shame on me for being such a burden for him.This is an example of rotten, rude customer service which will not soon be forgotten. The Good news, I will recover from the surgery. I am not so sure I can say the same for 411 customer service.