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Attitude:
How
do your customers perceive you?
by Art Sobczak |
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I
normally write about more proactive-type
sales
tips, but a few experiences
have
been building up, and finally set me off
on a different topic:
Actually
acting and sounding like you ENJOY what
you're doing.
Sure,
every seminar you attend or book you read
about
using the phone in the sales process
professes
the most simplistic idea in the world:
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Smile
when you're on the phone. It's not a bad
idea
off the phone, too.
But,
if that is so obvious and trite, why then,
do so many people look and sound like they've
been sucking on a lemon rind?
Here
are just some of the things that have
been building up with me, and finally pushed me
over the edge on this. Some of these were face-
to-face scenarios, but the principles still apply.
At
a Wendy's drive-through the surly
attendant
growled
at me through the speaker, "Drive to the
window
to get your food." There, she didn't make
eye contact, stuck her hand out and mumbled the
amount I owed. Still not looking at me, handed
back the change, shoved the food at me and said...
nothing.
No
"thank you," "have a nice day," ... nothing!
The
likeable Dave Thomas would have been
embarrassed.
I had to think twice about eating
the
burger.
At
an Old Navy store during Christmas rush,
the checkout lines snaked back in the aisles.
I
watched the girl running the register in
my
line. She looked like she'd rather be
getting a double root canal. I had one item
that didn't have a price tag, so to save time
and help out the checker I took up another
identical item in a different size that had a
tag and barcode. I placed the two items on the
counter and explained. She barked back, "I
don't need THAT one."
Just
this morning, two incidents by phone:
I
called
Marriott reservations to make a
last-minute booking. The rep's greeting
sounded robotic, like a synthesized directory-
assistance electronic voice. She went through
her motions in a monologue. All I could
visualize was this person staring at her
computer screen in a zombie-like trance,
typing in data and reading the fields. It
couldn't have occurred to her that she was
actually talking to a human.
I
also
called National Rental Car
after the Marriott call. Any positive
energy I had left was totally sucked away
by this rep. She mumbled and sounded
as
if I had awakened her. And my feeling
was
that she was a bit put off that I
interrupted her to give me my reservation.
I'm
sure there are hundreds of thousands
of
instances like these every day--which
is
very sad. It's almost like people don't
even
EXPECT sales and service people to
be
courteous, helpful, and oh-my-gosh,
actually enthusiastic and happy that you
called.
Have
we reached the point when
we're SURPRISED when we're treated well?
(I
do want to compliment a reservations
agent
at the Ritz-Carlton in Naples, Florida.
Absolutely
knock-me-over outstanding treatment
by
phone. My fault for not getting her name.)
It's
interesting how people
react when puppies run up
to them. Why wouldn't
they react the same way with people? |
So,
what to do?
Gosh,
how simplistic can I get here? We all know
what
to do, it's a matter of WANTING to do it.
How
about this: Do an "attitude check" before
every call you place, and ESPECIALLY the ones
you
receive, which are interrupting some
other
activity. Ask yourself,
"Am
I ready to make this person feel special?" |
Keep
in mind that your attitude is contagious.
As
long as you are performing an activity anyway,
why
not do it with enthusiasm?
You'll
feel better, and so will the people
who hear you.
Art
Sobczak works with business-to-business sales professionals, helping
them get more business by phone. Art provides real world, how-to ideas and
techniques that help salespeople use the phone more effectively to prospect,
sell, and service, without morale-killing “rejection.” His books are
packed with how-to tips and common sense telephone techniques.
www.businessbyphone.com
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