Customer Relationships Begin AFTER the Sale
Reading some more in the book What the Customer Wants You to Know and came to the chapter about communicating with your customer.
Author Ram Charan says:
The final step to ensure long lasting and profitable customer relationships is to incorporate post-sale servicing into the overall process. The sale does not end when the contract is signed. It is the customer’s experience – and, in many cases, the experience of the customer’s customer – that develops the long-term relationship. Only if the customer is satisfied that he has received all that was promised, and that the solution does indeed address his financial concerns, have you succeeded. And that success is not an end unto itself, but rather just another step in a long journey of working with your customer to continue to solve problems and develop new approaches to doing business together.”
I was talking with my friend yesterday who shared a story about a company he knows that has incorporated into their selling process the sale of an on-going service package. Unlike most companies who focus on the initial sale, this company starts the sale by explaining the value of an on-going relationship. They use this as an opportunity to say in touch and make sure that the customer’s ever changing needs are met.
Establishing a need for an on-going relationship gives you the chance to continually meet/exceed expectations and keeps you in the forefront of the customer’s mind. In the case of the customer relationship – absence DOES NOT make the heart grow fonder.
I’m reminded of a mortgage specialist who told me she can quote right down to the person’s name the number of mortgages she has closed that went into foreclosure. How can she do this? After the contract is signed, she keeps up the relationship; calling to see how things are going, sending little notes and emails to keep in touch. On the front end, she works very hard to ensure that the right people connect with the right mortgage product so they don’t go into foreclosure. In an age of unpaid mortgages due to loss of income or buying too much house for their budget – she starts off by being open and honest and continues the relationship long after the boxes have been unpacked.
Selling is a finite task.
Building relationships that last long after money has changed hands, leads to life long opportunities to serve the customer’s needs and referrals that grow your business.
Do you have a process in place that encourages continued communication after the sale is complete?
