| “The customer is the immediate jewel of our souls. Him we flatter, him we feast, compliment, vote for, and will not contradict.” |
| -
Ralph Waldo Emerson |
|
| "Dude" Attitude Does
Not Work |
Does Your Booth Staff … show clients that they are worth their time and their attention? Well it's time to take that stance into overdrive.
There are no "I'm having a bad day attitudes" - at the show or in the office.
The quickest way to lose an opportunity with a potential client is to be impolite or inattentive. Your tradeshow booth is like a stage and the staff is the actors. Everyday is "opening night". Leave all problems outside the convention center door and polish your performance. It's time to WOW the audience.
|
There is nothing else happening that is more important than the relationship between the client and your sales staff at the show. Greeting the customer, making eye contact, listening to their needs and finding a way to satisfy their wants is part of being a good audience that is sensitive to your customers needs.
|
| Stay proactive. No longstanding successful company has remained a success by doing the same thing for the last twenty years, or by simply reacting to client complaints. Listen to clients and discover what kind of special service they want. You can do this by creating a customer satisfaction comment form that you enclose with every sale or simply by asking them at your next meeting. Incredible customer service is service that's responsive to customers' needs.
|
|
|
|
Trade show customer service is no different than your ongoing customer service commitment - the only real distinction is that your entire company is now onstage and under a magnifying glass for the next 48-72 hours. |
|
Why is customer service so important to a successful business? Customers have more options than ever before-and feel less loyalty. They want products and services fast, cheap, quick-from whoever will provide them. That means that the competitive advantage is now in your ability to KEEP customers and build repeat business. And the email mindset makes it even easier for customers to spread out their dissatisfaction. Make Bob in Billings angry and chances are you've got a nasty rumor going around to ten of his colleagues that you're a terrible firm to do business with.
|
Good customer service is no longer enough. It has to be superior, WOW, unexpected service. In a nutshell, it means doing what you say you will, when you say you will, how you say you will, at the price you promised-plus a little extra tossed in to say "I appreciate your business."
|
|
Finding ways to exceed the customers' expectations is the key. Read or listen to testimonials from satisfied customers and 9 times out of 10 they are talking about the service, not the product. "I received the order two weeks before my due-date." "I was so impressed with the return policy."
|
Just put your money, time, and commitment where your mouth is. That's often the difficulty. Everybody believes in good customer service--in theory. The real difference develops when people actually commit to carry out their intentions. Your business would not exist without customers. And if you have customers, you have to have customer service. Everybody talks about the importance of good customer service, but few seem to follow through on it. Good customer service is no longer enough.
|
Thinking for your Customers
Instead of thinking like a customer, try thinking for your customers. Potential customers have less time and are also getting on information overload. Today if you thought like your customers, the chances are you'd be as stressed and confused as they are. In essence you are bringing new ideas and concepts to the table for your clients. In today's hectic world, customers don't have time to think through the intricate details. They want you to do their thinking for them. |
Think about categories based on how customers buy and then manage the categories in ways that helps the customer. Help your clients think creatively - out of the box. Teach them how to expand their horizons and their bottom line with you. Train your sales team members on how customers think and what information is critical. The key is to think for your customers, as they get busier they need you to do more thinking for them!
|
|
