Hi all, thanks for joining us again. I know today’s topic is not new, but desperately needed to be talked about as more and more companies focus on the bottom line and making shareholders happy, no matter the costs. There are a million books, blogs, and podcasts about this topic with a million different views. Customer service is an essential part of any business. It puts the customers at the heart of the business and prioritizes relationships.
Businesses that put relationships first earn people’s trust. This includes employee relationships, customer relationships, vendor relationships, etc.
(Hint: that is one of the most effective ways to do business)
You might think that every business focuses on its customers.
Yet, that’s not what happens in reality. Intentions do not always mean reality and/or perception.
Some businesses are product-based or service-based, and others are profit-based. They either focus on selling their products/services or focus on making money in any way possible.
Both are missing what as their base? Customer satisfaction.
You can choose to approach customer service in
– the traditional way(sales-based)
or
– the effective way(people-based)
In these few moments of having your attention, we’ll talk about the difference between “salesy” customer service and people-based customer service. We’ll also explain how people-based customer service can take your business to the next level.
“Salesy” customer service vs. people-based customer service
“Salesy” customer service can generate profits and sometimes leave customers satisfied. But you know what method does a whole lot more than that? People-based customer service
People-based customer service focuses on creating raving fans. The type of fans that will come back again and again. Price is not always the major reason why customers stay loyal, nor the company’s philosophy of “the customer is always right”, but the feeling that at the core they feel valued. The type of fans that’ll bring other clients that will become raving fans too. And so on.
In short,
Sales-based methods forget the customer’s needs and limits referral business.
People-based methods focus on customers’ needs and wants and align them to the sale
Each one has a different purpose and target. In customer service, it’s pure customer satisfaction, not with the sales target.
People-based customer service is more effective; how’s that?
The sales approach to customer service differs from a customer-centric approach. The “salesy” approach focuses on getting deals (in most cases, risking the relationship with customers). But a customer-centric approach focuses more on the customer’s needs, pain, and satisfaction. It results in a long-lasting relationship with them. A common word for loyal clients that I would interview about why they kept returning was “care”…they genuinely felt the company cared for them.
Sales focus on earning revenue. And it isn’t the best approach to ensure business referrals and brand credibility. If you haven’t heard this already, but there’s another method that will increase revenue, employee morale, customer retention, and higher customer count…
This method? People-based customer-service
Again, there are a couple of reasons why this works:
- Creates loyal customers
- Strengthen your brand
- Creates brand credibility
- Expand your stakeholders (customers, potential partners)
All these happen when you change how you interact with your customers. Do you know what it also does? Generates indirect profits.
Let’s wrap this up:
Now that you know the difference, what are you going to do about it?
Do you want to take your business to the next level and stand out in this competitive business world?
Feeling clueless on how to start executing this approach in your company? Contact us for a customized plan on how to change your organization’s focus from sales and numbers based to a people-based focus. We can help anywhere in this process…from Idea-floating to Focalised Execution.
Post submitted by Aymen Jammali