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CREATING
VALUE FOR CUSTOMERS
In
order to represent your organization effectively, you must
create value for the clients.
You must continually go the extra mile and support the
clients who consume your products and services.
It doesn’t matter whether you are selling in the retail
environment or selling to the wholesale environment, or, for
that matter, commercial, industrial, aerospace, or computer
products. The
superior sales person will always create value for their
clients. How do you
do that?
One
way is to provide support to the client long after the sale has
been made. Become
part of the customer’s team, assisting them to develop
effective solutions, whether they include products and/or services
sold by you or not. In
dealing in an increasingly competitive environment, this creates
personal credibility for you and it provides significant value to
your customers.
You
have to be able to help your customers with their changing
environment, be a resource to them not always a sales
representative. You have to be a troubleshooter when they run into a problem,
be included as part of the team, and help them find solutions so
they recognize your valuable input.
You
have to become aware of the customer’s dynamics and the
challenges they face on an everyday basis.
Whether you are selling a product or a service, customer
service is the responsibility of the sales representative.
While you can ask for help from the service group or from
the support group, you cannot pass on the responsibility to make
sure that your customer is satisfied with the products and
services your organization is providing. You cannot pass the buck. You must assume the responsibility
and help the customer in using your products and services.
This creates value in a customer’s organization.
Will they consider buying more services or more products
from you? The only
way this will occur is if you take the time to build a
relationship, and this relationship creates value for the
customer.
Make
sure the customer understands the limitations of your products
and services. Don’t
oversell your capability. If
you do, you are not going to be providing value to the customer.
Sometimes creating value for the customer means saying
no. Other times it
means finding the right answer for the customer (even if it
doesn’t include what you are selling).
Rather than just throwing out an answer, take the
time to make sure that you provide the right information.
Just as your customer seeks employees who can make the
organization successful, they also seek vendors that will
provide the same level of performance.
You
have to continually work to create the right environment for the
use of your products and services.
This means being connected, being a problem-solver, being
consultive, being a resource -- not just being a sales person.
Extend yourself, make yourself available to the
organization, be part of the team.
- Paul
Thomas
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