Customer care and developing sales

1. 1
Towards building a Team of
Power
Sales and
Customer Care
Workshop Conducted by
Maxwell J. Ranasinghe

2. 2
Getting Acquainted
•Name
•Company/ Division
•What do you do
•How long in service
•Your objective of participation
Exchange the name tag and introduce each
other to the participants

3. 3
Why we need Training and Development
in Customer Care ?
• Why have we come today to
attend this workshop?
– We know how to handle customers
– We have been working for a long period
– We are good at our work
– We work for a successful firm
• So why training………..

4. 4
Major approaches in
becoming a Professional in
Sales and Customer Care
Sales Training- Knowledge about company
and its products, Methods of different sales
techniques, Customer Compalint handling ,
importance of changing attitudes and working
as a team member to achieve targets could
be provided.

5. 5
Selling and Handling Customer are
a skill
• Knowledge could be obtained before and while you are practicing.
• Without knowledge we will do many mistakes that could have
avoided.
• Without knowledge it will take a long time to master the skills
• Knowledge could be developed by studying what others have done,
sharing experience among your own team, or devoting time on your
own to analyze and synthesis what you have been doing.
• The problem we have is we do not devote time to enhance
knowledge. We just keep on working, working, working,
working………

6. 6
Why you have to enhance your
knowledge
• Your knowledge will increase the self
confidence- your self confidence will increase the
buyers confidence on you- most of the
customers will like to work with a person who
knows his job, products and the firm well.
• Your Knowledge will make you a better
practioner- more practice will expose you to
have more expereince. Then only you become a
master.
• The Master will provide a better service and
increase sales.

7. 7
If you want the climb the ladder
fast
You need to have - KPE
• Knowledge
• Practice
• Experience
• That is the path followed by most of the
well recognized professionals in many
fields. So the profession of marketing,
customer handling are no exceptions.

8. 8
Objectives of the program
• Make you realise how
important the job that you do
• What knowledge and skill
required to become a good
customer ( internal/external)
care person/ marketer
• Show you the path to be a
professional
• Let you know that anyone
could learn to be a professional

9. 9
Handling Customers in Competitive trade is a
tough job than a near monopoly consultant
doctors job
• Doctors job
• Patient pay the bill in
advance
• Patient waits a long time
in the waiting area
• Patient tell everything
about his illness
• Our job
• We may have to give
discounts/ reduce price or
even give credit
• Customers may not wait
for few minutes. He is in
a hurry
• Even we ask why he has
come he may not say
what is in his mind

10. 10
• Doctor can ask any
question and check all
over your body
• If he still cannot
diagnose, he can ask
for further tests
• He writes the prescription
and ask you to leave.
Never say thank you for
coming, but you thank
him.
• We cant exam him in that
manner
• Customer will test us in many
ways
• We have to be very courteous
and thank all the moves of
customer

11. 11
• Many diseases takes its
own course and get off
from the body but the
credit goes to the doctor
• Even if the illness does
not get cured no refund is
paid.
• No doctor provide after
sales service. But you
may have to come again
tell him what happened
• We never get such automatic
credit
• Customers rarely believe what
you say
• We may have to give
compliments too
• If anything goes wrong we
have to repair, replace free of
charge
• We need to do a lot of after
sales services

12. 12
I got to be a professional( Please write
this in big letters and get up and read loudly )
• I have the desire and commitment to be a
professional in marketing
• I am confident that I can become a professional
• I am a student everyday
• I need to learn a lot by doing the job
• I will observe how others sell
• I will attend courses/ seminars/workshops if
necessary
• I will allocate a time everyday to read books,
magazines and other materials on marketing
• I will develop special technical skills needed to
perform my job
• I will change my negative attitudes
• No body can prevent me from becoming a
Professional Marketer

13. 13
Who are customers ?
• Customer is the most important person in
our business
• Customer does not depend on us but we
depend on customer.
• Customer pays our salaries
• Customer is not an obstruction to our work.
Our duty is to work for the customer
• Customer favors us by buying goods from
us and we do not favor him by helping him to
buy goods or services from us
• Customer is a part of our business and we
cannot survive without customer
• Customers are people and they have feelings and
emotions. We need to respect them.

14. 14
What type of customer we get
• There are two basic types
• The External Customer.
• ( Traditionally- we referred customer as the
external customer)
• The Internal Customer.
• ( New thinking- that all of us are each others
customers. This area lacks attention)

15. 15
Understanding Customers
• Most important thing in handling
customers is understanding
them.
Selling is
– 80% understanding
&
– 20% product knowledge
• How many of us put an effort to
understand customers ?
• It is not simple to understand a

16. 16
Why it is difficult to handle
customers in TT ?
•We do not make much effort to
understand the customer
•We do not have specific service
standards

17. 17
Make an effort and you will
see it is not so difficult
• There are many similarities in people
• Close your eyes, raise your right hand and
show up three fingers
• Think of a flower do not change it
• Now think of a piece of furniture
• Think of a colour
• Go and sit in a fairly empty restaurant

18. 18
Customer Expectations
• The best way to find out
customer expectations is to
put you in the shoes of a
customer
• All of us are customers of
other goods and services
sellers
• Lets do an exercise

19. 19
What do you expect?
• 1. How long would you like to spend when you go to a
bank to deposit money?
• a………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………..
• b………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………..
• 2. When you meet with an accident and you call Ceylinco
“on the spot” insurance
•
a………………………………………………………………………………
……………………………
•

20. 20
• 3. When you go to your usual grocery to buy
some groceries and fell short of money
•
a………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………..
•
b………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………….
• 4. You complain that the washing machine
that you received after repairs gives the same
trouble within 2 days after repair.
• ………………………………………………………………
…………………………….

21. 21
5. You complain that your electricity meter is
working fast ( defective)
• 7. You are a Sales Rep working in an
outstation region. Your commission has not
been calculated correctly and you go and tell
this to your Accountant when you come to
the Head Office in Colombo for a meeting?
• a………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………

22. 22
Service Standards
 Understanding( internal or external) customer
is not enough
 You have to have customer driven Service
Standards (SS)
 Customer defined SSs are designed to
translate your actions and behavior for the
expectations of customers.
 You should not allow anything to chance and
moods of your staff

23. 23
Why your attitudes are important for your
success or job
• Your attitude towards your job has a
direct effect on determining how
effectively you are executing the job
• John C. Maxwell, An American who authored :Winning Attitude:
says
• Life is
– 10% what happens to you &
– 90% how you react to it
• Your reaction is the attitude. So you change and
control your attitude then you are on top of
everything. So your attitude is an Asset.

24. 24
Why terminate people
According to the survey of Robert Half
International – USA
 30% - incompetence
• 17% -Inability to get along with others
• 12% -Dishonesty & Lying
• 10% -Negative attitude
• 7% - Lack of motivation
• 7% - Failure or refusal to follow
instructions
• 8% - All other reasons

25. 25
Why customers quit
Dr. Anthony J. Alessandra- Author of Non
Manipulative Selling
• 68% - Indifference and apparent lack
of interest on the part of front line
employees
• 14% - Unadjusted complaints
• 9% - Lower prices elsewhere
• 5% -Buy from friends/relatives
• 3% -Moved to another area
• 1% -Died

26. 26
Customers
• Most do not complain to you.
They complain to others
• They just don’t come
• Salvaging lost customers
takes six times the cost of
keeping a customer.

27. 27
Positive attitudes for customer care
• Be enthusiastic about your work and
show that you are really in action to
satisfy needs of your customer.( B1 and K
4)
• Try and give the maximum possible
(PPDPPS) ( Amaradasa’s story)
• Think positively about the challenges
ahead of you
• Work effectively and efficiently
• Trust about your strengths
• Learn about your job
• Think that you play a key role
• Never give up. If there is will there is a
way out.

28. 28
• The story about the tiny
frogs…climbing a steep mountain
when all say you cant and one frog
climbs without giving any notice to
naysayers
• Mouse trap and the Rat ( Team
spirit)
Story about the farmer, wife, rat,
hen, pig and the bull

29. 29
An Exercise :Think of your job and
your attitudes that affect doing your
job well
• Take a moment and write down six of
your major weak areas in doing your
job well
• Think and write down of the ways and
means that you can get rid of them or
improve them

30. 30
How to change your attitudes
• Meditate and make a self criticism of yourself
• Identify problem feelings & behavior
• Develop a plan for right thinking
• Right thinking will lead to right feelings
• Read right books, associate right people, watch
right films etc
• Develop self discipline and control
• Have a vision, mission and objectives
• Practice time management

31. Use Maxwells “kayanu haya” in
handling complaints

32. 32
Listening Skills
• The mistake often done
by customer care people
is to assume that their
job is to talk more
rather than listening
• If you keep on talking
you will not really get to
know what customer
really wants
• Get customer involved
in talking and listen to
him
• Real listening is not
hearing from ears but
also from your mind
• Show the customer
that you are
interested in listening
to him
• Do not attend to any
other job while
listening
• Watch for non verbal
language too
• Recognise feelings
and emotions too
• Show interest and ask
questions to clarify
• Restate to confirm
vital points.

33. 33
Your prayer in listening
• Always pray from your
mind
“I am going to listen
more than I am
going to talk”
It is very difficult not to talk and stay calm
when a customer displays favorable or
unfavorable signs. But you got to listen to
his full story before you start your sales
talk. Once you get a chance clarify briefly
everything but be brief and do not venture
into giving a lecture.

34. 34
Make the complaining customer a
loyal customer
• Always think of the Life Time Value
• ( LTV) of a customer when complaints are
handled.
• Calculate the LTV of a person buying
groceries to the value of Rs. 10000 per
month
• Calculate the loss if a dissatisfied customer
spreads the story to 10 customers

35. 35
Telephone Skills
• Telephone is a very vital tool in customer
care.
• It is one to one direct contact
• Your tone and the way you talk should show
the customer your smile, interest and facial
expressions
• Attend to the call before three
rings lapse
• Be cheerful and introduce
yourself or the company you
represent

36. 36
Telephone Skills
• Be specific and clear what ever language you use
• If the person wanted by the caller is not available,
see whether you could help. If not take notes and
refer. Judge the urgency and importance
• Always have a pen and paper handy near the
telephone
• If you promise to call back with some information
at a given time please call even if you have not
found what you promised
• If you have a hands free system, do not indicate
that you are handling some other thing while you
are talking.

37. 37
Telephone Skills
• Do not put on hold/music/radio without
permission from the caller
• If put on hold if the extension is busy say it
intermittently and asked the requirement if you
can help in some other way.
• If you cannot give an answer over the phone
please ask the caller to call over with relevant
information.
• Never say anything against or annoying to the
caller with another person by covering the mouth
piece.

38. 38
Telephone Skills
• Do not jump into conclusions
Before you hear the whole story
• When you terminate the call do it with
respect. Mechanical “bye” “thank you” is
not enough. Your tone is very important.

39. 39
When you are placing a call
• Plan your call – Jot down main points,
get the correct number
• Dial the number correctly.
• Introduce your self and tell what you are
looking for ( Do not just ask for a person
if another one could also give the
answer)
• If you really want to speak to a specific
person, give his full name, division,
designation etc.
• Be cheerful and say what you want
briefly

40. 40
Placing a telephone call
• If the correct person is not available ask for
any other person who could help you. If not
leave a brief note and kindly ask to write it and
place on the desk of the person. Give your
contact number. If urgent say so
• Terminate the call courteously
• Restrict your calls to a maximum of 3 minutes
if possible.

41. 41
Identifying Selling Process
• Prospecting
• Pre-approach
• Approach
• Presentation
• Trial Close
• Uncovering Objections
• Meeting Objections
• 2nd Trial Close
• Close
• Follow up – After sales service

42. 42
Prospecting
• “Prospect” is an identified potential buyer
• “A lead” could be termed as a suspected
prospect
• Locate leads- Assess leads- find prospects

43. 43
How could you screen a “lead” to be a
prospect
• Does he need our product
• Does he have a desire to fulfill the need
• Does his desire to fulfill the need can be
done by my product
• Is he having necessary financial resources
• Is he having the authority to buy
• Will this deal be profitable

44. 44
Prospecting Methods
•Cold Canvas
• This is like mass marketing
• Call in person whoever possible to reach
• You would be lucky if you can get 1 out of
10 to buy your product in this method

45. 45
Endless Chain method
• After a successful or unsuccessful sales
engagement, you could ask from your
customers about few friends of his or her
who might be interested in your product
• You call them and refer to your customer
and start your presentation

46. 46
Exhibition and Demonstrations
• Take part in Trade Shows and Exhibitions,
special gatherings of prospective customers
• Get names and addresses of visitors to your stall
• Ask them to drop their business card into a raffle
box
• Give them a free gift
• Collect the contacts and schedule to call them.
•

47. 47
Center of Influence Method
• Develop a contact with a person in the
community that he has influence over
others
• Get his or her help to contact others under
his influence
• Presidents of Trade Associations, Members
of the Parliament, Principals, Presidents of
Clubs, Actors, Singers, TV personalities,
Journalist, Professionals

48. 48
Telephone Prospecting
• Call Prospective Customers and get
appointments
• Employ an experienced telemarketer or
used the following method
• Plan and write down what you are going
to talk
• Identify yourself and state the purpose
you are calling and the time duration of
the call

49. 49
• Present only enough information to stimulate
interest
• Ask for an appointment to talk further details
• Phrase your appointment request as a question
• Would 10.30 a.m. tomorrow be ok to met you
Sir
• Would you mind going through your
appointment diary and giving me a time to meet
you
• Do not take no as an answer. You must be
positive and persists even if the answer is

50. 50
Have you got good answer for any
product that has failed in your
product mix?
• Do you accept honestly that there was a
problem
• Can you convince the customer that current
product will not have any of such problems ?
• Can you convince the customer that you have
learnt a lesson and you have taken all
precautions ?
• Do you have solid evidence ?
• Are you confident about your product?

51. 51
Welcoming and Greeting
• You got to be very attentive towards
customers
• You may be engaged in many activities when
customers arrive
• With another customer-reading a price list- Arranging goods- writing
a letter- listening to radio-discussion about last night’s political chat
show- drama- day dreaming-yawning- grooming etc. etc.
• What ever activity you are engaged you got
to stop them and greet & welcome the in
coming customer
 If you are with another customer, excuse him
and greet the incoming customer

52. 52
 Never ignore a customer even if you are
handling a very important job at that time
 You can greet customers in
many ways
- Smile
-Ayubowan- Good
Morning/afternoon/evening-
-by behavior- gesture etc

53. 53
• Try to identify the customer’s character
type within a short period.
Whatever the type you need to
show that you are at his/her
disposal

54. 54
 Let customer talk – use all the techniques of listening
 Never argue with a customer-
objections to buy should be answered positively
 Help the customer honestly
-If possible let him sit- Give him a drink
-Show the product- different types of models
-Let them touch, wear, operate, smell etc.

55. 55
Show a short video
•Models, Features -And -Benefits ( FAB )
• how it is run, performance, loads it could carry, happy faces
of users, testimonies of users, how many in service, how
long it has been used, show the workshop, technicians doing
repairs, availability of parts and many more,
– Comparison with other competitive brands
• Have all the Frequently ask questions demonstrated by facts
and figures – carrying load, sped, fuel consumption etc.
• Get the maximum advantage of the image of the company (
your principals and you)
• Show the advantage of buying your product (USB)

56. 56
Know more about
Price- Discounts- easy payment
schemes- Credit terms
User list
Learn about all the important details
of competitors products

57. 57
Be Systematic
• Dress smart
• Use good manners ( Thank you Sir/Madam/ May I/ Excuse
me / Sorry/ Would you mind)
• Be cheerful and smiling throughout
• Smile – 16 muscles Frown- 64 muscles
• Take much care in writing customers name,
price, model, quantity etc.

58. 58
Closing a Sale
• You cannot complete a sale just
by greeting a customer and
helping him/her to select the
requirement.
• It is very rare that a customer
directly ask you to write the bill
• You have to use closing
techniques