Nothing is more magnetic and attractive to customers than having readily available staff with good knowledge of the company’s offerings, an attentive ear, a good understanding of the customer’s concerns and gentleness in their engagement with customers. The opposite to this approach is undoubtedly repulsive. No wonder companies subjecting customers to such employees battle to attract, much less, retain success in sales. By Nimroth Gwetsa, 30 April 2022.

The art of anticipation and discernment makes the biggest difference. Some customers already know what they want, thus overzealous waffling and overselling may put them off.

On the one hand, some customers have a faint idea of their real requirements and would welcome a proactive and inviting approach offering them some assistance. Knowing when to engage the customer can affect the success of the deal.

But nothing discourages a customer more than their exposure to employees with insufficient knowledge of the products they sell. Imagine how it feels walking into a vehicle dealership only to find that you know more about their vehicles and features than the salesperson whose daily productive life is supposedly spent on selling them.

Companies should somehow find a way of assessing the competence of their employees in the company’s offerings to ensure they are aware of important factors about those offerings. Factors that could break the customer’s confidence in engaging the company and taking up its offers.

Cross selling is not only about selling as many products offered by the company to customers, but about ensuring the customer fully understands the nature of the problem and solution to resolve it. Though the solution may be direct, however, by ensuring the customer understands the fuller picture, implications and impact, the customer may even be amenable to pursuing an incremental acquisition of other solutions.

Different customers require different solutions. Some may wish to stop the pain momentarily without intending to resolve the underlying causes on a more sustainable manner. Whereas others may not wish to revisit the issue, preferring rather to have peace of mind for a longish time.

Only through a deep listening ear, patient engagement and understanding of customer needs coupled with a good knowledge of the different offerings and their impact, would employees know how best to resolve the customer’s concerns.

Though we live in an era of economic hardship and increased prudence, not all problems are about the desire to acquire inexpensive solution. Focus should be on the value the parties are creating and can derive from their interactions than it is about the hard-core margins to be made or saved.

Generally, customers tend to be willing to spend more if they perceive the value to be derived to be greater than the money they may need to spend. Likewise, companies may be willing to be gracious when there is more they could derive from their relationship with the customer.

The importance of value requires companies to avoid adopting the “one size fits all” approach to everything. While commendable to ensure all customers receive the same, hopefully fair and good, service, sometimes that approach fosters rigidity that could set the company back in its attempts at securing increased sales from customers.

As customers are human beings, it is important for companies to allow some level of flexibility to their approach so divergent needs of customers can be met. By flexibility, it does not mean that companies should be everything to everyone. Flexibility recognises the diversity of customers and the importance of meeting their different needs that could be fulfilled with the same offerings from the company.

Nothing increases confidence in a person like possession of knowledge. Lacking knowledge erodes confidence, the confidence required to keep the customer.

Knowledge improves when it is shared, its sources acknowledged and that knowledge being well recognised. Some people have a tendency of deviously presenting other people’s works as theirs. They charm their way into other people’s lives making it look as if they are interested in them and in pursuing opportunities with them. Only to show later that their only interest was in siphoning knowledge from them and dumping them later through frivolous excuses. Such is a deplorable and unsustainable way of gaining knowledge.

The gaining of knowledge under such devious means could earn one victory in the immediate term. However, life is a long road that there would be even harder impediments at a critical point along the journey, then there would be no more opportunity to deceive your way through success next time.

Though we should concern ourselves with our daily tasks and not so much about future ones when today’s have not yet been resolved, it is through diligence of completing daily tasks that the future gets secured. But such diligence cannot be attained through deviousness, but truth, honesty, and having a good heart.

Build strong foundations to last generations and leave a legacy. Be truthful, integrous and avoid duplicity.

Empower your staff and improve your company’s performance by increasing their knowledge at least in the company’s offerings. All other things shall fall into place afterwards.