Evaluate and improve your sales service habits

‘The customer doesn't expect everything will go right all the time; the big test is what you do when things go wrong.’ - Sir Colin Marshall, CEO of British Airways

As you read on, put a check mark in front of all those questions that you can easily and honestly answer with a ‘yes’. Be completely honest with yourself. This is the only way in which you can develop more productive customer service habits.

___ 1. Do you avoid judging others at the first meeting and give the same respect and courtesy to everyone?

___ 2. Do you continually make efforts to learn more about how to improve your customer service skills with an open mind?

___ 3. Are you well prepared before attending every sales call - either on the floor or in the field?

___ 4. Do you prioritise your work with customer service at the top of the list everyday?

___ 5. Do you make every effort to focus on a positive attitude and radiate contagious enthusiasm everyday?

___ 6. Do you understand who your core customers are and what triggers them to buy?

___ 7. Are you getting to the heart of a core target market with your sales and marketing message?

___ 8. Do you know why a prospective customer would want to buy from you and not from your competitor?

___ 9. Do you have a personal USP (unique selling position)?

___ 10. Do you have ‘wow’ customer service goals written out for the next six months to three years?

___ 11. Do you speak out your goals loud in the form of affirmations to others?

___ 12. Do you visualise your customer service success at the start of each day?

___ 13. Do you listen well and ask questions that help you in understanding your customer's needs or concerns completely?

___ 14. Are you always honest with your customers?

___ 15. Do you avoid aggressive sales behavior all the time?

___ 16. Do you respect your customer's right to reject and/or object to your offer?

___ 17. Do you send business to your friendly competitors when you can't make a sale?

___ 18. Do you focus always on making the customer feel important?

___ 19. Do you reply a customer's call promptly when he or she has a problem?

___ 20. Do you have an organised system for follow-up and follow-through?

___ 21. Do you offer rewards to your customers for their referrals?

___ 22. Do you send personalised thank-you notes to your customers for their business and referrals?

___ 23. Do you seek out innovative ways to sell and market to prospective customers?

___ 24. Do you stay in touch with existing customers through direct mail or email a minimum of six times a year?

___ 25. Do you diversify your customer service message for both the genders and generations?

___ 26. Do you listen 70 per cent or more of the time while talking with your customers?

___ 27. Do you consider yourself as a resource and/or a support system for your customers?

___ 28. Do you sincerely empathise with your customers' concerns and problems?

___ 29. Do you enjoy solving problems and/or discovering innovative solutions to the needs of your customers?

___ 30. Do you consider yourself as a real ‘people person’ who loves meeting new people?

___ 31. Do you know inside out the details about your products and/or services?

___ 32. Do you get to know all that you can about the competitors including their strengths and weaknesses, inventory and services?

___ 33. Do you consider yourself as an ‘expert’ within your industry?

___ 34. Do you have a customer service mentor who keeps you motivated and inspired?

___ 35. Do you go beyond your customers' expectations with added value?

___ 36. Do you read books on customer service and trade journals within your industry to keep your knowledge and expertise cutting-edge?

___ 37. Have you introduced yourself to complementary companies where your customers also buy from and created alliances to share referrals?

___ 38. Do you promote yourself effectively within your community on a regular basis?

___ 39. Do you attend networking events to seek out prospective customers and new business alliances?

___ 40. Are you ‘asking’ your customers for testimonials and using these in designing your marketing message?

Rating

Next, rate yourself on the scale given below by totaling all the ‘Yes’ responses.

0-25: You can learn a lot more about how to communicate and connect with your customers more effectively. Read, study and learn from other successful business people. Be spongy to knowledge and implement ‘wow’ factor in customer service.

26-35: Re-evaluate your customer service strategies. Ask for help and change ineffective habits into effective ones. Work harder on keeping customers retained and building strong customer loyalty.

35-40: You offer great customer service! You are a professional who is open to constant improvement and you make it a priority to serve your customer's needs all the time. Keep learning, growing and building a team of professionals whose model is your success.