Customer Service: Rules and Standards, Principles and Methods

2024 Author: Howard Calhoun | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 10:16

At the present stage, a lot of time is devoted to customer service. Time moves forward and, accordingly, the level of service should increase. For this to happen, customer service business norms must be adhered to.

General information

Several hundred people a day enter any store. And the task of the seller is precisely to adjust to the mood and guess the needs of each person. It is an individual approach to each client that ensures good sales. However, there are general methods that work. They are time-tested and therefore work almost always. This is the customer service policy. Such standards allow the seller to behave correctly and not to make mistakes, as well as to sell the maximum possible amount of goods.

But this does not mean that the employee cannot behave in this or that situation as he wants. It's just that all his actions must be within the framework of these rules and in no case harm the work. A salesperson by vocation will not act in the same way with all buyers, because he needs to leave a pleasant impression about himself and customer service in general.

Important moment

You can't ignore the person who entered the store. You need to approach him and try to start a conversation or offer help. And even if he does not make a purchase, he may subsequently recommend the store to friends and acquaintances.

But that's not all there is to remember. There is such a thing as a classic sale. About him further and will be discussed.

Classic Sale

There are many methods of customer service, but the classic version remains the most effective to this day. It has seven stages, each of which is very important. To get an idea of what we are talking about, we will take a detailed look at each stage separately.

Sales preparations

This is a pretty universal step because every customer service method starts with it.

The first step is to set yourself up for a friendly wave and a good result. After all, it largely depends on the mood. When a person is open to the world and energetic, he is perceived as successful and confident. To set the right mood, there are several methods. They can be used both at the beginning of the working day and in the middle to maintain the necessary emotions.

For example, you can remember the moment of your victory or good luck, your best sale. Or think about what a good result from workable to subsequently provide a decent rest or fulfill a dream. The transfer of work to the game also works. This means that you can imagine yourself and the buyer as players, but it is not the buyer who turns out to be a professional in the game. It helps to respect the interlocutor in advance and wish him well.

If the seller is sincerely convinced that he is selling a really useful and necessary thing, then he is unlikely to miss the client. It is worth remembering that in the culture of customer service, absolute respect is expected. It doesn't matter what a person looks like in front of a salesperson, but you can't talk to him without respect.

Again, it is worth remembering that the buyer's aggression is not directed at the seller's personality, but at the role that he has chosen for himself. This does not mean that some other seller would have been in your place, then the buyer would have behaved differently. This is something to remember when a difficult situation arises.

Setting up a contact

To establish contact with the buyer, you need to start communicating. The culture of customer service, as well as the chosen style of communication, affect the outcome of the sale. It is very important to place a person to yourself. And it will only take a few seconds to do this, as well as to ruin everything. This means that you do not need to skimp on positive emotions from the first moment. If the seller smiles, has the right attitude, he has a positive facial expression, he adapts to the client, then with a high probability the contact will be established. It is the easy atmosphere in communication and sincere friendliness that will give the result.

To achieve this, the seller needs to activelymake contact. He cannot confine himself to the usual salutatory phrase. To know how to behave in the process of customer service and make contacts, you need to apply special techniques. If, according to their results, eight out of ten attempts were successful, then this is an excellent result. In the case when contact is not established, you should not impose your services. It is best to keep an eye on the client and provide assistance if necessary.

Anything can happen in the customer service process. But do not give up trying to win over a person. This doesn't mean you have to be forced. This is where the continuation rule comes into play. When the client did not make contact, the same seller must offer his help a second time within three minutes. It is unacceptable if several employees approach one person. In this case, the reaction may be aggressive, or the client will simply turn around and leave. You should also not make frequent attempts to establish contact in a short period. It is better to be nearby and wait for the client to mature. But all these points apply only to stores where there is no entrance group of employees. That is, sellers with duty phrases do not meet at the entrance. If such an element of service is present, then you need to establish contact only after the person has passed this group.

At this stage, the positive attitude of the seller is no less important. Trade customer service should begin with a greeting. Best wishes for a good day or evening. During the greeting, the seller needs to smile, at the same timetry to make eye contact with the person. Only a cheerful attitude will help win over a person. The same applies to a smile, which should be sincere. Remember, people feel fake.

Trade customer service is based on an individual approach. If a person notices how the seller communicates with everyone in the same way, then the potential buyer gets the feeling that the staff only wants to receive money. But one has only to open up to people, show a lively interest, as there will be room for improvisation. It is these traits in an employee that determine how successful he will become in his work. It is difficult to work as a salesperson for an uncommunicative and closed person.

The seller has two main goals:

• sell goods;
• create a good service experience.

And for both goals to be achieved, contact must be established. To do this, you can use all sorts of techniques, because the main thing is to achieve a result. But first you need to remember what not to do.

First, don't use phrases like:

• Any hint?
• Interested in something specific?
• Help you?

These phrases have already become annoying. In addition, the phrase: "If you are interested in something, then contact me" will not be the best start to a conversation. This is regarded by the person as closing the contact.

Second, you can't start a conversation without saying hello and smiling.

Third, you don't need to stand exactly opposite the buyer. At such moments, he may notfeel comfortable, especially if you want to continue moving. The best position would be slightly to the side or to the left.

Fourthly, it is strictly forbidden to stand behind the back of the client. This causes a vague concern. Therefore, you can’t follow the buyer on the heels.

Fifth, don't close yourself off from the person. This means that you must not cross your legs or arms while serving a customer. The same applies to leaning on any furniture. These gestures do not make the best impression on potential buyers.

Need identification moment

Any customer service technology should ultimately help identify customer needs. This is one of the highlights of the sale. But, oddly enough, not every seller remembers this. It is this stage that obliges the seller to find out what the client needs, what he expects from this or that product. And to understand all this, you need to talk with the buyer and ask him questions.

The seller's task is to reveal all the needs of a person as best as possible, whether it be thoughts about a particular product or vague guesses about what he needs. That is, the employee must squeeze out as much information as possible for himself in order to help the client solve his problem. The best option would be when a person purchases not only the main product, but also an additional one, as well as all kinds of after-sales service.

The surest solution to achieve mutual understanding between the seller and the buyer will be a conversation that is understandable for both. Any management trainingcustomer service devotes quite a lot of time to this moment. After that, management requires employees to understand clear explanations with customers. What does it mean? When using terminology, it is necessary either to give clarifications, or to replace previously incomprehensible words and phrases with public ones.

Don't forget about the initiative in the conversation. For sales to be good, it must be in the hands of the seller. It is the one who asks questions in a conversation who is the initiator.

You also need to remember what to do is prohibited:

1. You can't move on to another sales stage unless the needs are fully understood. This means that you do not need to offer a product before the customer's desire is clear. If this is done, then the client may give out a negative reaction, or even leave altogether. The problem is that a broken contact will be very difficult to recover.
2. Don't ask about the money the buyer can spend. This is because every person wants to get the maximum set of functions or services for the minimum money. Persuading the buyer for a large amount, the seller simply wastes his time in vain. During this period, it will be much more effective to convince a person to buy something better.
3. Another mistake in customer service is offering outdated models. It is best to offer a product that meets modern requirements. As a rule, it is best to start offering a product with the model that is the most expensive. But this does not mean that it should be the only one proposed. Clientmust be given the right to choose so that he can compare the price and feature set.
4. It is strictly forbidden to ignore this stage. Even if a person came with a desire to buy a certain product, it is still necessary to find out his needs. In the case when a person is looking for a product, but it is not in the store, the employee should ask why the buyer liked a particular model. When a product is available in the store, it will help to clarify all the needs and expand the range of offers.
5. Whatever forms of customer service may be, any of them prohibits interrupting the buyer. At a minimum, such behavior is regarded as rudeness, and as a maximum, if you behave like this, the seller will not complete the tasks of this stage.

Find out the person you need by asking certain questions. They have their own classification:

1. General questions. As a rule, they can be set regardless of what the person is looking for.
2. Narrow-minded questions. They are already aimed at the characteristics of a certain type of product. It is the answers to them that will help to offer the best option that meets all the requirements of the client.
3. Additional questions. Answering them will allow you to choose additional equipment or services.

Questions are also classified by type. They are:

1. Alternative. In such questions, several answers are expected.
2. Closed. These are rather clarifying questions that can only be answered with yes or no.
3. Open. Such questions provide complete information and also involveperson into a conversation. As a rule, they begin with the words: how much, who, why, where, what, what, and so on.

Offer a solution

At this stage, it is necessary during the service by the seller of the buyer to offer him the best solution to his needs. The seller needs to explain and show all the advantages of a particular solution. In theory, when the stage is completed, at which the needs of the client are clarified, the seller has the following:

• the employee has an idea of what the client needs;
• the person is well-disposed towards the employee and is happy to make contact.

First of all, during the organization of trade services for the buyer, you need to explain to him the advantages of the product that he needs. And again we return to the fact that you need to find out well the client's needs. You can also focus on those moments that are important for each person - price, brand, durability of the goods. This means that, even remembering the needs of the client, you should not overlook promotions in the store or any discounts.

It is important to remember that not always the characteristics of the product can say something to the client. This is more information for the seller, as he understands the terminology. And for the client, you need to connect the element of characteristic and its practical advantages in a conversation. For example, you can say that the computer has a powerful video card, which means the ability to play any game.

Demonstration of the merits of the product also leads to an increase in sales. According to service standardsbuyers, it is best to let the customer test some of the features. For example, a person himself can try to take a picture of something on the camera and look at the quality of the pictures. It happens that a client wants to buy a laptop, but does not know how to use it, it will be great if the seller conducts a small educational program.

All this is done in order to arouse admiration in the buyer, thereby persuading him to buy the product. But here it is important not to overdo it. As a rule, the client does not need extra information, therefore it is better to limit ourselves to demonstrating three models. When information is overflowing, it repels the client, as a result, he takes time to think and leaves. And again, the employee comes back to the fact that the definition of the needs of the buyer was carried out incorrectly.

There are also prohibited actions at this stage:

1. You can't poke your finger into the goods. The same ballpoint pen will do the job, but it will look more aesthetically pleasing.
2. Also, the employee should not close the shop windows with goods from the buyer with his body.
3. Don't comment negatively on any brand or product. The seller must assume that everything presented in the store is of high quality.
4. It is forbidden to give implausible information or information at the level of rumors. This behavior, firstly, causes a large number of returns, and secondly, it badly affects the reputation of the store.

Arguments if the client objects

Customer service organization can be at any level, but it does notaffect the customer's response. Whatever the level of service, the customer may object, and that's okay. It is important to train employees to respond appropriately to this. In theory, the seller must conduct all stages of the sale so that the client has no objections. But if they do exist, then he must answer correctly. The first thing that the seller must learn is that if the client objects, then he is interested in the product, but he doubts. Usually, if the seller behaves correctly, then the sale is eventually made.

And to behave properly, there are a few rules:

1. Don't argue with the client. The result of such a dispute may be the loss of the buyer. It is better not to prove your opinion, but to handle objections correctly.
2. Don't agree with the customer's arguments and offer another product only if this is an unreasonable objection.
3. You can't ignore the customer's objections. Any doubt or dissatisfaction should be de alt with by the seller.
4. Also, do not lie to the customer about the quality of the product or its functions.
5. The salesperson can't say he doesn't know something. Even if he does not have the information, he can turn to colleagues for help. And if the employee has already promised to clarify or find out something, then this should be done.

It's also important to know how to overcome price objections. When the buyer says that the goods are expensive for him, the seller should focus on the merits of this model over others. Or a person knows a place where the same thing is sold cheaper. Then it is worth explaining the benefits of buyingit is in this store, whether it is additional customization of goods for the buyer or a certificate of goods throughout the country.

How to lead to a purchase

Often the buyer does not particularly mind buying a product, but something may be missing for him. It is the quality of customer service that determines whether a customer buys something or not.

In order for the client to buy something, you need to apply the technique of summing up the purchase. If there is a pause after the buyer has been led to the purchase and all objections have been processed, then the client is more likely to leave. No need to allow such pauses.

It is at this moment that you need to calculate the favorable moment. With an early start of summing up the purchase, the client may leave, and with a late start, the buyer burns out. At this point, he pauses to think about the information. That is why everything needs to be done in due time, to start eyeliner not earlier than the first signs of readiness appear.

Indicators that the client is ready are as follows:

1. The customer looks happy and in a good mood.
2. The person has no objections, and the seller gave out full information about the product.
3. The client has questions about the operation of the product after purchase.
4. The buyer has thoughts about whether he has enough money.
5. Pauses during the conversation are prolonged.
6. The person managed to "become familiar" with the product and actively tested the product.
7. The customer is starting to rush.

These are not all signs, but these are the ones that indicateperformance is more likely.

There are also certain techniques that help lead to a purchase:

1. A win-win choice. In this technique, the seller provides a choice between two products. For example, he may ask which of the two phones he likes more.
2. Direct offer. The seller offers to buy the product. It also happens that a person understands how unprepared he is to make a purchase today.
3. Lost advantage. This technique is determined by the fact that the seller demonstrates all the advantages of buying in this particular store.

End sale

If a good technique is chosen to serve customers in retail, then sales always end well. But it is equally important to leave a good impression about the store and staff after the service. For everything to go well, you need to follow the rules:

1. Attention to the buyer should not weaken even at the stage of the transaction. It is best to continue communication and comment on actions.
2. Most often it is at this moment that the work of the goods is checked. And it is important not only to test it for work, but also to teach the main points of use. This behavior will provide the seller with a permanent customer for a long time. Only during seasonal sales you can not demonstrate the product. But the buyer must agree to this.
3. When a customer needs help, the salesperson's job is to help him. It doesn't matter if the client asks for it or not. This behavior indicates a high levelstore service.
4. No need to dryly say goodbye to the buyer. The more positive emotions the seller gives to the client, the more the latter will have a desire to return to the store. You can say goodbye to the fact that the client has a taste and made a worthy choice. Also, the seller needs to give a business card or, if not, then offer to visit the store's website.

If all the rules are followed, customers will return to the store and recommend it to their friends and acquaintances.