Introduction of the Host

N. Rajesh Kumar, a graduate in Commerce, has over 20 years of field experience including 5 years of handling a Profit Centre and a couple of years of International Selling experience. He started his career as a Sales Executive and in a short span of time, was given the responsibility of handling the entire Country. Having started his sales career at a very early age he has had opportunities of working for different companies in various industries like - Telecom, Office Automation and Computer Networking.

He has been conducting Training Programmes on Professional Selling Skills (PSS) for over 8 years now, based on his vast practical experience.

About the Class - Monthly

Lesson 8 - Customer Care

I am of the opinion that the word 'criticism' should be totally eliminated from our vocabulary. Replace it with 'observation' and you will find more willing listeners because calling something an 'observation' does not imply that the subsequent comments are going to be hurtful.

• 'You are entitled to your opinion'
• 'I disagree with you'

Normally said when the salesperson is under pressure from the customer's disagreeable attitude and likely to add further fuel to the fire. By mentioning that we 'disagree' we are highlighting the fact that we are in 'conflict', which is the last thing that we wish to do. There is an old expression that goes as follows. 'You will never change a man's opinion once you have challenged his judgment'. I believe that this is also true in selling. We should explain ourselves with something resembling the following.

'That's a very interesting point of view, Mr. Customer, and I can understand why you feel that way - in fact, I was talking to a customer the other day and he expressed a similar view. However, there is another viewpoint that you might consider and that is…'

• 'If you want my opinion'
• 'My advice would be…'
• 'If I were you…'
• 'What you should do…'
• 'Think about what I said'

As communicators, our role must be to sell at the customer's level. There is an obvious danger in instructing or lecturing the customer on how he or she should decide. Advising people might imply that you are talking down to them. A useful guideline is to use 'you' in place of 'I' whenever possible. For example, 'Don't you think it is a good idea?' sounds much better than 'I think it is a good idea'.

• 'We give the service others promise'
• 'We guarantee same-day delivery'
• Our service is second to none'

If you ask 1000 salespeople what they can offer that their rivals can't they will most likely say 'outstanding service'. Phone 1000 customers and ask what is promised by everybody but delivered by none and they will most likely say 'outstanding service'. When is the last time that you received consistently outstanding from any company? Guarantee means nothing unless they are spelt out and given in writing. Guaranteed by whom, for what and for how long?

• 'We are cheaper'

'Cheap' suggests inferior. 'Less expensive' implies quality at a better price.

• 'I just happened to be in the area…

Few sales people admit to using an opening statement like this. Customers on the other hand, say it is one of the most common of all 'openers'. The interpretation of this statement is 'I had nothing better to do with my time, so I just thought of giving you a call'. A way around this statement is to replace it with 'The purpose of my call is…..

Class Schedule:
Friday 28th February, 2003       Lessons 09 - The Approach

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