Pay Attention To Your Customers

Author: Kevin Nunley

A lot has been written about what makes a good salesperson: education, experience, training, and even a certain inborn "killer instinct". From my experience, however, the best salespeople are the ones who are the best "people watchers". In other words, they are people who take the time to know their customers.

To be able to sell to your customers you have to know who they are, what they want, and what they are feeling. All of which can be determined with good research, strong observation skills, and an attentive nature. It’s about paying attention to customers before, during, and after the sale.

Before The Sale

You should have a “feel” for your ideal customer before you launch any advertising or marketing campaign and you can do this by devising a questionnaire and enticing them with a free offer or big discount. Ask questions like: What newspapers, magazines, and e-zines do you read? What topics interest you most? What groups or associations do you belong to? Then write down a long list of words that describe your customers. This strategy works to help you get a clearer understanding of what you probably already know.

During The Sale

You can save yourself time and energy by paying close attention to your customers during the sales process. The more expensive your product or service, the more time it takes to sell it. Customers want to know all about how it works and what it can do to make their life or business better. Answer questions about terms of payment, delivery, guarantees. Don’t rush them. Help them work through this process and you will make more sales.

After The Sale

Follow up with your customers after the sale. This could be the most important time to pay attention to your customers; especially if you want repeat sales or referral business. Ask them if they are satisfied with their product or the service they received. Answer any questions they may have and work hard to solve their complaints quickly. Remember that you can sometimes head off future problems by paying attention to customer concerns as they happen.

If you find that your customers are completely satisfied, ask if you can get a testimonial. Nothing helps you make a sale like strong testimonials from satisfied customers. Prospects are impressed when they hear positive things from those who have already bought and tried your product or service. But remember to ask for specifics. "This gadget doubled my gas mileage and saves me $200 a month! Buy it!" works better than "This is great stuff".

Even though the Internet is probably the most technological thing in our lives, we need to remember that Internet business still revolves around people. We should always make sure that we pay attention to the people we do business with as there is really no better way of doing market research or increasing the bottom line.