2 Customer Show-Stoppers and How to Prevent Them

Every customer interaction has the potential to move the relationship forward or backward. These are the so-called “moments of truth.” As part of your customer service strategy, the better your customer care team is able to work through these moments with skill and understanding, the more likely you are to delight and retain your customer and move to the next step in a positive relationship.

You can look at the customer experience in three overarching phases: 

1. Pre-sales
2. Implementation
3. Re-engagement 

Pre-Sales
In general, your pre-sales group should be easily accessible and able to spend the time required to assure there is a fit to the customer’s need, persuade the customer of the solution’s value, and work through to an agreed-upon conclusion of the sale. 

Implementation
During the implementation phase, your team should be readily available for advice and equipped and authorized to provide meaningful support when adoption obstacles are encountered. 

Re-engagement
For the last phase when the customer must re-evaluate whether or not to continue the relationship, your team should be able to prove the solution’s value in terms of real business results for the customer and to look back upon a relationship that has grown and deepened to the point where it would be hard to separate.

Each phase has its customer show-stoppers, and each stage has its opportunities for moments of truth that make or break the buying partnership. Let’s examine two points in the relationship where things could go sour very quickly and what to do so they don’t: (1) articulating your solution’s value and (2) keeping your value visible.

1. Articulating value
Train your customer team to know their customers so they can create a relevant and timely solution for the important problems that their customers face. Then be sure they are able to sell value instead of focusing on standard features and price. When value becomes the focus, customers feel heard, understood and helped. When irrelevant features and price are highlighted, customers feel neglected, misunderstood and in the dark about how your solution could help them. Which moment of truth would you prefer?

2.  Keeping value visible
Without feedback on how well your service addressed the problem, your customers may not see or understand or be able to communicate the positive impact of your solution on their business. In the absence of proven improvement, you face the very real risk of losing your customer to the competition. If you want to continue to serve this customer and grow the account, you need to have real data and real business outcomes. 

Is your team set up to clearly articulate your solution’s value to your target customers and consistently keep your value visible?

Learn more at: http://www.lsaglobal.com/customer-service-strategy/