You just made a huge sale and things couldn’t be going better. The client that just made your day a happy one shouldn’t be the last time you interact with them, though. Once a client buys your product/service – they can be an advocate of your business or a nightmare. The period after the sale for $300, $3,000, or $30,000 is when the real deal starts and is most important to be on your A-game. Retaining clients is key to having your business succeed. You’ll eventually run out of new clients or won’t even have the opportunity to make new ones if you can’t satisfy the ones you had.
Leaving the sale without committing total satisfactory value to the client on the service/product you sold them is a huge mistake. Always commit whatever needs to be done next to get that client back in the door, his end-value being satisfied, and good PR. The world’s market is available to anyone with a phone. You’ll be a lot better off following up and being genuine making sure they are satisfied, rather then them trashing your company to the community and reviews online.
Selling is a series of conversations about change. You provide them value and a solution. Most times there is a competitor that can offer a similar solution a few blocks down the road. When they make that purchase with you, you sold them a series of agreements that provide them with certain results and expectations. Not only is the threat of competition or bad PR a good reason to follow-up, but it builds on your relationship and increases your chance of retaining them. The customer will feel a certain loyalty and personal connection to you for reaching out to them making sure they are happy.
In business you go to any lengths to make sure your customer is happy and is taken care of.
testacr22
Great post. Retaining clients is a major key to having a successful business, I think as sales people we should strive to make clients always want to come back. I have never thought about how as sales people we are selling a series of agreements, I feel like people only think about the end sale.
I like the approach of this post. It’s critical to remember that a sale doesn’t stop once the buyer purchases whatever your product or service is, but it continues as that buyer either is satisfied or not with their purchase over time! Great perspective and great post.
I agree, the sale is not the end. I liked you last point, “Selling is a series of conversations about change.” This is such a true but overlooked point. Thank you for this.
Very true, I especially agree with your first point that “Retaining clients is key to having your business succeed.” When you go into business with a person your goal should be a long term relationship, not just a one and done transaction.
This is a really important point, but does that responsibility of customer follow up really fall to the sales representative? That seems like it should fall to another portion of the company’s workforce. Of course, the sales rep is responsible for providing a great buying experience, but they can’t really expect to be able to deal with issues of brand (customer service).
A sales rep is totally responsible for his sector of the market that he represents and making sure his customer is happy. If you go in with that mindset, you won’t last long.