Three Quick Rules For Sales Success
June 3, 2013 | Sales and Customer Service
YouSendIt is a great service for sending files that are too large to go as email attachments. In a recent interview, Brad Garlinghouse, C.E.O. of YouSendIt, summarized his company’s culture in terms of three driving values: be in, be real, and be bold. Here are some excerpts. Values “Be in” …
After The Storm – Service That Wins Customers
November 6, 2012 | Sales and Customer Service
Over the past week we have all witnessed the terrible destruction caused by Superstorm Sandy. Thousands of homes lost. Millions of people left without electricity, heat, or hot water. Hours spent on endless gas lines. As the television newscasts continue to share images of utter devastation across New Jersey and …
Is Good Service Bad For The Bottom Line?
August 17, 2012 | Sales and Customer Service
Richard X. Bove was a customer of Wachovia Bank when it was purchased by Wells Fargo during the 2008 financial crisis. He noticed a different approach to service right away. Wachovia used to have a booth where a manager stood and greeted customers; Wells Fargo replaced the booth with a …
March 13, 2012 | Sales and Customer Service
In today’s challenging economic climate, companies in every industry find that their customers crave excellent service experiences, courteous first-call resolution, and consistency across all service delivery channels. At the same time, companies need to retain customers, increase referrals and repeat business, and achieve higher customer lifetime value through up-selling and …
Service Leads The Way To Sales
February 16, 2012 | Sales and Customer Service
For over 20 years The Elkind Group has been helping companies define their sales and service strategies and execute those strategies effectively on the front line. Over that time, we have trained thousands of leaders, managers, and front-line employees to deliver outstanding service that leads to increased sales. Recently, Kerry …
An Important Holiday Story: A Lifetime of Customers
December 27, 2011 | Sales and Customer Service
Yesterday I called to cancel my monthly delivery of organic fruits and vegetables. The representative didn’t seem to care about the cancellation – she was only interested in the fact that I still owed $50 on my account. This surprised me, since I was holding an invoice for $25.00. As my confusion …
Take CARE Of Your Customers During Peak Season
November 29, 2011 | Sales and Customer Service
For some of our clients, Thanksgiving heralds the arrival of their peak season for sales and service. Now is the time when front-line representatives can really use the service and sales skills that their managers have been coaching and developing all year. But the time between Thanksgiving and the end …
The Case For Moving From Service To Sales
August 12, 2011 | Sales and Customer Service
Over the past months we’ve received a lot of comments and questions about our April 27 blog Stop Trying To Delight Your Customers. Conventional wisdom holds that customer delight drives loyalty, and to delight customers you have to meet and exceed their expectations. But we reported on an article Stop …
Stop Trying To Delight Your Customers
April 27, 2011 | Sales and Customer Service
For years, customer service experts have emphasized that customer delight is the key to building loyalty. Companies and their front-line representatives have been urged to “exceed customer expectations” and “under-promise and over-deliver.” But a new study reveals a different secret to gaining loyal customers.
From Order Taker To Sales Maker
August 16, 2010 | Sales and Customer Service
We have a number of Breuer chairs in our office and recently one of the cane seats wore out. I called the local retailer where I had purchased replacement seats before. The person who talked to me seemed less than enthusiastic about selling a replacement seat. His part of the …