We have a saying in our household, taken with creative licence from the original Wolf of Wall Street Jordan Belfort. Put simply "they wouldn't sell me a Porsche".
I know you've had this experience before - researched the product, know the price, have the cash. You are mentally committed to your purchase and may have already visualised owning it. So you walk into the Porsche dealer and the ************ won't sell you a Porsche.
Now replace Porsche with your car or product of choice.
This happened to me only recently. Went to a dealership, test drove, even told the salesman what price to put on the contract. Then nothing, incommunicado, nada, zilch. It would have been the easiest sale of the year. The only effort the salesman had to do was photocopy the drivers license for the test drive.
Off to the next dealer we go, well we didn't even go there. Dial a sale please - model, colour, extras. All on a plate - just need that contract and due date to collect the new four wheeled baby. The level of red tape and process this dealer wanted, saw us get passed to different employees and departments. None of which were talking to each other and couldn't answer questions.
Third time lucky - or so I felt. Again went for a sale by phone, all we needed was the contract and it's done. However, it appears that it was too hard to provide a contract via email and maybe assumed we weren't serious. A text message was sent from the dealer saying "we don't do quotes, good luck with your purchase".
Now I understand that due to current discretionary spending being redirected from overseas holidays and low supply that vehicle sales are going strong. But what business doesn't want a sale?
This experience made me wonder, how many other businesses are not selling their customers a Porsche?
If you are a business owner or manager, here are my three takeaways to embed in your team:
1. Get better at communication
The importance of asking questions to truly understand your customer's needs cannot be underestimated. A high standard of communication makes the customer feel heard and that you are wanting to best meet their needs. Even when the customer is fixed on what they want you could still ask questions to understand them - or better yet, build a relationship!
Make sure you follow up. Radio silence leaves everyone wondering and in the absence of information, assumptions are made. It is always better to have regular contact with your customers, when there are delays or issues it will be easier to deal with when the customer is informed as opposed to calling only with bad news.
With all the communication forms available, I always recommend to understand how your customer wants to communicate. Being asked to always come in and meet in person may be annoying for a customer who wants to deal with you via phone or email. Use technology to your advantage - but only when your customer wants to use it too!
2. Cut red tape
Don't make it harder than it needs to be. Your internal processes don't mean much to a customer and they don't care. If you make your internal processes a black box, all the customer needs to see is they come to you with a problem to solve (either via your product or service) and you solve it. In buying a Porsche, the customer doesn't need to know the inputs or paperwork required for the logistics to make it happen. They just want to know when it will be delivered.
Having an individual personalised contact for the customer will always enhance their experience with your business. You'll know this from each time you call a bank or telco provider, some are getting better at this, but being passed around to 5 different employees and being told "sorry you've got the wrong department" is surely one of the most frustrating things to hear.
Look at how your business operates from the customer's experience, be your own secret shopper and see what happens.
3. Drop the arrogance
Every customer and sale should be valued, no matter how big or small. Drop the attitude of what's in it for you. If you treat everyone to the same high standard, it demonstrates you act with integrity and customers will notice. Judging a customer on their appearance because they arrived wearing Gucci could mean that you overlook the tech billionaire in Kmart shorts.
You will sometimes get tyre kickers, but what if the one you assumed was only window shopping was actually a gateway sale? You know the kind of gateway that brings more sales, more customers, tells all their friends how much they love your business? By being humble and valuing everyone it will create lifelong customers.
To round out this story - a car was purchased. Not a Porsche, it was never about a Porsche. Dealer #2 made a follow up phone call and was most apologetic for their convoluted process. The other dealers lucked out and we did provide our feedback, in the most polite Wolf of Wall Street manner.
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