by Catia Mondlane
One thing I have learned from the experiences I have had so far is that clients don’t really care about your problems and whatever you are going through that might create delays or bad services, because they just want the product or service. Trust me, I’m a customer too and when I’m not I have to see things from the clients’ perspective to understand them, and this is why it is so important to know your customers.
Whenever clients have a bad experience with a product or service that they actually gave feedback on, I’ve noticed how inclined the provider is to give excuses on why things went wrong. Instead of simply thanking and apologizing, offering a gesture of good will by carefully listening, understanding and positively improving the customer’s experience to make sure they come back, there is a tendency to blame it on the system that is down; or perhaps on the unexperienced staff, the rules and policies, suppliers delays, the circumstances. But as the service provider, if you are not coming up with solutions, this is where the clients’ needs are overlooked.
I suggest you read the article The Golden Client to understand that “your clients will mirror you somehow, the way you feel about your product or service will reflect on them.” This means that if you talk badly about the products or services you provide, for sure they will have a bad feeling about them too and become less encouraged to buy anything from you again. So, be aware about what you say and the energy you emit because the same way you feel them, they can feel you too and the words you put out there may bring you down.
On the other hand, watch out for the customers who don’t say anything at all, because I have also learned that silence talks and brings stronger results. So, just imagine if you provide a bad service and customers don’t say anything to you - yes, you are so right, they are talking with somebody else. You see, even with random things that happen to us daily, we usually talk with the people we trust, don’t we? So, what if we build a strong trustworthy relationship with our customers? For them to be interested in what you are providing you should be also interested in them, getting to know them and making them feel comfortable to give honest feedback that would improve your products and services - now that would be a golden move.
Building a close relationship with your clients and knowing them is very important because a golden client wants a golden service. That is why you should call them by their names, there is no more pleasant a sound for a person to hear then the sound of their own name – please use it. Be a good listener and understand their approach, because when you are selling, the emotions and feelings are the main magical performers – they will feel special. And say the magic words ‘Please’ and ‘Thank you’, compliment them for spontaneous feedback and make sure they feel part of the firm’s growth – they will be encouraged to buy more.
Cátia Mondlane is the CEO & Founder of Isabella – Estética & Cosméticos, an innovative Mozambican cosmetic company that brings natural skin solutions based on locally sourced organic and fresh ingredients. Her brand is especially for people with sensitive skin and who want to be kind to their skin at affordable prices. She is currently based in Maputo, Mozambique.
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