My wife and I are vacationing in Kauai, enjoying one of the greatest places on Earth with some of the greatest people we’ve ever met.
But I was just reminded of another key skill in the art of being a customer service champion. They ask questions throughout the transaction.
Oh sure, an average customer service provider asks questions before an individual makes a purchase. He initally asks questions to determine the prospect’s level of interest, and later he asks questions to determine the prospect’s actual wants and needs.
But if all goes well, the prospect becomes a customer and the transaction is all over. Right? Wrong!
The average customer service provider would think, “Great. Another sale. Let’s get on to the next prospect and the next sale.”
But a true customer service champion goes a step further. He asks questions the customer might never think of … questions that would impact the customer’s satisfaction with the product and service he received.
That was the case when my wife visited the Kauai Coffee Company today. In their gift shop, my wife found a certain brand of hand lotion she always buys when we’re in Hawaii, and as far as I know, this is the only place you can buy it. So she picked up a bottle of the lotion, went to the counter to pay for it, and the clerk asked her, “Will you checking luggage when you fly back to the mainland?”
Of course, I thought, “What difference does that make?” Before I had a chance to ask the question, the clerk said, “If you don’t put this in your checked luggage, airport security will take it away from you. And I really want you to enjoy this amazing product.”
How cool! I can only imagine how many customers who would never think of such a thing, would have their lotion confiscated, would have a bad feeling about the whole experience, and would never have the chance to experience the product and become a repeat customer.
So take a moment to do more than sell your product or service. Think of ways your customer could get the most out of your product, and ask questions to bring those things to your customer’s mind.