Why do customers take their business elsewhere? Sure, sometimes it’s about dissatisfaction with the quality or price of the product or service. More often, though, it’s about dissatisfaction with people.
[Because of an editing error, a section of this article was omitted. Please go to http://www.businessbrief.com/5-key-reasons-why-customers-leave/ to see the corrected article]
Why they leave
The majority of customers take their business elsewhere because salespeople don’t listen to what they say or ignore them completely. They also object to salespeople who don’t do what they say they will or don’t follow up or follow through.
Here are tips that may help your salespeople remember to keep their commitments:
- Always do what you say you will when you promise to do it.
- Don’t make a commitment you may not be able to keep. Think about the amount of time you need to resolve a problem and make your commitment accordingly.
- Customers would rather have you commit to a realistic time frame than a time frame that sounds good but is unrealistic.
- If you make a commitment that you can’t meet, call your customer and explain the delay. Most customers are understanding as long as you are honest with them.
- When making commitments, try to avoid words such as “as soon as possible” or “right away.” These time frames may mean one thing to you, but they probably mean something different to your customer.
- Try to give a definite time commitment for your answer to a question or problem. Customers appreciate hearing a definite time and day rather than “I’ll call you back when I have an answer.”
Adapted from Award-Winning Customer Service (AMACOM) by Renee Evenson. Ms. Evenson has worked in customer service management for 30 years and is the author of Customer Service Training 101.
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Tags: customers, Renee Evenson, sales, service
March 29th, 2010 at 11:55 am
These are definately words to live by!
March 29th, 2010 at 3:43 pm
When you write an article with a headline that implies a question….such as, 5 key Reasons why customers leave? …..very, very specifically answer that question word for word and number the responses just as you gave the reader a number to expect! Don’t mealey mouth the answers as you have above.
Ed Staley
The Staley Concern
Marketing Consultants
March 29th, 2010 at 3:52 pm
Absolutely true! Your integrity means a lot to a client. Do what you say you’re going to do and always set a realistic guideline.
Good Post!
Robert
March 29th, 2010 at 4:32 pm
Ed is right. While the article makes good points, it doesn’t list 5 reasons why customers leave.
March 29th, 2010 at 5:36 pm
Ed is spot on. The bullets had nothing really at all to do with “5 reasons why customers leave” at all, almost like they were pulled from an article about commitments…
March 29th, 2010 at 6:26 pm
Interesting thoughts to ponder, but I was looking for survey stats to make the comment about “dissatisfaction with people” meaningful. In my satisfaction survey work, I’ve not seen this as a major reason for customers to change vendors or stores. Customers most often go elsewhere because of price, product features, quality or availability of product. I’d think there would have to be a high degree of anger or disgust, or consistently not receiving what was ordered to provoke changing vendors. The author doesn’t say if these comments relate to B2B or consumers. If there is more to this article, I’d really like to read it.
Thanks.
March 30th, 2010 at 10:58 am
Because of an editing error, a section of this original story was omitted — as some readers have noted. We apologize. Please go to http://www.businessbrief.com/5-key-reasons-why-customers-leave/ to see the corrected story.
Jim Giuliano
Managing Editor
BusinessBrief.com