How Customer Focus Can Improve Sales Performance

Often times, when we seek to improve our team's sales performance, we focus on ways to attract more customers. While it's important to bring in new customers, one of the best ways to increase your sales performance is to keep your existing customers happy.

Rock stars are constantly cultivating their relationships with their fans. It doesn't mean that they don't strive to attract new fans, but rather that it's important to nurture the people that already love you.

How do you improve your customer service so you can improve your bottom line? Adopt a customer-focused culture.

Marvelless Mark® tells his clients that rock 'n' roll stardom, much like any other business, is built on brand loyalty. He calls this "Vitamin F" and tells his clients that without fans you won't have stardom.

Develop your Buyer Personas

In order to serve your customers, you need to understand who they are and what they want from your company. The more you understand about them, the better you can be at tweaking your product or services to cure their pains.

Rock stars know who they are singing to and it helps them understand what the fans are looking for in an album or a performance. Have you ever listened to a song and felt as if they were speaking directly to you? Understanding your customers will help you "speak" directly to them, making them feel special, heard, and in need of your service.

Give them what they need, not what you want

Train your sales team to understand that the sale isn't about them... it's about the customer. In order to meet their needs, members of your sales team should be listening more than they are talking. When they can more clearly identify and understand the customer's problems, they can find more appropriate solutions.

"People say we are marketing geniuses, all we do is listen to our fans." - Gene Simmons

Include customer service metrics

You already know this but it bears repeating: Happy customers will come back and send you referrals. Unhappy customers will never darken your doorstep again and they'll let all of their friends know how you wronged them.

Include customer service in the metrics that you focus on. This can include:

• Customer satisfaction
• Average Reply Time
• Average Time to Resolution
• Resolution Rate
• and many more.

When you already have a relationship with a customer and have already established trust, sales become easier. Loyal fans pay your salary when they buy what you sell, and they keep you and your business going by spreading the word.

Reward customer service above sales

Successes should be celebrated, however, they shouldn't just revolve around sales quotas. Did one of your team members receive a touching Thank You letter? Has a customer or client reached out to say how impressed they were with their experience?

When you celebrate the customer service wins along with reaching sales goals, you communicate to your team that treating the customer well is more important than closing a sale and then dropping off the face of the planet.

Continue communication beyond the sale

Your customer may have been pleased with the service, but will they ever hear from you again? Following up after a sale provides you with the opportunity to foster a relationship, learn more about their needs, and eventually offer future products or services.

"Real musicians and real fans stay together for a long, long time." - Bonnie Raitt

Cultivating a customer-focused culture will help you develop devoted, enthusiastic fans who will sing your praises and ensure that you're team doesn't become a One Hit Wonder.

Mark Kamp® aka Marvelless Mark® works with organizations who want their teams to achieve immediate rock star results. A Keynote Speaker/Entertainer/Author, Husband, Father, and child of God, his primary message, “Opportunity Rocks®” gives attendees a fresh new perspective on Sales, Marketing, and Employee Performance. Fun and engaging, Mark combines the success secrets of your favorite rock stars with just the right amount of entertainment to transform your employees into business rockstars. Learn more at www.OpportunityRocks.net.