Does it not drive you crazy when you have to handle something not once but 2 or 3 times?  Most people are busy enough these days that they barely have time to call to complain or schedule a repair or get a price quote.  But if you have to follow up as the customer on something that the salesperson or service person should have acted on with the initial contact, it can become extremely frustrating!

 Yesterday I had “one of those days” and suddenly it occurred to me that it was “one of those days” because I had three different things I was handling where I was forced to make contact not once, not twice, but THREE times.

 I always believe when someone else is doing something wrong that there is a message in it for me.  I guess that message is that follow up and follow through are important – and that the timing of that follow up and follow through must be timely.  Let me hear from you…

I just had a participant in a class yesterday who talked about a situation that is common in the service world.  Many times a customer will call to order a product or service.  They think they have described what they want in perfect detail, yet we know that we do not have enough information.

 It is very important in a case like this to master some basic questioning techniques.  To avoid upsetting the customer we must first repeat what the customer said and then make a statement such as this: “Thank you for providing me with that information.  I now hope you can provide me with the following information so that I am sure to order exactly what you need.”  This statement validates that they are on the right track and basically asks permission to ask some additional questions.  Notice that the focus was on “I” not you. In other words, it is me who needs help, not YOU.  If the customer was told, “You haven’t given me enough information to place this order”, the customer might become defensive.