A short while ago Mark – a business friend – was telling me about troubles he was experiencing with a particular supplier. He would often try to contact the supplier via the telephone but mostly got through to his voicemail or to an office junior with no knowledge of Mark’s account and no desire to be of any help. Mark told me that in the beginning he was treated like royalty by his supplier, and things only seemed to go downhill a few months after he started using them.
For months Mark had endured poor customer service, poor support, and just had a feeling of a total lack of interest from the supplier despite him using them like clockwork every single week. After some months Mark found another supplier dealing in exactly the same product, and immediately felt more welcome. From his initial telephone call to the new supplier, Mark felt understood and knew that the new supplier was interested in him and serious about his prospective account. Mark met with the suppliers and felt that same feeling of togetherness and interest from the suppliers, and he immediately ceased operations with the problematic one.
We’re now another few months down the line and the new supplier still treats him well. His calls are answered by people that know about his account, and everybody is on respectful first name terms with him. They know about his interests and can idle away the time talking about golf whilst they’re waiting for an order to be processed. It all feels more “right” for Mark.
So what’s the difference between the two suppliers? They both distributed identical products and both delivered on time. The difference is that the old supplier only used rapport building skills in their sales staff, but once his account was passed to the general office, they never managed (or attempted) to establish rapport with Mark, where as the new supplier did this from the very first moment they made contact and maintained it throughout their hierarchy.
Rapport is an essential tool in a business and it needs to be conveyed throughout the company, not just in sales staff. How many times have you been “hooked” by a company and then felt abandoned once they have you in their grasp? This may work for a contract product such as a mobile phone, but as soon as the contract is due for renewal, the customer will often jump ship and use someone else. Even worse if you’re adopting this approach in a company without imposed fixed contract terms, your customers could jump ship immediately!
It is therefore important for any company to establish and maintain rapport throughout their business operations. From the Managing Director through to the sales managers, sales team, customer service, receptionist, and even any security staff and technicians.
The moral of the story: TRAIN YOUR STAFF FROM TOP TO BOTTOM! YOUR BUSINESS DEPENDS ON IT!
