Earlier this year at the Live Your Best Day Event we held in Ottawa, a woman approached me and kindly gifted me one of her products.
I went home and gifted that product to my husband. He LOVED it.
Now I needed one for myself, so I went onto their website shortly after that and sent them an email about ordering another.
I never received an email back from them and never ended up ordering.
Fast forward several months to when we arrived in Florida and my husband realized he had not brought the item with him. He mentioned several times that he really wished he had so I went online, found their number, and this time I called the woman.
When she answered, I introduced myself and I reminded her I was one of the organizers of the event so she would remember me. I explained the situation and told her I wanted to order two items and have them shipped to Florida. I also mentioned that I had previously emailed and received no reply that was why I was calling.
What happened next amazed me…
She did not offer to take my order but instead directed me to go to her website and order the product.
This is a tactical error I see happen that costs many businesses money.
Your customer is on the phone. They are asking to give you money.
Make it easy for them to buy.
Instead of saying to your buyer (most likely on the other end of the line with credit card in hand as I was!) that the best thing to do is use the website so it calculates the shipping, tell them that the cost does not include shipping. Offer to call them back with the shipping fees or provide them with a ballpark price.
If you aren’t a master at the art of selling have a look at this Shop Talk Video for some tips:
The most important thing to know is – Never send a customer who is ready to buy away.
The individual I was dealing with did not try to sell me anything. They didn’t offer to guide me on my purchase, to up-sell me on other products or make the process easier for me. They just basically told me to go away and use their website, which didn’t seem particularly user friendly.
Have you have ever watched Dragons Den or Shark Tank? If so, you know already that business is all about sales and valuation.
When you are complaining about results in your business take a look at how you are treating your existing customers. Having a business requires your ability to sell and when you fail to do that – people go elsewhere.
If someone calls you and wants to buy – help them to do that. Don’t send them away to think about it or process the order online – take the business.
In the Pilot Project, I talk about business a lot. In fact, we go into the nitty gritty details of tracking numbers and cash flow because I want you to learn about your business value. I’ll even be talking about how the numbers can help fuel rather than extinguish your passion in my free webinar coming up on December 4th on How to Stay Passionate About Your Business.
Your first priority should always be – make it easy for people to buy, and always process the order when the client wants to buy. Otherwise, you are leaving money on the table.
Time to share! In the comments below tell me about a customer service experience you’ve had recently, good or bad, that really stuck with you. I love hearing your stories!
2 thoughts on “Are You Leaving Money on the Table?”
Hi Lisa,
Great post!
I wanted to share a really great customer experience I had with Telus.
I had been down to the states on vacation with my family and had not set up a roaming package. When I got my cell phone bill I realized I had incurred over a $100 in roaming fees. I called Telus and they knocked down my bill and charged me for a roaming package instead. I was floored by their customer service and happen to tell everyone on Facebook! 🙂
It’s SO TRUE Lisa! I see that happen so often.
I was having a conversation with a business owner (a man) who was exclaiming how much in merchant fees he had just paid for a $5,000 sale. He told me that in the future he wanted to charge a 3% fee for doing so and I told him the same thing — “Don’t make it hard for them to buy from you! Factor that in to your cost.”
I know I am not perfect, but boy, if we’re having a conversation in person or on the phone, my ears are always perked for the buyer signs.