Recently, I have had significant issues with my car. For the past two months, I’ve taken my car in for repairs a total of eight times. Not a pleasant experience and it’s still not fixed properly.
Due to lengthy repair times, I’ve rented a car from St. Louis-based Enterprise Rent-A-Car on five of the eight occasions. I won’t mention the name of the car dealership that has yet to properly fix my car after eight trips.
Each time I rented a car from Enterprise, I received a follow-up call within a few hours of picking up the rental. “Hi, this is _______, I just wanted to make sure you’re happy with the rental car. If you have any questions or there’s anything I can do, please don’t hesitate to call. You can reach me at _____.”
Enterprise-Rent-A-Car is a multi-billion dollar company. Yet, they’re able to follow-up directly with thousands of customers each day after the “sale.”
On the other hand, how many calls do you think I’ve received from the relatively small, local dealership? Zero. I have yet to receive one phone call from the dealership or the manufacturer, despite the fact the car has been in for service eight different times in the past few months.
This is an obvious question, but which company do you think has my loyalty? Which company will I refer others to and which company will I steer others away from?
If you can easily identify your buyers and their contact information, make a follow up call soon after the sale to make sure your buyers are happy with your product or service. Even if you just leave a 30 second voicemail message, that simple message will set you and your company apart from a significant number of other companies and professionals who don’t follow this “common sense” approach.
And if you catch your buyer “live” – even better. Thank him or her for purchasing your product or service and ask for one improvement suggestion or the one thing you could have done better to make his or her buying experience even better.
I almost feel everyone reading this post will be going “duh.” I agree.
What’s the saying from Voltaire? I believe the quote is “common sense is not so common.”
Remember, it is the culmination of all the small things you do or don’t do during sales interactions with buyers that make a big difference in your selling success.
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