On Saturday, we had a sales person visit us. One of the wooden beds in our house has a wood borer problem. Everyday we would find a small pile of wood dust when we wake up. So we called a pest control company and it was their sales person who was visiting us.
He came in and I showed him the tiny wood dust under our bed. He said it was a wood borer problem and it can be solved. Next I showed him the termite problem in the bathroom. After that he walked around the kitchen and said, everything has to be treated with anti-termite chemical. He looked at the wooden flooring and said, we need to treat this too…
I asked him to give me a quotation for just treating the wood borer problem in the bed. He refused to “listen” and went on to say that the whole house had to be treated. He even created a proposal and asked Krishnan to sign off. It was as if my questions were unimportant. I told him, the wooden flooring never got any termite because these planks are chemically treated. Again, he refused and said, pest control had to be done for the entire house. Wanted us to empty all the kitchen shelves, the under-bed box and the wardrobe.
Thankfully, Amma’s room has steel almirahs from Godrej … they are indestructible :):).
The sales person sat there for a few minutes hoping that we would pay some advance. We said we will let him know when the pest control activity can be done as our calendars were full. He reluctantly left our house without making a sale.
Five minutes later I called my old trusted pest control guy. On Sunday, the bed was rid of the wood borer, the anti-termite treatment for the bathroom was done and the kitchen got the anti-cockroach treatment all under 45 minutes. It took 45 minutes because we took nearly 15 minutes to clear out the under-bed box. I would have called my old trusted pest control guy earlier, but this pest control company had put up our pigeon nets and they did a great job of it. So we thought why not give them additional business as they were closer to our condo complex.
Why did the Pest control company lose this sale ?
- The sales person refused to “listen” to the customer (me).
- He assumed that he knew more than the customer …. yes he did about pest control, but he should have known that wooden flooring is already treated.
- Not registering the non-verbal cues and insisting on getting a commitment without realising that we had lost interest. I asked him thrice to give us a quotation for just the bed to be treated for the wood borer problem. He simply kept telling us that the whole house had to be treated !!!
The second example I want to share happened in Coimbatore. I was going for the Ayurvedic massage to a nearby Ayurvedic clinic affiliated with Kotakkal Arya Vaidya Sala. The first day was outstanding. Both the masseur, the service and the way they treated me was great.
I booked for another session a week later. On the day that I had to go for my session, we had a call to attend at the exact time that my session was scheduled for. So when I met one of the customer service reps during my morning walk, I asked her if the massage session can be shifted to the next day. She said yes. We still went to the clinic to reschedule. Someone else was there at the front desk, and she rescheduled my massage for 7.30 am the next day. I got a call later in the day asking if I could come by 8.00 am as no one was available at 7.30 am. I said fine.
The next morning, we went to the clinic at 7.55 am and were told that my session was at 8.45 am. I was surprised and totally thrown off because I never expected the timing to change by 45 minutes with no notice !!! I got upset when they tried telling me that I had asked for the change in the timing. We just canceled the session and walked off in a huff.
I went to another Ayurvedic clinic and got my massage done the next day. A week later, we went back to the Arya Vaidya Sala affiliated clinic to book a 7 am massage. It got booked and I sent them a message a day earlier to confirm the booking. Everything went off well… till that same customer service rep came to the front office as I was paying. I said hello and I had by then booked for the next week. She told me not to cancel the booking and that I had to inform in advance if I wanted to cancel.
After a wonderful massage I was calm and relaxed otherwise, I might have bitten her head off !!! The gall to tell the customer whose appointment got rescheduled with no prior information that she needs to inform you incase of a cancellation was a bit too much. I told her with a smile, I don’t cancel without prior information, like you.
I went back for my next massage as well because the masseur was outstanding, the medicated oils that were used were top class and the effect on my overall well being was great.
The reason why this Arya Vaidya Sala affiliated clinic retained me as a customer despite the terrible customer service experience is because of their product and the masseur’s quality. But, my loyalty is tenuous. The next clinic that’s just as good (and there are several), will get my business very easily.
Both the examples above point to the same thing – losing sales is easy. Remember the following to retain your customers –
- Listen to the customer – even if your product is world class
- Don’t assume – wait for the customer to tell you what they need
- Close the loop – don’t make changes without prior information
Happy selling !! Like Daniel Pink says “To Sell Is Human”.
The first and foremost skill of the front end or the customer-facing person is to listen, not just like a duty or a chore but to be attentive and empathetic. Listening releases half of the anxiety of the customer/client/patient, which builds trust and assures that they will be treated well and served honestly and logically.
I too had many such incidents that left a bad taste and never felt like visiting that place again, even if 100 other things were right.
Basic empathy and kindness make a lot of difference.
True that. But in this 2 min Maggi world, listening is becoming a lost art. 😔