Have you ever tried this trick?
Next time you need phone help from a big, faceless corporation, when you hit the dreaded voicemail tree, dial sales instead of customer support.
See how fast they pick up? Yep. If you are a prospect, you are treated like a king, while current customers are shunted into the Beetlejuice waiting room.
Make sure you arenÂt perpetrating this injustice within your own business.
It can manifest in a thousand little ways:
- When you check your email, do you respond to the sales inquiry before the customer question?
- If you work in retail, do you pick up the phone while youÂre waiting on a customer in person?
- At a conference, are you staring over your customerÂs shoulder, looking for a new sale?
If you are consistent with the way you approach your business relationships, prospects and customers will know exactly what to expect, at every point in the process.
Look them in the eye, find out what they need, and serve it to them with respect.
Author’s Bio: Rosemary OÂNeill is an insightful spirit who works for Social Strata — makers of the Hoop.la community platform. Check out the Social Strata blog. You can find Rosemary on Google+ and on Twitter as @rhogroupee