Going back to basics (just like your customers)

A recent story from Media Post Marketing Daily cites a Pied Piper “Prospect Satisfaction Index” in suggesting that Victory Motorcycle dealers are doing what it takes to win in the challenging motorcycle segment. The study—involving more than 2,000 “mystery shoppers”—seems to be more of an inventory of salesperson behaviors than an actual “buyer satisfaction” report.
Nonetheless, it’s a good example of how to observe and quantify the kinds of behaviors that can lead to sales.

Implications: For quite some time now, I’ve been suggesting that if consumers have gone “back to basics,” we should, too. And this article seems to offer several ideas about how to do that, like asking for the business, discussing barriers to the purchase, and inquiring about a potential trade-in the customer might have.

Here are a few more:

Is your company telephone answered as if your employee is glad the customer called?

Do sellers act as if they are trying to get a sale… or like they’re trying to gain a customer?

Is your courtesy car driven by someone who is… courteous?

For more, search the Elm Street archives for customer service issues.

Mike Anderson