IT’S BUSINESS AND IT’S PERSONAL
Last week you may have read my article “Is customer service on the wane?" One of the main concerns mentioned was the ability of the frontline staff to engage with the customer. Once this process is truly understood and integrated it really makes sense in the bigger picture and everything becomes a lot more fun. As a business and personal coach....with over 25 years hands on experience in sales... I hope you enjoy the sharing as it supports the learning of this under promoted process of customer engagement.
I am sure most everyone has heard the famous words ...”ITS JUST BUSINESS, ITS NOT PERSONAL” at least once in their lifetime while conducting business. These words sometimes have a tendency to be used as a means of escaping responsibilities and accountability. If you are doing business ethically, morally and with kindness and caring...these words would probably never need to be uttered, a whole other article could be written on that topic alone. Can you be practical, kind, ethical, caring, compassionate and still do well in buisness and not be considered just a total idealist? O.K. back to the customer engagement process, this is where all your senses must be activated and when it comes to BUSINESS... IT COULDN’T GET MORE PERSONAL!
The key in engaging your guest is to be actively involved in the process...to go from passive to active is to be fully alive or living fully.
Whether it is in the process of selling or the picture you paint or the meal you serve, you must find the artist within. This type of activity comes from a special kind of attitude that allows time to slow down and a space for your true self to bring wonder and create the joy within to share your light to the world.
In cultivating this kind of attitude in your life it is a process of being very present in the wonder of what one might learn today...who will you meet and who may have a story that can enhance your life or change your view on the world, and in exchange how may you create that special experience to make a difference in someone else’s life.
Engagement...is a place to cultivate this time and space ...a process to building relationships and getting to know each other through listening with true interest. When you laugh with your guest ... and share something exciting with them, listen, study and soon you will find a connection, similarities in your day, your environment, and even in your lives. You will both feel a sense of openness, a place where each can share ...if you begin with a true interest in your customer, then customers will be very receptive of your genuine engagement. They will know and feel this natural state... a place of honesty and of service, if it is not genuine your customer will sense this too. A loyal and long term relationship, business or personal ... is always being in a place of how and who may I be of service to today so that we both can be the best we can be, creating amazing experiences.
The following are 5 important steps to remember in the process of engagement in retail sales...
# 1...Customer awareness and gaining favourable attention
#2...Being thoughtful through listening and study
#3 ...Appreciative inquiry....seeking the positive
#4...Customer satisfaction with their decision
#5...Cultivating mindfulness.... genuinely caring and being of service
Last week you may have read my article “Is customer service on the wane?" One of the main concerns mentioned was the ability of the frontline staff to engage with the customer. Once this process is truly understood and integrated it really makes sense in the bigger picture and everything becomes a lot more fun. As a business and personal coach....with over 25 years hands on experience in sales... I hope you enjoy the sharing as it supports the learning of this under promoted process of customer engagement.
I am sure most everyone has heard the famous words ...”ITS JUST BUSINESS, ITS NOT PERSONAL” at least once in their lifetime while conducting business. These words sometimes have a tendency to be used as a means of escaping responsibilities and accountability. If you are doing business ethically, morally and with kindness and caring...these words would probably never need to be uttered, a whole other article could be written on that topic alone. Can you be practical, kind, ethical, caring, compassionate and still do well in buisness and not be considered just a total idealist? O.K. back to the customer engagement process, this is where all your senses must be activated and when it comes to BUSINESS... IT COULDN’T GET MORE PERSONAL!
The key in engaging your guest is to be actively involved in the process...to go from passive to active is to be fully alive or living fully.
Whether it is in the process of selling or the picture you paint or the meal you serve, you must find the artist within. This type of activity comes from a special kind of attitude that allows time to slow down and a space for your true self to bring wonder and create the joy within to share your light to the world.
In cultivating this kind of attitude in your life it is a process of being very present in the wonder of what one might learn today...who will you meet and who may have a story that can enhance your life or change your view on the world, and in exchange how may you create that special experience to make a difference in someone else’s life.
Engagement...is a place to cultivate this time and space ...a process to building relationships and getting to know each other through listening with true interest. When you laugh with your guest ... and share something exciting with them, listen, study and soon you will find a connection, similarities in your day, your environment, and even in your lives. You will both feel a sense of openness, a place where each can share ...if you begin with a true interest in your customer, then customers will be very receptive of your genuine engagement. They will know and feel this natural state... a place of honesty and of service, if it is not genuine your customer will sense this too. A loyal and long term relationship, business or personal ... is always being in a place of how and who may I be of service to today so that we both can be the best we can be, creating amazing experiences.
The following are 5 important steps to remember in the process of engagement in retail sales...
# 1...Customer awareness and gaining favourable attention
#2...Being thoughtful through listening and study
#3 ...Appreciative inquiry....seeking the positive
#4...Customer satisfaction with their decision
#5...Cultivating mindfulness.... genuinely caring and being of service
"The guests that you have engaged with will not only visit more often to buy from you, they will generate a larger purchase price, and a higher customer satisfaction will be the winning result and the true gift.
Customer engagement is a form of self-discipline and will help you and those around you become better human beings.
Be patient ....listen for the truth ... and speak your truth...slow it down and the gifts of time and space will come your way, FALL IN LOVE, give, receive and appreciate the enjoyment of GETTING ENGAGED with your customer.
Caterina Alberti,
It’s Business and It’s Personal Sales and Service Coaching @ Crossover Coaching Inc.
crossovercoaching@gmail.com, P.604-905-8200
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