Sales Recovery

Elements of Business Skills

 

PROCEDURES FOR HANDLING SALES RECOVERY

 1.         What procedures should be taken to make sales recovery?

 Step 1 – Always apologies.  Say that you are sorry.  Mean what you say.  Be genuine.

 Step 2 – Fix the problem immediately

 Step 3 – Give a token or gift

2.         What does all these steps mean to us?

 Step 1 is when the salesman could have overlooked at something’s that upset the customer.   An apology can calm the customer down.  Even though it might not be you who caused the customer to be unhappy, you need to apologize.  You represent the company.  We might know that the customer’s sometimes could be in the wrong but you need to remember that being a service provider you have to make the customer feel valued and important and solve their problems too.  You need to meet the need and expectation of the customer. 

Step 2 is requires you to listen to the customer’s assessment of the problem.  Listen attentively to the customer while he or she is speaking to you.  The next step is to fix it.  Sometimes the issue could be about giving the customer the incorrect invoice or keying in the incorrect amount on their invoice, for example, instead of $90, you keyed in $100.  Such mistakes should be corrected in the spot.  However, for more complex issues, for example, when an equipment breakdown after three days after purchase, then you must go to the customers house and do either a one-to-one exchange like in the case of a washing machine or send a temporary photocopying machine to the company and then take the spoilt photocopying machine for repair. 

 An important rule of the thumb is do not waste time.   Act on it immediately. 

Step 3 is where you give the customer a token.  The token is a gift.  This token is important.  It symbolize that you acknowledge your mistake (whether it is or not), will not repeat the mistake and that you care for the customer.  The token need not be expensive.  It is a gesture that you will continue to be at their service. 

3.         How would you know when to provide sales recovery?

• Deadline was not met
• Not meeting the time as said that it would have been delivered
• Filling in an incorrect order
• Being impolite towards the customer
• Providing incorrect information to the customer

4.         What are types of things you could do to make the customer happy again? 

• Giveaways – customer could keep the product that he or she did not buy and the salesman would supply the customer the correct item that he or she wanted.
• Discount- instead of paying full-price, the customer pays half price. This happens when an incorrect good was given from the start of the transaction.
• Absorbing extra costs-Transport costs to deliver the item to the customer’s house is waived.  This happens when the initial item that the customer bought broke down.
• Personal touch-Giving a call after the product has been delivered and asked whether the item is fine with them.  If it should give problem again, the customer can give a call to the Customer Service hotline and prompt action will be carried out.  This is practiced when the initial item was bought and thereafter broke down. 
• Goodwill-This is about practicing exceptional customer service.  For example, an elderly couple bought five pairs of track shoes for their grandchildren for Christmas present and it is already 10 pm when the store is about to close for the day, you as the sales person not only accompanied the elderly couple to the taxi stand but paid the taxi fare for the elderly couple back home too.  This can happen because the elderly couple waited long in the cue and determined to buy the track shoes for their grandchildren.

5.         Reflection: 

In groups of four, share and write in point-form the type of sales recovery you or your family members or relatives could have experienced.