TALKING TO THE CUSTOMER

Ever had a customer call and say they were visiting with the cleaning tech who relayed one or more of the following?

1. They just don't give me enough time to do this job.
2. My equipment is always broke and they don't fix it.
3. We don't do that, it's not in the specs.
4. They don't pay me enough money.
5. Will you call my boss and tell him I need more time?

Most BSCs I know have at one time or another had one of these calls and then have to deal with the employee on the issue.

Most companies have some sort of initial orientation or training program that gives the employee an overview of how to use the products and equipment needed to clean the facility but I find very few have a training program that addresses how to talk with the customer when approached about an issue or complaint they want corrected. 

Worse yet, if you have an employee that goes to the customer with one of the issues we addressed in items 1 through 5 above. This can leave the customer with the impression you are not managing you company efficiently and those are the impressions that get customers thinking that maybe they should begin searching for another vendor.

So, how about your company? Do you train your line staff on how to handle each of these issues? What are your employees trained to say when talking with a customer? 

Customers can be lost if your staff doesn't have the right training on how to talk with a customer. We spend countless dollars and time in securing a new account and all can be lost in a just a few minutes by an employee who doesn't know the procedure to follow. 

Let me suggest that included in your initial orientation you include a session on talking with the customer. What should or should not employees say to a customer? What do you want them to say? Have you trained them in this very important area of customer relations?

You see, while you or your sales department may have secured the account, your cleaning techs, more often than not, will have more interaction with the customer once the account is up and going. 

Let me suggest you take some time to design a training program for all employees on the things they should and should not say when encountering a customer. It may just save (or lose) an account for you. 

Till next time. MAKE IT A GREAT DAY.