It's about the customer, not the sale

Bhawna Trehan, Customer Service Manager, Inteplast Engineered Films – Haremar Division

It’s no revelation that trust is the glue that holds business relationships together. But despite this invaluable adage having been proven time and time again, it’s still preached far more than it’s practiced.

A lot of organizations claim they are trustworthy, but fail to recognize that trust must be earned and expressed repeatedly and consistently through their actions. It starts with simple gestures, like returning phone calls or e-mails as quickly as possible, and being genuine in your communications (doing what you say you’re going to do). And as an absolutely essential part of sales, if trust is not present, customers either won’t buy, or won’t buy more than once.

So, here are some things we’ve learned that help create and keep trust, and in turn help create and keep customers.

Listening to needs

Customers both need and deserve to be heard. From their first call to their hundredth, understanding their needs is integral to catering to them and forging strong bonds. Once you’ve sorted a customer’s wants, solutions must be provided in a timely manner. Our policy is to always provide more than what is expected.

Communicating core values

Core values are the engine that drive a company’s vision and shape their culture. When genuinely expressed (or proven) to clients, they are always well received and often align with their own, creating a sense of familiarity and a foundation of trust. One of our most important core values? Customer satisfaction.

Consistency

Providing our customers with consistent product quality, service and deliveries strengthens our business relationship with them. And when it comes to consistent customer service, employee training is absolutely necessary to help ensure excellent and equal treatment of all customers.

Transparency

Transparency is another quality that should come naturally, yet so many businesses have trouble coming to terms with what it really means. So, what does it mean? For us, it’s immediately notifying a customer if there is going to be any delay in shipping or problem with manufacturing. It means owning the mistake, then making up for it. When honesty is your only policy, you might find forgiveness comes a little easier.