» Customer service

Warning: gzinflate() [function.gzinflate]: data error in /home/selfblog/public_html/wp-includes/http.php on line 1787

Getting a sale is just one big cat and mouse game between the sales person and the customer. The funny thing is that both sides knows what the other side is trying to do, but they are also trying to make sure that they maintain the upper hand in the game. The customer wants to make sure that they are not revealing too much information or making sure that they are not giving the sales person signs that they are wanting to make the purchase. The sales person is wanting to not be too pushy and let the customer believe that the sale that is about to happen is all their idea. Oh it is so fun playing this game.

In the self storage world the game is sometimes a very easy back and forth while other times the game can be very stressful. Most times when people are needing storage they have such a desperate need for it right now and there is not a game to be played. While other times the customer still needs the space and no matter what the sales person does, they will still get the sale. The customer in the latter situation just wants to make the sales person sweat. Sometimes the game is very direct while other times the sales person might come from many different approaches to close the sale. What kind of things does the sales person do in order to close the sale and win the game?

Again it is not a secret that the sales person is doing their best to close this deal. They want the customer to go ahead and rent the space. They want the customer to rent the space right now without a moment’s delay. They quickly have to find out what the customer’s situation is and take care of them. So the sales person will ask a bunch of questions in order to figure out the customer’s situation. They are trying to build rapport and be the friend of the customer. When you are friends with people, most likely you will do whatever they recommend. Well the sales person is trying to be their friend for two reasons. One to build rapport to understand the customer’s needs and also to close the sale. If the customer says no to the subtlety of rapport building then the sales person has to resort to plan b.

No one is trying to play games with the customer because the customer has a genuine problem, but the customer is not always trying to be helpful. They believe they can go from facility to facility and haggle prices to get it down to where they are comfortable. That is not needed. The sales person will do whatever they can to close the sale which could include special rates, discounts are even specials. As a customer, all you have to do is ask instead of making the sales person sweat. The sales person could be luring the customer the whole time with dreams of paying a great price for storage and grant their wish.

Tweet This Post 

Warning: gzinflate() [function.gzinflate]: data error in /home/selfblog/public_html/wp-includes/http.php on line 1787

How many times do you think you breathe in a day? There are scientists out there that say they know that answer. Well I guess it is not hard to think about how you can find out. Just take breaths for 10 seconds are so and multiply that by how many seconds are in day. Unfortunately I do not have calculator handy so we will just say that you breathe a lot. It looks like we take breathing for granted. We just believe that we are and we do not give it a second thought. It does not take any effort to breathe or bodies naturally do it. That is just amazing really. There will be times in which you will and should take a breath before something bad comes out of your mouth.

There will be plenty of times in which a storage customer comes in already upset at something that affected them before they speak to you. They do not intentionally come into the office to give a piece of their mind to the self storage manager. They want to have something go right for them that day. So the manager really has to understand that they did not do anything to the customer and they are not the cause for their upset state. So many managers need to make sure that they are taking deep breathes before answering or help the customer. That will help them tremendously.

Many people do not realize that they can really just take a deep breath and that can do wonders for them. If you take a moment and take a deep breath, your mind will be clear and it gives you a second to think about what you want to say before you say something you will regret. That is the part that many people do not realize is that words can be hurtful and sometimes drive the customer away. The manager does not want to drive the customer away. In fact they want the customer to stay. So take a deep breath and you will find that you will have a clear head and be able to help the customer.

Breathing is a lost art that many before forget about. Now of course you might ask, how can you forget about breathing. Well you don’t forget about breathing, you just forget about being calm and patient. The breathing is just a tool to use to get you to relax and take a moment before you react. There have been many times in which a customer and a manager got into a unnecessary argument because both sides didn’t breath and were not patient.  Maybe the argument would not have stopped but you can do your part to understand how you can not be a part of it next time.

Do not forget to breathe at those times in which you need to. Take a moment to wait for the rational thoughts to come into your head. You never want to argue with a customer but you also do not want to be treated in a bad way. There has to be a middle ground. It is a good move to breathe and not to say anything for a while if the customer is going off on a tangent rant. If this is the case then the customer will eventually realize that you are not arguing and everyone will calm down. Then maybe after that point, you can continue on trying to find them a storage solution.

Tweet This Post