5 Ways to Build Brand Loyalty and Increase Sales with Great Customer Service

By Chakisse Newton, President, Cardinal Consulting, LLC

There are many ways to increase sales and exert influence, but one of them may be easier than you think: provide great customer service. A recent trip to the grocery store provided an excellent case in point.

As I stood in the checkout line having my groceries scanned, the manager approached me and asked, "Did you find everything alright?" I hesitated before responding that I needed olives, but couldn't find them. Quickly, he disappeared and returned with several choices of the store brand olives. I selected the type I needed, added them to my purchase and went home happy.

There are five influence strategies that you can learn from the manager's example that will help you build brand loyalty, improve relationships and increase sales:

1. Ask for feedback (and wait for the real answer). Everyone wants customer feedback, but many times we overlook the simplest way to get it: ask. Look for opportunities in your sales process or relationship building to ask if your customer has everything they need or find out any comments they want to share. If they hesitate, give them time to give you a genuine answer before you move on to a different activity or question.

2. Volunteer solutions. Once your client has identified a need, proactively volunteer to assist with a solution. This may involve brainstorming, conducting research or doing a bit of manual labor to help meet their needs.

3. Offer options. People respond best when they can choose from among various options. There may be many ways to meet your client's objectives and you let the client the choice to pick their preference. In my case, I was offered different sizes and types of olives so that I could choose the one that best fit my needs.

4. Showcase your strengths. When you offer options, don't hesitate to promote your brand and your solutions. Frankly, I never would have considered buying a store brand if the manager hadn't, so kindly, brought it to me. Not only did he win my loyalty in general by helping me, but he also got me to switch brands without trying to convince me to switch or paying a dime in advertising.

5. Stay in sales and service mode. Remember that you can influence others at every step of the sales and relationship building cycle. I was done shopping when the manager found a way to improve the quality of my interaction with the store. Don't stop looking for ways to help your clients just because the sale seems 'done'.

Whether your customers are prospects you want to buy your products and services or internal 'customers' you work with, improving your customer service techniques will create great results. Use these five techniques to improve relationships, increase sales and generate brand loyalty. After all, if a simple grocery store exchange can turn into a brand-building experience, imagine what you can do using the same strategies.

 © 2010 Chakisse Newton. All Rights Reserved.