All professional sales people keep records of their customers. Details of customers, such as names, addresses, phone numbers and other personal details are stored in a variety of ways, for example, in an indexed notebook, contact register, tickler box or on the home/ office computer. There is a very good reason for keeping this information. Your existing customers are the mainspring in developing your customer base, whether through informal word-of- mouth advertising or through referrals (sometimes known as recommendation business).
Whenever you complete a sale, before the customer leaves the home shop, broach the subject of a referral. Let’s suppose you sell a range of healthcare products including vitamins. If the customer is satisfied with her purchase, why should she not share the good news with friends? So don’t just thank the customer for the order and allow her to leave. If you do, you can’t turn that one sale into two or more. Many sales people say something like this: ‘Ms Prospect, thank you for your order. Much appreciated. There is no doubt that these health products make a difference. Many people don’t realise the benefit of supplementing one’s diet with vitamin pills. Is there anyone you know who could use these products?’ Continue Reading »
