Businesses have to develop an attitude where not only they try to sell a product, but they also try to keep in mind that they are trying to fulfill a need or a want of a customer. With that mentality, businesses can train their employees and customize their products and have a broader sense of how to offer products to customers even if the products differ slightly that the exact requirements specified by customers. Thus, instead of saying “We don’t have that, sorry“, businesses can say “We have something similar to what you need.”
Imagine owning a small business store where a customer walks in looking for an item that they want under $4. If you don’t have any such item below $4 but have similar items that cost $4.50, which of the following responses would you want to give to that customer?
- “Sorry, we don’t have anything below $4“
- “Sorry, we don’t have anything below $4 but we have something close, and it costs only $4.50“
You would probably think that option number 2 above is better of the two answers, offering a customer something close to what they want and also being helpful to them at the same time. Even if the customer does not use that alternate solution, the customer will remember that you were helpful and that you cam came close to fulfilling their requirements, instead of thinking that you did not fulfil their requirements. Most businesses do not realize this. If a customer comes in with a specific request for something, many businesses rarely say anything other than “Sorry, we don’t have that”, thus turning the customer away. Offering alternate solutions to customers can be one of the best methods to have satisfied and loyal customers.
I recently went to a Wendy’s store around 9 pm and was told by an employee standing at the main door that Wendy’s was closed. As I was pulling out of the parking lot, I decided to go through their drive-thru and found out that it was still open, and would remain open until a few hours later. The store employee who told me to basically go away knew I was referring to dining inside the store, though he did not know if I was willing to do a drive-thru or not as an alternate. He thus risked losing me as a customer by not offering me the alternate solution that his store could offer for my needs at that time.
One should reach out to a customer in different ways and not only address their direct needs, but also be creative and thoughtful enough to offer alternates that would satisfy the exact needs of a customer in ways other than what the customer specifies. That involves flexibility and the willingness to think more and taking extra steps to make the customer happy, instead of looking for easy and direct sales all the time.
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