The story of Nordstrom accepting the return of a snow tire, something that they do not sell, turns out to be true. It’s a long story about why they accepted it and gave the man his money back but the bottom line is that the Nordstrom policy of never saying “no” has served it well.
Today, the policy is clarified to say that if a customer returns something that Nordstrom COULD sell, accept it, give them their money back, even when you think it was not sold at the store.
In short, never say “no”. Marketforce.com, in 2017, found that, “Nordstrom’s fan base is as fervent as ever. For the fifth time in a row, Nordstrom ranked as the nation’s favorite fashion retailer in an annual retail industry study”.
In your market, who would be ranked #1 HVAC service and install company? Would it be your company? Admittedly, the retail industry is very different from yours. But the power of never saying “No” has application across industries. What if your CSRs stopped saying “No” when someone called in for a service your company doesn’t offer?
It can be difficult to do but difficult and impossible are not the same thing. In fact, we have found that when CSRs are trained to never say “No”, they book more calls. Why? Because they know how to focus on what your company CAN do.
One CSR, we will call her Beverly, literally freaked out when her Coach first introduced this idea.
“We have people calling, wanting us to clean their rain gutters. They think that since we replaced the unit that’s on the roof, we should clean the rain gutters because they’re afraid if the gutters get full, it will affect the way the unit works. They don’t understand that’s not going to happen.”
The coach then suggested that they role play how better to handle that situation, with the coach acting as the CSR.
Coach: “Thank you for calling ABC service. My name is Carol. How may I make your day better?’
Customer: “That wind and rain last night filled our rain gutters. With more rain coming, those leaves are going to make it impossible to run the unit on the roof.”
Coach: “Wow! That storm last night caused a lot of problems all over town. May I have your name?”
Customer: “Mrs. Collins.”
Coach: “Mrs. Collins, I am very glad you called us today. We have the perfect company to help you. Do you have a paper and pencil and I can give you the number?”
Customer: “What? You won’t do this for us? You sold us the unit that’s up on the roof and it’s only two years old. You should be able to take care of this!”
Coach: “Mrs. Collins, we want to be sure you get the very best service and we know that Cleary Roofing is the best company to do that. Ask for Bob. He has taken very good care of many of our customers.”
Customer: “Well, okay, if you won’t do it. I think it’s ridiculous you won’t help us but okay, I have a pencil and paper.”
Coach: “Mrs. Collins, I hear your frustration. That’s why I’m giving you contact information for Cleary Roofing. That number is 555-7018. Be sure to ask for Bob. He knows us well and has done a great job for our customers over the years.”
Customer: “Okay. I’ll do that.”
Coach: “Thank you for calling today. We look forward to hearing from you again.”
Customer: “Thank you”.
Beverly still thought it was easier said than done but, she tried it the next time someone called for a service her company did not provide and it worked beautifully. Beverly told her coach, “I was doubtful and a little reluctant at first but when a man called wanting us to trim bushes that were encroaching on his outside air conditioning unit, I passed along the contact information for a company we‘ve used before. It was easy.”
Change is difficult but not impossible. Want to become the Nordstrom of HVAC companies in your market? Never say “No”.
Train your team to say “YES” and be among the first to reserve your spot on Power Certification HQ, The Premier Membership for Service Businesses Wanting to Empower Their People, WOW Their Customers, and GROW Their Business
Mary Burkett was born in Southern New Jersey, raised in Southern California, Mary Burkett is a graduate of the University of Utah.
The post One word to avoid saying to your customers at ALL costs… appeared first on Power Selling Pros.
