Dealing with Customers Lawfully (Rapid Skill Builder Series)

How to Deal With Clients Who Refuse To Pay

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Remember that if you want to do more business with the supplier in the future, you should aim to strike a deal that both parties are happy with. Although getting the best possible deal in the short-term is important, a good relationship in the future may help you get even cheaper prices or other perks, such as priority delivery.

Don't underestimate the importance of good will. By conducting some basic research into a potential supplier you can work out how valuable your business is to them. Your bargaining power increases in direct proportion to your potential supplier's need for your business. However, if the supplier has a number of competitors - or is a new entrant to a particular market - you'll be in a much stronger position.

Also, the supplier may already be offering good deals in a bid to increase its market share. Alternatively, a supplier may need your business to get rid of old stock or to fill spare production capacity. Try to find out as much as you can about the state of its order book.

If you're a small supplier's main customer, your leverage in negotiations may be considerable. But tread carefully - if you push too far you may erode its goodwill, which could damage the service you get. There's also the risk they could drop the product you require, or even go out of business. Try to identify the key staff in the supplier's business to negotiate with. There's no point trying to squeeze concessions out of a junior member of staff who doesn't have the authority to grant them.

Negotiating at the right time can be an important strategic tool. For example, a salesperson may need to meet a monthly sales quota.

Negotiate the right deal with suppliers

It's essential to plan your strategy in writing before beginning negotiations. This will help you set clear goals and work out where you will draw the line and walk away from the deal. Start by defining what your priorities are, such as low price, high specification goods or a specific delivery schedule. Think about different offers the supplier could make and what you are willing to concede or compromise on. For example, you may decide that you'll only pay the full price in exchange for fast turnaround. Write down your negotiating strengths and how you might use them to get the concessions you require.

Consider ways of defending the weaker parts of your argument and negating the supplier's main strengths. Once you've set out your strategy, it is also essential to get your negotiating team right. Make sure it has skills in all the necessary areas. You'll need to ensure you match the seniority of the supplier's representatives. For example, you shouldn't send a junior account manager to bargain with their managing director. Make sure each member of the team is familiar with your negotiating strategy. The more confident they sound about what they want, the more likely they are to get it.

Before you start negotiating, state the aspects of the deal you're happy with and the points you want to discuss. Ask the supplier to do the same. Make sure both sides are satisfied with what is being negotiated. Get the supplier to restate any discounts offered and payment terms.

Keep these key bits of information to hand. Do not indicate that there are things you're prepared to concede or compromise on too early in the negotiations. Try to give the impression you're approaching the negotiations positively without revealing your position. For important or large purchases suggest setting out the key points of the deal in writing. For example, for the purchase of company cars, these might state your requirements, such as the make, year, model, the interior specification and delivery times. You also need to be aware of common negotiating tactics. If the other party keeps referring to urgent deadlines or a person they need to confer with, remember they may be using pressure tactics.

Use such tactics yourself with caution. Don't allow pressure to force you into agreeing to a point you're not happy with. Ask for a break if you need one. Each time you agree to a point, clarify that you've understood it correctly and write it down.

In some trades, suppliers set artificially high prices that are then permanently discounted. If this scenario applies to your business then ensure that any concessions the supplier gives are real -negotiate discounts that go beyond the standard level. Never accept the first offer - make a low counter-offer in return. The other party is likely to come back with a revised figure. Always ask what else they can include at the given price. If the price is suspiciously low, ask yourself why.

Are the goods of sufficiently high quality?

Do they really offer value for money? What will after-sales service be like? You can also try to make the asking price look high by exposing any ongoing costs. Ask about repair costs, consumables and other expenses. If the current state of the supplier's market means prices are falling, point this out. If the price includes features you don't need, try to lower it by asking to remove those features from the deal. Use your bargaining power to get a good deal. For example, if you're a big customer of the supplier, you could ask for bulk discounts. So how do you address problems quickly?

Use this four-step process:.

Let the customer speak without interrupting. First, find out what actions the customer took. Then review with the customer what should have happened had everything run smoothly. Conclude by isolating what went wrong. Before you suggest possible solutions, ask your customer for ideas.

Work it into your everyday management of the business. What Customers Value Most: Enterprise One to One: The Customer Driven Company: Moving from Talk to Action by Richard C. Customer Inter ction Solutions How to Create a Customer Service Plan. Customer Service as a Competitive Advantage With even small businesses investing heavily in technology — from database software to Web site development — traditional feature and cost advantages no longer provide a sustainable competitive advantage.

You can reduce it if you develop a systematic way of dealing with your customers. Higher efficiencies — When you focus on areas that directly affect customer satisfaction, you can use your resources more efficiently. An effective customer service program provides a game plan for working on those areas most important to your customers, while reducing distractions that can derail your progress. Survival — You need effective customer service to turn your high-growth business into a viable long-term competitor. With increasing globalization and the knocking down of trade barriers, the race for customers is fierce.

There are plenty of suppliers eager to satisfy customers.

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Assess Your Customer Service Quotient In order to establish an effective customer service plan, you need a starting point. For each statement, rate your business based on the following scale: We try to do things right the first time. As the owner, I show by example that customer service is important. When we sell, we aim for a partnership approach. We know the features and benefits that matter most to our customers.

We review customer complaints. We constantly ask our customers for feedback.

We regularly look for ways to eliminate errors based on customer input. We frequently interact with our customers. We make it easy for our customers to deal with us. We aim to resolve all customer complaints. We encourage "wowing the customer. I respect my employees. All employees possess the right tools and skills to perform their jobs well. All employees are encouraged to resolve customer issues. All employees feel that customer satisfaction is part of their job. We constantly work to improve our processes and products. Company units communicate and cooperate to solve problems and accomplish objectives.

When we uncover problems, we try to resolve them quickly. Do you collect information about your customers in a formal, systematic manner? Start by reviewing customer complaints, questions, and comments. Uncover potential areas of customer dissatisfaction by reviewing your key operational data.

Check the status of backlogs, stockouts, or customer complaints.

Review your returns to gauge whether customers are unhappy with your product. Also check your internal reject or yield rates. If your rejects are high or your yields low, some bad product may leak out to the customer. Use your employees as a valuable source of information on customer requirements.

Vendors and service providers. Like many entrepreneurs, you may outsource parts of your business operation to specialized services. Specifically, you might pay outsiders to handle employee benefits, purchasing, and Web site design and maintenance. Many small businesses also hire firms to provide customer service call-center services. The Best Kind of Data More is not necessarily better when it comes to customer data, but getting the right information is critical. Seek these elements in the data you measure: While general input may give you some hints, more pointed, concrete feedback will direct you to take appropriate action.

Old data can turn obsolete by next quarter. Concentrate on information that affects your bottom line, and separate hard evidence "my order came a week late" from soft data "I was less than impressed". Create Your Customer Vision and Service Policies When a Washington Post reporter returned from the PhoCusWright conference on the Internet travel business, he wrote about his experience watching a panel of 12 executives who run big online travel sites.

It serves as a source of inspiration to rally you and your employees around a single unifying purpose: Use this exercise to "see" the future: To what can you attribute that success? List at least five specific reasons your company has grown so fast. What steps have you taken over the last 3 years to upgrade your customer service and ensure that you stick to your customer service plan?

Examples include investing in new technologies, conducting surveys, beefing up your service department. Use the above responses to ponder your customer-centered vision. Summarize the key elements of your vision. List all the verbs from your answer above. Do these words fully capture the action you want?

Consider choosing more stimulating verbs to enliven your vision, such as changing "satisfy" the customer to "delight" the customer or "trying to provide value" to "promising exceptional value. Communication Skills How you communicate to your customers is just as important as what you say.

How to Create a Customer Service Plan | Edward Lowe Foundation

Build rapport with customers. Put them at ease and make them feel comfortable. When your customer or prospect enters your store, phones your office, or logs onto your Web site, reinforce your eagerness to deliver extraordinary service. This sets the tone for the rest of the transaction. Make a lasting, positive first impression. When you value customers, your sincerity makes them more receptive and enthusiastic about your business. Seek ways to help customers. Find out what your customers want more or less of — and respond accordingly.

Get a head start by reviewing customer complaints and other feedback. Then take steps to maximize each customer encounter. Strive to understand their needs each time you deal with them. By exceeding their expectations at any given moment, you make an instant positive impact. Here are some questions you can ask customers to show your eagerness to help: What would completely satisfy you? How can I make things easier for you?

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