Risk & Business Magazine Benson Kearley Risk & Business Magazine Summer | Page 12

WAYS BUSINESSES LOSE SALES
BY: GRANT CARDONE
BEST-SELLING AUTHOR /
SPEAKER
5
2
Ways A Business
Loses Sales
017 went down as the year
retailers went bankrupt. Toys
R Us, Abercrombie & Fitch,
American Apparel, RadioShack,
Payless, and hhgregg are just a
few of the names going under. The retail
bloodbath is going to continue. It doesn’t
necessarily need to continue, but it will
because these businesses refuse to learn
to sell. Here are five typical ways retailers
everywhere are losing easy sales:
LOST SALE #1:
The salesperson is rude or
condescending—42 percent of customers
will go elsewhere over a rude staff. I’m not
just talking about salespeople, everyone in
an organization has the potential to have
12
contact with customers and be rude and
condescending. Someone comes to the
showroom and people don’t even tell him
hi.
If you come to my office in Miami my staff
will greet you. If any of my staff didn’t
greet you they’d be fired on the spot. Can
you imagine going to a party, walking
in and nobody even acknowledges that
you’re there? That would be rude. A lot of
people don’t realize they are condescending
—maybe because there’s no awareness
of their obligation to provide customer
service.
You know what condescending is, right?
“Sir, the number is on the website”
“It says it right there in the contract”
“Did you download it? It’s right there”
“The warranty is in your glove box”
Really you’re just saying, “You’re stupid”.
You can’t afford to lose customers over
rudeness and condescending attitudes.
Rude and condescending communication
should never be allowed. Have zero
tolerance for it. Also have a commitment
for no negativity in the office. Your culture
should have no negativity, no gossip, and
no criticizing of customers.
Where there is no demand, there is no
value. When customers want something
from you, there is a way to exchange value
with them. Complaints and problems
are opportunities. If the customer is
ridiculous, even impossible, still try and
make it happen. That’s when you start