Building a long-term customer relationship—and better bottom lines—starts with a Quality Conversation

By Bob Davis

I had a positive customer service experience on the telephone this afternoon that I want to share because I believe it is an ideal example of how a call center representative can make not only a short-term gain for the company, but begin a long-term relationship that kicks off with a great impression.

I wanted to buy a thoughtful gift for someone who is an avid sportsman, and I went to the L.L. Bean website to see what I might find, but I was overwhelmed by the number of choices. So I decided to call the toll-free number to see if someone could give me some guidance.

Within two rings, a man with a pleasant voice greeted me enthusiastically, thanked me for calling, introduced himself by name, and asked me how he could help. I found it so refreshing that my initial greeting was not in the form of a recorded message telling me what button to press to place an order. In fact, I felt like I was talking to a merchant behind a retail counter, not a call center representative.

“I’m hoping you can help me,” I said. “Thinking ahead to the holidays, I am looking for gift ideas for someone who is very involved in hunting and fishing, and I was hoping that you could give me some guidance on finding a small but thoughtful gift for him. I was on your website but was overwhelmed by the choices and don’t know where to start looking.”

“Sure, I understand completely. I can certainly help,” he said. Immediately he began asking me questions, such as, “First, were you able to find our special section on hunting and fishing on our website?” He continued to ask me great questions to better understand how he might be of service to me.

Instead of pushing me toward a certain group of products to try for an immediate sale, he said, “Soon, we will have a special holiday section on the site with holiday gift ideas, but since that’s not up yet, and you’re not sure what you’d like, it sounds like we should send you our special hunting and fishing catalog that will give you plenty of ideas.”

Then he gave me a great solution. “Since I’m sending you the catalog, what you might want to do is order a gift card and then send him the gift card along with the catalog, so he could look through the catalog at his leisure, choose what he’d like, and then use the card,” he said.

“Sure, I hadn’t thought of that,” I said. “That’s a great idea.”

“I’ll also send you our general catalog, which may contain other holiday gift ideas for you,” he said, and then he proceeded to get my mailing address.

“Is there anything else I can do for you?” he asked.

“No, this is a big help. Thanks,” I replied.

“You’re welcome. And thank you for calling L.L. Bean,” he concluded.

He didn’t get an immediate sale, but he started a relationship with a pleasant exchange and a solution to my problem that I will remember when I receive the catalog. In all likelihood, I’ll be doing business with L.L. Bean in the near future and beyond. He has my mailing information so his company can stay in touch with me. And like many satisfied customers, I’m telling others about this positive experience.

I call this kind of interaction the Quality Conversation (a central concept for me, given the name of this blog), which has several key elements:

• Enthusiastic Greeting: It starts with a welcoming and appreciative greeting that makes the customer feel as though he found someone who is glad to help with a high level of personal service.

• Competence: The Quality Conversation continues with a representative who is competent—who knows how to do the job in a professional, quick and efficient way using all available tools and resources.

• Knowledge: Armed with thorough knowledge about what the company offers, the representative gives sound advice without hesitation or wasted time.

• Genuine Interest: The representative takes a keen interest in the customer and the problem to be solved. In my case, it made sense to help me even though it didn’t mean an immediate sale, but one down the road.

• Personal Recommendation: By listening and asking questions, the representative learns enough about the customer’s wants, interests and needs to make a personal recommendation that resonates with the customer and solves the problem in a meaningful way.

• Attitude Toward Objections: The representative views objections as concerns to work through in partnership with the customer. In my example, my objection was that the website overwhelmed me with options. The representative addressed my objection as a legitimate concern that he understood. Then, he came up with a solution that solved my problem and provided a positive experience that makes me want to watch for the catalogs and return to L.L. Bean time and again.

The thing is, the Quality Conversation doesn’t happen by itself. It requires the right training and coaching up front with supervisors and representatives, and complete buy-in by company leadership. Is it worth the effort? Well, I’ve seen the Quality Conversation approach add millions of dollars to the bottom-line results of client companies including USA TODAY, Cox Cable, America Online and yes, L.L. Bean. And much like what happened on my call to L.L. Bean, this approach yeilds long-term customer relationships that pay dividends for years to come.

What could a focus on the Quality Conversation do for your organization’s results?

Bob Davis is the president of Robert C. Davis and Associates (www.robertcdavis.net), a consulting firm in Alpharetta, Georgia, specializing in improving sales, customer service and retention results in customer contact centers across North America. Bob is also co-founder of Surpass (www.surpasscalls.com), a highly specialized outsource customer contact center serving the needs of business clients across the country.