‘People buy people.’ We’ve heard it all before. We know that people buy from people they know, like and trust before throwing cash and custom at someone who has never invested in forming a relationship with them.
The objection we all have to face head on when in the process of winning customers is the pervading, unspoken question: “Why should I trust you?” But how can we prepare our people to answer this?
Funnily enough, through training!
I was delighted to read that, way back in 2009, 62% of Call Centres had been savvy enough to invest in their people by providing effective tools and training to gain trust with their customers (Peppers and Rogers Group, 2009 Customer Experience Maturity Monitor) A shrewd and sensible move, when you take into consideration that price is seldom the main issue for a customer (Accenture global customer satisfaction report 2008).
But that was 2009 – SEVEN YEARS AGO!
Although we may have been clever enough to invest in some training in the past, right now, we have a different issue – everyone seems to be Trustworthy! (I say everyone, but I really mean the forward thinking companies who had the courage to invest in their people in the first instance and, statistically, there are quite a lot of them.)
So what do we do now?
Invest some more! Over time, things change, habits form and the high standards you initially set become a little lower as everyone else catches up.
What really needs to happen is that you continue to support your people, you regularly review practice and conversation. You make sure that each member of your staff that has any contact with your customers is a true brand ambassador to the core.
Perhaps most important of all is that you don’t stop! You commit to embedding training from induction on, investing in ongoing coaching and refresher training to make sure your people can overcome the unspoken objection and gain and maintain trust because they live and breathe your brand.
Stay FIT!
