Turning Customer Questions Into Gold

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Do you run a business providing products and / or services?

The chances are that you do.

The chances are also that you get any number of questions (both pre-sale and post-sale) from your customers with regards to your products and services.

Additionally, if you maintain the products that you sell, then the chances are that you are running a support services such as a help desk or even simple phone support.

Pre-Sales Questions Drive New Business

If one person asks you a question then the chances are that more people would have needed the same information, couldn’t find it on your website, so moved on to a competitor’s site.

How to Get More Sales from Pre-Sales Questions

One thing the Internet has engendered is the ability for people to do more research before they make a purchase.

Without leaving their chair they can look at multiple offerings from multiple companies and compare features, benefits and often prices.

In many cases they can read reviews from other past customers to judge whether your company, products, services, attitude, post-sales support etc is up to scratch.

This will continue and grow so ignoring or avoiding it is simply akin to hiding under a rock.

answering customer questions

Many businesses have a FAQ page. It is frequently underdone and here are a few reasons why (please do not hesitate to flinch if this resembles your business FAQ page – I have been guilty of a few of these too!)

  • It was added when the website was built and never updated
  • Your team (or you) thought of what was important and added them as FAQ questions without asking any customers
  • You are not collecting customer pre-sale questions and adding them to the FAQ page
  • You are not adding / modifying your FAQ page based upon new products and services and changes in your industry
  • Your FAQ page is hidden away somewhere on the website and is difficult for customers to find (customers are often lazy and time poor so make it easy for them!!!

DO THIS NOW!!!

Check your FAQ page for each of the above listed items and fix it!!!

How to Get More Sales from Post-Sales Questions

There are two general types of post-sales questions;-

  • Questions received immediately after the sale. These might be regarding delivery dates, what is included in the purchase, setup questions, operational questions, warranty questions or questions about optional extras
  • Questions received later on which might include operational questions, warranty questions, questions about features or functions, service questions, maintenance questions or even complaints.

Shipment and Delivery Questions

Once a customer has purchased your product or service then they generally want it now!

Many businesses subscribe to services such as those provided by companies such as Australia Post and the major couriers which provide your customer with regular updates as to the whereabouts of their package.

These services not only free your staff for more important work, they also provide your customer with high quality on-time information making your business look more professional.

If you provide a service then the most important thing for you to do is respond to your new customer immediately after their purchase with a timeline of what happens next, what you will do and when and what they need to do in the meantime (if anything).

This immediately builds a rapport with your customer and, once again, positions your business as a reliable and trusted partner.

I know this is obvious, however, once you have made a commitment to a new customer do not fail in your commitment.

What’s Included, Setup, Operational & Warranty Questions

These are all gold dust. If the questions are being asked then the answers are not obvious or they are not obviously available from your business.

DO THIS NOW!!!

Make a list of all the questions you are asked and make sure the answers are prominently displayed on your website, or answered in your thank you email to your customers following a purchase.

Questions About Optional Extras

An awesome opportunity to upsell your product or service.

Customers are more likely to make a second purchase once they have completed an initial purchase.

If they are purchasing your product or service online then take them to a page following their purchase transaction that offers them optional extras at a discount.

You will be amazed at the response you receive (and the new revenue you would otherwise not have realised).

Your Service Department is Your Best Sales Rep

So much of your reputation (and thus future sales) is based on your service department. Their efficiency and attitude can make or break your business AND they get so much free information that could skyrocket your future sales.

Product Lifetime and Service Questions

Like it or not your customers trust your service department more than they trust your sales team.

Your service department is there to help when they have a problem or a query.

Every question your service department gets is an opportunity for great referrals, new sales and to fine tune your website to become a sales machine.

Who likes dealing with Telstra these days? Not me for one. If I do get through to a representative then they rarely have the tools or authority to deal with my query unless it is of the most simple variety. They are cost focussed NOT service focussed and it costs them new sales.

DO THIS NOW!!!

Ask your service department to collate all the questions they get into a spreadsheet, review it every month and add the most relevant questions with answers to your FAQ page on your website.

Using Google to Tap Into Customer Questions

One last thing before I sign off on this article.

Google is a great source of relevant customer questions.

You would have noticed in your browser now that you can ask a question and as you type Google actually lists below a range of similar questions that have already been asked.

Take the most relevant of these questions and answer them on your website because if Google is showing them to you it is because their algorithms know that these are the questions that are being asked by your potential customers.