What makes a great salesperson?
While this question can be answered in a million different ways, it all comes down to one key element.
A great salesperson is the one who creates a great customer experience for their customer.
Any other answer you come across is essentially a manifestation or an extrapolation of this aspect.
“What separates great salespeople from run-off-the-mill ones are three easy-to-identify things. Great salespeople are kind and caring, they care about the product, and they make sure to blend these two elements so that when customers walk out of the store, they are completely satisfied with the amazing customer experience.” - David Kain, President, Kain Automotive
Founded in 2003, Kain Automotive provides expert training in Automotive Internet Sales / Service and Business Development Center Operations. Based out of Lexington, Kentucky, their team develops strategies and tactics to motivate your customers to engage, appoint, and purchase products and services from your dealership.
In this episode of One-to-One, David Kain, President, Kain Automotive sat down for a tête-à-tête with our host Scott McArthur, CRO, Statflo to discuss why he thinks “Experience is the New Brand” and how businesses can capitalize on great customer experiences.
One-to-One gives you a glimpse into the world and mindset of CX leaders. If you liked this conversation and don’t want to miss future episodes, catch us on Spotify, YouTube, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, or your favorite podcast app.
While this may seem like a very obvious point, most businesses tend to ignore its implications and solely focus on making their customer experience better than their competitors. What they don’t consider is that customers measure customer experience not just in the context of your competitors but in comparison to the overall experience they have had from different brands they’ve interacted with so far.
To simply put, you should strive to create a customer experience that’s not just better than your competitors, but independently ticks all the boxes of the customer’s expectations when they first get in touch with your business.
An empathetic sales culture is the cornerstone of a memorable customer experience which in turn leads to greater customer satisfaction. Bringing empathy to your day-to-day sales processes is easier said than done because it requires an in-depth understanding of what the customer is going through when they come to you.
To be able to relate to how the customer feels and thinks, sales folks should go through a similar research and prospecting process as a customer would. This can include online research, exploration by going into physical stores, or even discussion on that purchase topic with other people who are knowledgeable in that field. After gathering all this data by the same progression as a consumer would, sales teams can truly relate to the customer’s thought process and interact with them empathetically.
The impact of customer satisfaction on customer loyalty is industry-agnostic. Customers are always going to make loyalty decisions based on factors like the attention they received, the experience they had, whether they could buy exactly what they had in mind without making any compromises, and the satisfaction they felt on completing the purchase. That’s why customer experience is so critical not just to make a sale but to foster loyalty and keep the customers coming back.
It’s a common misconception that customer experience comes into play only during the physical interactions that take place in-store. In the digital era where remote interactions are favored, it’s critical to bring consistency to your customer engagement efforts across all platforms of interaction. Today’s customer experience strategy must take into account virtual experiences as well as in-person shopping experiences.
