The other day a salesperson proclaimed to me “I wish my company had an FAQ page so that I wouldn’t have to answer the same dumb questions every day.”
I sighed, thinking, “You have a problem with customers calling you?”
Let’s start with the FAQ page. I think it serves its purpose well. Many customers do have common questions that can be addressed with a page. And for some customers that is all they really need, they are very happy to help themselves and move on. For others however, picking up a phone and calling you is the simplest method to solving a problem; and these are the customers I like.
I get the same five questions asked of me every day by customers and I wouldn’t change it for the world. To start, its a customer initiated interaction- which means I get to speak to them on their terms. It also means they are listening. The latter being the most important. When a customer calls you (versus getting a call from you) they want to listen- because they have a problem. But it’s also a signal that they trust you. To them, you are a trusted advisor someone they can turn to when they need a problem solved. This is power no matter what people tell you.
Newsflash- an FAQ page won’t tell you how many times it answers a question for a customer. Getting those ‘mundane’ questions every day will make your sales presentations better. When a customer picks up the phone and asks you directly you now know a topic that is of most interest to them. So why wouldn’t you use this opportunity to dig deeper? While you have them on the phone this is also a perfect opportunity to cross-sell. “Won’t the customer be in a hurry?” Yes, which is why you will need to hone your technique. But that is what sales is all about- honing your technique to be the best.
So to the salesperson with the mundane customer questions I would offer this advice. Customer questions are all about attitude. With the right attitude you will see that these calls are opportunities. You will gain the knowledge and insight into what is most important to them and it provides you with a platform to continue building trust with your customer while offering additional products or services.
