We often talk about how building trust with customers is imperative, and how it’s even more necessary in the world we live in today. One important factor that contributes to trust is accountability to customers. Customers are looking for someone they can count on. If you can be that source of stability for your customers‚ and provide them with the certainty they are looking for in our current uncertain world‚ it will surely help you to stand out from the competition!
Here are some things you can do to maintain or improve upon your accountability:
- Make sure you do what you say you are going to do. Be proactive and consistently follow-up with your customers. Some sales professionals make a promise to a customer and do not take responsibility for the promise they made. They’ll let what they said fall quietly into oblivion and leave their customer in the dark, even though the customer is expecting to hear back from them about it. Don’t be that person! Always keep your customers in the loop. If you’re a forgetful person by nature, set frequent reminders for yourself to reach back out to your customers and give them an update. When it comes to proving your accountability, the more your customers hear from you about something you promised them, the better!
- Don’t pass the buck. If you forget something or make a mistake, take ownership and responsibility for it. This may sound absurd, but some sales professionals will try to manipulate situations and place the blame on their customers to avoid facing a mistake they made! While “passing the buck” to your customers is the ultimate wrongdoing, you should never pass the buck to anyone, whether it’s someone else in the client organization or your own company. “Fessing up” to a mistake you made‚ quickly and truthfully‚ is the most impactful thing you can do to show your customer you are dependable and there for them. Not to mention it demonstrates your integrity, which brings us to our next point.
- Act with integrity. It is impossible to be a trustworthy, accountable person if you lack integrity. If your customers see you being dishonest or unreliable in other situations, even if it doesn’t pertain to the relationship you have with them, they will no longer see you as someone they can count on. In everything you do, make sure you act out of integrity and have others’ best interests at heart. You never know who might be watching!
In today’s environment, you need to be doing everything you can to demonstrate to your customers that you are dependable. Doing so will provide some certainty to their uncertain worlds and set you apart from the competition!
