Ask Victoria: How Do I Get My Reps To Improve Their Customer Service?

January 13, 2011 By admin Leave a Comment

“I shop quite a bit and spend a lot of money,
but it isn’t often that I have encountered a company
or a representative that is all about the customer.
I will certainly be a repeat customer!”

Wouldn’t you like to receive this kind of letter or blog post? Here are some things you need to know about customer service:

Customer service starts at the top with the owners and executives. If you show good customer service, the examples you set will be followed by your representatives.
Take a hint from Zappos and look at your core values, communication, consistency, and culture.
In the world of direct sales, our representatives should be contacting their customers on a regular basis. We all know that face-to-face contact is the best way to do business, but if the customer is too far away, call instead.
Follow up with orphans. Do you have a rep that has left your company? Follow up with the customer and then assign him or her to another representative in that area.
Free, upgraded shipping is a great way to keep any customer happy, even if they haven’t ordered for a while or only have small orders.
Make every customer, big or small, feel special.
Follow up using surveys. Get the feedback you need to do an even better job.
Implement “live chat.” If your customer service phones are tied up, offer an option to live chat via your website.
Consider offering free return shipping. This can be a plus if you want consistent ordering from a customer.
Train your reps to call or send an email or snail mail a thank-you note. It will be a welcome surprise.
Offer a lenient return policy. Any degree of difficulty makes it less likely a customer or rep will buy again.
Do more than fix your mistakes. When you make a mistake, own up to it. Most people understand mistakes, but what you do afterward makes the biggest difference.
Personalize everything. Greet every customer by name, get to know each one, what they like and dislike, and offer them specific product recommendations based on previous orders.
Use customer testimonials on all your web and catalog pages. This lets the customer know that good customer service is important to your company.

Jay Leisner, the President of Sylvina Consulting, is a top compensation plan and direct selling expert, a trusted adviser to new and established network marketing and party plan companies. For more than 30 years, Jay has enjoyed assessing and improving network marketing, party plan and referral marketing companies across the globe.

Jay Leisner and Victoria Dohr authored the top-rated book for new and young network marketing, referral marketing, and party plan companies, "Start Here: The Guide to Building and Growing Your Direct Selling Company".

Available in English and Spanish. This startup guide contains 250 pages of wisdom that will guide you through the right steps to start and continue on your journey to build a successful direct selling company.

You will save thousands of dollars and hundreds of hours of your time using the information you will read in our book.

In 1986, Jay began his career in direct selling by working for a major direct selling software provider. First as a software developer and later as a project leader and a business analyst, Jay worked closely with new and established network marketing and party direct selling companies to provide them with software solutions to meet their unique requirements.

Jay contributed in many ways to the success of large implementation projects for many companies. Jay also worked with dozens of smaller companies to assist each of them in various capacities to provide them with the systems they needed to help their businesses to grow faster.

Along the way while working with them, he learned the secrets of successful direct selling companies and the challenges faced by them. In true entrepreneurial spirit, Jay’s decision in 1999 to start Sylvina Consulting as a direct selling consulting company was driven by what he saw was a need for answers, advice, and solutions.

In 2004, 2006, 2009, 2014, and 2018, Jay gave presentations on compensation plans, recognition, and field leadership development at conferences held by the US Direct Selling Association.

He traveled to South Africa in 2015, 2016, and 2017 to conduct workshops on compensation plan design and recognition programs for member companies of the South African Direct Selling Association.

In 2017, Jay spoke at the Canadian Direct Sellers Association Meeting on the importance of recognition.

More than just a compensation plan expert, Jay is exceptionally skilled at advising new and established companies on business strategies. Before offering advice or solutions, he asks important questions to understand each client’s specific concerns and goals.

Subscribe for FREE to receive our monthly email newsletters.