Proper communication with the client. Recommendation from Traff

Today we will talk about how to work with the incoming requests and why we can't afford to relax. Let's order among all the variants of customer acquisition one of the classic is an incoming request, is a favorite of many organisations option, and for some – and even the only source of getting clients.

In Traff are of the opinion that cold calling in the future for many more important and interesting than any other option for customers, for several reasons. More on that another time will tell, and now back to inbound requests (phone calls, requests from the site and from the social.networks).

For simplicity, divide customers come to us on 2 types:

1. Transactional

• Only interested in the value and/or specific channel
• Do not wish to take the examination
• To Analytics apply with a minimum interest

Analysts forecast of Traff, the variant of development of events: work, work, then another company offers better conditions, "gives a discount" stop working.

2. Consulting

• Devote significant time to the experience of experts
• See the Agency business partner (dive into the specifics, understanding the nuances)
• Adequately relate to the experiments, and to test hypotheses
• The maximum interest in analytical data

Analysts forecast of Traff, the variant of development of events: performed KPI and work happily ever after, until the crisis will not separate us.

The main task We have set ourselves the translation of the client from the former to the latter (as picture)

Go into a description of the basic rules of work with incoming calls not going, the Internet and the library has hundreds of articles and books on how to work with incoming clients.

Let me add that to talk about such things as 100% advanced payment is at the first conversation, otherwise, at the final meeting, you risk being in a pool. Minimum budget is optional, the most important thing to offer the customer a solution within the framework of its financial KPI's, for a client it is not a cost but an investment.

Our success depends on competent use and implementation of technology, not available at the Agency's secret techniques, You can develop dozens of rules, but if Your Manager won't be using them day in and day, the benefits will be equivalent to as well as from a self-defense course on YouTube. So the main thing is the constant control. Listen to your experts talk on the phone, conduct regular debriefing.

To rely on the responsibility of managers is to ignore the human factor that can be very dangerous for business. If your main task in the company – to get rid of customers, then follow these simple and effective techniques (M – Manager, C - client):

M - Hello?
C - Hi, do you do with context?
M - Hmmm.
C - What is the cost?
M - We operate from 1 million
C - thank you very much.
M - Please Contact Us.

There are times when employees no one has time, can not take the phone, go down from heaven and themselves communicate with the customer on the phone. The sky to the ground does not fall after such action on your part.

Criteria of a potential customer, interesting for our sales Department:

1. Budget
2. Brand
3. Growth potential
4. Clear and achievable KPIs

Even though the budget in the list and is in the first place, in reality it should not be a priority when working with a client, when working with a client, let's start if we translational motion in the direction of implementation of the quarterly plan.

Sometimes you can work for the sake of adding to the portfolio the desired logo, and sometimes with a client who clearly understands perspective and with confidence that the accounting Department will be able to grow such customer.

In fact, in the list you need to add another important criterion, margin, which is not always commensurate with the budget in absolute terms. The usual example is the tender for the context in which you descend in fee to zero, hoping to cash in on the return of the Commission from Google \Yandex, increasing the amount of money passing through the Agency account. Pitfalls: another update of the scale of Agency discounts Direct, a redistribution of volume to the side. And so on.

Speaking of tender, I mean not only the official tenders, but conditional – when the client sends a message to multiple agencies. In this case, the speed solves a lot.

Since we are talking about minimal budgets, I want to give you an example that recently happened with one of the clients from Central Europe: school of the arts budget is 4-8 times smaller than our minimum. Compounding the situation is that in this subject the average lifetime of a customer about 6 months and overall commercial interest now represent only projects related to Mix Fight. That is, it will most likely work with us in a maximum to zero and perhaps even negative.

I tried to tell the customer the situation, with the attached facts, and here we are faced with a full understanding. The client in turn talks about his goals and philosophy for which he is not going to earn on this project. For the soul, what money, they don't interest me.

The Commission 80%? Excellent, where do I begin?

Continue.

Many believe that retaining current customers is more important than attracting new ones.

So the important thing is to build from within transparent work in all departments (especially sales, of course) who work with the client after you.

How to achieve this?

In our case, in the emphasis on project work (see figure).

For me it is important that the approach to the work, which we declare at sales, completely coincided with what the client receives is already in the status "current".

Working with projects you can't afford to use the standard example is brief, it does not take into account all the pitfalls of this subject. It became necessary to make their own brief.

Gave it for approval to the heads of departments of the context and accounting to obtain approval of what, on the one hand, they will not cause discomfort working with the finished brief in this format. but on the other hand, it will provide all conditions for the most productive calculating and competent customer support.

Work closely with other departments practical impossible without considering the opinions of the departments that affect the life of the client Agency. And depends on the sales, really.

The main rule we live by – sending it to the client is prohibited, the brief is populated with the Manager during the negotiations, be it a phone conversation, Skype, personal meeting or e-mail correspondence. Customer reviews (and there were those who insisted on self-completing) the brief is quite "ambiguous", but for us – the most it. We see no point to bore our potential customer, especially after the first conversation we have on hand already a part of the necessary information.

The process of obtaining the input data necessary to make as comfortable for the customer and he will tell you a lot more than expected.

An example of a working brief will leave for later (perhaps the next blog will be included), in order not to overload this great article one of the rules. And take time in the next article about its features.

I would like to share how we at Traff work with clients, and if you stick to this technique. You can even baptize their children or to grow old together etc if you consider a few simple rules:

• Real reviews on the weight of the gold as well as success stories.
• Be flexible in the comparison of the effects of different advertising channels.
• Explain what can be done so that the client got more.
• Tell the complex things in simple language.
• Do not inflate the expectations (and sometimes underestimate). This sin many sales departments.
• Operate as transparently as possible: it is important that the client understand exactly how you achieve results.
• Use your own development and at the same time be prepared to work professionally with any third-party tools to achieve the result.
• Let's fast feedback (even if this moment will not solve the problem of the client, he should know that you do it, and be aware of deadlines).
• Teach, tell me about the new chips, invite for a business Breakfast, seminars and conferences.
• Tell how to perform a task optimally in the budget option (this is no joke).