Sales representatives perform the vital face-to-face contact that produces business and helps to coordinate the ongoing relationship. There are usually many other points of contact with a customer, any of which can reinforce or drive away that customer. Successful businesses identify those points of contact and work to ensure that positive results occur at each point.

For instance, a single customer will see your salesperson, but may place all orders through an inside customer service representative by telephone, fax, or electronically. That same customer may meet your delivery driver, and have conversations with your credit department. If there is a problem, or backorder, your customer will call customer service or to a production facility.

Are you aware of how your customer is treated at each point of contact? Are all those who contact your customers educated about your products, your policies, and their responsibilities? Do they maintain clear, friendly, customer-oriented communications?

Real time customer information: Customers become irritated when you cannot pull up a pending order or report on the status. Federal Express, UPS, and other courier services are expert at providing real time information. How quickly can your people acquire and utilize customer information?

Given today’s computer systems and the large number of customer relationship management (CRM) software packages available, customers expect . . . no demand that suppliers have instant access to vital information about their business.

Prompt response and functional cooperation: Often, it takes smooth cooperation between your various company functions to provide prompt response to customer needs. Let’s say that a customer needs a spare part and calls your customer service desk. The representative must have detailed information available to confirm the proper replacement part. Then, someone writes up the order, determines whether or not it is a warranty part. Perhaps the credit department must clear credit prior to shipment. The plant or warehouse must find, package, and ship the part. The salesperson or customer service person then follows up to confirm receipt and ensure customer satisfaction.

Delays in response can destroy your customer’s goodwill with one slip-up. Do all of your functional groups coordinate their efforts with ‘no hassle’ customer satisfaction in mind?

Customer friendly processes: Overly bureaucratic linear processes are no longer acceptable. Databases on servers make information available to everyone in the customer service loop simultaneously. There is no place anymore for the linear, one-step-at-a-time processes that automatically create delays and bottlenecks.

I bought a laptop computer from a major mail order retailer. Shortly after delivery, the computer failed. Those things happen when you are dealing with complex electronics. I called to report the problem. The customer service person instantly knew which model I bought. She issued the order to production to ship me a new machine. When it arrived the very next day, there were instructions to put the broken unit in the shipping box and to call FedEx. The courier picked up the old unit later that day. I was promptly back in business. I received a follow up call later in the week to make sure I was completely satisfied.

What do you require of your customers when they have a problem?

Authority to solve: The nice thing about my laptop computer problem was that the customer service representative was able to ask questions, analyze the situation, and make the decision to ship a new unit with one telephone call. The representative was educated about products and she had the authority to solve my problem right then and there.

How many approval steps do your customers have to endure before they receive satisfaction? If you cannot grant blanket authority, at least give your contact people the level of authority needed to handle about 80 percent of the requests typically encountered.

Follow-up: When you take your vehicle in for service at any reputable dealer, don’t you usually get a follow-up call a day or so later to make sure you were satisfied with the dealer’s service? Car dealers learned a long time ago that a brief courtesy call to check on their work is the insurance they need to maintain quality workmanship and to keep you coming back.

My computer service representative also called to be sure I got my new machine and that the problem was solved to my satisfaction. Calls like that only take a couple of minutes, but they leave your customer feeling positive about your company and your interest in them as a customer.

Honesty and trust: There is no room for halfway measures when it comes to honesty. If you goof, admit it and ask your customer what he or she wants done to correct the problem.

Technical products often require some form of failure analysis to determine the actual cause of a problem. If that is the case, do the analysis promptly, and get the problem handled!

Of course, honesty is a two-way street. There will be occasional customers who take advantage of your customer-friendly policies. On the whole, however, most customers only lodge legitimate complaints. Frankly, it takes too much time and effort to make bogus claims.

Customers today expect suppliers to trust them. Nordstrom’s Department Stores are renowned for their generous return policy. They know that it is a mistake to penalize the majority of their loyal customers to snare a few cheaters. Your customers may not always be right, but it is smart business to give them the benefit of the doubt!

P.S. If you have an eighth, ninth, or tenth thing you feel are musts, please let me know. Honestly, I'm sure I left something off my list.