A lot is discussed about the characteristics of a good salesman and his importance to the organization’s success. I believe that it’s true, the sales activity is probably one of the most important for an organization, especially for small and medium businesses.

Nevertheless, the sales activity should be considered in a broader view, not restricted to that moment in which you or your salesperson are face to face with the customer trying to convince him to spend his money on your product or service.

Every interaction with the customer is a sales opportunity. I’m not talking only about the direct sale of your product, but also the sale of other tangibles and non-tangibles that have a direct relationship with the success of your business:

• Your Brand: the customer must always be stimulated to associate your brand to something positive (which must be defined in your branding strategy)
• Your Integrity: customers prefer ethical companies. If you demonstrate that in every contact with him, you will create a favorable perception of your business.
• Your Product or Service: your customer should be turned into your word-of-mouth marketer. If you deeply satisfy a customer, be sure that he will be eager to tell other potential buyers.

Nowadays, organizations of every size can surprise their customers with simple but efficient actions, which show a true interest in satisfying his needs the best possible way. Many large companies are optimizing their processes to create a differentiated customer service, but we still hear more complaints than compliments.

Besides, large companies have a long reaction time. This is where a small company can make a difference: quickly creating customer service excellence and gaining considerable market share before seeing any reaction from the larger players.

Let’s take a computer sales and repair shop as an example. Traditionally, you leave your computer for repair, receive a quotation in 1-2 days and pick it up a few days later. Even if the repair was done well and on schedule, this is not enough to really surprise the customer. The shop could:

• Give immediate quotations, by reorganizing the technicians’ activities
• Call the customer in between the delivery date, confirming the date and the repair status
• Give technical information to the customer (adapted to his knowledge level) to prevent problems in the future
• Call the customer one week after the repair to make sure the computer is working well (and have a warranty plan ready)
• Add the customer to its weekly newsletter with computer tips (without trying to sell anything on the newsletter)
• Give low cost or free tutorials for groups of customers
• Create a repair at home service

Looks simple, right? But how many small companies do you know that really make a difference on customer service? If you remember a few, aren’t they recorded on your mind exactly because of the special attention that their customers receive?

In this example, the objective of this kind of customer service is to make sure that the first option he will think of when a computer problem shows up is this shop. I used an example of a type of business everyone knows, but this idea applies to any business on any field. The business owner must know the customers’ needs better than anyone and find original and remarkable ways to overwhelm him.

The technology available today permits control of your processes and customer information without large investments. This control is essential to make sure that the planned innovation is executed properly. Sometimes even an Excel spreadsheet could be enough, but more sophisticated tools are available for businesses of all sizes.

Remember, don’t think only about the very moment of the sale, or it may be your only one. Evaluate how contact is made with the customer in every moment before and after the sale… and most important, you must be able to answer this question clearly: What are you doing to surprise your customer?