Acknowledging that we make mistakes, being proactive about building goodwill will distinguish your company from the competition. This article offers tested and proven recommendations for building goodwill throughout the MLM and Party Plan organizations (and hence, a sound reputation) as well as re-building goodwill when you have goofed.
- One effective, caring goodwill gesture can compensate for as many as ten poor-service experiences
- Empower your service staff with the tools for rebuilding goodwill
- Teach them to spot opportunities to rebuild goodwill
- Establish “goodwill” accounts for them to spend on rebuilding goodwill
- Discretionary dollars (with guidelines and accountability)
- Discretionary product give-away (with guidelines and accountability
- Regularly report goodwill accounts
- Track goodwill dollars as a percentage of sales
- Track and report by rep (in order to give rep the feedback about how they are doing versus guidelines and departmental standards)
- Make sure that customer service employees are selected for their “people” skills (good communicators, empathetic, reliable to follow through, intelligent thinkers and analysts, etc.)
“Perception Kickers”
Use these ideas to give your thought process a little “kick” and boost your ability to think “outside the box” to identify MLM and Party Plan customer services that will put you first in the minds of your field reps and customers.
- Track all positive and negative feedback from field reps and customers. Determine if they form a common thread and point you to identify a new system or modify an existing system.
- Ask your field regularly whether you’re meeting their expectations and what you can do to improve your performance.
- Solicit suggestions from your employees – especially those who interact regularly with customers – on ways to add value to the customer experience.
- Determine if the standards/evaluation criteria you use for your products and services are the same standards your customers use.
- List 10 things you’d love to discover about your company if you were a customer (even if they’re not a reality now).
- Play “devil’s advocate” and list the 10 least satisfying things about your business from your customer’s point of view.
- Review your customer-related policies and procedures from the customer’s point of view.
- Identify the one thing you’ve always felt was “impossible” to do but, if you could do it, would completely transform your business in the eyes of your customers.
- Grade yourself objectively on your MLM customer service and Party Plan support services performance at least once a month. Ask your employees and your customers to grade you as well. If all of you don’t agree, start digging to find out why!
Since multilevel marketing (MLM) and Party Plan compensation systems are built on relationships, and because their continued existence is wholly dependent on the customer service environment that you create within your culture, you must make the commitment to become the undisputed leader in service and support. These tools, and others presented in the series on MLM customer service, will help point the way.