If you always have one foot in your own company and one foot in that of your customers, you often learn a lot. And when we call our customers’ customers, we also do so from our customers. So not ‘We from Debitan’. That means a lot of switching, because one minute you’re company A and the next company Z. But luckily we have been trained in that.
Knowing what you are talking about
Another important point to consider when calling customers is that you know what it is about. You can draw the attention of the person on the phone to that bill of so many euros, but then there is always a chance that that person will ask: ‘What was that for then?’ Depending on the company and the products or services it provides, we always have an answer. Often it is about order number so much. Or deliver this or that. But often it is simply described what is going on. What the invoice was from or what the history is. We learn a lot from that about the most diverse things.
At home in all markets
For example, Belinda calls a lot with customers of all kinds of ethnicities for one of our customers. She is therefore increasingly able to recognize which culture values which way of communication the most. But she doesn’t just learn a lot about cultures. She has also become very technical. A customer of ours who works in the industrial kitchen industry makes it very easy for her. The invoice clearly describes the product or repair involved. For example, we recently heard her answer: ‘This is about repairing the slot of the dishwasher. It still needed a new anti-puncture strip.’ That Belinda is also at home in all markets. But more importantly: the person on the phone immediately knew what it was about and would arrange the payment. Mission Accomplished!