What You Don't Know Can Kill Your Sale. Or Your Company.

Did you know that many customer service errors come from sales and service reps not knowing the product, customer, or culture of the item they're dealing with? Camping World, for instance, dominates the market for RV'ers, campers, and outdoor lovers--primarily seniors and boomers. They publish magazines, sell RVs and gear, and provide everything from insurance to camp club memberships.

When I worked at Camping World, the majority of CSRs had never seen an RV or campground. They didn't grasp the concept of strong community that RV'ers enjoy or the strength of the tribe they were serving. Now, millions of disgruntled RV'ers search for and find other providers.

The solution would have been to take new employees to a retail location, encourage them to examine RVs and campers, shop the store, and visit with RV'ers. Never happened. Ironically, poor training sparked the growth of new companies that make sure they hire some campers and acquaint all reps with their products.

Camping World didn't learn. Will you? What are you doing to ensure your employees use and understand your product or service?

-Becky Blanton

Comments

[Ed Welch]

Becky,

This is good stuff. How many times have you wandered onto an auto dealers lot - after doing extensive homework about the vehicle you're looking at - only to have the sales person try to sell you the vehicle presenting obviously "wrong information"? Not only is it annoying, it's sort of insulting. ;)