Page 124 - CARS Standard Program

Facts About Ethics, Professional Conduct and Client Service
From a business perspective, servicing our clients is an extremely important element of our ethics and professional conduct. Following are some facts about client (consumer) service:
1. It costs six times as much to attract a new client as it does to keep an old one.
2. A typical dissatisfied client will tell eight to 10 people about their problem.
3. Seven of 10 complaining clients will do business with you again if you resolve the complaint in their favor.
4. If you resolve the complaint on the spot, 95% will do business with you again.
5. Of those clients who stop doing business with you, 68% do so because of an attitude of indifference by your company or a specific individual
In summary, all these facts indicate that client satisfaction equals success. They also prove that good communication skills are of paramount importance in the success of your business.
Communication with Clients and Prospects
Did you know that the way you dress is a very important mode of communication? In meeting with clients or prospective clients, an agent should appear clean and neat but not overdressed. A $1,000 suit usually will not impress your client of your professionalism. Try to dress on approximately the same level as your client or prospective client. Research shows that the first item of clothing people observe is your shoes, so make sure they are clean and polished.
Although it may take several meetings with a prospective client to get their business, you should anticipate and be prepared to do business on the first visit. One important tool to have on your first visit is your company brochure, including a schedule of fees. Your rates should be predicated on a fair profit margin and you should be ready and able to justify them ... not negotiate them. Giving your services away or reducing your rates as a method of soliciting business diminishes your prospects’ respect for your professionalism and business acumen.
Whether or not you have closed the deal with your prospective client, ask to be introduced to the collectors and those who assign repossessions. It is important for those you may be working with to put a “face” on the Recovery Agency they may be doing business with. Personal interaction with the supervisor and those in his department is important for a long-term relationship.
Second only to the recovery of your client’s collateral is the importance of regular status reports of your activity on the repossession assignment. The collector who assigned the repossession is responsible to his supervisor on a regular basis as to the status of each assignment he is handling. The collector’s efficiency rating depends, in