Her face reflected the kindness of mothering and intelligence of years. You know these ladies; the ones who have tricked their husbands into thinking he makes the decisions. They dress age-appropriately, yet are well-enough preserved enough to bend age to their interpretation. They’re fun to talk to, socially intriguing, elegant, yet tough – the steel hand in a velvet glove approach.
All regions have their versions. The South mints a particular kind that ‘seems’ to be surface-without- substance. Yet the genteel exterior has a core that is unafraid of confrontation. Like the South itself I guess.
She looked at me when describing a relationship problem with her nearly grown daughter and said, “Honey, if a coconut pie won’t help heal the wounds, you need professional counseling.”
Her look told me the truth had just been spoken. I only needed a little explanation. I resisted telling her my version of this as an inept car fiddler, “If a hammer won’t fix it, you have an electrical problem”. Nope, hers made sense. For all of us.
Around here, anything is a reason for good food. Southern funerals have generated more catering contracts than all the marketing combined. Most any Southern mother’s first and last questions for any houseguest are the same:
“Do you want something to eat?” A note to those of you visiting from other regions, “I just ate” is not an acceptable response. The question wasn’t “Are you hungry?”
Though the jokes about expanded waistlines hold merit, the act of having a meal is the binder of relationships, the settler of emotions. It is the “breaking of bread” carried forward in rich tradition.
My interlocutor had confided a slight family problem with her daughter. She found herself unable to even get to “the subject” without her daughter getting defensive, averting blame and avoiding the topic. Her mother’s response: Arrive with a coconut pie.
“I didn’t care if she ate it. It opened the door toward peace without me opening my mouth about it.” She paused. “By the third bite, we began talking. By the time we finished a piece, we were both crying. By the time we mutually decided to ‘sneak’ a bite from the next slice, we were laughing.”
The soft side of relationship-building works.Can be conversation. Time together. Giving without expecting return. A coconut pie. Just being there and willing counts for plenty.
Just returned from a National Conference where the ill-guided event planners asked me to speak (as in “publicly”). At these conferences, I get to meet all sorts of members, clients, prospects, organizers, other speakers. Fellowship, fun, and food all in abundance. Good stuff, but I must admit something right here:
I have on occasion had the ever-so-convincing devil of “Why Bother?” on my shoulders before these events. The “Does it really matter?” questions. The “Don’t they know I’m ‘available without me actually proving it?” lazy streak. Yet the afterglow snatches those thoughts.
Conversations were struck that would’ve never happened in any substitute media. Many of you shared current problems and challenges (why I attend). Other shared the joys of record-setting years looking for ways to get to the next level (the second reason I attend).
Yet the most rewarding part of these conferences is the interaction. The relationship-building that’s done by just being there and willing.
It is the exact same with your customers. You cannot be effective and absent at the same time. You cannot truthfully say you appreciate customers without proving it. You cannot settle concerns by ignoring their presence. All require availability.
Kindle the relationship with your customers. Fling open the door of being available. Prove you value their presence. Don’t let “Why bother?” take over. Build the relationship and the revenue comes.
Relationships are the slice of life. Enjoy.
Questions for you:
1. How many ‘touches’ do you have with customers per year? (Ideal is 24, that is = 1 appointment reminder by phone, 1 thanks by phone, 1 thanks by mail, 1 follow up/referral request, 4 newsletters, 2 holiday-cards, 8 non-sales emails, 4 sales emails, 2 ‘sales’ pieces mailed. Note, you DO NOT earn the ‘right’ or the response rate to sales offers without the other pieces. Our newsletter customers get way higher response rates from their sales offers than non-newsletter customers. Not a coincidence.)
2. Do your staff members exhibit true relationship-building with customers? Do you give them authority to solve problems? Do you have an incentive for them to go beyond “normal” customer service? (Example: We have a “Customer Service Spotlight” story to end our weekly meetings. In this, we hear how a coach ‘fixed’ or greatly enhanced the results for a customer. Part of the culture, can easily be a part of yours too.)
Wednesday, February 23, 2011
Thursday, February 10, 2011
Two-Faced or True-Faced?
“This is going to hurt you worse than it hurts me,” I’d hear just before getting my rearward region spanked into next week. Whenever I used to hear this phrase – which was shockingly regular – I used to think, “Then why do it?” I mean, can’t we spare some pain for BOTH of us by overlooking that little melted-crayon-in-the-EZ Bake incident?
Didn’t work that way. Found that out when I had children. It was one of those “upside down truths” that you appreciate with age.
Later on, my early sales training had brainwashed me into thinking that manipulation and aggression were actually the more tender side of selling. When various closes and techniques were being discussed one day, an older, quite wealthy salesman halted the conversation with, “I don’t ‘sell’. I just give people reasons to buy.”
From that moment on, it stuck. My whole “sales” idea got turned upside down (or right side up!). Earning trust, giving useful ‘buying’ information, and truly counseling people with the good and bad side of a product or service came much easier. Sales “closes” were more often the work of the customer themselves. This rid the anxiety of over-selling and gave sincerity to the “Congratulations” for making a good decision.
This approach allows you to be true-faced, not two-faced.
The wealthy salesman made another comment, more powerful than the first that proved he was ahead of his time. Ignoring This Shift Can Kill Your Online AND Offline Sales…
That path lead me and Hudson Ink into the world of “two step” marketing; first getting a request from a customer for more information, and following that with a conversation that would lead to a sale, or not. Either way was/is fine. Another bit of upside-down truth:
You get the sale by creating a customer; not the other way around.
Web Marketing further confirms the success of this buying pattern shift. Consumers can access mountains of information that didn’t formerly exist. Their new-found empowerment has led to a sometimes hard-to-swallow set of “old” sales and marketing dogmas. The hard-driving, “close early, close often” salesperson is increasingly frustrated. Websites that employ sales overkill are labeled “spammy” and avoided similarly.
Sites like Zappos, Amazon, even WalMart, realize that transparency aids the sales process. Relationships are built before the sale and increase closing (conversion) rates. Openness and resistance to “hard-sell” also increases referral rates and positive online reviews.
Customer Retention results soar with gentle non-salesy recontact. This is why we’ve seen Customer Retention sales absolutely explode in the recession-weary world. People want the relationship, and reward it handsomely.
Contractors who invest in Customer Retention are getting excellent returns now. (8% of your Total Marketing Budget toward Customer Retention can trounce any other 8% in any other media with its hand tied behind its back. Want a FREE in-depth report and free sample of ‘The Ideal Customer Retention Sales Strategy’? Click here.)
Lesson: When you craft and cultivate relationships, you forgo “hard selling,” though your sales increase. There are no “closes”. There are only “openings”. You merely continue the conversation, advising, “being there” for them, and gaining more business, faster, as a result.
Oh, the remaining sage advice spoken to me by the wealthy salesman? “Salespeople don’t sell the most; Advisors do.” More than a pithy comment, it’s true. Confirmed by MarketingSherpa.com in a recent study. Advisors outsell ‘salespeople’ 4:1.
Be an advisor. Then you too can be true-faced.
Questions:
1. Does your marketing talk more about you or about how you solve customers’ problems? (Change the “we” stuff to “you” stuff. Don’t be afraid to give free advice.)
2. Is your Customer Retention marketing budget more or less than 8% of your total marketing? (If below 4%, you likely have a steady stream of “forgotten” customers going to the competition. Click for a full Customer Retention report.)
3. Do you have “old style” salespeople or “old style” marketing that are sales-focused and performing less than they did just 3 years ago? Make the shift.
Didn’t work that way. Found that out when I had children. It was one of those “upside down truths” that you appreciate with age.
Later on, my early sales training had brainwashed me into thinking that manipulation and aggression were actually the more tender side of selling. When various closes and techniques were being discussed one day, an older, quite wealthy salesman halted the conversation with, “I don’t ‘sell’. I just give people reasons to buy.”
From that moment on, it stuck. My whole “sales” idea got turned upside down (or right side up!). Earning trust, giving useful ‘buying’ information, and truly counseling people with the good and bad side of a product or service came much easier. Sales “closes” were more often the work of the customer themselves. This rid the anxiety of over-selling and gave sincerity to the “Congratulations” for making a good decision.
This approach allows you to be true-faced, not two-faced.
The wealthy salesman made another comment, more powerful than the first that proved he was ahead of his time. Ignoring This Shift Can Kill Your Online AND Offline Sales…
That path lead me and Hudson Ink into the world of “two step” marketing; first getting a request from a customer for more information, and following that with a conversation that would lead to a sale, or not. Either way was/is fine. Another bit of upside-down truth:
You get the sale by creating a customer; not the other way around.
Web Marketing further confirms the success of this buying pattern shift. Consumers can access mountains of information that didn’t formerly exist. Their new-found empowerment has led to a sometimes hard-to-swallow set of “old” sales and marketing dogmas. The hard-driving, “close early, close often” salesperson is increasingly frustrated. Websites that employ sales overkill are labeled “spammy” and avoided similarly.
Sites like Zappos, Amazon, even WalMart, realize that transparency aids the sales process. Relationships are built before the sale and increase closing (conversion) rates. Openness and resistance to “hard-sell” also increases referral rates and positive online reviews.
Customer Retention results soar with gentle non-salesy recontact. This is why we’ve seen Customer Retention sales absolutely explode in the recession-weary world. People want the relationship, and reward it handsomely.
Contractors who invest in Customer Retention are getting excellent returns now. (8% of your Total Marketing Budget toward Customer Retention can trounce any other 8% in any other media with its hand tied behind its back. Want a FREE in-depth report and free sample of ‘The Ideal Customer Retention Sales Strategy’? Click here.)
Lesson: When you craft and cultivate relationships, you forgo “hard selling,” though your sales increase. There are no “closes”. There are only “openings”. You merely continue the conversation, advising, “being there” for them, and gaining more business, faster, as a result.
Oh, the remaining sage advice spoken to me by the wealthy salesman? “Salespeople don’t sell the most; Advisors do.” More than a pithy comment, it’s true. Confirmed by MarketingSherpa.com in a recent study. Advisors outsell ‘salespeople’ 4:1.
Be an advisor. Then you too can be true-faced.
Questions:
1. Does your marketing talk more about you or about how you solve customers’ problems? (Change the “we” stuff to “you” stuff. Don’t be afraid to give free advice.)
2. Is your Customer Retention marketing budget more or less than 8% of your total marketing? (If below 4%, you likely have a steady stream of “forgotten” customers going to the competition. Click for a full Customer Retention report.)
3. Do you have “old style” salespeople or “old style” marketing that are sales-focused and performing less than they did just 3 years ago? Make the shift.
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