Tan paint and hyphen drop

Recently my friend Nick has been keeping us up to date on the transformation that Walmart has done to their brand.

First they dropped the hyphen, cleaned up the font, and added some tan paint to the wall. It does bring the look up to date and fresh.

Now if you have been living in a cave for the last quarter century or so this may be enough for you. This overhaul could be the tipping point for some people that brings them back. But for the rest of us this is only phase 1.

So what is phase 2?

Phase two is making the customer talk about their experience with their friends. If you hang around me and my friends long enough you will hear a story about Target. We love Target! Its clean, they have scanners to check prices, and the packaging doesn't feel cheap. Oh, and did I mention its clean? This is the next step for Walmart in my opinion.

Technorati Tags : Customer Service Retail

The Day after Christmas

A short video to enjoy as you purchase items at ridiculously low prices. Cheap crap doesn't stimulate the economy, it only makes it worse.

Technorati Tags: Customer Service Retail Things that bug me

My geeky holiday tradition

It started a few years ago with a Google search. They customized their homepage--well, I can't give them full credit but that is where it started with me.

So here is the round-up of Thanksgiving search pages.

First off Ask.com--Turkey by candlelight.














Next up Dogpile.com-- It's also this years winner. Apparently with the recession creativity has also gone down.













Microsoft Live chose to remind us what the uncooked version looks like. Thanks, but no thanks.













MSN kept with the theme of uncooked Turkeys. Maybe they were inspired by the Palin interview?




Yahoo! this year has turkeys playing football. One of only two animated pages this year--dogpile was the other. Its on par with their previous years.





At this point you may notice that I put them in alpha order, but where is Google. My friends, the Google has let us all down.
Sadly enough, I present to you the Google search page Perhaps they were too busy with Android
to develop a Google worthy design.









Have a Happy Turkey Day

Technorati Tags: Creativity Thanksgiving logo

Selling with percentages

Yesterday I started my seasonal job in retail. And I am still amazed at how difficult it is for consumers to do simple percentages in their head.

Quick- what is 15% of $82? (No cheating, do it in your head.)

I come up with $12.30, but did you?

Most customers cannot do a percentage in their head to know how much they are saving. As a salesperson you must be quick on the draw with the answer. So I am going to show you a method that I was taught early on that will make you look like a rock star.

Let's look at our previous question of 15% of $82.

First, 15% is really 10% + 5% right. So lets find 10% of 82, which is $8.20. (All you do is move the decimal one spot to the left.)

Second, we need to find the additional 5%, but that's even easier because 5 is half of 10, so we just need to half $8.20 which is $4.10.

Third, we add-- $8.20+$4.10=$12.30

Now let's try a higher percentage. 30% of $49.99.

First, 30% is really three sets of 10%. So what is 10% of $49.99? It's $4.99.

Second, lets multiply $4.99 by three. But those nine's can be pesky so lets round it up to $5, that will be easier to mulitply. Now we have $15.

Third, $15 is close and we could subtract that from $49.99 and get $34.99 but thats a few cents off. In fact its three cents off because we added a penny to each $4.99 to get five. So we will subtract an additional 3 cents and get $34.96.

Remember, when selling with percentages always start with 10% of the amount and multiply or divide from there.

Technorati Tags: Sales Tools Customer Service

Salesforce.com certified

Just thought I would put a little congratulatory post together for myself.

Marketing after the Election

With the election over we can now take a lesson from the Obama playbook in terms of message. Starting Nov. 5th the approach to selling changes-- hope will sell a product. Goodwill can inspire actions and transactions. And institutional advertising will become a priority.

Technorati Tags: Advertising Branding Creativity Positioning

I don't need your stinking notes!

At the risk of turning this blog into a surregate youtube site I present you with a reason to use notecards.

Politcal dance off

If only the debates were this entertaining!

Lost in translation

I am youtubing again. (Is that even a term?)

Anyway. I believe this is a prime example of being lost in translation--i.e. not writing to your customers, but writing to your intelligence. Customers don't want you to show how smart you are, but how well you understand their problems.

20 months

In that time Barack Obama put together a campaign that inspires videos like this.




If you start tomorrow, can your brand inspire the same inspiration?

Technorati Tags: Branding Creativity Relationship Building

Start to finish

This photo should be a reminder that you must finish well.

The meeting is not over until you are out of the parking lot.

The interview doesn't end with the handshake--it ends when you are off the premises.

People are always watching and your story, your pitch, your theme continues until the very end. And not just when you want it to. Maintaining composure and prose completes your theme. 

In short, you could have the best interview, best sales pitch ever; but if you stick your tongue out at the end--what is that saying about you?

Discover and the (866) 402-1044 number- Part 2

Just an update since my last posting. I am still getting the two-a-day phone calls. Everytime they call I ask them to take me off their list. And I call Discover Card to let them know that I will be paying my bill off at the end of the month and cancelling my card because of this.

Discover and the (866) 402-1044 number

It's a bitch working in Marketing and being on the recieving end of marketing.

A couple of weeks ago I needed a new Discover card. No problem. I jumped on the website, requested a new card, and bingo-- a couple days later there it is.

I called to activate it. And presto up and running with a new card. The point should be made that I have been an avid Discover card user for over four years now. So the whole card requesting/activating process is nothing new to me as I burn through cards at a pretty good clip.

Then the calls started. (866) 402-1044- missed call.

I ignored it.

Then the next day. (866) 402-1044- missed call.

I ignored it.

Then the following day. (866) 402-1044- missed call.

Now, I called back. They said it was Discover with an offer. I told them I was not interested, thanked them politely for calling. But to not call me.

Wanna quess what happened next? Yeah, the next day-- two missed calls from that number. I called them back, told them I wasn't interested and to not call me.

Well, this went on for more than a week and a half. Two calls a day, at very predictable times--9:45 and 6:30. You could almost set your clock by it.

I got fed up. Last night I called them back and gave them the ultimatum. You call me one more time, and you lose my business--forever. The lady on the other end (who I have no beef with) said it takes two to three weeks to be removed from a call list.

Umm. Why? I asked. It didn't take two to three weeks to add me. Its not like you have some tired soul trapped in a dungeon with a quill pen writing these call lists.

So here is my wake up call for us Marketers. If you are going to conduct a marketing campaign in this highly digital, highly permissive based age--make sure your database is updated HOURLY.

I know. I hear the complaints already. --Oh, thats difficult--oh, thats expensive.

Is it? Or are we just complacent to build lists and pound them into submission?

What leadership looks like

Regardless of your thoughts of Barack Obama, you must admit that it takes true charisma to hold an audience of 80,000 captive and inspire motivation.

Fishes and ponds

Forty years ago the news stand had a pretty limited selection-- Time, Newsweek, People, Good Housekeeping. Those were the magazines that everyone turned to, they covered a variety of topics and the writers were really big fish in a really big pond.

The barrier to entry was incredibly tall.
If you were into kayaking you could write a specific article and chances were it wouldn't get published. Society was into learning a little bit about everything.
Look at Dear Abbey. She could jump from pond to pond and still be big.


Look at a newsstand today. There are hundreds of magazines, with millions of writers and contributors. Each a really big fish in a really small pond-- dare I say puddle.

So what happened? Everything became specialized. Rather than learn a little about everything, each of us has decided to learn a lot about a little.

The barrier to entry is still incredibly tall.
Now there are millions of small ponds each with big fish, when before there were only a few ponds with big fish.
Interestingly enough, there are so many puddles, that a big fish in one pond is a minnow in another. Today there are hundreds of "Dear Abbey's", most newspapers now have their own.

So what's point?
If your a company that wants to be in a certain pond you need to understand the pond before you jump in. You need to a look at the fish in the pond and yourself and ask this all important question-- "If I am going to be a big fish in this pond how do I attain the status without alienating the other fish? And why will people listen to me?"

How to keep your customer information updated

I got this email from Ikea yesterday. Its a perfect example of how to keep your customer database up to date.

The email is simple.
The email is a fast read.
The email includes an action item.
And the best part-- for $550 they keep their database up to date.

Technorati Tags: Customer Retention Relationship Building

Don't get forgotten

About a year ago I dropped Verizon wireless to get an iPhone. There was no other reason. Verizon also didn't give me a reason not to drop them. They were like the "steady ok looking" girlfriend. They were always there, never posed me a problem, and never gave me a reason to give them much attention. I gave them up for the sexy chick (AT&T) down the street.
Now I kind of regret it. But I have an iPhone!

I take Netflix for granted, as do most subscibers. This week they had a problem and I have heard some people are canceling. My relationship with Netflix is much like my previous relationship with Verzion. Dependable. Reliable.

So what are they both doing wrong? They are too dependable, too reliable.

Verizon and Netflix both gave me online billing statements and automatic payments. No noise, very simple. Its the first part that is the problem. My bills were paid automatically-- charged right to my card, so I never thought the service. Which made it very easy for me to quit them.

If I was Verizon what would I do to not be forgotten. First, I would take a page from Netflix. They email me when they receive a movie and mail me one. But they could do more, when they credit my card for the subscription they could remind me of the transaction and engage me in conversation. They could ask me to rate more movies, or remind me that some of the movies I have rented are available for sale. Maybe include a button to automatically buy it and have it shipped to me with one click.
Verizon could have done just about the same. They could have reminded me of my payment, and included a link to text my friends for free and tell them how pleased I was with my Verizon service.

So what does this all mean? If your going to make your transactions with your customers easy-- online bill payments, electronic statements, etc. you need to engage them in a conversation every time to stay at the top of their mind. This is a perfect chance to make your message viral and offer your customer the ability to send a message to a friend.

The main point-- don't let easy lead you down the path of forgotten.

Technorati Tags: Customer Retention Customer Service Relationship Building

Parade ready: what's your company float?

On July 4th I walked in our parade.

When was the last time you walked in a parade?

What if your company decided to enter a float in this years parade? Could you do it? Sure, you could get a hayrack or some trailer and fancy it up, maybe put a band on it. But is that your company? Is a band what you stand for (unless your a music store)?

Here is my challenge for you: if you had to sum up your company, your motto, your credo, in one float-- could you do it?

(Incidentially, I am in that picture somewhere.)

Moving Sale!

Greetings all 5 readers of the blog. Please accept my apologies in the delay of blog postings- but I have been in the process of moving the GS&MI blog home (yeah acronyms suck) to a new location and being involved in the process of adopting a rescue dog. More on both of those to come.

Anyway. I have many many posts in my head and will be sharing them shortly. So just to tease you here are some in the very near future:
- Parade ready: what's your company float?
- Image is everything! Does your salesteam fit you?
- Pack leader or follower: why your sales managers need to watch Cesear Milan.
- Image don't mean shit with that attitude.
- RND- what gear are you in? What gear are your salespeople in?

Alright. You get the point. My mind has been in overdrive while moving furniture and blogging on the iPhone just isn't fast enough! (Come on Apple, make that go!)

The CEO Role

I went dirt track racing last night. I spoke with some of my friends and drivers, but one impressed me.

A driver who had a new car was struggling. What did he do? He called the owner of the chassis company that built the car for help.

What do you think happened? Voicemail? A coupon? (These are the normal responses.)

Nope. The owner of the company came out and drove the car. Wait. Let me point out-- drove it from the back to the front. Twice.

That got me thinking. "What is the role of a CEO/Owner/ President/ Headhoncho?" I answered that question with this simple phrase.
--To imbue the same passion and desire they have and move the company forward. To act as a role model for their customers and employees, and create inspiration.

My advice for you. If you're a President or a CEO and you can't go out into the field or even out of your office-- quit. If you work for a company and your president doesn't live up to that mission statement-- find a new company. There is a reason that small companies grow fast, their owners and creators live the motto I set forth. There is a reason that AppleFans sit with baited breath for a Steve Jobs keynote-- inspiration.

Technorati Tags: Differentiation Fun stuff Customer Service Motivation

It's loud in my head

I can't help but share this article from Boing Boing. Now, if you read the article and the comments you can easily dismiss this as an invalid marketing expereiment. Or as some contributors put it- as scam.

But can't a well crafted offer appear like a scam?

I think what we can take away from all of this is that 1800 people walked by and only 28 asked for a note. 28!
I can hear the marketing person already "well we got good response, 1800 people saw our sign." True, but only 28 reacted.

Keep this in mind for your next campaign. Just because they "clicked" or read it, doesn't mean they reacted. The noise that everyone contends with on a daily basis is loud and only getting louder.

Technorati Tags: Creativity Positioning Target Marketing

Because they know you have a choice

When was the last time you applauded your customers just for stopping by?

By now you know that I love Apple. But why?

They show appreciation at every turn. They make you feel wanted, and they give a reassuring feeling you made the right decision.

Check out this video from the new Boston Apple Store opening.


See! I wasn't kidding.

So my question to you-- when was the last time you clapped for your customers? I ask because we all need to remember that they do have a choice in who to do business with.

Taking it for granted

A colleague just sent me this article. It appears to be a few years old but the lesson remains the same.

"A city councilman in Utah, Mark Easton, had a beautiful view of the east Mountains until a new neighbor purchased the lot below his house and built a new home. The home was 18 inches higher than the ordinances would allow, so Mark Easton, mad about his lost view, went to the city to make sure they enforced the lower roof line ordinance.

The new neighbor had to drop the roof line at great expense. Recently, Mark Easton called the city, and informed them that his new neighbor had installed some vents on the side of his home. Mark did not like the looks of the vents and asked the city to investigate. When they went to Mark’s home to view the vents, this is what they found..."

Mark Easton took it for granted that he would always see the mountain. That his view would never change. This is true in sales a lot. When we sell a customer we take it for granted that they will stop looking for a solution. When a customer does decide to leave it can lead to anger.

Mountain views are great. But they shouldn't be taken for granted. Which customers do you take for granted?

I want to talk to the Sales Manager

Today we got a cold call from presumably a telemarketer. They asked for the sales manager, when our secretary (uh hum... Administrative Assistant) asked why, they said they would answer that when the sales manager answered.
So she took his number and hung up.
I'll save the suspense-- I am not calling him back.

He did many things wrong. All of them are good for us, so lets take a look.

1. He didn't know my name. If your going to cold call- get an updated list with names. If your not willing to do that quit now and go work at Gap or something.
2. Be NICE! That Administrative Assistant that answered- yeah she is going to do that every time you call. So I would make her my friend. For tips on that read this.
3. (This could really be an extension of 2) Say why your calling! Even if we are doing business your attitude is not getting me past our gatekeeper.

Its been about a year since I last posted about effective use of the phone. But I think deserves a revisit.

Here is what I do to have a successful sales call.

1. Names, Names, Names.
   - Whoever answered the phone I addressed them by their name. And immediately told them my name and the company I was with. By addressing the person by their name it made the conversation much more personal. And I acknowledged them, and not the person I was trying to get to.
   
   "Hi Denise, this is Mike with ACT,Inc.[...]"
   
   
   
2. Admit defeat right-away
   - I wasn't afraid to let the person on the other end know that we had dropped the ball and needed to update our information. In one word-honesty. No smoke and mirrors here, we lost contact and I want to re-establish it.
   
   "[...] I was calling because somehow we lost contact with Gene Kelly at your company. I know it shouldn't have happened, but I was hoping to update his email address. He had inquired about our product at the ASTD trade show and I was hoping to send him an email follow-up."
   
   If Gene didn't work there: "Ok, so it looks like my info is really out of date, do you by chance know who replaced them? And if so could I have their name?"
   
   
   
3. My number-YOU BET!
   - Because I wanted someones information I wanted to make sure they had mine, so I offered my contact information to them. That way if the call got interrupted or they received another call the ball was in their court. Basically I offered trust.
   
   "Just in case we get cut off, I want to give you my direct line, that way if they have any questions they can contact me."
   
   
   
4. More than happy to email
   -I really didn't need to talk to the person, and the secretary being the adamant gate-keeper most of the time didn't want me too, I knew that my information could be ascertained from them. So I asked for what I needed and told them why and what I was planning to do with the information.
   
   "I really don't need to talk to Gene, I am just looking to update his email address. That way I can just send him the information he needs and he can view it whenever he wants."
   
   
   
5. Thanks, I really appreciate your help.
   -After I received the info from the person I thanked them personally for helping me. And in the show of gratitude I used their name.
   
   "Denise I wanted to thank you for taking the time to help me out. I am going to email that information to Gene, and if either of you have any questions please don't hesitate to contact me."

tags technorati : Sales Tools Secretary Customer Contact Information Sales Call Creativity Customer Retention Relationship Building Sales Tools

How big is your list?

While speaking with one of our resellers today she bragged that sent 10,000 emails to her entire list.

Ten thousand- that's a lot. I mean, really thats A LOT!

So who cares?

What if only 700 or so open it? That's 9,300 who didn't. Ninety three hundred is A LOT!

Is it relevant and personal? That is what you have to ask yourself every time you send an email campaign. If its not relevant- why send it? If it isn't personal - and no adding a "Dear {First Name}, doesn't count. I mean really personal. If you spent the time to get the person's name, then you should spend the time to get personal with them.

Here is what I do.

When I prep for a email campaign, I think of my audience. Who do I want to speak to? And more importantly- do they want to hear it? So I don't brag to my boss that I sent ten thousand emails. I brag that I sent one thousand with an open rate of 60%.

Here is my idea for you...
When getting ready to send your email campaign think about this. Would I send an email to my entire address book letting people know I am having a party? I bet not. I know my Aunt Alma wouldn't appreciate that.
An email campaign to your entire list is has the same effect.

So think back to the last time you spoke generally to a friend or coworker without ever listening to what they had to say. Sending to your entire list has the same effect.

Too far out of the box

I recently read this blog posting about an ad agency Modernista! and their website. (I'll wait a second and let you read that post first.)

Ok, done? Good.

So did you Google Modernista!?
Then you saw that the webpage isn't a webpage, its just a nav bar that hangs out while you navigate the web. (No one surfs the web anymore- thats so 1990's)

I love companies that will think outside the box-LOVE IT! I like when they push the boundaries of what something is and what they think it should be. Modernista! does exactly that. Why would someone go to just ONE website, why not have your website easily accessible while they info-snack?

Just one problem. The rest of society is struggling to get caught up on the web. In fact some of the web is struggling to keep up with its self.
Take for example the wikipedia page for Modernista!, they point out that you are not at the modernista site and they are doing things wrong!--AHHH! We can't have companies doing things on the web wrong.





According to Wikipedia there is a right way to navigate the web and a wrong way. Modernista! is the wrong way.

Here is the line in the sand for me. The internet will never be the same. Companies like Modernista! have changed it for me. They pushed the boundary on what it can be- a place to navigate with friends, and have it be an experience. And I don't mean social networking, I mean sites like pmog.com. These are sites that change the web into an experience.

So what happens if you are too far out of the box? You are considered a non-conformist. This is perfect for Modernista! because that builds their brand and fits nicely with their mantra.

But what about your brand?

Can you push the boundaries for your company? Your sales department?
Lets think about this. Take for example the thank you letter. Does it have to be a letter?

How Amazon almost lost me

#1. New products require policies and procedures.

#2. New products have kinks.

#3. New products need tweeks.

#4. New products need customer adoption. And to get that you have to be willing to work out all of the above, but most important you have to bend #1.


I tried Amazon's Unbox service to rent a video last week. For the first video it worked perfectly. I couldn't have been more happy. I viewed the video and told my friends that Amazon might have something here to really compete with iTunes. (There was a downfall, I had to use my work PC because I am Mac guy.)

Then Friday night happened. The video didn't work. It just didn't play. Then it would crash my computer- all the more scary.

So I fumbled through their help and support section- which is a whole other post in and of itself. And finally ended up sending in an email. I wrote of my problem and asked for two things. One was a solution, and the second was a credit on my account (their policy prohibits refunds).

I got a general response- which told me they didn't read my email. I tried their solution and it didn't work. No surprise to me since it was just part of their help page regurgitated. I did everything they said, and nothing worked.

Frustrated, I went back to their email and clicked on the reply button. I told them nothing worked and while I understood their policy about refunds, all I wanted was a credit.

Enter this morning. I got an email from Amazon.

"Hello from Amazon.com.

I have reviewed our previous correspondence with you, and I offer my
sincere apologies for any frustration you have felt regarding the
difficulty you have had with your Amazon Unbox rental.

While Amazon Unbox videos are not returnable, I'm making an exception
to this policy for you today. I have requested a refund of $3.99 for you.

This refund should go through within the next 2 to 3 business days and
will appear as a credit on your next credit card billing statement.

As part of the refund process, I have also revoked the license for
this video and it will no longer appear in Your Media Library.

Again, I apologize for the difficulty you had using Amazon Unbox and
thank you for shopping at Amazon.com."

Wow! I thought- which is the exact emotion Amazon was hoping for. They did a great job with the apology letter by removing my frustration. I'll shop Amazon again- not for the Unbox videos, but for other things.

So whats the point?
Policies and procedures are good, they help protect companies and assets. But both deserve to be broken, bent, and reconsidered constantly. Not just for new products, but existing products. I believe if you fix a person's problem and give them the same feeling about your company as when they first purchased your item, they can be won for life.

It's all about the passion- part 2

Mom called me yesterday to tell me some news about her business and ask my advice. She also told me that she took the day off and hired a friend to run her store.

It was great news that she could finally afford an employee- its a small store. (But it has a nice website.)

Anyway, I asked her how much that employee sold that day. $7. I can't type the words I uttered but they looked like this #$&%!!!!!

She didn't understand how the store did so bad. I told her it came down to one word- PASSION. The person she hired didn't share the same passion as my mom.

Here is my idea for you...
When looking at who you should surround yourself with abilities are always the first thing people gravitate to.

I think it should be passion.

Abilities can be cultivated- passion is hard to be transfered.

My thoughts on user-generated content

User- generated content is undeniably hot right now. Websites like youtube, flicker, facebook, and myspace make sharing your personal preferences easier than ever.

Some brands inspire great content.



Some really miss the mark.



But lost in all of this hype is the original user-generated content- the customer feedback letter.

Here is my idea for you...
The next time you think about having a sales contest I believe you need to make the goal unrelated to a dollar amount. Instead, work to increase customer satisfaction and monitor it by the number of complimentary letters your company receives. Increasing sales is beneficial in the short term- increasing brand loyalty is beneficial for the long term.

Technorati Tags: Creativity Branding Positioning Customer Service

2 Great Points

1. People don't surf the web anymore- they info snack- Thanks Seth
2. Customers don't read anymore. They scan. - Thanks Scott

How big is your radar?

Everyday we are blasted with tons of emails. In fact I have days when I never think they will stop coming in.

A few months ago we had a major announcement that I sent out which was effective today. (I sent it on November 20th to be exact.) I alerted people to the change and warned that I would need their feedback.

Today the change came. Guess how many phone calls I received?

The problem was everyone's radar wasn't big enough. They didn't see how the change effects them until its within striking distance. It was a tiny blip on the screen. They didn't pay attention to the blip until it got really close.

Similar to our personal space theory of Americans- you don't bug me until you are within 4 feet of me.

Is this a phenomenon? Could be. I know many salespeople who seem to have short sighted vision. But not everyone.

So my question to is how big is your radar? Do you catch things right as they too close to you? Or do you have the vision to see them coming from way off in the distance and anticipate what action is needed?

The latter being an important characteristic in dealing with customer problems. By the time the customer calls in, it has already been a problem simmering for a while. Just not to us. To us- it didn't become a problem until our phone rang.

Here's an Idea for you...
Solicit feedback from your users. In Seth's book, he mentions that customer to customer interaction can really help to build a brand and increase sales- in fact he points to it as one of the future states of marketing. I agree. I am not advocating you put up comments boxes in your store, slapping a "How's my driving" sticker on every car. But change the philosophy of your company. The response rates of those items are low, because many people feel as though their information goes into a black whole. No, doing those things give CEO's a warm fuzzy. We live in the real world, and want to know what people honestly think.
So what do we do?
Lets make it part of our conversation. This will require training, but incorporate customer learning into every salesperson's life. When they go to see a customer they have a goal- increase the business and the sale. Lets add to that- increase our understanding of how to improve ourselves. Salespeople are instinctively good at reading people- that is why we are in sales. So lets get instinctively good at gathering feedback.

Technorati Tags: Customer Service Relationship Building Sales Tools Personal Space Sales Insight

Real vs. Reality

I just ordered a combo meal from a restaurant. What I got was real. What they presented me with was a painted reality.
So my question to you is what does your company perceive as reality and what is real to your customers?

Technorati Tags: fast food combo customer perception customer service customer retention

It's about the passion

Anger in many organizations equals dissension. Why can't anger equal passion - to make a change, to improve, to build a better widget? I am angery a lot sometimes, but it all relates back to my passion to succeed.

My point is that you can learn a lot by seeing what angers your salespeople. You can learn even more by seeing what angers your customers-remember they are passionate about improving your product too.

Technorati Tags: motivation passion anger in the workplace

Yes We Can

Selling isn't dating- Part two

One year ago today I posted "Selling isn't dating- I can cheat on you". Today I am back to that subject- no I didn't run out material. Instead I read this post today by Scott Ginsberg "ZOINKS! The customer actually came to ME! Now what?".

And it got me thinking. I completely skipped the asking out part.

Good thing for us, Scott was on top it.

So read his post, then read mine, and ask yourself- "what am I like when a customer calls?" And how can I improve my relationships with my customers? It could be you are just starting off on the wrong foot.

Technorati Tags: Customer Retention Customer Service Relationship Building Scott Ginsberg Selling dating

A blog to read

I picked up on this blog about a month ago. Really good stuff- and an interesting perspective on all things marketing.

http://dimbulb.typepad.com/my_weblog/

Policies and procedures

Fresh off a recent viewing of 'The Bucket List' - I was thinking...

Have you thought about what policies you have put in place lately? How you would feel if they were used to affect you?

My Point?
We all like to be treated special. So why do we make policies that treat people like a group instead of an individual?

Spoiled by immediacy

Instant messaging.

Email.

Cell phones.

Are we spoiled by immediacy? Do we expect things too fast? Have we cultivated a culture that can live without anticipation?

What do salespeople do when immediacy becomes the norm for everything? How do we anticipate their needs, wants, or questions?

The penny jar

I bet your local post office doesn't have a penny jar. Mine doesn't.

Want to know why?

They can't audit it. That was the explanation I was given.

Well of course you can't audit a penny jar- because its kindness. But that's the point of a penny jar.

A penny jar is more than just lint-less extra change. It's one consumers generosity spilling into another.

My question to you is- does your company allow for a penny jar?

Spontaneous Snowball fight

Shortly after finishing a "team building" excercise at work yesterday we all lumbered out to our cars on the way to a company dinner.

What happened next had the potential to educate our leadership team beyond reasoning.

It was a snowball fight.

As we exited the building, to our amazement it had snowed most of the day. As our group made its way to the parking lot the packed powder began to fly.

So why is this important?

All day we worked on team building. Standard "group think" answers where given and the veterans of the group paid each other the lip service they commanded.

But when the snow started flying, the leadership abilities became crystal clear. You could see those who could quickly adapt to a changing environment- one with baseball size packs of snow flying at you. You also saw others that could command and delegate to ensure victory. It also became apparent those that can immediately cut loose and be comfortable with co-workers.

What's the Point?
Planning can produce the results you wish. However, spontaneity can shed light on the less obvious.
And snowball fights are just plain fun!

Whats your job?

I think I would like to rewrite my job title.

Really. I don't see myself as a salesperson anymore.

Think of it. When was the last time you helped inform your customer into a decision? With the information age upon us (that's almost as bad a name as Cyber- Monday), consumers have access to way more information than in years past.

Consumers can make an educated decision. In fact, Consumers like to feel as though they are making an educated decision.

They don't needs salespeople anymore. What they need are reassurance people.

What are reassurance people? These are individuals who should be working to reassure prospects and current clients that they have made the right decision to purchase from them. That the customer is right, is making a good decision, and is purchasing correctly.

A while back a friend asked my opinion about a purchase. She said, "I am asking you this so you can reassure me that I made the right decision, not because I want your opinion."

This is the new job of a salesperson.

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