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Monday Morning Motivators – March 24, 2007
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Enjoy your java with an eclectic collection of tips and ideas to use today and to get energized for the week ahead. Subscribing and unsubscribing at www.mondaymorningmotivators.com
"Treat every customer as if they sign your paycheck…because they do." --Author Unknown
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Table of Contents
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1. A Customer has Needs and Wants – Linda Fayerweather
2. 11 Rules for Living – Part 3 of 3 - Rebecca Booth
3. Don't contract - EXPAND!! – Pat Altvater
4. What is Selling and How Do You Keep It Relational? – Paula Frazier
5. To Do This Week
6. Fine Print
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1. A Customer has Needs and Wants
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This may shock some of you as it did me, but apparently there are people that prefer their dress pants with no crease down the front. Learning this the hard way - my pants would come back with side creases that gave a very "clownish" image - I went to the cleaners personally, asked to have my trousers repressed, and explained my preference. I learned 50% of women want their trousers pressed that way. Well, I'm not one! After a few months the creases began to show up on the sides again. Being a fixer by nature, I created a laminated tag attached to the laundry bag that states:
CUSTOMER is requesting that this pair of trousers and ALL trousers be ironed/pressed with a CREASE DOWN the FRONT. That means I, the customer, want ALL my trousers with a CREASE that goes OVER THE KNEE, DOWN the FRONT.
Seems pretty straightforward? Well, two more trips to the dry cleaners, one letter to the owner and I've been free of side creases for 8 months. Normally, I would have been like most customers and just disappeared and found a new dry cleaner. Convenience is a strong motivator as all I do is leave the clothes in the hamper and magically they disappear and return clean. Actually, my husband handles this through his employer's drop-off service AND he has NEVER gotten his pants back with side creases.
In this case the customer had needs that were not out of the realm of reason. If I was that difficult of a customer, they should have told me with my first complaint they couldn't meet my needs. As business owners, when we take a customer's business we are agreeing to a level of service we provide to our favorite customers. Nothing less should apply to any of our customers.
Copyright 2008 Linda Fayerweather
"What do your customers really need?"
Changing Lanes LLC
www.ChangingLanes.biz
The Customer Service Rules
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2. 11 Rules for Living – Part 3 of 3
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We end our mini-series on the 11 Rules for Living for with the following 4 rules. Please use this article as an example of how you can touch your target market in an honest and innovative manner. Thanks needs to be given to New Accountant for featuring this article by Charles J. Sykes.
Rule #8 – Your school may have done away with winners and losers, but life has not. In some schools they have abolished failing grades; they’ll give you as many times as you want to get the right answer. This doesn’t bear the slightest resemblance to ANYTHING in real life.
Rule #9 – Life is not divided into semesters. You don’t get summers off and very few employers are interested in helping you find yourself. Do that on your own time.
Rule #10 – Television is NOT real life. In real life, people actually have to leave the coffee shop and go to jobs.
Rule #11 – Be nice to nerds. Chances are you’ll end up working for one.
Copyright 2008 Rebecca Booth
Marketing Goddess
Imagine That!
419-855-3399
www.rebeccaboothmarketinggoddess.com
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3. Don't contract - EXPAND!!
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I gave up watching or reading the news years ago but as an avid Internet user, I can’t help but be bombarded by that nasty “R” word – recession. It’s important to protect ourselves from all the negativity surrounding our economy right now because we can actually be influenced by the news and not even realize it.
It only takes the slightest hint of a suggestion to trigger an old belief in our subconscious, a belief that says for example, "business goes down in a recession." Often we don't even know the little seed of doubt has slipped in, but it gets in our mind and grows slowly, yet persistently. We actually give way to lack, limitation and failure a little at a time and before we know it, we’ve become one with the problem.
Instead, stay conscious to this by adopting a new belief that states “my business expands every year.” Succeed and grow, regardless of what "they say." Just keep moving forward, by putting yourself out there more and more each day and you’ll attract the customers you need to grow your business this year.
Pat Altvater
Certified Law of Attraction Practitioner
www.thesecretofpermanentweightloss.com
www.permanentweightlossebook.com
www.transformationsinstitute.com
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4. What is Selling and How Do You Keep It Relational?
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What is selling? According to Dictionary.com it’s a verb (an action word) that means “to persuade or induce someone to buy something; to cause to be accepted.”
When people commit to building their business by referral they get so focused on being relational that they forget that at some point a transaction, a sale, must take place. In many cases, people confuse marketing with selling. Marketing has become more widely defined as the commercial process of promoting a product or service for the purpose of selling and distribution -WordNet® 3.0, © 2006 by Princeton University.
Simply said, we market to get the word out. The primary goal is create visibility within your market. Here’s a reminder of the 4 ways to market your business: advertising, public relations, cold calling and word-of-mouth.
Once you’ve begun your marketing efforts, it’s time to start selling. Referral marketers focus much of their efforts on the prospecting part of the sales process. Relational prospecting is about purposefully and strategically doing the right things at the right time with the right people to create credibility to connect with your target market. Based on your own strengths and weaknesses you could:
a. Activate Key Referral Sources
b. Arrange Speaking Engagements
c. Write Articles/Publish Newsletters
d. Maintain a Blog
Prospecting activities (like the ones listed above) will generate interest. People will want to learn more about you and your products/services which means it’s time to move forward in the relationship and in the sales process. Arrange a face to face meeting to:
a. Learn about their business goals, industry accomplishments and personal interests.
b. Identify specific needs that you can help them with through your products/services. Be aware that you may be standing in the middle of a referral. Connect them with others in your networks that can help them through their products/services.
c. If you determine that you can help them, overcome objections. The most common concerns are time and money.
d. ASK FOR THE SALE!
The big question – How do you keep selling relational? Here is the key:
It’s the intent behind the techniques and sales tactics you employ that determines your ethics. In order for others to believe in the benefits of your products and services, you must believe in them first. When is the last time you used your own products/services? Share your success story.
Copyright 2008 Paula Frazier is a Master Trainer for Referral Institute and an Executive Director for BNI, the world’s leading referral marketing organizations. To learn more about Relational Selling visit http://www.bniswva.com
or http://www.referralinstitutevirginia.com
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5. To Do This Week
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Wash Your Car – it will give you a new outlook on the week!
