Strategies for Winning All the Business You Want.
The Archives
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01.24.12He’s Just Not That Into You! 3 Ways to Connect Quicker with ProspectsIf you ever try to attract someone and feel you’re falling short of making your case, here are a few solutions. If you try to sell someone something, a typical reaction you may receive is that person becomes immediately not that into you. As the nation’s #1 sales expert Jeffrey Gitomer says, “People Don’t Like to Be Sold, But They Love To BUY!™” In businesses where the seller and the buyer’s relationship matters, instead of focusing on the product, it is smarter to focus more on the relationship and making a connection. Here are 3 ways I’ve observed from some of ...
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08.03.11Why do Firms Fail at Delivering Great Service?Is your staff required to give great service? Have you fully trained them on how to act, what to say, and how to handle service issues? If you have, that’s wonderful of course, but it will NOT guarantee great service. Unfortunately, the delivery of above and beyond service in firms both large and small is a requirement and often treated as such. Required activities are often delivered because a person has to, not because they want to…and people can tell the difference. Recently I was at a very nice hotel in New York. The staff there had most certainly been trained ...
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05.18.11The Service Dilemma for Small, Boutique FirmsWhen I call my favorite airlines, if I don’t get the answer I was hoping for or am having trouble getting the person to understand my request, I don’t continue trying with the same person. I politely end the call and redial to get someone else. More often than not I am able to get closer to what I am requesting by taking this action. It is a hidden benefit of working with a large firm. The problem with a small company is that there is no one else to call - except another company. And if you think people do ...
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03.16.11Promises to Clients You Can’t KeepDid you ever make a big promise you can’t keep? Oftentimes there is a disconnect separating what we commit to do and what we actually can deliver. And not delivering on a promise is far worse than never committing to do something in the first place. At a hotel this week I was offered 3 things at check in. It was midnight and I was tired, but I did answer the questions of the employee at registration. First he asked me if I wanted a USA Today newspaper in the morning. I said that I would. ...
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03.15.11Guest Blog: Better Service Equals Better ReferralsGuest Blog from Bill Cates, President of Referral Coach International Know Your Competition When you know your competition well, it not only gives you a selling advantage early on, but also continues to help you serve and sell to your client throughout the relationship. You should always serve your clients with the knowledge that they are your competitors’ prospects. Do you know what pressures your clients are under to move their business? Do you know what they say to all those other financial professionals who call them? If you don't, I ...
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01.26.11Unconditional FansWin or lose, true fans don’t stop cheering for their team. Unconditional fans cheer for their favorite team to win again and again, to move closer and closer to their goals (beating a rival, clinching a series, winning a championship, etc). When our team is losing, we figure out ways to cheer for them some more (rally caps on!). And when they pull through, we share in their success, feeling like winners ourselves because we had our allegiance in the right spot. It is the same for true fans of your business. A fan ...
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01.19.11Cultivating Relationships NOT Worth the Time?Proactively cultivating relationships is often an afterthought. We are just too busy trying to get through the workload directly in front of us. And, relationships are not what we DO in our businesses, right? Most firms are not in the “relationship business.” You are in the [INSERT your core offering] business. Simply spoken: We need sales, not more friends! STOP RIGHT THERE!! Above is an excuse that we often create (myself included), subconsciously or consciously, for not finding the time to do one of the most important things directly affecting growth and profitability. Intuitively ...
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01.12.11People Do Business With You…But Why?Why do people do business with you? Is it because of WHAT you do or is it because of WHY you do it? According to author and thought leader Simon Sinek, people buy the “why.” Over the past few weeks I’ve been asking clients and other professionals their “why.” Many times it doesn’t seem clearly defined. I do believe the “why” is critically important in business, and if you watch Sinek’s short lecture on TED video, you may see a different perspective on its importance too. In this TED video, Sinek explains what he believes to ...
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12.08.10Why is it so darn easy to say NO?Oftentimes, there is more risk in customer service when the answer to our concerns is “yes.” Can you help me? Will you make an exception and do this for me just this once? Could you look into this issue I’m having? Being helpful comes with a price, and the price is more work. But what if the tables were turned and the risk was actually in saying “no.” How much better would our interactions with companies become? Last week I called my cell phone provider to modify the service, cancel a line, add a data line, etc. I ...
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11.16.10Guest Blog: New Kids on the BlockGuest Blog from Lena Rizkallah of Mosaic Consulting The results of November’s tumultuous mid-term elections are in: for the third time in four years, a significant change has taken over Congress. The Republicans took back the majority in the House while the Democrats maintained their lead in the Senate, albeit by a slim margin. Overwhelmingly, the shift among voters resulted from the state of the economy, job losses and an uncertain future. One thing is clear: the election results demonstrated what is most on the minds of Americans today, and that is the state ...
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- The One Thing In Business That is Priceless
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