Write Speak Sell » Customer Engagement

Proven Sales Techniques are the Lifeblood of a Business

Michael Yublosky — Thu, 08 Jul 2010 15:00:22 +0000

[tweetmeme]The lifeblood of a business is sales. Proven sales and marketing techniques are as valid today for the small business owner as they were before the social media revolution. They will attract customers and fill your piggy bank. I learned this the hard way.

Proven sales techniques will attract customers and fill your piggy bank

I reluctantly became an outside salesperson some 30 years ago during the recession in the early 80′s. I was out of work, almost broke, new house and daughter, stay at home wife, etc. My resumes went unanswered. Eventually I secured a starting sales position with a top publicly held company. I went through a professional in-home sales training course, highlighted by a trip to New York City.

Instructors told attendees to ensure that both husband and wife were present and sitting around a comfortable table in their home. We would then make a carefully orchestrated presentation. They also emphasized handling every known objection. This would lead to a one-time sales close. Balderdash!

I already knew that selling is not a one-way street. One of the best ways to establish two-way communications with customers and potential clients is by asking open-ended questions that don’t allow a mere yes or no response. Let your prospect or customer do most of the talking. Listen, observe and learn. They will tell you what they are interested in.

In that entry-level sales job, I dealt with educated people in a higher income bracket. They could easily see through the high-pressure smoke screen. I analyzed the situation and applied the above methods. I asked questions and met with one or both spouses where they wished, applied low pressure consultative sales tactics, came back a second time, etc. In short, I did whatever I needed to make them feel comfortable with the product and this most often led to a sale. I diverged from the normal routine and had a successful sales career spanning almost three decades.

Nowadays, you can begin the conversation with prospects on the web by starting a blog, an e-mail campaign, newsletter service, series of videos or other suitable vehicles to communicate your company’s news and information. Become known as an expert in your field, the go-to person. In all these communications, request and promptly reply to feedback.

Combine these with innovative marketing techniques that separate you from your competition. Run contests or offer prizes. When I owned a retail store, we promoted a student discount for customers who achieved a specific grade point average during a grading period. This generated free publicity from all the high schools in our area!

As I wrote in my blog earlier this year “Superior Customer Service,” reducing customer stress as well as promoting customer service will succeed over cutting price and high-pressure tactics every day of the week.

* * * * * * * * * * *

Michael Yublosky, MBA, is a successful self taught do-it-yourself Web master and E-Marketer. He combines 30+ years of professional consultative sales experience with sales and marketing management, training, coaching/mentoring. Michael shares his knowledge with similarly minded small business owners and managers as well as self-employed entrepreneurs through classes and seminars. His free tips and down loadable PDF files can be viewed at DIY Web E-Marketing.

How One Company Identified Internal Drivers of Innovation

Jeannette Paladino — Tue, 06 Jul 2010 15:00:20 +0000

[tweetmeme]The latest edition of Business Week carried a story about how Amdocs, a $3 billion company that provides software and services for most of the world’s leading service providers, including AT&T, Sprint Nextel and Vodafone, developed hundreds of innovative ideas at a sort of company boot camp. This is employee engagement at its best — when a company involves employees in creating the products and services that will move the company forward. Hundreds of employees applied for the 75 spots, with participants selected on the basis of creativity, originality, and diversity, according to the article.

Ideas can come from anywhere

This is the second camp organized by the company’s chief scientist Tal Givoly, so you can imagine that in anticipation of another opportunity to be part of the action, employees were gearing up long before the event to compete for a spot. Ideas can come from anywhere. So savvy companies will look for internal drivers of innovation as well as tapping external experts. “The first day consisted solely of a variety of wacky, mind-expanding activities,” said Paul Sloane, the facilitator and author of the Business Week article. The “wacky” is what’s important. Too often companies will establish criteria before letting the ideas fly. When participants in such creative sessions are told the budget in advance it sucks the air out of room. Even the wackiest idea may have a gold nugget waiting to be plumbed.

To read how Amdocs sorted through the ideas to get to their gold nuggets, go to the Business Week article: “Inside a Corporate Innovation Camp.” Amdocs also started a blog earlier this year to engage customers as well as employees. Smart.

Don’t Forget to Bring Your Own Saw to Home Depot

Jeannette Paladino — Tue, 22 Jun 2010 22:37:53 +0000

[tweetmeme]Many chain stores are beginning to tailor their products to the local marketplace. It’s called “localization.” Macy’s calls its program “My Macy’s.” Best Buy calls its program “customer centricity.” An excellent report on localization by the consulting firm Kurt Salmon & Associates demonstrates that catering to local tastes and needs really pays off.

Home Depot could use a saw

So why is this important to me? I live in Manhattan (the one in New York) and, as everyone keeps telling us, we’re different from other folks. People outside the city can’t grasp that most of us don’t have cars, for example, and that we rely on public transportation. We also rely on our supers and handymen who we value much more than, say, our doctors. You can always get a new doctor but you’re stuck with the staff you have. (I’m not complaining – I have a great super).

That’s why my trip to Home Depot this afternoon was so dissatisfying. I went in to purchase a 2-inch wide piece of baseboard and several tubes of white painters caulking. They had both, but the baseboard comes in 10-foot lengths. When I asked the salesman if he could saw it in half so that I could get it home, he replied, “We only do that in stores outside of Manhattan.” Really? People outside of Manhattan have cars and big SUVs to throw their things in the back. Ever try getting on a bus at rush hour with a baseboard almost twice as tall as you are, or in a taxi, if you can find one? Not easy.

So I walked home, whacking awnings and signs and barely avoiding paddling some pedestrians’ behinds. I know my local hardware store will saw something for you, because I’ve bought shelving from them that that needed to be sized.

So, next time you go to Home Depot, don’t forget to bring your own saw. And the next time I need something, I’ll just practice “localization” and go to my local hardware store.

What Good are Spoken Messages if No One Hears Them?

Jeannette Paladino — Thu, 27 May 2010 14:00:37 +0000

[tweetmeme]FYI, this isn’t going to be a lofty discussion about the meaning of words or a list of reasons why nobody is watching your video on YouTube or listening to your super duper podcast.

All aboard!

I’m referring to the messages in public places like the platform of a New York City subway car, where it is impossible to hear messages broadcast about the N train skipping the stop at 34th Street due to a sick passenger, or the waiting area of the air-train to Newark International Airport, where you can’t hear about service disruptions. Yet these unintelligible messages are critical for travelers.

I was stuck on the platform of the shuttle train to Newark Airport (departing every three minutes, right on their website). We waited — and waited. A lone agent began shouting about the cause of the delay but only those in her immediate vicinity could hear her. Why on earth wasn’t she equipped with a microphone? There are portable amplification systems. You know the old story, we can fly someone to the moon, but….. When she got around to my little group, we learned there was a mechanical problem of some kind. We were instructed to board the arriving train but, then, because of this problem, disembark at the next station for another train to the terminals. Off we went and when the doors opened again, there was another young woman shouting something unintelligible and gesturing wildly. ”Don’t get off!!” we finally understood her to mean. So, we didn’t and continued on our way.

You may hate using a microphone, but your audience will love it

Now we can hear you!

The point of this minor diatribe is that your message doesn’t exist if your listeners can’t hear you. How many times have you been at a program when the speaker started off, “I hate using a microphone — I can speak loudly enough to so that everyone can hear me.” Not me in the back row, lady.

If you’re making a speech, be sure to test the sound system in advance. Can your voice — and words — be heard and understood throughout the room? Or are you speaking too close to the microphone so that the sound is ear splitting? (this happened to me last week)

And, if you are running Newark Airport, when are you going to supply your agents at the air-train with amplification systems to they don’t have to scream at people who can’t hear them anyway? And let’s not forget to figure out a better system in subway stations so we won’t be surprised to learn that the local train is running on the express track. Come on, the subway system is over 100 years old. Haven’t you figured it out yet, Mr./Ms. Metropolitan Transportation Authority?

Thank you.

No related posts.

Turning Customers into Your Company’s Brand Advocates

Jeannette Paladino — Mon, 24 May 2010 13:00:36 +0000

[tweetmeme]Customers can become valuable brand advocates for your products and services, according to a McKinsey study. I’m a firm believer that companies can leverage their own employees on social networks to advocate for their brands and I’ve written about that. But the McKinsey study, “Four ways to get more value from digital marketing,” is convincing in its point of view that traditional advertising and point-of-sale promotions, one-way channels to customers, are losing potency to the power of interactive communications with customers who then become your brand advocates.

Viral marketing gains new customers

Not surprising. “Moving from a one-way, company-driven sales mentality to a two-way relationship with consumers requires core changes in the way marketers do business,” the study learned. Digital technology has changed the way consumers make purchasing decisions. Instead of asking friends and families for recommendations, consumers now read online reviews, compare features and prices on websites and discuss options on social networking sites. This is a golden opportunity for companies to find out what customers are looking for and to respond to their needs directly one-to-one.

The term “marketing to the one” became a buzzword a few years back. But now it has become a reality. Among leading companies that have leveraged this two-way conversation are Comcast, Dell and American Express. They constantly monitor what their customers are saying about their products and service. Smart companies are also revamping their websites and launching online promotions that engage their customers in a way that was impossible just a short time ago.

But most companies are, unfortunately, still mired in their old ways, spending most of their marketing spend on paid advertising reaching the many. Digital marketers reverse this, focusing on a smaller core of engaged people who spread their message.

Inspiring customers to help stretch your marketing budgets

Back to customers as brand advocates. Digital marketers let “customers do more of the heavy lifting as they decide what to look at, play with content and forward it to their online communities,” says McKinsey. I would call them brand advocates for the companies that treat them well and provide outstanding products and service.

Gary Vaynerchuk

Gary Vaynerchuk, in his book “Crush It,” offers a powerful example of the effectiveness of viral marketing. For his wine business, he spent $7,500 to offer free shipping codes via three traditional advertising channels: a billboard on the New Jersey Turnpike, direct mail, and radio. The billboard brought in 170 orders, radio 240, and direct mail 300+. Then, at no cost, he sent out a free shipping code via his Twitter account and received 1,700 orders in 48 hours. No doubt, many of his followers retweeted the offer to their friends. They became brand advocates for winelibrary.com.

Is your company engaging your employees and customers as brand advocates? I would love to hear your stories.

Facial Cues Tell us a Lot About People and Success in Business

Jeannette Paladino — Tue, 06 Apr 2010 20:10:41 +0000

[tweetmeme]Facial expressions are crucial to social – and business – interactions. A story in The New Times today discussed research by a graduate student who is doing a study on her own condition called Moebius syndrome that causes facial paralysis. Unlike people without the syndrome, Moebius sufferers must find other cues like gestures and tone of voice to communicate emotions that most of us take for granted.

How important are facial expressions to success in business? Very important. As the article points out, we tend to mimic the gestures and expressions of conversation partners that create a kind of shared good will. Ask most people who they want to do business with, and they will generally say someone they are comfortable with. We’ve all had the experience of talking to someone who gives us absolutely no facial or verbal cues. Maybe it was a potential client. Nothing could be more uncomfortable because we may interpret this lack of cues as rejection — and possibly it is.

So what’s the lesson here? In a selling situation, try to use all three methods of communication: words, pictures and actions. The words are important but actions like smiling, laughing, frowning, and arched eyebrows communicate as much or more than words. They create a visceral connection to your conversation partner. You may never get to the next step in a personal or business relationship without them.

White Castle Boss Goes Undercover and Learns Employee Engagement Works

Jeannette Paladino — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 18:22:51 +0000

[tweetmeme]I was finally persuaded by a friend to watch the new hit show “Undercover Boss.” This reality show confirmed that a CEO can learn a lot about how to make the company better by engaging with employees. For those who haven’t seen the new show on CBS, a CEO goes undercover as an employee in his own company to see for himself how things are working. Dave Rife, owner of the White Castle hamburger chain, was this past Sunday’s undercover snoop.

Praise for a job well done

When he started his adventure, I don’t think he fully understood how stressful the job of a White Castle employee can be, with the fear of losing a job always in the background when you have a disabled child, as one employee did, or another’s fear of simply messing up.

How Do I Do This?

Mr. Big Shot discovered that he couldn’t do simple chores like sliding plastic wrap over a batch of buns in the packaging machine. He ruined several barrels’ worth, prompting a supervisor to say the hogs (who get to enjoy the mangled buns) would be eating well that night.

What he learned best, though, was how important employees are to the success of the company. At a White Castle drive-in a young co-worker explained to him about the importance of greeting each customer and going out of your way to help with little things, like sliding the customer’s credit card in a hard-to-reach slot. In watching this scene, I was almost brought to tears by the young man’s sincerity and dedication. So was Dan Rife.

Another employee showed him a shortcut, but told him not to tell management, because that’s not how they said it was supposed to be done.

After his eye-opening week on the road, working besides his employees, Rife returned to headquarters wiser and more appreciative of what it means to be on the front lines.

Magically, he brought several employees to headquarters to assist with developing training programs – hey, they should. Aren’t they the ones who know what the problems are and how to fix them? He gave a $5,000 scholarship to a budding chef, and another $5,000 to the employee with a disabled child.

The program ended with Rife speaking to a pep rally of employees, beaming with the joy of being acknowledged by the head of the company. Happy with the recognition that they were asked to work as a team to achieve the company’s success.

Annual Report Time: Don’t Forget Your Employees in Communication With Shareholders

Jeannette Paladino — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 21:16:30 +0000

Well, PR Departments in public companies are surely beginning work on their annual reports. They can smell spring in the air – when these symbols of capitalism come rolling off the presses once more. In a reprise of my past admonitions, with a few additions, I implore writers and designers to keep a few things in mind.

Please make the report more exciting. Notice I did not say interesting. Splash some color on the pages, use a large typeface so oldsters can read the copy, especially if you’re using reverse type. Use bold, brash headlines. Most readers will be viewing the report online so make it compelling and dispense with flash and any other doohickey that slows down loading or distracts the viewer.
Remember the company has employees. Yes, many fewer of them, but they still are the backbone of the company. I was shocked last year when I perused the annual reports of several of the largest Fortune 500 companies and found they had not a single photo or story about an employees. It is disappointing to think they merited so little recognition.
Make it sell. The report should very strategically position the organization as the leader in its space, developing new paradigms of products and services.
Use Testimonials. Words out of the mouths of your customers and employees can bring the vision statement to life. Let them tell the reader what a great company this is.

So, if you’re assigned to create this year’s annual report, how do you ensure it accurately represents the organization and has a long, active life after it’s been printed and distributed? Here are my suggestions:

Get the CEO involved from the get-go. Do not even think of hiring a writer or design firm until you have met with the CEO to understand how s/he wishes the organization to be positioned in the document. S/he cannot delegate this discussion to someone else.
Write a creative platform that describes the overall theme and tone of the annual report, its content and “look.” Get the CEO to sign off on it.
Solicit in-put from the key people in your organization who would most likely use the annual report throughout the year such as the head of sales, director of development, director of public and community affairs, and so on. What do they want emphasized in the report? Find out what would make them use it during the year to help them achieve their goals.
Make a mock-up of the report, page by page. It doesn’t need to be fancy. Take some legal paper and fold the sheets in half. It’s essential to know the content of every page and ideas for photos, charts, etc.
Now you can meet with your design firm and writer, if that’s not you. Everyone should be working from the approved creative platform and mock-up. Believe me, they will love you for it.
Show two to three designs to the CEO with the mock-up. If you’ve done your job right, s/he will have a tough time picking out the winner, because s/he will love them all.
Be true to the creative platform as you go through the process of developing the report. Be excited as it begins to unfold as a living, breathing document that will take on a life of its own for a year. Don’t be afraid to be a little gutsy with the copy and design. You’re not creating the next Bible, after all.

So, with these humble bits of advice, good luck and go forth!

If it Walks Like a Duck, etc., is it a Duck? Not According to Samsung

Jeannette Paladino — Sat, 30 Jan 2010 23:02:28 +0000

I thought the 25” HDTV I recently bought was a TV. How silly of me. Just because a TV behaves like a TV does not make it a TV, according to Samsung, the manufacturer. Hmmm.

To make a long story short, a cliché I know I should avoid as a writer, my cable box and what I thought was my TV are not talking to each other. After two new cable remotes, my cable provider told me the TV is only sporadically receiving the infrared signal from the remote. Hmmm.

I called Samsung and was told I really don’t have a TV; it is a monitor, so they can’t send someone to fix it. They could, if it was really a TV. Hmmm.

I tried to explain that just because they classify this whatchamacallit as a monitor, an ignorant consumer like me still thinks it’s a TV. If it walks like a TV, and talks like a TV, it is a TV, by my reckoning. Hmmm.

Of course, I could send it back to Samsung where they could apparently fix it (of course, the box it came in is long gone). The polite technician I talked to is going to call me back. She’s trying to find someone there who will allow her to classify it as a TV. Hmmm.

You see words do matter. When will companies learn to understand how their customers think and behave and the words they use? Come on, Samsung, do the right thing and send someone to fix this whatchamacallit.
.

No related posts.

Should Professionals be Compensated With a Retainer or Paid by the Hour?

Jeannette Paladino — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 18:41:19 +0000

When you are in a service business whether you are a doctor, dentist, lawyer or PR professional, you are basically selling time. That may sound crude to highly trained people with special skills. I can hear the objections, “I don’t sell time — I heal people…

I make sure my people are properly represented in court,” and so forth. All true. But there are only so many hours in a day so how do your leverage yourself to the maximum financial benefit? By keeping track of your time you can more accurately gauge your income. You will soon figure out the clients that are profitable and those that are not.

Now let’s look at it from the client side in the PR business (this would apply equally to ad agencies, law firms and accounting firms). The client’s goal is to stretch the time the agency spends on its business. The client is not so interested in how many hours the agency takes to complete an assignment. So a monthly retainer can be a very good deal. It is often difficult for an agency to figure out how much to charge because of the unexpected — that emergency that burns through the retainer. The reality is it always comes back to time. Will the client retainer result in a profit for the agency? Again, most clients are not interested.

But they should be. If a client sucks the life out of the retainer it will soon find more junior people (read less expensive) on its business. So whether the account is on a retainer or the work is for projects based on hours, the client and the agency need to work together to ensure that the relationship is mutually beneficial.