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Greetings:
I want to personally thank all of our new subscribers for
joining our mailing list. I hope you will share it with
others. I also want to thank all who participated in my
tele-seminar in August: Finding New Clients and Better
Marketing Yourself. I will be offering The Psychology of
Selling on September 30th for anyone who wants to learn
the secrets of the world's most successful sales people and
achieve the 'winning edge'. Details are posted on the website,
along with registration information. Or, you can always call
me toll free at 877-617-1319. I'd love to speak with you.
| Long Term Customers Are
KEY |
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It is really hard to believe the Summer is coming to
an end. For many of us, that means our busy season is
approaching, as holiday gift buying increases business
for many organizations. What can you do today, to insure
things go as smoothly as possible during Your busiest
season?
Critical to the success of any business, is gaining
and maintaining customers. Without them, we may as well
close our doors. It is important to maintain customers,
as it is this maintaining that allows us to grow. We
don't want to always be looking for new business,
without some repeat and referral business coming in. How
customers are handled, especially when there is a
problem, is critical to your success in maintaining
them.
Interestingly enough, is it those customers who have
had a problem satisfactorily handled, who are apt to be
more loyal than those customers who have never had a
problem. This is very powerful! It means that
properly handling a problem, will result in a loyal
customer!
These are the steps one can take to successfully
resolve a problem:
- Put yourself on the same side as the
customer
This means establishing rapport;
it starts with an apology and continues with letting the
customer know up front that you are sympathetic and ready
to help.
- Get to the Root of the Problem
Be
willing to take time to have the customer describe
exactly what the problem is. Be a good listener-- with
appropriate affirmations to show you are paying
attention.
- Find out what would satisfy the customer
Ask the customer what he/she considers a fair
and complete solution. Agree to that settlement and add
a bonus-- just to show you are sincere. The bottom line
is to be willing to do whatever is necessary to correct
the mistakes.
- Treat complaining customers as opportunities to
make things right
Keep in mind that
customers who complain want to continue doing business
with you.
Apologize
one final time and assure the customer that your
organization will go to great lengths to ensure the
error won't be repeated.
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| Sell More With Four
Messages |
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People need at least four messages
from you before they'll view you as credible, research
indicates. To make that work for you, I suggest you try
the four- message method to build name recognition. The
method assumes:
1. Prospects will discard
the first message you send, without reading it.
2. When they get the second message, they'll
think to themselves 'Didn't I get something from that
organization before?'
3. The third
message will have them thinking 'I know I received
something from this organization, but what did I decide
to do about it?'
4. When prospects read
the fourth message, they'll think, 'I've heard a lot
about this organiztion, perhaps I should call them or
send in this card to find out more.'
(Source: Communications Briefings as adapted
from Customer Loyalty: How to Earn it, How to Keep it.
Jossey-Bass, Inc.)
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| A Bit of
Inspiration |
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Two roads diverged in a wood, and
I-- I took the one less traveled by, and that has made
all the difference. -- Robert Frost
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Five Key Buyer
Questions |
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If we were mind readers, sales people would know
exactly what is on the mind of the buyer. If, however,
you flunked out of the mind reading class, consider
these five most common questions that are the prospect's
mind:
1.Why should I open my mind to you today?
Most buyers are busy and must make quick
decisions about taking time to listen to you or not. So
what you say first is important. Grab attention, without
telling the whole story.
2.How will your idea
help me?"
Be specific; talk benefits that apply
to this customer now.
3."Can you support your claim?"
What
evidence to you have that the product or service will do
what you claim it will do? Turn to testimonials,
demonstrations, research findings, past history--
anything that gives 'objective credibility' to your
claim.
4."What is the cost?"
Customers consider total cost, not just the
price they pay. Help them to think through these costs.
Then show how the benefits outweigh the costs.
5. "What exactly do you want me to
do?"
Tell customers the kind of commitment
you want from them and what specifically you're going to
do to make things work. When you observe that you've
answered one hidden question, move quickly to comments
that will answer the next hidden question. When the
customers start to say, "How did you know what I was
thinking?" you'll know you've mastered the craft.
Through careful listening and observation, you can, in a
way, succeed at reading a prospect's mind.
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