The Salesby5 Blog

How frequently do you find people talking about what they want, how important they are and what they’re looking to accomplish next? Most people are friendly enough to allow that chatter for a bit, but it gets boring quickly. Instead of framing your life around what you’re looking to accomplish, look to build a rabid fan base. A group of people that are fired up to help you in your endeavors. Do so by pointing the arrow away from you and focusing your energy in easing the struggles of others.

Understand that you can’t help everyone. Instead, look at those activities where you have been given special gifts, then apply those gifts in supporting others. Are you amazing at building websites or encouraging others to take action? Don’t hoard those gifts! Interestingly, everyone wins when you help. They win because you helped them in an area where they weren’t able to help themselves. You helped yourself by practicing your strengths. Speaking to people about what matters to them, on their level and helping them along the way allows you to build an army of fans. Do this your entire lifetime. Do this for those that you can’t imagine being able to help you in return! You’re building a better world around you that will ripple. Sooner or later you start seeing the effects.

“It’s not who knows you that counts, it’s who knows you and what they think of you.” – Ken Blanchard

photo by: aaronisnotcool

Most companies and experts look at the relationship businesses have with their customers in three steps with seven stages. The three steps and seven stages are:

Pre-Purchase
1. Awareness
2. Knowledge
3. Consideration

Purchase
4. Selection or trial

Post-Purchase
5. Satisfaction
6. Loyalty
7. Advocacy

Too bad so many companies take this approach because it has a fundamental flaw. What’s wrong with it? Advocacy should be in the pre-purchase step. Most companies think that only buyers can be advocates, but the fact is that some of your best advocates may not have made a purchase yet – and maybe they never will.

Smart marketers focus on building advocacy during the pre-purchase step for three reasons:
1. To potentially turn non-buyers into advocates.
2. To lead more buyers into becoming advocates.
3. To use the advocacy elements to influence the consideration stage and improve the purchase potential.

To focus on creating advocates in the pre-purchase stages, consider the following:

1. Teach your team that some non-buyers actually create a lot more revenue than the average customer spends. As a matter of fact, some studies have shown that in some businesses the highest spending customers are not the most effective advocates. This is why we like to teach employees to never label a customer as “just a looker.”

2. Make it a company goal to deliver an amazing and delightful experience to every single customer. I love the retailer who told me that her goal is to have every customer who leaves her store feels better than when they came in.

How the experience is delivered varies from business to business (or organization) but what doesn’t vary is that retailers who deliver a superior experience have identified the steps to delivering the experience. It’s usually a combination of activities including a warm welcome, a drink or some other gesture, and may include a surprise that delights the customer. The easiest way to get customers to advocate your business is to give them something to tell others about. People are going to talk so give them the something to talk about! What happens that your customer will most likely tell a friend or family member about?

3. Capture contact information for all visitors. Businesses or organizations who only capture the contact information at the point of sale are losing revenue opportunities and potential advocacy by non-buyers. Give the customer a reason to give you the contact information in the pre-purchase phase and you’ll increase the number of post-purchase people.

A special thank you to our new friend Doug Fleener for allowing to share this info. http://www.dynamicexperiencesgroup.com

Photo by ajstarks

At this year’s EO Texas Roundup, Simon Sinek spoke of the importance of purpose—the WHY. Martin Luther King, Jr. said “I have a dream,” not “I have a plan.” He preached the why, not the what or the how, and 250,000 people showed up in 1963. Inspiration starts with why, then how and what must come into play for execution. Simon gave the example of Southwest Airlines vs. other large airlines. Even when Southwest doesn’t have the lowest fares, they maintain customer loyalty because they are living their purpose. A company should be a group of people that share goals and beliefs and a common why. Is your company full of people that believe in your purpose? If your people don’t believe in your why, how will they ever convince your customers?

Today is a great day to know who your friends are! When the tech stock market crashed in 2000 or when 9/11 happened, who took care of you? After the tough times had passed, I asked a few of my friends to fulfill their promises made during the struggle. They not only let me down, but allowed me to lose respect for them. Remember that true friends help you when you’re down, and cheer you on when you’re up. Now is a great time to see who your great vendors, customers and friends are, as the true test is not the best of times, but the toughest.

Core values serve the purpose of defining who we hire, fire, promote, de-mote, etc. They are behaviors and tell your employees, managers, and leaders how to behave.

When we are unsure about what next steps to take, looking to our core values leads us in the right path. A few of ours are:

• Always deal with fact. Never assume.

• Do what is best for the customer.

• If you do not know, ask.

• Follow your heart, but… if you are ever in doubt, shout it out.

• Deliver more than what is promised.

These values guide any of us in the right direction with clients and each other. They are the guide – a roadmap for action that lives every day in your organization. If your company has not identified your core values, let us know. We can help you identify them and bring them to life in your company.

I have been a loyal Marriott customer for years. Here is a new un-selling strategy they are using:

A look at an attempt to go to their only restaurant a few minutes ago: 25 people in line, 20+ tables open and 15+ minutes to be seated! I left and went to Mel’s drive-in. “Why?” I asked the concierge. She replied, “Those poor girls have to use a computer system called Open Table to seat you, and are not allowed to just seat you! It is hard to do and they are working as fast as they can.” The general manager will hear from me later today about how they pushed over 30 people away just this morning. 94% of problems are due to poor systems. Dear Marriott, please do not have a system for the sake of having a system! Make sure your systems make sense. Restaurant seating is not science, it’s about humans!

What if you helped a company overcome an unsolved problem that affects thousands of its users and you did it because you love the products? You are also not paid and then this happens…

Creative, maker of Soundblaster, recently sent a cease and desist letter to Daniel_K.  He is guilty of creating drivers that work on Vista for some of Creative’s older hardware and accepting donations for his hard work. 

Creative should have sent this letter instead of un-selling.  Creative, go ahead and use this letter – we promise not to send you a nasty-gram.

Dear Daniel_K,

We are so appreciative of your hard work!  Since we are developing new technologies, we are grateful to have raving fans like yourself who are willing to develop software for our legacy devices.  Contributions like yours make the Creative experience all the better.  We are developing a campaign of Creative Heroes to recognize people, such as yourself, for living the Creative brand. This campaign will include a page on the Creative website that has your picture and tells your story and those like you, who go above and beyond to make our products better.  Additionally, we would be pleased to host your drivers on our site as a user developed file.  We hope you will also accept this as an apology for our previous letter.

Cheers,
Phil O’Shaughnessy
VP Corporate Communications
Creative Labs Inc.

I have been dealing with a large retailer to purchase computers for us and our clients for years.  Recently, a quick phone call to them connected me with a great rep named Eric.  I give him the details of what I need and he finds me the right computer, points me to coupons and tracks the purchase.  Eric transformed this company from a faceless corporation full of drones into "the place where my friend Eric works."  He cares about helping me get exactly what I need – fast!  Now I recommend Eric to others, his company happens to be included in the sale. Who are the stars that are the face of your company?  Do you have potential stars in the waiting?

Remember, every interaction is a chance to sell or unsell.

Last night, my wife and kids went to a good friend’s restaurant for the first time, Tiago’s. I had heard great things about the food. Here is what I did not expect, at the end of the meal, after very good food and excellent salsa we came to the end of the evening. The waiter brought my kids push pops right before the bill arrived. The kids (5 and 7) were ecstatic and both loudly said "this is the best restaurant ever!" They actually kept saying it and began to disturb others until we calmed them down. The push pops were devoured. We brought food home and had some of it for breakfast. Today, we almost went out for lunch and all my son and daughter could say is Tiago’s! I asked my daughter why and she gave me the following reasons exactly in order:

1. Great food
2. Great restrooms, she love the purple tile in the restroom. (she is 7 and very much a designer).
3. Great dessert (the push pops)
4. Cool coloring book that was part of the menu that came with crayons.

We had an experience, not a meal. My food was fine, the salsa (I love salsas) was incredible/remarkable. The kids, do not understand why we do not just move in and eat there. That is an experience that sells. That push pop probably cost about 30 to 50 cents. How much does advertising cost versus making a visitor’s first impression amazing?

The tip was big, the bill was not. What can you do to get people to talk about your service, your restrooms and your product?

Soon to come, my friend who owns Mercedes-Benz of Bourne and how he proves that your restrooms tell how you take care of and feel about your guests and customers.

What if you worked at a company, in any capacity, and the way people looked, talked, and acted sold you or unsold you?

What if you had children or a spouse and the way you talked to them, looked at them, spent time with them, and lived with them sold them or unsold them on you?

Well…everything matters. It turns out that people quit people, not the company (largest percentage) and spouses leave spouses, not the kids. The ratios for positive to negative interactions are a critical number for any business and any family! Do you know your ratio of positive interactions to negative you need to have a healthy business and family? The number is 3 to 1 for business and 5 to 1 in a marriage.  Are you hitting these everyday?

We know how to help you sell more. More boyfriends/girlfriends, more mowers and more service calls.  We can help you get beyond your expectations.

Remember – HE WHO LEARNS FASTER WINS!