Yesterday I had a great meeting with one of my favorite customers in the past 6 years. Now, I have many favorites, but this one is special in many ways. In 2005, SalesBy5 was hired by Texas Military Institute, which we then rebranded as TMI-The Episcopal School of Texas. At 265 students, they wanted to grow their population of students living on campus and the ones attending 6-12th grade. The strategy was to show what I saw on my first tour given by a former TMI Graduate, Ryan Kohnen. What I saw were happy students opening doors for me, saying “hello sir,” and greetings in passing. I saw a campus full of respect, Christianity and heart.
We re-branded the school from a cold, gray look, where my wife said she would never allow our daughter to attend, to a warm and welcoming feel, which reflected the school I saw. Further, we revised their website and print materials to showcase the same real, warm look. The new brand was first sold inside of the TMI campus and then exposed to the many families looking for private schools or tired of overcrowded public schools in the area.
What’s the bottom line? They got real. TMI started selling the real opportunities that the school offers, from great people to connections after you graduate that last for the rest of your life. They realized that they had built a community of winners and leaders. These leaders want to be around each other and work with each other. They are challenged and motivated. The result: as of today, they have 400 students. This is the highest enrollment in their 100+ year history.
Sell what is in your heart and what is real. Sell what you feel and sell what you love. TMI sells their true overt benefits and the reasons you can believe they will deliver those benefits. I have referred multiple families to this school and I hope my kids will be accepted. Real sells!
In the last couple of months, a new restaurant has opened up near my house, Roaring Fork. This restaurant is part of several around the country that have proven to be successful. It is packed everyday by 5 PM and reservations are a must, sometimes days in advance. Each time I visit, we order “The Big Ass Burger.” It is an exceptional burger in a world that’s never at a loss for burgers. Every time I have ordered it, my burger has been delivered to my table overdone or black. Once, I sent a note to Barbara, the general manager, about this reoccurring problem. Every time, they take great care of me and re-cook me a burger that is less done. During my visit last week I asked for Barbara, who had written me a nice e-mail back telling me to please ask for her the next time I was in. This time I ordered a burger medium and it arrived well done. I asked for Barbara and told her about the burger. She promptly went to talk to the chefs and then returned to comp a meal for three people. Upon my surprise, her response shocked me further. She said, “I know you want to eat here and are one of our great customers. I want you to come back and I have made changes with the chefs to keep this from happening again.” Then she thanked me for my business.
Since then, I have sent many people to “The Fork” and will continue to do so. Why? People, companies, and organizations are going to make mistakes. The dramatic difference is in how you handle the mistakes.
Footnote: I am a giant burger fan. The two best burgers I have had anywhere are the Americana Gourmet Burger at Papouli’s Greek Grill and the Roaring Fork’s Big Ass Burger.
This was an email that our phenomenal intern, Bobby Freeman, wrote to Erik and us on his last day of service at Salesby5. He was an amazing asset and we’d be fortunate to have him back. Bobbs, you are missed.
This summer has been an inspiration to me, and I feel like you and the rest of the Salesby5 team have helped me grow on so many levels. It is amazing the incredible cast of team members you have assembled, and I feel blessed to have been a part of it, even for only a summer. This summer I learned that work and fun can co-exist, and that you can actually be more productive because of it. It is difficult for me to explain to others, and for them to simply understand that I enjoyed working and going to work every day. I can’t remember a day in the office when I was counting the minutes until I could leave, but rather was so confused by how it was 6:30 and I was still in the office. It is an odd feeling to be packing my stuff up and realizing that I will no longer be working for Salesby5. While I know that graduate school is the next step for me, it doesn’t make it any easier to leave a great and dramatically different company.
My Last Week in the Office Thoughts:
I never realized every shirt I own is a shade of blue, maybe I should test the waters.
Everyone is so happy because they love what they are doing here, and so do I.
Grad School is going to be really boring after this!
Erik could sell an Eskimo a snow cone if he got him on a conference call.
It’s 4:30 in the morning and I am downloading the new Viigo Beta 3.0.111 for my BlackBerry. Has my life become an RSS Feed?
I’m really going to miss these guys
Thanks Bobby! You inspired us too! It’s amazing to see how much you can impact someone’s life over the course of only two months. Don’t be afraid to pull people in and let them become a part of your team, even if only for a short time. Remarkable people always leave a place better than they found it.
Yesterday, we ate at Red Robin. They have an amazing culture and really go above and beyond to make you feel welcome and make your dinner experience great. My favorite part is the Unbridled Acts of Kindness stories on the back of the bill holder. The Unbridled Acts talk about how Red Robin teams from around the country have gone above and beyond during the course of their days. At Sales by 5, we do the same. We celebrate our “Love Letters” from our clients during our morning huddles and weekly meetings. Then, we post them on our Wall of Fame to further recognize how our team has done amazing things, ready for review by the team, our clients and visitors. Red Robin, like Sales by 5, takes the time to do this because the culture is crucially important and visitors can feel it. Unfortunately, most companies do not experience this. You have a culture whether you realize it or not, is it one that you want to celebrate?
So how can you start? Develop your set of core values, so that the team knows what’s important to the team. Integrate compliments into your daily huddles and celebrate them - large and small. Develop quarterly themes that support these compliments. Once you’ve done this, come back and tell us how your company was transformed! Need help? Check out Mastering the Rockefeller Habits by Verne Harnish for more details.
You may or may not be familiar with Twitter. If not, check out the video below. The basic premise is that you answer one simple question - “What are you doing?” and you only have 140 characters to do so. Here are 3 great ways that companies and organizations are building value in their brand by using Twitter in unconventional ways.
1. Zappos.com, the amazing online shoe store, uses Twitter as a method to communicate with people talking about them. They made the decision to actively engage with folks on Twitter and they are gaining steam in doing so. They get to tell their story and people are growing personally attached. Even Tony, the CEO, is in on it. At present, there are 439 Zappos.com employees on Twitter. Last night, 10 lucky followers of Tony were invited to join the Zappos gang at The Palms hotel for a 3,000 person party - with penguins!
2. Church can be many different things - fun, boring, insightful, etc. Interactive isn’t usually an adjective that is used to describe church, though. Imagine Fellowship, here in San Antonio, is doing things a bit differently. They are using Twitter during the message in church on Sunday morning, where people can comment on the music, message and anything else they experience. The use of Twitter has expanded the relationships throughout the week and people are connecting that may not have otherwise connected on Sundays.
3. BlackBerryCool.com is a world class blog that frequently travels throughout North America attending conferences for BlackBerry and other mobile devices. Many BlackBerryCool.com readers are known to visit the site numerous times throughout the day searching for the latest updates and product releases, especially during these conferences. Twitter allows BlackBerryCool.com to constantly inform their readers throughout a conference with minute-by-minute updates without the need of a laptop to create an entire blog post. It is a great filler between larger written pieces.
What amazing way can you use Twitter to better build engagement with your brand?
Yesterday was a special day for me (Kya). My team threw a pink themed Happy Birthday week celebration for me. It started with pink balloons in the parking garage when I arrived in the morning. There were pink signs along the entire path that I walked from the garage into the building, up the stairs, and down the halls. I was so surprised and laughing the whole way to the office, while everyone in the building was watching me stroll along. I walked into the office to find the entire team dressed in pink, gathered around in the front of the office to wish me a happy day. The LCD monitors were personalized, there were pink balloons, string, ribbon, and table cloths all over the office. As I walked over to my desk, my favorite beverage was wrapped in pink with a singing card signed by every team member. The fun continued throughout the day; it was absolutely remarkable!The Sales by 5 team pulled together to make this a very special day for me.
This speaks volumes about the culture of our company, the level of respect that we maintain for each other, and the fun it is to work with people who care about you. Is the culture in your company great enough to be written about? If clients, the media, or your friends walked into your place of business, would it feel like Starbucks (an escape) or the dentist’s office (a requirement)?
Never give up stimulus. It doesn’t matter if a sales person is 25 or 65, some think they know it all. They are my favorite people to prove wrong. The ones who love to learn win in the long term. Just when you think you know it all, the economy, the product, the service or the audience changes. Attend a conference, read a business book, listen to a podcast. There are so many ways to learn today, so get in the know!
WES is the Wireless Enterprise Symposium, the largest BlackBerry conference of the year. Why am I here? We average 150 hours a year of continuing education at SalesBy5 per person. We are looking for the next best thing to give our clients a competitive advantage so they can focus on their business. That includes great communication - with and without technology. The one who learns fastest wins.
One of our core values is "follow your heart, it will not lead you astray." It comes from a dear friend, Karen Kirby, one of San Antonio’s best personal trainers and gifts from above. It fits how we make decisions that might not be easy. It is about intuition and much more! The heart tells us we need to move a meeting, just in case or we need to call to verify the courier knows the delivery is due at 5PM.
There are facts, assumptions, and often most often heart!
Next time you persuade someone, make sure your reason has heart! It is a feeling. It may not render as much profit or it may cost you $10 more, but your heart knows what is right.
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