coaching

Horrid Phrases

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problems

Horrid Phrases

Don’t know if any of you fly a lot.  I kind of do – at least of late.  At the airport,  there is one phrase gate agents of a certain airline sometimes say ( actually proclaim over the loudspeaker) that just crushes me.  It’s horrid. It makes me instantly hang my head in depression.  It ruins my flight, my day and my mood immediately.

“Our flight is completely full today..”

I’m not a small man; (thankfully not ready for the seatbelt extension just yet) but Lordy, when you hear that phrase, thinking about getting into and sitting in those seats and aisles built for middle schoolers, is now horrid on a grand scale. 

I think there are some other horrid phrases agents of many industries say these days that can give that same kind of instant feel of dread and depression.

“OK, let’s see what they did here..”.  Are you kidding me?  As soon as your client with a question hears “they”, the horridness kicks in:   Oh my, you are not in charge.   Oh my, I’m gonna have to talk to someone else.   Oh my, I’m talking to an idiot with no authority.  Oh my,  this place is so big, I’m never going to get the answer.

“Can I have your phone number in case we are disconnected?”   It’s 2011! The only disconnections are when someone does it on purpose.  Your client or prospect is in the horrid zone immediately:  Oh please, you want my number to pester me at dinner or in a middle of a meeting to sell me something with your silly outbound program.   Oh please, now I’m in your database and all I had was a darn question.   Oh great, they have crappy phone systems with disconnect issues, can’t wait to do business with them.

“Mark”, “Mark” , “Mark”  Yeah that’s right,  my first name.  You say my first name more than twice in a conversation on the phone or face to face and a horrid sickness overcomes me and your customers too:  Oh I get it,  someone trained you to use ” the customer’s first name” often in your calls- that feels genuine!  Oh I get it, you are as slick a sale rep as I’ve ever seen – you make me wanna take a shower.  Oh I get it, you think using my first name a lot makes us like family or brothers and I will buy your stuff- lol!

 

The thing about horrid phrases is the emotions they elicit have staying power.  They linger.  They stick. They can even leave a lasting impression about you or your company as a brand that is as uncomfortable as seat 28B. 

Till next time,

Grow The Business.

Mark

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Bigfoot Anyone?

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Bigfoot Anyone?

Preparing for marriage, I hear that very smart couples often schedule time to talk about things like goals, finances, religion and planning for a family.

But what about other important things like whether Bigfoot exists?

Really, shouldn’t we talk about this?

Of course we should.  Believe in Bigfoot?  Well that’s a darn good sign you have the creativity gene, the adventure gene or the intangible wonderment of someone eternally optimistic that despite seemingly insurmountable odds, something so tall and hairy could indeed survive undetected in the mountains of the Northwest.

Don’t believe in Bigfoot?  Well that’s a darn good sign you are have that realist gene,  that smart analytical gene or that intangible honest ability to discern, dissect and derive what is or isn’t happening with the follicle King of the forest.

Maybe we need to discuss Bigfoot outside of the marriage thing too – Like when you are trying to hire your next employee or interviewing a potential consultant, interior designer or accountant, why not ask him or her “What are your feelings about Bigfoot ?”  Don’t you think the way they answer is important?

I’m just sayin’, but I know Apple believes in the big guy.  Every time you type his name in their stuff (like this blog I’m writing), they auto- correct it to one word with starting with a big ol’ capital “B”.   (Why am I not surprised?)

So get your night vision goggles ready and that plaster footprint cast liquid stirred up ( or not) and go ahead and sit your significant other down for a talk, or add the question to the interview guide, or even add it to today’s meeting agenda cuz’ Bigfoot is a big deal.

Till next time,

Grow The Business.

Mark

 

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Up With Update, Updated, Updating

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Up With Update. Updated, Updating

I heard about a company a while back  that instructs its employees never to say that their computers are running slow.  Instead the representatives say “Our systems are updating….” or “We’re in the midst of updating our systems, it will just taking a moment longer…”  

Nice touch.  Smart too.

We all have system issues at times.  And usually yes, there’s some updating going on be it a new release or upgrades or what have you that slows things down. 

The point is the caller on the other end of the line is feels less tension, more confidence and more patience when they hear systems or computers are being “updated” rather than being “slow”.

The use the word “update” even in the On Hold process:

 “Let me put you on hold to get the most updated information.”

Way better than “Let me put you on hold to find out” or “to figure it out” or some other underwhelming phrase.  “Updated” shows how bleeding edge you are keeping up with things and striving for that up-to-the-minute accuracy. 

I suspect “update” has other uses in your world.  It sounds fresh, smart and on top of things.  Heck we live by the word with our smart phones and tablets as an incredibly necessary thing to be on top of those “updates”.

Have a look around.  Update your language a bit.  Don’t underestimate the value of your customers feeling a bit more comfortable and confident when working with you.   

Till next time,

Grow The Business.

Mark

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The Perfect I’m Sorry

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The Perfect “I’m Sorry”

I was in awe and actually stunned last week.  Like the cool, slow motion, jaw dropping kind of stunned.   Really I was.

I had realized right then,  while sitting there next to Eric and listening to both he and the upset customer, that I had never ever heard it like that before.  And I have heard thousands and thousands of customer service calls over these last 25 years.  

Until last Wednesday I don’t think I’ve ever heard those two words said just like that and in that way. 

“I’m sorry”. 

But alas, here is how he said it!   He said “I’m sorry” and then said                nothing.  Nothing!  You know, the dead air kind of nothing, the “you can hear a  pin drop”  kind of nothingness.  

The two words “I’m sorry” weren’t rendered meaningless by adding moronic drivel like “…..that happened” or “…we did that” or ”…this happened to you” or  “…we made a mistake”  or “ …we won’t do it again” .   None of those polluted words were suffixed to the most perfect “I’m sorry” I’ve ever heard.

That’s it.  Two words.   “I’m sorry”.    And then, no more sounds.  No clickety clack keyboard sounds of moving on.   No blathering, babbling or god forbid – cross selling.   Not even a cough.  Nothing – just nothing.

Wait was important.   Wait for it to sink in is what I realized he was doing.   Wait for it to really mean something to the customer. 

And then, on the other end of the line, the soft voice of the customer finally, agonizingly and mercifully said “OK”. 

Perfect.  That’s all Eric needed to hear. 

Think about his choice of using those particular words.  There is so much personal lasting ownership in the two words “I’m sorry” when they are left the heck alone.   There is vulnerability and sincerity in just those two words and in exactly those two words. 

I suspect he already knew what I also had just realized sitting next to him.   That using an “I apologize” or any variation of that is just not the same when you compare.  I’ve heard it a million times and truth be told, it antiseptically washes over people.  “I apologize” rings emptily of what you did while “I’m sorry” rings importantly of how you feel. 

You (and I) have two words to practice now with the 3rd part being the perfect silence that follows.  I never expected to get taught such a wonderful service lesson on a late Wednesday afternoon from a guy I never met before named Eric who has been on the phones for only 4 precious months.    And over the years and maybe even in this blog, I’ve written inaccurately now it seems,  about how to apologize and make amends with customers in need.  For that I simply say

 

I’m sorry. 

 

Till next time,

Grow The Business.

Mark

 

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Bake Sale Confessions

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Bake Sale Confessions

Last week at the Bake Sale I lied, cheated and deceived. 

And while I kind of feel bad about it,  I kinda don’t.

I did it all for charity. 

And OK, I did it to prove a point too.   One you need to remember.

Jeanie and I were in charge of the Bake Sale table for that hour.  Sales needed a boost.    It was all for a good cause – a charity that needed money to do good.   Jeanie and I go way back in the sales world.  We knew we needed to apply our skills.    I winked, she smiled and knew what I was going to do.

One large plastic tray laying on the table had a single package of wrapped homemade cookies left in it.  “$1.00 for 2 cookies” it said.  A lady walked by, saw that it was the last one and ….poof!…. she bought it and it was gone.  An empty tray now.  A nice big empty tray.  Perfect.   I took 2 sorry looking single packages of other homemade cookies hadn’t sold at all and placed them along with their description and price tag in the newly emptied large tray and walked away. 

Those unsold cookies looked so puny in that big tray but they also looked like the only two left in what must have been (perceptually anyway), a full spread of those cookies at one time. 

What hadn’t sold at all;  these 2 cookie packages – were gone in less than 5 minutes.  Charity Cha – Ching!

That tray was gold.  When it emptied, I placed other items ( many that were single sole items to begin with) and put them that tray tucked up against the corner looking like the last of the most popular product on the table.  Disappeared they did. 

On occasion, I admit I threw in a whispered “That’s the last one….” to the unsuspecting passerby while pointing to the giant tray of what must certainly look like the hottest selling treats in the Bake Sale.   Folks stopped, then stared, then snagged the item and shelled out the cash. 

The ultimate of course, was the single $10 raspberry pie that was always just a single pie made for the Bake Sale.  I realize as I write this, that my local Priest reads this blog but I have to admit my white lies went eggshell on me and I shouted  “This is THE last raspberry pie!” and  placed it carefully in what had become the Solid Gold Tray of Charity.  It sold right away along with my soul perhaps, to the Devil.

I’ll take my chances with the Devil because of the Cause (Rev. Paul, help me out here will ya? ).  No one was hurt.  And the event was something that totally outweighed the means I suspect. 

It’s not rocket science; this Bake Sale behavior.   It’s Psychology.  We are simple, good people who act way more on emotion and peer pressure than logic.  Way more than we’d like to admit.   So if you mix popularity ( it must be good) with scarcity (there aren’t many left!) like the “last remaining” baked items put in that big tray – you create a recipe most people can’t avoid tasting.

It’s why we stand in line for IPhones, why we rearrange our lives in trying to get tickets for one of only two shows and why we pay high prices for the best seasonal seafood.

But it’s also why we look twice at the last products on a shelf amidst a sea of like products in a supermarket or club store. It’s also why QVC still tallies “how many left” on the bottom of the screen during a pitch.  It’s why in the end, we respond so well to things that are popular and scarce.  It makes us want.

I’m not advocating lying or cheating or deceiving.  (OK, maybe a little for charity).  But you all have products or services or even people that are truly popular and scarce.  Shout it out!  Find your Solid Gold Tray and place them there.  Let your customers, prospects, colleagues or employer see what is so precious and rare.

From a Bake Sale,  to your company’s Biggest Sale,  to just Better Sales for you no matter what you sell – remember the power of the near irrestistable mix of popularity and scarcity;  it’s an influence like nothing else.

Till next time,

Grow The Business.

Mark

Mark’s Blog

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Nobody Good

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Nobody Good

It sticks with me; a glorious opportunity. 

It was on a large conference call.  The leader was talking.

“We asked hundreds of small business owners this same question about who they think of when faced with this challenge.   And do you know what they said?”

(Long pause) 

“Nobody”.

Wow.  Nobody!  That is wonderful!!

It grows wearisome to enter the market place and find that you are yet just another competitor.  

It grows wearisome to plan, to process, to test, to test some more, to test yet one more time and then find out you are pretty much like the other guy. 

It grows wearisome to follow the “shiny bright thing”, or to dig up “old tapes” from another company that didn’t get it right or to just chase the “short term gain”.

I don’t want to follow, dig up or chase anymore.  I want to invent.  I want to lead.

So when you ask an audience and the answer is “Nobody” or “I can’t think of anyone” or “No idea”, realize that that is the sound of glorious opportunity yet to be embraced.

Have at it. 

Till next time,

Grow The Business.

Mark

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P.S.  “Nobody” is opportunity on an individual level too.  Ask your team, your boss, your colleagues “Who do you look to for __(fill in the blank)__ ?”  If the answer is “I don’t know”; that space is yours for the taking!

Angela’s Assist

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Angela’s Assist

“What are you buying it for?”  

 “Oh, that’s wonderful…”

 “Let me do that for you…..”

 “I think you should grab a couple more…”

 “That looks beautiful on you…..”  

 “Oh, I don’t like that one on you so much, not conservative enough…”

 “You know what would really make that look sharp…. is a belt..”

 “A necklace will really tie it together and show your personality…”

“You may want to grab another blouse with the 50% off promotion and mix and match this.”  

 “Good luck, I know you’ll get the job”.

Yep.  That’s pretty much verbatim what sales associate Angela said to my 23 year daughter 2 weeks ago as we shopped for her first real business suit as she was about to interview for a customer service role in one of the largest investment firms in the world.

 It was a memorable almost “wow” service experience as her mother and I watched Angela guide her through the buying process.   She wasn’t pushy; she wasn’t hovering as in fact, Angela was helping two other customers at the same time.

 It was however, so smart.  It started with the right question.  Not just “What are you buying?” But, “What are you buying it for?”

 The rest of her comments and questions make smart sense.  They are honest.  They are helpful.   They are overtly credible and said with the tone and content that she has “totally been here before”.   And it was in the end,  not about the suit at all – but about the goal our daughter had in mind – landing that job.

 She did land that job.  [Today, in fact :)]

And while the business suit Angela helped pick out for our daughter probably wasn’t the reason she got the job, it sure didn’t hurt and better, what a great lesson in customer service Angela gave her to steal from for the interview.  It works on a lot of levels.  

You can steal shamelessly from Angela too.  Read the comments she made and the questions she asked.   Think about them.  Apply accordingly.

Till next time,

Grow The Business.

Mark

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PS:   If you’d like to see Angela in action, head to the clothing store Ann Taylor at Pheasant Lane Mall in Nashua, NH.   I’m sure she won’t mind that I sent you there.  🙂

An Inspired 28 Minutes

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An Inspired 28 Minutes

You don’t need to know who Curtis Martin is.  You don’t even need to know football.

All you need is 28 minutes to watch his induction speech into the Football Hall of Fame this month.

It’s got nothing to do with football or winning or awards or records.

It has everything to do with a higher and nobler purpose in whatever it is you do.

And I promise you, it is one of the most inspiring, moving and worthwhile 28 minutes you’ll ever spend.

It may even change you.

Till next time,

Grow The Business.

Mark

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We Need More Boring Sales Stories

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We Need More Boring Sales Stories

We need more of these.  You know the boring Sales stories right?

 

 

  • Your Voicemail lights up.  “Hi Mark, I’d like to place a new order”. 
  • Your phone rings:  “Hi John, I need to buy a car for my daughter.”
  • Your door opens:  “Any way I can get a pool installed in 2 weeks?”
  • Your email pings: “Can you be the listing agent for my house?”

You never hear any of these sales stories around the water cooler or at the bar.   No war stories there.   Boring. Boring. Boring.     

Yet these things do happen to great sales reps.  You don’t hear about them though because as we’ve established, it’s um, boring – not much to see here.

Except that’s not really true.  

You see, in these sales stories, someone else did the selling.  Some customer was so moved by the experience with their sales rep, so amazed at the service, the follow up, the treatment, the wisdom and the sheer help,  that he/she inspired friends to call, visit or ping this sales rep with their open minds and wallets. 

No referral was asked for here – all the selling  was done behind the scenes, unknowable to the sales rep. Hard to tell a story in which you have no idea what really happened.   A real snoozer.

Best kind of sales though where the customers do the selling for you ain’t it?  Bring on the boring! – Zero to close in 30 seconds!

How many of these calls, visits or emails are you getting?  How many boring sales stories could you actually tell?  Not enough?

Get cracking then – do what you need to do to get your customers to sell for you.  Be boring all the way to the bank. 

Till next time,

Grow The Business.

Mark

Mark’s Blog

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The Laminator

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The Laminator

This is the actual machine pictured in Kansas City.   

It has its own cubicle The Laminator does, right outside the Site Leader Dale’s office.    Really it does.  It is the only thing on this desk right near the front door.    And it deservedly has this space all to itself because of all the good work it does.   

The Laminator’s work was plastered everywhere in the KC facility I visited.  Laminated Certificates were hanging from the shelves, the monitors and the walls.  For some folks, they even hung from the ceiling. 

I sat with some employees for a bit that day.   A few had evidently received many certificates from The Laminator and I was kind of surprised by the care in which these were displayed and hung in their cubicle spaces.

I commented to one person I was talking with who had a dozen or so in his cube and said “Wow look at all of those…” and with what I admit was more pride than I expected,  he grinned and said “ Yeah, pretty cool eh?”

The other folks I sat with seemed similarly proud of them.   Dale’s center had a pretty good vibe and I couldn’t help but think this emphasis on recognition had something to do with it.

Flying back home that night it got me thinking about that darn laminator and how we need more of those around these parts.  But of course what I really walked away with is how important it is to recognize and be recognized. 

Sure some of us,  we tend brush the need off with comments mostly to ourselves like “Who cares” or “It’s no big deal” or “People know they are valuable”   but if we are honest – recognition is a big deal.     If we are honest, we do look twice at that email from the boss that says “good job” or “great point”.  If we are honest, we do look at the comment from the blog reader or the person that liked your status update.  If we are honest, we do smile a little inside when we get a little public recognition be it your name called out in a meeting or yes, on a certificate for all to see. 

The Laminator knows this.  The Laminator is as honest as they come.  A little heat, a little plastic and Voila! – it’s a shot in the arm for someone.   There are dozens of other ways to recognize people and I’m sure Dale and his team is using more than just The Laminator. 

But here’s a thought – if you have an empty desk and a need for a bit more acknowledgement of good people and good work, fill that space with a laminator.  It does a darn good job. 

Till next time,

Grow The Business.

Mark

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