learning

Love

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I’ve gotten a lot of good natured ribbing lately about the word “Love”.  

Yeah, I helped the talented staff here and designed a short training a couple of weeks back around a particular sales effort.  I recommended that salespeople use the word “love” in voicemails and conversations they have with folks.

Darn proud of it I am.   It’s good thinking.  Heard we got some sales rollin’ in too.   

You don’t like the idea?  Feels uncomfortable for you?  Too bad.  You are missing the point.    

It’s not the word “love” that matters as much as what that type of word does.

You have a choice.  Do you want to sound like every other Sales or Account Rep calling or leaving voicemails for clients and prospects or do you want to be different? 

Do you want to be the 11th voicemail the small business owner picks up that is not a needed customer, or their accountant, or a family member but instead is a sales rep (you) and pray that your brochure-like language gets an inkling of attention?  Or do you want to be memorable?

In Voicemail your biggest obstacle isn’t how you deliver your value, or how you position your offer or if you can sound credible – it’s the dang Delete button. 

You bore and you are no more. 

A word like “Love” in a voice mail or in the first minute of a conversation as in “We sent you a coupon for this because we love you” makes wonderful sense when you are calling on customers with any tenure to your organization.    A word like “Love” as in “I love what you are doing, opening a new business- that is exciting” when working with prospects will surely get attention.

Still feels awkward?  It just doesn’t feel right still? 

Find a way.  You are still missing the point.

“Love” and words very much like it, engage something wonderful in a customer or prospect.  They don’t expect to hear that and in one word, it signals uniquely what you think of them – which is impossible to go unnoticed.   No other vendor, sales rep or partner leaves words like “love” on a voicemail today let alone in a conversation.  And maybe, just maybe if you do this – that customer or prospect will perk their ears up, listen to the rest of the message and who knows, write your number down and call you back.

So whether the word is “love” or “adore” or “cherish”, each will get attention.   And it sets you apart in a memorable, wonderful way that will get you far more business than if you sound like everyone else.

Till next time,

Grow The Business.

Mark

Great Problems To Have

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Too many product demonstrations.  Too many appointments.  Too many long conversations with prospects.  Too much customer feedback. Too many information requests.

Do we really have enough of these problems? 

What great problems to have. 

I long to be called into crisis meetings on these topics and have to build emergency plans to deal with them.

I wonder if in this less trusting, multiple decision maker and “In 2 clicks and I can see all your competitors” world we live in today, we realize that a welath of these typse of problems would make more sense than ever.

Till next time,

Grow The Business.

Mark

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Mondays are busy enough.   All Monday posts are 100 words or less. 

Why I love Dancing With The Stars

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I don’t dance.

Well, I do but it’s frightening.   Think Kevin James dancing in Hitch and that’s me.

I don’t watch dancing and I certainly don’t watch a TV show about dancing with celebrities.  

Three weeks ago my wife and daughter forced me to watch at least the start of this Dancing With The Stars show.  Glumly I sat ( though not that glumly holding an ice cold beer in one hand and a spatula in the other as I had every intention of making a break for the grill as soon as we hit first commercial), and I watched.

I watched it again last night.  There is something about the show that moves me (thankfully not literally) aside from the competition.  Some things I think can make a difference that if like me, they move you too.

It’s uncomfortable.  Stars in their field (like sports or acting) are doing something perhaps against every fiber of their body and mind.  I get that some celebs are addicted to the celebrity or the money but honestly, there are more than a few where it is very clear that the person is both highly comfortable with themselves and yet remarkably self deprecating.  I know people just like that at work and in my life.  They are the best leaders and the best friends.

There’s a mentor.   I want one.  I want a dance pro partner who takes me under her wing and says “This is crazy but you are going to do it anyway”.  I want to stretch and do uncomfortable things, really uncomfortable things and would love that kind of guidance and support and direction from a mentor.    It’s powerful.  Maybe I need to go find one and beg him or her to consider helping me in a space I long to be but seemingly do not fit.  Or maybe, I need to be available as a mentor for someone else who is looking for that unbelievable stretch.

That expertise blows my mind.  The dance professionals – they are athletes at the highest level.  Yet unlike most athletes, they also choreograph the plays.    How many superstar athletes have that vision, that artistic vision, to tell a story on so many levels?  They must interpret the dance, the era, the story, the emotion and oh yeah actually dance it themselves.  That depth of skill is bit unfathomable to me.  See, Create, Direct and Do.  To See, Create, Direct and Do exceeding well yourself is incredible.    Many of us play, gravitate or just settle at doing one of those four things at work.  Why not do them all?

Till next time,

Grow The Business.

Mark

Bueller

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Everyone knows the movie scene.  Ferris Bueller (Matthew Broderick) is not present in the classroom while the unknowing and charismatically challenged teacher (Ben Stein) drones “Bueller?… Bueller?…. Bueller?….”.  Funny.

25 years later, some folks (including me) use the phrase with very present people when there is.…. no response.  In some meetings and trainings, questions are never asked and comments are never made – it’s just silent.   And “Bueller?..Bueller?…” is a means to get some response.  Funny.

Sometimes.

But really, if you have to Bueller when people are present, don’t you have or are you, a problem?

Till next time,

Grow The Business.

Mark

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Mondays are busy. All posts are 100 words or less. 

How To Avoid Being an HR ( and Customer) Nightmare

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Am I an HR Nightmare? You decide. 

Imagine that you and I just ran into each other in the street.  We’ve never met before. 

I smile and ask, “Excuse me Miss, may I take your hand?” or I smile and ask “You are simply gorgeous, have you ever been a model?” or I smile and I ask “Your place or mine?”

Well?  Am I an HR Nightmare?

Before real HR personnel here race down the hall and escort me out of this building, let me explain why I ask.    There is a lesson here. 

First I understand a majority of you (OK, all of you), would have been appalled and/or frightened if any of the vignettes really happened.   “Hell no!”,   “Get away from me!” and “Police!!” would likely be the vitriol lobbied at me.   

But let’s change the vignettes just a wee bit.

**

Imagine that you and I just ran into each other in the street.  We’ve never met before.

I smile and say “Excuse me, I am a doctor and you don’t look well, may I take your hand?” or I smile and say “I am with Martin & Stevens modeling right here in Boston.  You are gorgeous, have you ever been a model?”  Or I smile and say “I am Detective McCarthy with Boston PD and I need to ask you a few questions – your place or mine?”

 

 **

You get it now.  Makes a little more sense. 

But while I may not be a true HR nightmare; some of us are Customer or Prospect Nightmares.

Within moments of meeting customers or prospects, whether they call us or we call on them, some of us ask questions we have not yet earned the right to ask.   We ask questions like “How’s business?” or “How do you market your business?” or “What challenges do you face?”  Or “What are the goals?”   

And shockingly we often don’t take the time to drop the necessary credibility first.  We never proclaim our being a doctor, an agent or a police officer so to speak and hence we create a whole lot of tension, confusion or even anger.

Tension, confusion or anger by the way, stops the sales process dead in its tracks. 

In a perfect sales world we have the credibility, trust and time already invested and would be able to ask these questions without worry of how a customer or prospect might feel or respond.

But we don’t live in a perfect sales world and yet still need information from our clients.  So when that phone rings or we make that cold call we ask and ask away, sometimes to our detriment. 

Here is a surefire simple way to avoid being a Customer Nightmare (Sorry really can’t help you if you are an HR Nightmare) and improve your chances of getting good questions answered.

  • Preface It:  If you want to ask “How’s business going?” of a small business owner seconds after meeting them – Preface It with “I’m hearing a lot of things from my retailers lately, but how’s business going with you?”  Here your experience with other like customers (retailers) earns you street cred and reduces risk of posing a question that might be considered an affront so early on.    It also piques interest that you may know something of value; which can help you avoid getting booted out the door or off the phone sooner than you’d like.

 

Preface It is a simple formula:  Any variation of Your Experience + Teaser + Customer’s line of business = one heck of an assist to get a good question answered.

Have at it. 

(Next time, I’ll share another tip you can button right on to this one that will greatly enhance your effort to discover well with your customers and prospects).

Till next time,

Grow The Business.

Mark

QVZ

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I suspect some of you are like me.  

And I bet like me, you would hate it if you started seeing highway signs with just three letters – “QVZ”.

Let me explain.  

On Sunday, my wife and I decided (along with the two 13 year olds in the back seat who somehow pried the Ipods and Iphones from their cold cramped hands), to play that classic Alphabet game you play while driving.  Don’t think too deep; it’s a long ride.   But the game is Old School.  Good Times. 

20 minutes into the game, one of the recently minted teenagers, (perhaps cranky not used to keeping his head held level for any extended length of time) exclaimed “I wish there was a sign with all the hard letters!”  

Really?

What fun would that be?  Where’s the challenge in the alphabet game if the three toughest letters to find (Q, V & Z) are just given to you? What mini thrill, what little adrenaline rush would that be?  None is the answer.  And what good is that?

People like us enjoy the “thrill” of getting through that alphabet before we get to our destination or we …..LOSE.  We like to look hard, fast, wide and crazy** trying to find what we are looking for.  

People like us set little challenges, little goals, little obstacles in front of us just to see if we can get it done and….WIN. 

People like us do this at work too.   We challenge ourselves to make 30 calls before 11:30, to not leave work until those three competitor sites are reviewed, to spend 3 hours on the floor coaching cuz’ that is what we woke up with as goal for today and today only.

People like us add an initiative to our list that must be done in a week not because it’s been asked of us, but because we want to challenge ourselves in a good way. 

It’s a bit of game for us; these mini challenges.   And when we succeed it’s a rush – perhaps even addictive.   If it’s not something you’ve tried before, I encourage you to give it a whirl. 

And I promise there’ll be no highway signs with the answers to ruin it for you.

Till next time,

Grow The Business.

Mark

** Last year, with the same two kids in the car (pre- teens then at 12) we played that alphabet game.  We played to win.   We got to “Q” and found nothing (alas, no QVZ highway signs) and with just 6 miles left before home we, ( as you would expect), pulled into a handy cemetery to find our “Q”.   

 

News Flash:  – Meeting House Hill Cemetery in Dunstable, MA has apparently no Quinns, McQuaids, Quimbys or any other such souls with a darn Q in their name.  Not one.  We rolled and wound our way peering and craning to look at hundreds if not thousands of headstones and yet no Q was found. 

 

Darkness loomed, we left depressed and slowly headed towards home with irises wide straining to see anything that might have a Q.   200 yards beyond the entrance to the cemetery on the left stood an old house with a little lit sign that read “Antiques Sold Here”.  Hurrah!  We got our Q and the remaining 9 letters (V and Z were shockingly easy finds license plates that night).   Victory!  

Yo, Hero

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We watched Rocky again Saturday night.  It’s the hero formula we love. 

Someone who is down on his luck, down on his skill or down on himself who faces obstacles, has a dream and against so many odds, succeeds.  Doesn’t matter if it’s Rocky or Rudy or even the King in The King’s Speech – it’s all the same and we love it when we see it.

Try feeling it. 

There’s something out there that nobody thinks you can do, including maybe even you.  Go do it anyway. 

Till next time,

Grow The Business.

Mark

Forgetting How Wonderful

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It’s funny that we sometimes forget how wonderful the customer is.    

Well it’s not really funny.

I know we forget though because we often don’t think twice about using words and phrases like “There are calls in queue” or “How many leads did I get?” or   “How many where’s my order calls” did we get last month?”

These are our customers and prospects folks.  These are the wonderful people that help you and me feed our kids, or pay for our medicines or spring for our steak tips or allow you to even think about marrying your girlfriend this summer. 

These customers are wonderful.  You know that.  I know that.  But we forget. 

It’s not that we are short sighted, selfish or stupid. 

It’s that we get caught up in systems and keyboards and processes and meetings and incentives and what’s on the lunch menus and inexplicably forget that the customer really is wonderful.

When that phone rings, 20 people should be leaping over walls to answer it.

When that customer decides not to leave us, there should be cheers heard loud across the floor.

When that voicemail light comes on, or that mail piles up, or those calls come in fast and furious- they are customers and there should be wondrous smiles and joy all around, not sighs.

Till next time,

Grow The Business.

Mark

[100 Words or Less] Persuasion

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You’ve got a way of persuading.  What is it?

Persuasion is crucial to your success.  Can you articulate and write down that process?  Is your way the same for customers as it is with colleagues?  Is your way the same for your boss or with your family?

What pray tell, is your way? 

If you don’t know, you can’t fix it when it’s broken or when the world changes around you.  If you don’t know it, you can’t influence, lead, close or help in any consistent way.   Persuasion for the best, isn’t by feel, luck or hope.

It’s known.   

Till next time,

Grow The Business.

Mark

Mondays are busy enough.  Any Monday post is 100 words or less. 

You Had Me At Hello (and then, you just let me go)

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Dear Sales or Service Rep,

What the heck happened when you had your chance?

I had to speak with you today.  I needed to talk to a human because as a small business owner, I’m super busy and sometimes it’s just faster.  So you got me and I got you.

And I know it’s a big deal to talk to me, given how much I and my fellow small business owners are in demand.   I’m all over TV.  Seems like every company wants to help me, or guide me, or build a special site for me to visit.  That’s nice.

So there I was, live and on the phone with you.

You blew it.

You totally had me when you said “Hello”.  I was waiting.  I was shockingly semi focused on you and what you were doing.  I had a need when I called and you had a real voice.  But in the end, the stuff you did and didn’t do, just let me go.

I’ve been a customer for 4 years but I don’t know if  you knew that- you didn’t say.  With my customers, it’s pretty much the first thing I notice.  Sticking with me means something to me, but to you? I guess not.

You called me “Steve” but frankly only my friends; my doctor and my family call me “Steve”; at least not without asking permission first.  Heck I’ve never called any of my customers by first name unless I knew them well or they insisted.    You folks don’t realize how that rubs us business owners who are also customers the wrong way.

You tried to up sell me and cross sell me stuff like you were afraid.   Huge turnoff.  Have some confidence!  People forget I am in sales too or else my kids don’t get fed.   And while I may not be a pro at selling, I darn well don’t do it meekly.  I have to up sell and cross sell too to make my business grow.  So if you’re going to sell me, do it with pride and strength, not like your praying I won’t notice.  When I sell, I’m proud of what my products can do.  You should be too.

You had me at “Hello”, maybe next time you can keep me to “Goodbye”.

Till next time,

Grow The Business.

Mark