I’m a sporting goods junkie. I love trying new activities and will drop money on equipment to make those activities more enjoyable, even if I only use them a few times (come on, we all do that, right? Right?).

So I've taken a few face plants. Who hasn't?

Dick’s Sporting Goods is a good place to go for general sporting goods. I’d like to see Dick’s continue to grow and that’s why I’m offering this free advice:

Hire people with domain expertise. Dick’s bought Galyan’s, who hired people that were passionate, or at least interested, in the sports of the department they worked in. Several years ago I bought my stepson a skateboard deck while I was in California and went to the local Galyan’s to buy trucks & wheels. The 16-year old girl who worked there explained to me the benefits of the better trucks and why she used them on her deck. Her expertise was unexpected and greatly appreciated. That experience always stuck with me. It’s something that you can’t find at Dick’s anymore and it’s a shame.

Hiring people that are passionate about their product or service easily translates to more sales because the enthusiasm that oozes out of them is contagious. Enthusiasm will take the customer experience go from good to great.

Comcast is easy to take shots at. They’re typically rated as one of the worst companies to work with. To be honest, I have no complaints with their service. It’s typically reliable and when something has happened I understand weather and other circumstances play a role.

The issues I have with Comcast stem from their customer service when you call in for a service issue or billing question. Here are some free tips to make the Comcastic experience more pleasant:

1. Get rid of the message that says “we’re experiencing higher than normal call volumes.” I’ve called in at all times of the day and received the same message. There are systems smart enough to tell how long you’re going to wait. You’re pandering to the caller… they don’t like that.
2. Make it mandatory that the customer gets a call back within 2 hours. I’ve been forced to leave messages because nobody is available and my call has been returned in nine days. NINE DAYS!!!
3. You lose a ton of customers when you change their plan at the end of the trial period. That’s stupid. If they sign up for a plan, keep giving them that pricing if they’ll sign a 12-month contract.

Fewer complaints, more customers. Easy squeezy lemon peazy.

Here’s what happens at Burger King drive-thru. You pull up to the speaker and a nice young voice says something like, “Thank you for choosing Burger King, would you like to try a Whopper value meal? Please order when you’re ready.” Then I start the order, only to be interrupted by a different voice that says something like, “I’ll be with you in a minute.” The first voice is pre-recorded and I’ve driven away several times as a result of this interaction.

The need for automation is understandable. But if it interferes with the customer interaction, it’s not worth it. Either drop it or make it work. Here’s some free tips for Burger King:

• Stop using recordings! I worked at McDonald’s as a teenager and part of the quality of the interaction was my manager letting me have fun in the drive-thru window and the customers appreciated it. If your employees aren’t quality enough to handle the customer interaction, then find better ones. There’s always somebody willing to work harder.
• If you’re using a recorded voice for consistency’s sake, make sure it’s the same voice that takes the rest of the order. Have the employee record it at the beginning of their shift.
• If you’re using a recorded voice that says to proceed, make sure the employee doesn’t tell them to stop. It’s the equivalent of saying “your call is important to us… please hold.” You’re proving the call or order isn’t important and neither is the customer.

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I’m trying something that Seth Godin recommended for inspiration. Here it is in his words:

Simple example: start a blog and post once a day on how your favorite company can improve its products or its service. Do it every day for a month, one new, actionable idea each and every day. Within a few weeks, you’ll notice the change in the way you find, process and ship ideas.

Remember the movie Wargames? A computer named Joshua almost started World War III using war simulations because it thought every game should have a winner. Spoiler Alert!! In the end, Joshua “learned” that in war there was no winner because there was always a loser… the losers were typically considered “acceptable losses”. After learning there could be no winner, he concluded “The only winning move is not to play.”

It’s that way in business and sales also. Just because the opportunity exists doesn’t mean you should play. I just passed on a project… a BIG project… that would have been well over $1 million in revenue. We had a relationship with one of the decision makers but  there was a line on their website that read:

Although price is not the only factor in determining which provider will be selected, it is the most important factor.

Given that sentence, I felt the only winning move was not to play. I would have spent a hundred hours of my time as well as 200-300 hours of other employees’ time chasing a prospect that was basing their decision almost entirely on price. I’ve been in public bid openings that prior to opening the bids, they have announced they will use the 3 lowest bids… without even seeing the quality of the solution! The prospect will get a sub-par solution that will limit their capabilities and cost them more in the long run.

Next time you’re banging your head against the wall and chasing un-winnable business, ask yourself if your best move is not to play. Then go find a customer that will recognize your value.

A few weeks ago I was asked to speak about storytelling. The organization that asked me to do that was Techsmith, a fast-growing company that does a ton of great work for the industry and the community. The person that approached me was Betsy Weber, Chief Evangelist.

I was honored to be a part of their 24 Hours of Camtasia event. Afterwards, I received a thank you card and gift. But the real gift came after the event, when Betsy offered to setup a meeting between myself and somebody I’d like to do business with. She took it upon herself to do this and even worked as a buffer between us to coordinate schedules. The three of us met for beers at the end of the day and we all had a great conversation. We hit it off as friends and eventually discussed business (albeit briefly).

Betsy created an air of trust. She went above and beyond to make sure everything went well. I owe her big time and will jump at the opportunity to help her with whatever her request is. She is a rockstar and I’m a fan.

That’s the power of doing Referrals the Right Way.

I'm not much of a fisherman, but my hat makes up for it.

I bought a hat over the July 4th weekend. I looked at it because it was cool. It was worn, torn, patched & tattered. But that wasn’t why I plucked down my hard-earned cash. I bought it because of the story on the inside of the hat. It reads:

Your hat is crafted from recycled tarps of Brasilian cargo trucks in an attempt to cut down on the wasting of resources. Most likely the fabric in your hat has traveled from the Amazon to San Paulo and back again. So don’t take care of this hat, it will take care of you. There is nothing you can do to this hat that hasn’t been done before, so go ahead, take on the worst, and do it with the smug satisfaction of knowing that your hat is… The Real Deal.

I had to have it and my favorite hat ever since. Many people may have bought it because of the environmentally friendly aspect of the construction. I purchased it because of the toughness & originality of the hat. I bought the emotional aspect. I bought the story.

What’s your story? How well does it sell your product or service?

I purchased the hat in Traverse City at a shop called Diversions (which apparently either needs a website or SEO, because I can’t provide a link). The manufacturer of the hat is Real Deal.

Most people get into sales because they’ve been told they can talk. So they meet clients and they… talk. That’s why 80+% of salespeople fail. The true key to getting what you want is to listen. By listening, you can figure out what matters to people. Not what they say matters, but what really matters.

You can get them talking by asking questions. Not the standard questions that people are taught in Sales 101. Those questions are for the 80% that will fail. What are those questions?

1. Have you ever heard of my (company/product/industry)?
2. What keeps you up at night?
3. How’s business?
4. Is now a good time to talk?
5. What kind of (fill in your product here) do you have?
6. Who is your vendor for (fill in your product here)?
7. Do you have a budget for (you guessed it, fill in your product here)?

Instead, ask Force Questions; questions that force people to think about their answer. Try questions like:

1. What would you do if you lost your 3 largest customers? What’s your plan to make sure that doesn’t happen?
2. What is keeping you from becoming #1 in your market/industry?
3. What do your customers say about you behind your back?
4. I see your (cash flow/debt ratio/gross margin) is (above/below) the average for your industry. Why is that?
5. What would you do if sales increased 20% this year?
6. What is your strategy for attracting new customers?
7. What’s the one word that comes to mind when I say (insert your value benefit here)?

Ask Force Questions properly and you won’t have to force the sale. The sale won’t fall in your lap, but using Force Questions will set you apart from the 80% of salespeople just waiting to fail.