Don Draper Wisdom

March 26, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Don Draper doles out wisdom with a side of whiskey

Don Draper from Mad Men is the new hero of many salespeople. Partly because he is full of machismo, but mostly because he’s not afraid to tell customers the bold truth… usually because he’s been drinking since 9:00 a.m. Here are some of my favorite Don Draper quotes:

  • “Advertising is based on one thing, happiness. And you know what happiness is? Happiness is the smell of a new car. It’s freedom from fear. It’s a billboard on the side of the road that screams reassurance that whatever you are doing is okay. You are okay.”
  • “I hate to break it to you but there is no big lie. There is no system. The universe is indifferent.”
  • “Just so you know, the people who talk that way think that monkeys can do this. They take all this monkey crap and just stick it in a briefcase completely unaware that their success depends on something more than their shoeshine. YOU are the product. You– FEELING something. That’s what sells. Not them. Not sex. They can’t do what we do, and they hate us for it.”
  • “If you don’t like what’s being said, change the conversation.”
  • “They say as soon you have to cut down on your drinking, you have a drinking problem.”
  • “You want some respect? Go out there and get it for yourself.”

One Moore Thing: Whenever I’m at an impasse about how to solve a problem, I remember this quote: “Just think about it deeply, then forget it… then an idea will jump up in your face.”

Filed Under: Attitude, Feature Post, Motivation

Fire Your Customer

March 22, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Trump knows the value of firing… do you?

Most people consider “firing your customer” a form of blasphemy. After all, if the customer is always right and acquiring a new customer costs 5–10 times as much as retaining them, why would you fire them? That’s sound thinking in Business 101 classes, but not for the real world. If you have customers that are draining your time and resources, how are you going to continue working with them in a profitable manner?

Because he’s a financial wizard, Justin Himebaugh at HRU Technical Resources, was tasked at a previous job to gauge the profitability of each account. Much to everybody’s surprise, they were losing money on some of their biggest accounts. Just because those customers were bringing in large amounts of revenue, they were given many services for free or at a discount. So not only was his employer losing money on that account, but those employees couldn’t work on profitable customers… it was a double-hit to the bottom line.

If you take the time to do that analysis in your own business, and find unprofitable customers, you have two options:

  1. Change the way you work with them to ensure those accounts are profitable.
  2. Fire them.

One Moore Thing: Your pool of customers is probably larger than you think, so why do you continue to work with unprofitable or pain-in-the-ass customers? Instead of banging your head against the wall, hating your job, and taking it out on your family, why not find good customers that are profitable and enjoyable to work with?

Filed Under: Attitude, Customer Service, Feature Post, Motivation, Relationships, Sales

Happiness Happens

March 20, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Anybody can be happy if they decide to be

To say I’ve made mistakes in my life is an understatement… I’ve made TONS of mistakes. I haven’t made these errors out of hatred or spite, but sometimes the best intentions lead to the biggest blunders. I always tried to put other’s needs ahead of mine and wanted nothing more than for them to be happy. Making people happy is what motivates me in my career and personal life, and by seeing people smile and laugh (usually at my expense) I have met great people and made fantastic friends.

The universe rewards you for whatever you do, both good and bad. Some call it reciprocity, payback, or (my personal favorite) karma. Being happy and putting other people first isn’t always easy, and karma doesn’t always show up when you want it or in the form you expected… but karma always wins.

One Moore Thing: The universe put a truly incredible person in my life and made her my best friend. Last week, she made me the happiest man in the world by saying yes to my marriage proposal and it feels like every drop of happiness I’ve created throughout my life has come back to me through a fire hose at the exact same moment. It’s overwhelming and magnificent… and if each of you experience even 10% of that happiness in your life, the world will be a much better place.

Filed Under: Attitude, Feature Post, Motivation, Relationships

Why Do Customers Lie?

March 8, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Don’t perpetuate the myth… tell the truth

One of the most frustrating aspects of being in sales is being lied to by prospects or customers. “We’re going to sign with you” or “if you can meet this demand, we will choose your firm” is many times followed by unanswered calls or news that they went with your competitor. Why do customers do this?

Because salespeople have trained them to. Prospects have been told about special offer pricing, competitive offerings, and time-sensitive deals only to have that same salesperson come back to them and offer even better terms. In short, your client has been lied to by people just like you (and maybe even by you).

Obviously you can’t control other salespeople’s actions, but you can control yours. If you tell a client they will get their shipment on Tuesday, make sure it doesn’t arrive Wednesday. If you say this is your best price, make sure it’s your best price. If you are asked about the competition, tell the truth and learn to differentiate yourself from them without lying.

One Moore Thing: If you sell without ethics, you won’t sell for long.

Filed Under: Customer Service, Feature Post, Sales

99% = Failure

March 7, 2012 By Leave a Comment

 

The last 1% could make all the difference

Eradico Services is a market leader in pest control and lawn services and they have been a long-term client. Last year they purchased a new phone system, and they raved about how much they loved the sales process, equipment, installation, and training. The project lasted about eight weeks and everything went great throughout the entire process… until the final day. An installer had to put in an outlet and left drywall dust on the floor from the hole he drilled in the wall. In their customer satisfaction survey they gave everybody 9’s (they don’t give anybody 10’s, because there is always room for improvement) and noted the drywall dust in the notes. They will use the company again and still refer business to them, but the vendor fell just short of being excellent.

Five seconds with a hand-held vacuum could have made all the difference in the world; because even though the first 99% of the job went great, the last 1% is what they remember, and they still use that story as an example in training their own service people. That last 1% is what made that project good instead of great.

One Moore Thing: What are you doing to train every member of your staff to excel in customer service so they separate themselves from the competition and are considered great in their field?

Filed Under: Attitude, Customer Service, Feature Post, Motivation, Sales

Sweet Smell of Success

March 6, 2012 By Leave a Comment

It all started with just one bite

Debbie had big dreams. Armed with only a small storefront and a unique cookie recipe, she flipped the sign on the door to read “OPEN” and waited… and waited… and waited, but nobody came in to enjoy her chocolatey goodness. Finally, she took samples out to the sidewalk, enticing pedestrians with the smell of warm chocolate chip cookies and telling them where they could find more. That’s how the Mrs. Field’s cookie empire began 35 years ago.

Over the past three decades, Debbie Fields has went from one store to over 400 franchises across the world. She still has the same quality recipe as she did that first day, but it would never have been purchased by millions of people if she had waited for the customers to come to her instead of going to them.

One Moore Thing: Have you developed a proactive plan to get in front of your prospects or are you waiting for them to call you?

Filed Under: Customer Service, Feature Post, Prospecting, Sales

Your NETworking is NOTworking

March 5, 2012 By Leave a Comment

If you aren’t prepared, somebody else will be

If you’re NETworking is NOTworking, you’re approaching it wrong. Consider this scenario: you’ve been invited to a great networking event by a friend or colleague. You probably are thinking one of two things:

  1. I won’t know anybody, and I don’t have anything in common with these people. I’ll make a quick appearance so my boss will think I was working and then sneak out to catch the Mad Men marathon.
  2. Awesome! Free beer!

Instead of showing up with the intent of sneaking out or getting free drinks, come up with a game plan in advance. That plan should include:

  1. Anybody in particular you want to meet.
  2. If there’s nobody specific you want to talk to, then how many new people would you like to be introduced to?
  3. What kinds of questions are you going to ask them?
  4. What topics of interest can you find common ground on?
  5. How long should you talk to somebody before you disengage and move on to another conversation?

By having a plan in place, you will show up more confident. And confidence attracts people.

One Moore Thing: One or two free beers are great… ten free beers, not so much.

Filed Under: Attitude, Customer Service, Feature Post, Motivation, Prospecting, Relationships, Sales

Face Time

March 2, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Your face is more memorable than your email signature

Much of today’s world is driven by technology, and that technology provides a buffer between humans. That’s great for productivity but not for creating connections. Compare these scenarios:

Theater vs. Movies: When you go to the theater, you’re completely quiet. Everybody focuses on the performers, the music, and the various moving pieces on the set. Compare that to going to the movies where everybody is crunching popcorn, talking to their date, and texting their best friend. They’re not engaged… they’re just watching.

Face-to-Face vs. Phone: People used to go see their neighbors in person. They would spend an hour or two catching up on everything going on in their lives and sharing a lemonade or beer. Now they pick up the phone (or worse yet, text) and share a few brief sentences. Then we wonder why our relationships aren’t as deep as they used to be.

Calling vs. Email: While the phone is less personal than a face-to-face conversation, it’s way more personal than an email. In email people tend to be brief (because they’re busy), rude (because they’re hiding behind a keyboard), and they will normally say things in emails that they would never say in person. While email is great for confirmation, it’s horrible for conversation.

One Moore Thing: You can’t shake hands, give a hug, or see pain on somebody’s face through texting or email. What’s your action plan to engage your customers face-to-face?

Filed Under: Attitude, Customer Service, Feature Post, Motivation, Relationships, Sales

What Drives You? (Hint: It’s Not Money)

March 1, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Nobody’s driven purely by money

Most people think salespeople are driven by money. Hell, most salespeople say they are driven by money. While it may be a short-term incentive, it won’t motivate you forever. To become an effective seller, you have to dig deep into yourself and determine what really drives you. Ask yourself the following questions:

  • Do I truly believe my product helps my customers?
  • Do I make a difference to my clients?
  • What do I do with my money that makes me happy (feed my family, give to charities, buy my friends a beer)?
  • If I didn’t make commissions, would I still sell this service?

If you can determine why you sell, you can position your sales techniques to capitalize on that. If you sell to make people happy, find people that want to be happier; if you sell to create relationships, find people that want relationships.

One Moore Thing: If you continue to sell for money, you’ll continue to find customers that only care about money… and low prices… and low margins.

Filed Under: Attitude, Motivation, Sales

Rotten Fruit

February 28, 2012 By Leave a Comment

That low hanging fruit may be rotten

When you’re looking for new prospects, where do you look?

You probably find somebody who is already using your what you sell but being serviced by a competitor. You know they need what you have, they’re familiar with your products and you can do it way better than your adversary. Easy sale, right? Wrong.

Look at the other side of that coin… you’re already competing against somebody before you’ve made the first call. Even worse is they are the incumbent, a known entity; and sometimes the devil you know is better than the one you don’t. You’re probably also going to be competing on price, which lowers margins. And quite frankly, if the prospect is willing to talk to you, they’re probably also talking to your other competitors, which further muddies up the water.

One Moore Thing:  Open a new market, a new vertical with no competition. Find somebody that nobody is talking to but that may have a need for your service. If you take good care of them, you will be the incumbent.

Filed Under: Attitude, Prospecting, Sales
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