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

The Superman Effect

February 24, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Do you have what it takes to be Superman?

When Superman had to save the world or defeat Lex Luther (again), he was poised, confident, and sure of the outcome. It didn’t matter if Jimmy Olsen was cowering in the corner (again), Lois Lane was screaming out of fear (again), or that Perry White was insulting him (again)… he was still Superman.

Your customers are looking for their own Superman. It doesn’t matter if your boss is pressuring you for a monthly report, your installers are behind schedule, or your kids are keeping you up late. They are simply looking for somebody that is consistent and confident; someone that will save their world when it’s crumbling around them.

You can’t be disheveled, stressed out, or concerned about your quarterly numbers. You have to be completely at their service and exude confidence… just like Superman.

One Moore Thing: We all have stresses related to our job, but when you’re in front of your customer the entire focus should be on them. If you do this enough, they will come to see you as Superman; and when you’re working with Superman, you don’t go out to bid.

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

How Do You Screw Up?

February 23, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Power Questions = Power Selling

Looking for a power question to make your customers stand up and pay attention to you? Ask them to list the top three mistakes people in their position make when making a similar purchase.

There are two possible outcomes to this question:

  1. They don’t know the answers and will defer to your expertise.
  2. They will think hard about the question and come up with the answers.

In scenario #1, you earn their trust by knowing the answers to questions they didn’t know they had. In scenario #2, they will give you insight into their doubts and you will be better prepared to preemptively address those misgivings. Either way, you will earn the buyer’s respect by being knowledgeable and not asking outdated questions like “what keeps you up at night?”

One Moore Thing: If you ask the same questions everybody else asks, you get the same answers everybody else gets… and the same results.

Filed Under: Attitude, Customer Service, Relationships, Sales

How To Earn Trust

February 22, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Trust is easy to build and even easier to lose

Do what you say you’re going to do.

One Moore Thing: Don’t overthink it. People try to play games and use different psychological tactics to “earn” trust when all they’re really doing is trying to trick somebody. Trust is built over time and earned by simply doing what you said you’d do.

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

New Beginnings

February 20, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Congratulations to my little brother, Brian, who was married yesterday. He and his new wife, Debbie, have given themselves a new beginning for a future filled with promise and love.

As a society, we celebrate the new beginnings that weddings, births, and graduations signify. But why is it that in personal relationships we are typically quick (sometimes too quick) to make changes, yet in business we drag out important decisions because we are afraid of the unknown? Because we don’t trust ourselves.

One Moore Thing: If you consider yourself successful at personal relationships, then use same decision-making criteria to flourish in business… your gut.

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

Just Give

February 17, 2012 By Leave a Comment

When you’re feeling your in a rut or experiencing a lull in performance, take a little time and give:

Give Time: Go to lunch with a customer. Talk about anything except business. You’ll learn new things, build a deeper connection, and be under no pressure.

Give Back: Take a day and volunteer at a homeless shelter or swinging a hammer for Habitat for Humanity. At the end of the day you’ll be dead tired, but thankful for what you have and refreshed to tackle a new day.

Give Ideas: Come up with three ideas that will help one of your customers increase their business. These ideas should have nothing to do with your offerings. You will be forced to look at things from a different view and your customers will start to view you as a trusted adviser.

Give It A Rest: Take a day off. Go see a daytime movie, enjoy a great lunch, and surprise your wife with dinner when she gets home. Don’t check your email or take phone calls all day.

Give Thanks: Take the day and drive to as many clients as you can. Show up without an appointment and tell them you just stopped by to thank them for their business. Have a brief conversation (don’t overstay your welcome) and tell them to have a fantastic day. They’ll always take your call after that.

Give Hugs: Show some love to people. Hug your husband, your kids, your friends, your assistant, or your customer. How can anybody feel bad after a good hug?

One Moore Thing: The more you give, the more you get back from the universe. It may not always be in the way you expect, but good always comes back to you.

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

Shopping or Buying?

February 16, 2012 By 3 Comments

It’s more fun that it looks…

I love shopping. I know I may lose my Man-Card for that, but it’s true. It doesn’t matter of I’m buying Christmas gifts, clothes, electronics, or even groceries… I just like to shop.

One reason I like shopping is because I like “stuff”… who doesn’t? But the other reason is that I find it cathartic; the process of buying something is relaxing to me. I know what I’m looking for and when I find it, I’m typically ready to purchase. Rarely, if ever, do I buy the lowest price because for me it’s more about value and service. And because I value those things, I also don’t negotiate prices.  I want my seller to make money. I want them to be around next year. I want them to look forward to me walking in their door because I’m a friendly and profitable customer.

I don’t have to be sold, because I’m a buyer.

One Moore Thing: Are you trying to sell to people or talk to buyers?

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

Speed Is The New Killer App

February 14, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Speed equals sales

Today’s prospects are handling hundreds of emails, dozens of phone calls, and several meeting each day. They don’t have time to do an in-depth analysis on every single item they’re working on. That’s the downside.

The upside is they are so incredibly busy that if you can answer questions, return calls, and schedule resources faster than your competitor, you can save them time… and time is more valuable than money in today’s economy. So it stands to reason that if you can save your prospects time, you will win more business.

To capitalize on that advantage, you need a killer app. What is a killer app? Here’s the definition from Wikipedia:

In marketing terminology, a killer application (commonly shortened to killer app) is any computer program that is so necessary or desirable that it proves the core value of some larger technology, such as computer hardware, gaming console, software, or an operating system. A killer app can substantially increase sales of the platform on which it runs.

This has nothing to do with software. Although the iPhone has a killer app (Siri), so does Zappo’s (customer service), and Walmart (low prices). In today’s hectic sales world, your killer app should be speed.

Imagine if you needed a plumber or a moving company. You call on Monday and customer service schedules an appointment for Thursday. The salesperson meets with you for an hour and then moves through the rest of their daily appointments. On Friday, the salesperson goes through their process to get pricing, and after engaging their resources, they email pricing the following Tuesday. You’ll probably receive a follow-up call a week after the email seeing if “everything looked good” on the quote.

What started as a pressing issue to you was just relegated to mediocrity by the salesperson. Instead of having the same sense of urgency as you, they went about their business at their own speed. You needed immediacy and instead had to wait 1–2 weeks to get an answer.

Now you know how your prospect feels.

One Moore Thing: Every business is different, but in most instances, speed can be a competitive advantage that can increase your win rate by 10–20%. You just need to determine the best way to streamline your sales and customer service processes to ensure you are faster than your competitor.

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