Rock on, Grandma
If she can’t explain it, then your message is overly complex.
One Moore Thing: Even if you offer a dozen different services, condense it into a message that can be communicated in less than 15 seconds. If done properly, people will ask questions that expand the conversation.
Make sure competition isn’t working against your goals
You may be undermining your sales staff without even knowing it. We have always believed that competition is good, that the constant nipping at your heels by a peer would elevate your performance. While that may be true for some people, it doesn’t work for everybody, and it doesn’t work for anybody 100% of the time.
Some salespeople see competition as a threat to their jobs, and many times that is accurate. If they feel their managers only view them as a number instead of a person, they may be forced to make decisions that are detrimental to the company or that have negative long-term consequences. Some examples include:
One Moore Thing: Yes, competition is good, but it can’t be the only thing that motivates your people… it’s your job to find their intrinsic motivators. Leaders need to emphasize to their sales force that they are valuable members of the team, and their actions should accentuate the long-term interests of the organization and the customer. If they’re constantly looking over their shoulders, nobody wins.
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:
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?
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.
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:
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:
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.
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?
Be quiet for maximum effectiveness
The loudest person in the room garners attention for a few seconds, but the person quietly engaging people attracts people for a lifetime.
One Moore Thing: At your next networking event, stop broadcasting a stale, tired message and instead focus on listening to the people you talk to.
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:
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.
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.
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.