NOW the busiest time of year don’t forget this

Most business pass or fail for the WHOLE year in the next few weeks. i’m sure that you’ve prepared for the busiest time of year. However I just wanted to share a big hint that business owners forget about or think they can live without(the Superman principle). SALES Support or Support in ANY busy area of your business during the holiday rush. Your goal is not only to have what your customer needs but to make your customers lives as easy as possible. Why? because everybody else is stressing them out.

Then there are your employees they matter most because if the are stressed it shows straight thru to your customers almost immediately. So the people you have that are supporting your frontline staff are extremely important to your success. The reason why is simple when things get crazy and hopefully they will they will be the silly putty that holds it all together. You have to make sure they are strong and cross trained in all area of your business customer service, sales, etc. So many times its the littlest things during those rushes that completely back things up  the last thing you want is lost sales this times of year . You never will get the chance again.

Great support will cover breaks, replish register tape, or answer phones when everybody is busy and the list goes on. They can’t truely make your break your best selling season.

How am I making my customer lives better?

Something that everybody related to your business should be asking themselves everyday. Great answers to this question build solid strong businesses regardless of everything else because your intention is a perfect one. If you don’t know the answer then you better start thinking about it cause sooner or later your going to have a identity crisis with your business that you built from scratch. I’ll explain it if you want me to just ask.

3.75 keys to eliminating sales objections

One of the toughest parts in business is overcoming objections that your potential customer has about your products, people or your company.  So here are three general key I use without fail to save the customer.

1.Build confidence in the customer objections.Just remember that all an objection is them trying to find a reason NOT to buy. THEY WANT to buy if they didn’t they just walk away without saying anything. Most salespeople think the customer is saying no where they are trying to say yes they just need more information to back up their willingness to do so. I love objections because the customer is trying to buy what I have. It’s my job to make it as easy as possible to do so. So I always tell them I welcome objections and then when they occur I always start with ” I’m glad you brought that up” or “Many of my customers feel the same way you do….” I want them to feel good and confident for bringing up these points. Most people are scared at this time because they want to buy but they don’t want to here they aren’t able to.

2.Face the challenge head on. Customer are trying to see if you really stand behind the product because if you do then they can. ALWAYS be honest!!! If your not the customer will see it no matter how good you think you are. Make sure that if you put the objection do for now you get the customer to agree to it. Say something like ” That’s an good point you have brought up and I will get to it in minute okay?” Then make sure you do.

3.If your are ever unsure to the answer to an objection say this” That is an excellent point that I hadn’t considered,I don’t know the answer but I will find it out for you.” Then find out.

0.75 — Never make something seem less than ( ex a competitor) in order to make your product look stronger. It make your look weak and pushes their decision more toward them. They see it as you think they are better that’s why you have to knock them down you can’t compete on a level playing field.

Little things that make the biggest difference

Many business owners are so close to every part of their business because  they are responsible it ALL of it.  What I do most often as their consultant is I show them the impact that the little things have on the bottom line that they never noticed.Unfortunately those negative little things absolutely destroy businesses. Listen businesses don’t fail because somebody stopped trying  just the opposite is true. Most business fail because they are trying to hard in the wrong direction. So many time I teach business owners how the little things they do make more of a fundamental difference than the huge things. I show them how specific actions or intangible assets are the things that create long term success. For the most part the physical aspects of any business don’tmmake nearly as much of a difference as the things that you can’t see.

An biggest of them all is attitude (yourself, your employees and your customers) and it surprises me how many people in businesses think that it doesn’t matter. They think people don’t care or notice attitude. Everyday you wear you attitude on your sleeve and there is not a single person that doesn’t notice it. Like in the earlier post on colors and judgements, your attitude you have is how people judge you what you do, think, say and in your case if they will do business with you or not.

The reason I’m bringing this up is I was doing some shopping tonight myself.  It astounded me how many salespeople at the mall (one of the most successful in the country) had either bad attitudes or apathy(they just didn’t care about the customer). I began to wonder how we got to a place where we accept this as customers. The experiences I witnessed other people having some where scary and downright disrespectful. Then I watch CNBC and see retailers are having tough quarters and cutting 4th quarter forecasts. Do this people (CEO and board members ETC) actually go to their store and look at the product they are putting out? By that I mean the sales person on the floor that argues with a customer or is on their cellphone with a friend(yes I saw both tonight)? There are customers that those employees don’t realize that are making judgment about their WHOLE company based on that ONE person. GREAT attitudes are free if you make sure you hire them in the first place.

S o I want to leave you with this question for all of you and your employees that will create a minefield of gold where these other people see only losses.

What have I done today to give my customers OUTSTANDING service?

So where are your ideal customers AT NOW?

I was one the phone with a client of mine who just started a part time computer company called All Access. I’m helping him set up the structure of the business (registration, accounting you now all the stuff the customer never sees you do). He asked me if the next time we meet that if I wouldn’t mind taking a few cards. So if there was somebody having trouble with their home computer if I wouldn’t mind give them one. I said absolutely I would because I have other clients that could use his service.

Then I asked a very important question.

How do the majority of your customers find out about you now?

“I ask my satisfied customers to do what I just ask you to Tom” was his reply. Now that is an excellent, simple and free idea many business owners don’t think of. I then asked his this

Where are you customers going now or thinking about going to solve the problem you solve for your customers?“A computer store where they bought it” Then go to a computer store that doesn’t do service(conflict of interest if they did) and start talking to sales people that who be helping out their customers if they offered your service and work out a dollars for referrals deal. They are making more money (additional sales from add on product AND your referral money) You a gain a prime customer that is looking to solve a problem and got your name from a trusted source.

SO what related market that your customers already use that you and them could benefit from a relationship to you ? Go there

How are you making it harder for your customers?

What that’s crazy you say!@@!! Hold on a minute and let me explain An experience I had that I want to to learn from. Earlier tonight I wanted to go see the movie “Fred Claus” with Vince Vaughn so I called one movie theater and they told me to hangup and call fandango or visit Fandango online . If I had access to a computer I wouldn’t be calling(not everybody is near a computer ALL the time which they assumed). or the other choice hang up and call a new number instead of the theater itself. My question is why does this movie theater think it has the right to make my life a little more complex (like any or us need another step to complete-haha) instead of just giving me the info that I called for.  I WANT ANSWERS NOT EXTRA STEPS. They lost my business and the second call was to a theater that I called and gave me the movie times. See this is what I don’t get why aren’t they doing whatever they can in order to earn my business  after all it is only a MOVIE that I can see anywhere.

So my question to you is this– Are there any extra steps(no matter how small) you could eliminate in order to get your customers what they need from you faster in the way that they are asking for it? 

After all they will never call to tell you that you are losing their business instead they will just go somewhere else. Let me give you a easy one to get you started. When you are closed and customers call your business does your answering service or machine give them answer they can select like hours, directions, or specials

How to get your best customers to shop more during the holiday season!!!

Hold a sale for a specific item at your store at a rock bottom(maybe below cost) price for one hour. Then two hours later do the same thing with a completely different item.  Call and send a postcard to all your customers two weeks in advance. Make it a party day —create positive energy(free food, balloons, pens with your name on it). You get the idea just go all out. Hold a raffle for something one another hour. The idea is to create a specific reason for customers to come in. You know that once they are in they will buy more don’t you? The hour creates URGENCY– if they want it at that price they have to come then. By the way a store full of customers creates interest among others who just want to know whats going on in there. People that never planned on coming in will stop by just to see why the heck everybody is there (it’s like the gaper delay in traffic but with much more positive results). The specific item (hopefully a Bestseller already) creates desire.

That my friends in what you need to make ANY sale EVER — DESIRE as well as URGENCY .

Do it during a slow time to pick up momentum or during a busy time to create utter chaos(just be prepared). You want to to paint the picture in the customers head when doing the phone call and postcard that if they don’t show up they will be missing out on a once in this Holiday shopping season buy of a lifetime. Tell me how it goes or write me for further implementation ideas.

Leaving the lights–ON when you are closed

Okay so may not all the lights but the one that make you money. Does your business sit in a road? Do you have a sign for your business? I know two REALLY stupid questions right. Have you ever thought about all the people that drive by when your closed? Yet a lot of businesses turn off there sign when they close at night. It maybe saving energy but at what cost is it doing so. I say get a really bright sign that grabs peoples attention at night so they are forced to say “whats that?” Best buy is so much easier to find at night than during the day did you ever notice that? It’s that bright Yellow that grabs your eye.  One of the best things I think for a business is to get a removable letter sign that has your company on top and put a random quote on the bottom(people love short GOOD quotes that are funny–they remember you). Look at your traffic patterns at night on different days to decide which times will have the most bang for your buck.

EVEN better put your website or an 800-number on your sign then track the hits. Ask EVERYBODY how they found out about you –I mean EVERYBODY –the results about how nighttime signage drawing attention may surprise you.

Are you sending the right messages with how you dress?

This is a topic that isn’t discussed enough when talking about presentation of how you come across to your customers. The first clues people notice usually in any situation is usually the physical ones.  What people notice about you pretty much tells them all they need to know before you open your mouth. Now the easy ones are proper dress, hygiene, and stance-confident or not. Then there are the less obvious ones which I want to discuss just one of today.

Color!!!!! Colors dominate our sight driven world and we make decisions so fast with colors we don’t even realize it. We all know that in today world we have thousands of more stimuli coming at as then we have the ability to focus on. So how do we deduct out what not to focus on? COLORS are first because our sight is our top sense we use.  Every company on the planet at some level uses color or lack there of to get attention from people. Now most people focus on what the most appealing colors are in any given situation–basic manipulation in customers stimuli response. We make thousands of judgements on what each color represent to make the right decisions in all parts of our lives.

However have you looked at colors close enough to see the message you are sending because they are not all created equal? Ask yourself “How do I want customers to feel in my presence ?” The reason I bring this up is I saw a major retailer make A HUGE color mistake. What is the worst color you can display if you want people to feel comfortable around you? If you guessed ALL BLACK (from head to toe) you are RIGHT. black is a great color to contrast off of with another more vibrant color but never solely by itself. When I saw this I said to myself “what are they having their own funeral ?” When you find out who they just may be. I then found out that solid BLACK is the required dress code for all employees which is not only stupid it is crazy. Here’s why the two hardest colors to notice by themselves in the color spectrum is the ones at the ended BLACK and WHITE. The are the first you use to block things out because they are what I call the NON colors. This is why USA today is a major paper you notice it first in a newspaper rack it is the only one the USES color to its advantage. But anyway their reasoning behind this was good in theory but DUMB in the real world. The company colors are RED , WHITE and BLACK and they are trying to give you a unified message. Their commercials are primarily white –Good. The store displays are RED and White–again Good. I’m being so harsh because NOBODY would ever do this–Name me one place you have shopped where the dress code is universally is all black? Nowhere right?  Nowhere except MACYS department stores. So it’ll probably be pretty hard to find an employee to help you out this holiday season because you going to have to start looking for something you normally block out

whats the most important day in your customers lives?

The day that they were born every single year!!!! More business is done on peoples birthdays because people feel special on that day(even though they may not admit it) I know several companies that send out gift certificates to be used on peoples birthdays that make a killin. The question is –are you giving your customers the oppportunity to do business with you on their special day. They almost always come back for a repeat purchase or refer somebody etc.

Starting a NEW business– creating the Big Idea that customers will BUY

So last week I had somebody who was reading this blog ask me a great question about start his own business. If I was to start my own business what product should I start with? I couldn’t give him a solid answer because its completely different for each individual who decides to branch out on their own. I gave him a few pointers on what to start with for him. Afterwards though I began to really think about how do you create a successful company from the ground up. I’ve said it before that one of my favorite shows is “The Big Idea” with Donny Deutsch CNBC. This is what this show is purely focused on –gathering the courage with the passion and or knowledge you already have to make millions.

So I started writing down the key pieces of what Donny says of what it takes to be successful and it really is simple. So I am going to share with you the notes from the show(if Donny or anybody from CNBC is reading this please email me at tom4change@gmail.com) along with my own insights from my own experience. So I there is no HARD answers here but I know if you apply ALL these ideas that you will have an amazing business that will bring you all your dreams and then some. The reason why it will work and other things don’t is that — your destiny is inside of you right now all you have to do is uncover your greatness. Most if not all business failures get stuck on something outside of themselves is being the key to thier success, happiness etc.

“If you have a need chances are others have the same need you do”

“Find what you are passionate about and do it”

“Now why didn’t I think of that?”

Ohh just watch the show already will ya?