Norman Davies' Blog

It's all about you!

It's all about you!

 

Or? 

 

 

Years ago when I had just finished university, I attended a Theatre Under The Stars production in Stanley Park.  I was with my friend and we were enjoying the great summer evening and looking forward to watching some fun theatre.  While waiting for the show to begin I caught the eye of a beautiful young woman sitting a few rows in front of me.  She was sitting with an older woman who I later learned was her grandmother. The young woman was simply incredible and during the break, I made my way toward her and introduced myself and asked if maybe we could go out sometime.  She gave me her phone number and the very next day I gave her a call. She was still in university and working downtown for the summer and we arranged to meet for lunch. The day we met was a wonderful warm day and we got some take-away and sat in a downtown park to eat and get to know each other. 

I was so nervous and so intent on impressing her I pulled out all the stops. I wore my best suit and spent the entire hour telling her about all of my accomplishments and achievements and basically outlining what a great person I was!

 

I guess I shouldn't have been surprised when I did'nt get a second date. I made the first one about me! Not really a fun experience for her, I'm sure.

 

The strange part is that in my mind it was not all about me. I wasn't talking about me because I was so into myself or because I was so conceited but rather because I was really into her. 

 

If she had known how much I liked her, I am positive we would have had a second date and we would be living in Kerrisdale with three children today! Well, maybe not.

 

The amazing thing is that this is the same mistake that many salespeople and businesses make everyday.

 

They want business, but instead of listening to the prospect, they talk and talk and talk about themselves. In the end, the prospect feels that they are not understood and that their business is not important.

 

The answer?

 

Make it all about them!

 

It does not matter whether you are talking to your customers, your employees, your children or any group or individual. If you make it about them, your success

rate with rise.

 

I don't mean by this that you should talk about them but rather that you should focus on them. 

 

Everyone feels better when

they've got attention.

 

I worked with a man named Dave Hewitt for many years at Crayola.  Staff, customers and suppliers all admired Dave. The reason was not that he was a softie, but rather because he gave everyone one hundred percent of his attention. 

 

I remember one particular

meeting with Dave that exemplified this. I wanted an hour or so of his time to propose a detailed plan of mine and hoped to get his approval on it.

 

Instead I got five minutes

and a no!

 

How did I feel?

 

I felt great!

 

Dave gave me five minutes of his time in which he listened to me attentively - more attentively than anyone else ever has - and he confirmed that he understood my situation.  He then went on to explain why the answer would

be no.  

 

He then left me, with the entire conversation taking no longer

than five minutes. Instead of

being upset I felt better about myself, the organization and the relationship that my company had with Crayola.  

 

Dave made it completely about me!

 

Do this with your employees, your suppliers and your customers and your business will go more smoothly.

 

People will like you more and will want to spend more time around you.  Employees and customers will become more loyal and suppliers will give you priority.

 

How to achieve this skill?

 

It requires focus.  Dave Hewitt had been a US Navy Seal and I am sure that was the source of his focus. The most important thing is to realize that others are equally as important as you and their concerns deserve our focus and attention.

 

Focus on others and you will bring the spotlight onto yourself!

 

Sales tricks

Sales Tricks

 

 

I have a friend who could always amaze people with his math.  You could give him any two numbers (of any size) and ask him to multiply them in his head and he would provide the answer in seconds - and always the correct answer! 

 

Everyone thought him a genius but he confided in me that it was just a math trick, like the 11 Times Trick.

We all know the trick when multiplying by ten - add 0 to the end of the number, but did you know there is an equally easy trick for multiplying a two digit number by 11? This is it:

Take the original number and imagine a space between the two digits (in this example we will use 52:

5_2

Now add the two numbers together and put them in the middle:

5_(5+2)_2

That is it - you have the answer: 572.

If the numbers in the middle add up to a 2 digit number, just insert the second number and add 1 to the first:

9_(9+9)_9

(9+1)_8_9

10_8_9

1089 - It works every time.

Every skill and every industry has its tricks.

 

Think about your successes and you will learn to understand what your tricks are.  Consider the little things that make a big difference.

 

Watch others and study their success to garner their tricks - the things that they do differently to others.

 

With a little bit of effort you can put together an entire tool chest of little tricks that make a difference.

 

I knew a salesperson from Australia who always started a sales call the same way.  He would pull out a hardcover notebook and would ask the buyer:

 

"I want to make certain that I get every detail of our conversation today correct, I don't want to miss anything that is important to you and so I am just going to take some notes as we speak, is that okay?"

 

This was one of his routines and it gave the buyer assurance that he was focused, interested and that the time together was important.  Now there is a trick.

 

I have learned that hand written thank-you notes grab the attention of buyers and so often send them a note following a meeting.

 

I carefully hand write the note and the envelope and use a special addition collector's postage stamp, not just a generic business stamp.  It gets noticed and I get remembered.

 

I send a lot of Christmas cards and most years I arrange to have them

mailed from somewhere different in the world.  An unusual postage stamp from China, Korea or Russia gets noticed and my card gets

me remembered.

 

These are just a couple of sales tricks.  There are hundreds.  Use these tricks to be remembered and to get better results and like my friend with the math tricks, people may call you a

sales genius.

 

The customer service dilemma

The customer service dilemma  

 

 

 

I think we would all agree that customer service is important to the support of a winning sales program. After all, happy customers are likely to feel better about our company and are more likely to continue to do business with us and recommend us to friends and associates. Superior customer service is the backbone to a solid referral program.

 

So why are customer service surveys increasingly showing a general decline in customer satisfaction?

 

We all experience this in our own lives.  We see an advertisement or a television commercial that highlights that a particular company as being 'customer-centered', only to find that once we begin the business relationship and have a problem, the company doesn't seem to care less.

 

In some cases this is the result of cultural issues with the company - the external message has no connection with the reality. Often, however, it is more a problem of management developing a positioning statement - high-level customer service - but not providing their staff with the training or resources to support the position.

 

It is a strange reality that everyone sells on price but in fact almost nobody buys on price.

 

Sure, there are cases when we hold our noses to deal with a vendor we dislike to get a great deal but that is the exception.

 

The city of Vancouver is filled with thriving retailers and businesses that do not sell on price.

 

Holt Renfrew

 

Meinhardts

 

Urban Fair

 

Pottery Barn

 

Restoration Hardware

 

The list goes on and on! Discount is not what drives success, it's service! When we feel a company understand our needs, we become loyal to it.

 

Businesses that don't understand customer service must constantly be fighting to gain new customers to replace the stream of dissatisfied customers that leave everyday - and that's hard work!

 

 

 

Quality customer service is not an easy thing to achieve. It is a process that takes an enormous amount of work to instill and constant investment to maintain.

 

Customer service is not easy and those doing the work need to be trained to provide the correct level of customer service.

 

For most customers, there is a level of service that is expected from your business. In today's competitive market place, businesses that exceed the expected level of service build a roster of loyal customers. Market research has proven that loyal customers or repeat customers represent 80% of our business. Put another way, loyalty equals growth and profitability for your business. Also, customers whose problems are resolved to their satisfaction are significantly more loyal than those never experiencing a problem in the first place.

 

Many businesses work towards reducing or eliminating customer service complaints. As a growing and prosperous business, you should welcome this kind of information! It is from such feedback that you can focus your time and resources on rebuilding the customer relationship.

 

Why don't more dissatisfied customers complain?

Firstly, it is psychologically hard to complain. Secondly, customers often don't know how to complain or can't find a venue to give feedback. Most businesses do not proactively encourage complaining and actually conspire to make it difficult to complain.

It is important for complaining customers to talk to the business owner, not others. Talking gives the business owner the chance to return the customer to a state of satisfaction so they will be more likely to visit the business again and make important purchases.

Businesses that offer a rational explanation and demonstrate sensitivity and concern, will find the complaining customer responds accordingly.

How can complaints/feedback be encouraged?
 
Promote organizational "caring and empathy".

 

Let the customer know you want to hear from them, make it clear that you want honest feedback, and show them you can deal with feedback.
 
Access is always an important component of quality service. The customer must perceive easy and welcome access.
 
Provide and market alternative complaint channels, for example, comment cards, e-mail, and telephone.

Help managers and staff encourage complaints. This includes providing them education on observation, active listening and problem solving.
 
Enable and encourage front line staff to solve problems. They are there to protect the business from angry customers.

 

Make it worth the customer's time to complain - resolve the complaint and notify the customer of the action taken.

Eighty-two to ninety-five percent of customers will come back if their complaint is resolved satisfactorily, and they will tell on average five other people. This is an important factor when you consider that it costs five times as much to get a new customer than maintain an existing customer. Welcoming and addressing complaints, therefore, represent another common sense approach to building your customer base and loyalty. 

Customer loyalty is all about relationship building. Your business cannot be all things to all people, so focus on a niche of people that you know will consistently come to you with their needs. 

A good relationship with your loyal customers involves knowing as much as you can about them. Businesses should never make assumptions regarding customer needs and expectations. Delivering exceptional customer service is an evolving process, a journey that involves re-inventing your product or service on a continual basis in order to continually 'wow' your customers.

Common Principles in Delivering Exceptional Customer Service:

Build a customer focused business and sales will follow.

Understand customer needs and exceed their expectations.

Build a loyal customer base - a wise business investment.

Welcome customer complaints and resolve them with integrity and efficiency.

Consistently study your customer and evaluate your service.