Much of our communication is unconscious. We don’t actively decide what quality of eye contact we should use or consider the impact of our words on other people and the consequences.

When you watch someone’s facial expression change or sense a shift in mood it becomes obvious that there has been a deep reaction to the communication ‘stimuli.

The study of such responses is called Transactional Analysis, developed by Dr. Eric Berne, an American psychiatrist in the 1950s.

Transactional Analysis:

• Is an analytical thinking process

• Provides insight

• Gives control over actions and reactions

Knowing the basics about Transactional Analysis will give you a better understanding of why people communicate in a certain way. For example, why they feel the need to be aggressive or manipulative to get their point across when they are unhappy about something.

A child who has had to shout to make his parents listen to him will often take this communication pattern into adult life. He will shout at you because he is conditioned to think you won’t listen either.

It will also help you choose a more appropriate style of communication with which to respond.

Ego States:

Berne became aware that within each individual there exists three personalities or ego states which have their own ways of communicating and behaving. He also discovered that we shift from one state to another subconsciously. These states are not ‘roles’ but psychological realities which are activated by feelings.

He identified them as Parent, Adult and Child ego states. This is why Transactional Analysis is sometimes called PAC communication.

These personalities develop in the first few years of life and will be shaped according to background, experiences and upbringing.

Parent:

Imagine a tape recorder being switched on at birth and all thoughts, feelings, events and behaviours recorded in an unedited version.

The Parent ego state develops by recording all the ‘rules and laws’ of the household, characterised by ‘No’, ‘Don’t, frowning, finger wagging, routines, attitudes, value laden standards, prejudices, criticisms.

There is also another side to the Parent: the nurturing, caring, gentle controlling side.

In later life memories of these behaviours are triggered and parent responses copied.

Think of all the behaviours, body language, facial expressions, attitudes you have taken from your parent (substitute). Has anyone said, ‘You’re just like your mother’ or ‘Like father, like son?”

Child:

At the same time another recording is being made which is the internalising of the response to the Parent behaviours (how the Child feels about them). Cross looks, sharp words, a smack, neglect, sarcasm, can only be recorded as feelings in the child.

Negative Parent Behaviours = Negative Response = Low Self Esteem.

Soon the child either learns to seek parent approval, giving up pleasurable exploration of the world and becoming the Adapted Child, or rebels. The child also stores much positive data: fun times, discovery, creativity, and carefree activity, e.g. puddle jumping. Think of behaviours you still use from your childhood when bad feelings are triggered; door slamming, sulking, temper tantrums, not speaking. Our child state can take over inappropriately if we let it. Think about the complainers you have dealt with recently. Have you noticed similar behaviours?

Adult:

Once a child learns to move about he or she acquires some independence and control. He/she finds out things independently and collects data and learns to work out his/her own understanding of life. This is the Adult ego state beginning to form.

The Adult is described as a data-processing computer which makes decisions based on logic and factual information and is not influenced by feelings. It analyses the data in the Parent and accepts it or rejects it, and considers the feelings stirred in the Child for appropriateness. It carries out probability estimating, e.g. in a complaint situation ‘How likely is it that I am going to get this sorted out?’.

It can also devise solutions, develop contingency plans and accept the inevitable with equanimity.

Parent Complainer:

How are these ego states activated when people are dissatisfied customers?

Customers who complain from their Parent draw on criticism, challenging attitudes and an authoritative position (from their personal database). They will use a range of verbal, vocal and non-verbal behaviours.

Their non-verbal and verbal indicators will be:

• Head shaking, arms folded, tongue clicking

• “I paid good money for this”

• “It’s a disgrace”

• “I’m going to report you to …”

They approach the situation from a position of “How dare they …’

Child Complainer:

The Child is activated when strong feelings of being ignored, cheated or controlled are triggered. In this ego state we often feel either powerless or rebellious.

Many of the clues to show someone is operating from their Child include: temper tantrums, sulking, nail-biting, no eye contact, nervous laughter, throat clearing.

Indicators will be:

• “It’s not fair”

• “Why should I?”

• “I’m not moving from here until I get a replacement”

Adult Complainer:

The Adult will be activated once the attitudes and feelings of the Parent and Child have been analysed for their usefulness and put aside.

It will ask questions, make comparisons, stay objective, not be opinionated, and seek out the facts. It does not send subliminal messages, has no hidden agenda and does not play mind games.

The customer who complains from the Adult will acknowledge feelings of anger but has not allowed them to take over. He/she wants a practical solution to the problem and not to indulge in psychological warfare in order to feel better (i.e. a replay of a childhood battle)

Ego States – Summary:

When you are in your Parent ego state you use words, behaviours and actions of your parent (substitute). – we all carry our Parent inside.

When your Child is showing you are replaying behaviours and reactions you would have used as a small child. – our Child can always be activated under certain conditions.

Operating from your Adult means you have made an objective, logical, autonomous appraisal of the situation. – we are all capable of objectivity.

We don’t have to be the victims of our childhood behaviour patterns. We have a choice. In business communication we can only safely operate from our Adult.

Today’s News: We are all continuing to develop the Top Sales Experts site and it really is the only place to visit if you are seeking world class sales coaching, training, consultancy and sales process tools – be sure to bookmark the site for future reference.

Tomorrow: We are working on the new JF Consultancy site all weekend. but I do post every Sunday on the BlogZone Wherever you are have a great w/e and I will be back here on Monday with you - JF

The JF Guest Author Spot 

24/7 Customer Centric by Wally Adamchik

We live in a customer centric society. Consumers don’t just go shopping anymore; they want to be comforted by a brand. Been to a ball game lately? These are experiences that have a sporting event as the backdrop. People in our society seek an ever increasing degree of satisfaction whenever they purchase something. Ultimately, this manifests itself in wanting the highest possible quality at the lowest possible price. How did we get here? Who is to blame for this mentality?

I offer two companies. First, is Taco Bell. In the mid-1980s they did something radically different. They introduced the value menu in fast food. This was like getting a pay raise. All of a sudden you could get a taco for 99 cents – and a full meal for not much more than that. This move started a price war that the fast food industry continues to fight today. To confirm that the fight is still on, what is the first thing you look for when you walk into a fast food restaurant? For the majority of readers, it is the value menu – often featuring a 99 cent price point.

An interesting, and often overlooked point, about this shift in that industry is that Taco Bell made dramatic operational changes to their system to support the introduction of the value menu. They moved some of the food preparation out of individual stores and into central commissary kitchens. They also began using other pre-prepared items. This lowered their cost structure enabling them to charge less. In this case, they enjoyed a true competitive advantage. Other chains were forced to mirror pricing but were slow to introduce an updated operational model.

The other firm I blame is Fed Ex. Before FedEx if you wanted to send a letter from New York to Atlanta, or anywhere else in America, let alone the world, it would easily take 3 – 5 days. With the introduction of FedEx, we could send a letter around the world with the reasonable expectation that it would get there overnight. Today we still send material cross-town, via Memphis, to make sure it gets there overnight.

Still other changes have made the consumer more demanding. The final push to this customer centric society is the internet and our new ability to access information related. If you want to know where your package is, how much your balance is, or what your car insurance may cost, all you have to do is get online and after a few clicks, you have the information you need. Don’t forget the ever present Wal-Mart and the impact that is having on consumer expectations. Some reports indicate that over 60% of Americans will shop in a Wal-Mart in any given month.

All these changes mean one thing – your customer is more demanding than ever. Often business to business sellers will argue that the person buying from them isn’t using their own money so they don’t really think this way. How else are they to feel? If most other purchases in their life are met with superior customer service and value, you can expect that they have the same expectation of you. Truly sophisticated buyers may in fact know your business model and the attendant challenges with delivering superior service, but that does not mean they don’t shop at Nordstrom or Wal-Mart and have a standard they would like to see all buying experiences attain. 

So, what have you done lately to make sure you are delivering the experience that your customer truly wants? Notice I didn’t say to deliver what they expect; their expectations may not be very high. Do you know what they truly want? On time and on budget is not what they want – they expect that, it is what you do for a living. Imagine you are purchasing a brand new automobile. You have waited six weeks for this baby to show up at the dealer and you are truly excited about the prospect of picking up your new machine. The day you are to pick it up, you took the day off to polish the floor of your garage and you drive your old trade-in to the dealer. As you get out of the old clunker, the salesman greets you with a genuine warm welcoming smile and addresses you by your name. You honestly feel welcome as your old car silently disappears from the picture. The salesman is beaming as he congratulates you on your purchase and invites you to walk with him. As he rounds the corner to the new vehicle delivery room, he stops and looks you right in the eye and with total seriousness he says, “You are going to love this car. We went all out for you. In fact, we even put tires on it for you!”

Are you dazzled? Probably not. Don’t you expect the tires when you buy the car? What does your client expect when they buy from you? Are you delivering? Even worse, what do they not expect and are you delivering that? All too often we mistake the satisfied customer, the one who doesn’t complain, as the loyal customer. They may just be waiting for the next viable vendor to show up. You must ask how you are doing. And you must ask in many ways; surveys, follow-up calls, face-to-face and what ever else is appropriate. Additionally, everyone in your firm must be able to ask – and that takes some training but the payback is in the form of increased customer retention because you show you care. This retention generally shows up in market share and as profits.

The changes in customer buying practices over the past decade are permanent. Disregarding this new reality is a strategy for business failure. As a consumer you are demanding and have expectations. The people who consume what you sell are demanding and have expectations to. Do you know what they are? Ask them.  24/7, It is all about them.

  As an Officer of Marines, Wally Adamchik deployed throughout the world in training, peace-keeping, and combat operations. First, in a tank battalion and then, as the pilot of AH-1W Super Cobra attack helicopters. Always seeking a new challenge, Wally entered the hyper-competitive private sector. He was recognized for superior performance and award-winning leadership at two national restaurant companies. At the same time he earned his Master of Business Administration from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He is the President of FireStarter Speaking and Consulting and serves today as a consultant, speaker, and author. His new book, “NO YELLING-The Nine Secrets of Marine Corps Leadership” is getting rave reviews. www.firestarterspeaking.com

Today’s News: My good buddy Clayton(Salesopedia)Shold likened me to Mick Jagger on his blog this week- you can read his commentary here

 I would like to re-introduce you to the excellent work of my Texan friend, Paul McCord: I posted one of his articles a few weeks ago in two parts and at the moment, I am reviewing a “galley” copy of his next book. Paul is a sales giant and a very welcome addition to the Top Sales Experts team. You can read more about him here.

Tomorrow:”How To Uncover Your Prospect’s Needs Painlessly”

It’s a mistake to think that because a customer has expressed dissatisfaction with your product or service they will not come back to you.

They won’t return if you handle the situation badly.

However, some of your most vociferous complainers could become your most loyal customers, because you handled the situation well and treated them with respect.

This means recognising some essential traits:

• Customers want to be respected
• They want attention
• They want to be appreciated and recognised
• Most of all they want to be understood

Losing Customers:

Why do businesses lose customers?

A survey with which you may be familiar, asked customers why they changed supplier/vendor.

Here are the results:

• Developed a good relationship with another supplier 5%
• Less expensive products elsewhere 9%
• Unhappy with service/product 18%
• Because of the poor attitude of the supplier 68%

Tomorrow on The JF Guest Spot Jaques Werth, senior statesman and good egg – you may not agree with all of his opinions but he is passionate about selling and selling techniques.

Customers may well want to tell you they’re unhappy about something but they either:

•  Feel uncomfortable about doing so
•  Don’t know how to
•  Don’t have time; it’s easier to let it go

So, give them a choice of mechanisms. For example:

•  Simple questionnaires with pre-paid postage
•  Telephone help line
•  Customer service points
•  Exit surveys – face to face questions
•  Comment cards

Let them know it’s not a waste of time!

What are you going to do with the information? File it away? Shred it for next year’s Christmas decorations?

One company I know maintains a whiteboard in the reception listing the key comments/complaints made by customers, with a note of the action taken, or to be taken and by whom. Customers really feel they are part of the product and service improvement team.

Customers need to know what’s in it for them if they do complain.

Respond quickly to complaints. If you give a number to ring, make sure someone is always there to answer the phone. Reply within two days if that’s what you promised to do.

Have an “escalation procedure” which allows for the more serious complaints to be dealt with by a senior member of staff. Directors need to be accessible, hiding away simply creates suspicion.

Summary:

Unfortunately, when compared over time, the customers’ interest levels increase while the vendors’ interest levels tend to decrease. This creates a “relationship gap” and is due entirely to complacency.

Fact:

It costs seven times as much to locate and sell to a new customer as it does to an existing one. That reason alone, should act as sufficient incentive for us to attempt to build brick walls around the relationship in order to deter predatory competitors – and there are plenty of them out there.

We must continually strive to earn the right to receive our customers business and one significant stride in that direction, is to implement an effective customer care programme.

The JF Guest Author Spot 

“THE PITFALLS OF CUSTOMER SERVICE”
By Andrea Nierenberg  

Recently I was on a business trip, and when I came out of my hotel room to get into my car, there was a small card on my windshield that read: “Thanks for staying with us. We’ve cleaned your windshield to help your day start off right. We hope to see you again soon!” They certainly will. While it was not a five-star hotel, this simple little act made a five-star impression, because the hotel branded in my mind the word “care,” which equals excellent customer service.

Many businesses work to make such an impression, yet fail. Why? Because somewhere along the way they were unable to keep up the momentum, and fell into a pit of mediocrity. Such a pit is created when the simplest acts of customer service are either not reinforced or are forgotten.

Poor service is the number one reason American companies lose business. Research conducted by the American Management Association (AMA) has shown that 68% of clients stop doing business with a company because of poor service. Another AMA study revealed that 90% of clients who ceased doing business with a company made no attempt to tell the firm why. What is even worse is that the average dissatisfied customer tells up to ten others of his or her dissatisfaction, yet the average satisfied client tells only five people. Tom Peters says that it takes $10 of new business to replace $1 of lost business.

To avoid the pitfalls of customer service, a company can follow a five step process:

• Help staff clearly understand that little mistakes can lead to major negative consequences.
• Teach employees to be sensitive to the customer’s time frame.
• Show how complacency and assumptions about customers are detrimental.
• Improve the protocol of business relationships.
• Use personal notes to enhance customer relationships.

HOW TO ILLUSTRATE THE EFFECTS OF POOR CUSTOMER SERVICE

Our staff may think that poor customer service, now and then, will not negatively impact business. The following illustration shows that for some customers, one mistake with a client could too many.

A woman was once mistreated by a salesperson in a grocery store. Since she had been a customer for three years, it would appear that this incident should not have affected her loyalty to the store. However, this one act poor customer service caused her to switch stores.

Twelve years later, she returned to the original store and decided to tell the owner what happened. He listened intently, apologized, and thanked her for coming back, then went right over to his calculator. He estimated that if she had spent only $25.00 a week for twelve years, he could have possibly lost about $15,600. If she had been happy, she probably would have referred others. The owner also estimated that if this woman referred five other people to his store, at the same buying level, they could have spent as much as $75,000.

The above illustration spells out that one seemingly minor mistake can have negative consequences. The reality is that customers only see the attitude that is being presented and whether a salesperson rushes a customer, is not respectful, or simply allows “having a bad” impact how they relate to a customer, it means bad service to customers.

One way to prevent mistakes, like the one above, is by making great customer service a priority at all levels. Unfortunately, for many companies this is not the case. Information gathered by the Service Management Research Group shows that 92% of CEOs say that the quality of customer service is the number one reason businesses succeed. However, when branch managers were given the same survey, they placed customer service below such priorities as short term financial results.

Leading by example is one of the best ways to help your staff get their priorities in line with the company’s. According to research conducted by The Nierenberg Group, 95% of sales employees said that better interpersonal communications would help motivate them to do a better job. Here are some tactics that you can use with your staff that will encourage better communications with customers:

• Openness and friendliness – management can show staff members how to be professional and personable at the same time.
• Offer assistance – managers should work towards being more proactive with their staff. When employees seem to be unhappy, it is important for managers to recognize that early, before that unhappiness is shared with customers.
• Give 110% automatically – While employees should expect that their requests to management will be addressed in a timely and proper fashion, managers can go the extra mile by giving a fast response to employee concerns and offer additional help.

When you do the above, you can expect your staff to treat customers with greater respect. You will find them listening to customer requests more carefully, and, most importantly, you will see how employees will better handle interpersonal communications with customers.

You can further inspire your people when acknowledge them for following your leadership. This can be done by saying “thank you” in the following ways:

• Give them a personalized handwritten note on company stationary.
• Send a personalized e-mail or faxes, you can also send a copy of it to someone else in management.
• Give them a small gift like cookies or candy.

In order to ensure that staff members improve their attitudes, managers need to lead by example.

SETTING YOUR PEOPLE TO CUSTOMERS’ CLOCKS

Whose clock really counts? Most companies have had customers who do not respond in a timely fashion. A corporation’s attitude might be, “we have sales goals to achieve,” or, “We must get all the customer complaint letters off our desk right away.” So how can we move the customer service process forward without “pushing” the customer too hard?

When a customer does not call back after we have given him or her a great offer, it is critical that we do not badger the customer with demanding follow-up calls. These are the types of calls that try to disguise the real question, “I think it’s time we close the deal or resolve this issue.”, or, “What’s taking you so long?” Calls should never be harsh or impersonal because they can do more harm than good.

These types of calls can be avoided when earlier conversations includes a couple of questions, such as, “When do you need the product delivered by?” or, “When will you get back to me with the details of your complaint?” While attempting to move things forward, a company can become trapped by an internal deadline that will offend customers.

Another stumbling block for customers can be when we rush communications. This can occur when we hurrying off the phone or send correspondence that is not carefully written. It tells the customer that you are trying to get through the process in a cold and mechanical way. Even when we have long lists of customers to handle, it can take very little effort to develop a personalized approach.

Here are three ways to do it:

• Ask the customer how he or she wants the issue to be handled. Some people prefer that everything be done in writing, while others would rather receive a quick phone call letting them know that everything has been done. While your company might have good policies and procedures that must be followed, never lose sight of unique customer requests.
• Check on customers long after the problem. Many companies quickly process customer concerns. However, long-term follow-up is just as important. Encourage your people to mark their calendars for a month after the problem was resolved. Then have them call customers and do three things: 1.Thank them for their business; 2. ask them if everything is still going as they want it to; and 3. let them know that no issue is too small to be addressed.
• Put a preventative plan in place. Customers often take their business elsewhere because mistakes are repeated. While we might do our best to fix the problem each time, the customer may lose patience. If your shipment to the customer is going to be delayed again, call the customer in advance, let he or she know, and offer to use a faster service at your expense.

We must also remember that our customers may have co-workers, who we do not communicate with directly, who are also evaluating our service.

One way to address this issue is by building relationships with support staff or departments you come in contact with. These are the people who are familiar with your relationship to your client. Here are some examples to of people to consider:

• The assistant. If your main contact has an assistant, get to know that person very well. A good assistant often has as much, or even more, information than the person with whom you work with. Call him or her up, have a casual conversation, and ask up front if he or she has any advice on the best way to interact with others in the office.
• The main receptionist. This person is usually seated at “information central.” He or she can help you solve problems when your client is away. This person might also provide you an insight into the company. You can learn what is the best time to make calls, or who else at the company can be potential customers. The way to finish this process is to send the receptionist a thank you note or a small gift that shows appreciation for his or her help.
• Accounts payable department. When possible, we need to separate our direct contact from his or her accounts payable department. Our direct contact is usually more interested in the details of what they are buying from us. Therefore, when we get to know accounts payable person, her or she can help us with the details related to purchase orders and payments schedules. This give us more time to focus on selling and customers service with our direct contact.

ASSUME = LOSE

Even customers we know “like the back of our hand” will change over time. Too often assumptions are made about how long-time customers will respond to us. Realize that anything that is living needs constant nourishment, regardless of how old it is. Many times companies stop nurturing customer relationships after they have matured.

As time goes by, the same level of service becomes less effective. The lure of competitors will encourage customers to reevaluate their loyalty to existing vendors or service providers. A question that needs to be asked is, “What is the incentive for customers to stay for five or ten years?”

National studies and data can tell us about customer attitudes, wants, and needs. However, these can never replace a personalized approach to keeping customers for the long run. Here are three things that can be done to personalize customer communications:

• Survey your customers when you do business in person or on the phone. Ask them if they would mind answering a few questions to help you better understand their needs. This provides a personal approach to surveying than that simply mailing out the forms and waiting for them to be returned.
• A personalized newsletter can also make long time customers feel special. One way to do this is by taking a company newsletter or brochure and adding a personal note on it.
• When a customer makes a complaint, you usually do everything possible to fix the problem. To make your response have an even more favorable impression on the customer, bring the complaint to someone at a higher level at your company. Then ask that person to contact the customer and offer their apology as well. It will tell your long-term customer that his or her business is appreciated.

When we first make promises and proposals to customers, we do everything we can to push away the competition. Unfortunately, sometimes we lose that enthusiasm with later proposals. We give them the same old “bells and whistles.” Our challenge now is to discover what we can give them that will continue to excite them and keep their interest. Here are some suggestions:

• Ask “dream” questions. After a period of time, you probably know what your customer needs. However, what is it that the customer dreams and hopes for? Inquire what it is that can be done for him or her that would exceed their expectations.
• Increase contact frequency. Sometimes our staff assumes that long time customers will always be there, even if we let an extensive period of time go by without calling. That is a bad assumption because that is just when a competitor will be knocking on our customer’s door. This means we need to find ways to stay in touch with more frequently. The challenge is to do it in such a way as not to become annoying. This might include: mailing a newspaper clipping of an article of interest, writing an E-mail that includes an inspiring quote, or remembering an anniversary or birthday with a card.

• Ask customers for advice. If our staff has done their homework, they should be experts in their field.

However, sometimes experts like to lecture instead of listen. Seeking a customer’s advice and carefully listening to it can improve relations because it is one way to elevate your customer’s ego. Encourage your people to do formal or informal surveys with clients. They can survey customers about trends they predict in the industry, or they can ask for advice about which trade or civic organizations are the best to be involved with.

IMPROVING PROTOCOL

Above all else, people want to be respected. They want respect for their position, they want respect for their thoughts and ideas, and they want respect from business contacts. There is a fine line between becoming “buddies” with a client and keeping a distance that appears cold and uncaring.

The first challenge is how our staff addresses customers, particularly new customers. The rule of thumb is to always address someone formally with a “Mr.” or “Ms.” until they give you permission to call them by their first names. It doesn’t matter whether it is the receptionist or CEO of a company. The impression your people make at any level can echo throughout the company.

Finding a decision maker often requires talking to several people. All along the way, we leave messages and a trail of conversations which lead to the right person. Some of those conversations may involve a “gate keeper” who has tried to keep us out.

In addition, we often have to “step around” or “go over” people in order to get to the right person. However, when that happens, there could be a consequence, because the people we go around may hold it against us. It is important that we and our staff remember to cover our tracks. Therefore, instruct your staff to quickly mend fences by apologizing to the people that they had to go around. It may be difficult, but in the long run, it will lead to better customer relations.

Improved protocol can also result from us reinforcing some basic customer service skills that can be easily forgotten. While many recent advances in customer service is technology-based, such as better data management, computer programs that reminds us to call people, and sophisticated direct mail, these can never replace interpersonal interactions with customers.

Here are some of the basic skills that require constant reinforcement:

• Have telephone sales and service people put a small mirror on their desk with the word “smile” above it as a way to remind them to have a cheerful attitude and to smile even on the phone.
• Encourage people to use plain English when dealing with new customers. Often people try to impress others with industry jargon, and the customers feel alienated.
• Ask people to write outlines of sales pitches and responses to customer service issues. This is not a telemarketing script, but a guideline to help people remember all the key points that must be addressed for each customer contact.
• Find non-threatening ways to quiz your staff on product or service knowledge. Sometimes our people remember only a limited number of the benefits we offer clients. A pop quiz now and then will encourage them to better know what they sell.

POWER-OF-THREE PERSONAL COMMUNICATIONS

If there’s one theme in the customer relationship management business it is to find ways to personally connect with each and every customer. One powerful way to do that is to use “the power of three.”

“The power of three” requires your staff to follow-up with three customers a day by writing a brief “thank you” note. The goal is to plant seeds to show customers how much you personally appreciate their business. Here are some good examples where personal notes work particularly well:

• ”The big problem.” This type of follow-up note requires a big “I’m sorry.” This would be the customer that ranted and raved even though your company made everything right.
• ”The win/win resolution.” If a customer has been very cooperative in solving a problem, a note of appreciation can be sent. It really expresses, “Thanks, you made my day by being patient.”
• ”Gone but not forgotten.” If we lose a customer, a follow-up note can be the best seed planted for a future reconciliation. It’s a sign of true strength when we can admit that the customer was right, that we were wrong, and that we will truly miss his or her business. However, this note should express the hope that you might be able to do business in the future.

The United States Postal Service tells us that only 4% of the mail is personalized. Therefore sending notes will put your company ahead of 96% of the competition.

Almost every customer service pitfall can be avoided by remembering four words:

• Dependability
• Efficiency
• Understanding
• Reassurance

When we discover the potential customer relations pitfalls, then we have the power to prevent them. It requires us to encourage our staff to keep their egos in check, and give the customers the respect they deserve and desire. And as time goes by, fewer and fewer traps will be in your company’s path.

 Andrea Nierenberg’s networking advice has been featured in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and The Chicago Tribune. She is the author of “Nonstop Networking: How to Improve Your Life, Luck, and Career” (Capital Books). Ms. Nierenberg works with leading companies to improve interpersonal communications for management and staff. She offers keynote addresses and custom-designed programs on motivational techniques, networking tactics, and presentation skills.Visit Andrea’s site here

This week only:Win a signed copy of Andrea’s latest book – just simply leave me a comment with your networking tip, and I will enter you in the draw on Saturday – simple as that!

It is never easy to win new business, which is why we should nurture existing customers and try to minimise problems and inconvenience.

It’s a good idea to:

• Make regular visits or calls – spotting trouble early on can help prevent it
• Reply to calls/queries as soon as possible
• Talk to your customers – find out about them
• Keep them well informed
• Conduct regular reviews of your performance – see your service through their eyes

Ensure that the lifeblood keeps flowing through the veins of your business.

Solving Problems:

Few people are truly difficult. In any case, it is important to make a distinction between difficult people and difficult behaviour, which is often a result of non co-operation on your part.

• Focus on the problem (challenge?) not on them
• Show interest – bring out their likeable side
• Put yourself in their shoes – remember empathy?
• Be personal – use their name if that’s what they would like
• Appeal to their better nature. ‘As a parent of small children you…’
• Cultivate their goodwill

Saying Thank You:

Let your customers know you appreciate them. Find little ways to thank them for their custom, especially when they are not expecting it. This is a great way to attract compliments, especially after sorting out a difficult problem.

• A simple but sincere thank you card – personalised
• Gift vouchers
• Cards at Christmas or other appropriate festivals – Diwali, Hanukah, Eid
• VIP days for special events, launches, dinners
• Social gatherings for key clients

Loyalty cards are very popular now with many organisations. Discounts, bonus points, free samples, all help to make your business stand out.

Compliments & Comments:

Why do we find it difficult to accept compliments?

Is it because:-

• We don’t have enough faith or pride in our product?
• We think it’s probably a back-handed complaint?
• We don’t trust people?
• We don’t know how to react? (How about thank you?!)

Compliments tell us what we are doing right and give a boost to our morale. If we allow it, they bring us pleasure.

Some customers just mutter a comment because that’s how they are. They don’t really want you to take them up on it. (It’s a good idea though to take note of what they say and if appropriate ask, ‘Is everything okay?’)

That’s it, another week gone – in the immortal words: “I’m out of here” – the tension is mounting as the poll closes for “Best Leadership Blog 2007″ at midnight EST (6am Saturday BST)- you know that I am going to ask you for the very last time, have you voted? really? Last chance saloon – your blogger needs your vote here 

Thanks to you all, have a great weekend – JF 

The JF Guest Author Spot:

“Your Greatest Asset“ By Joe Heller, Trust Cycle Selling.

Your greatest asset is your own customer list. These people have already purchased something from you in the past. If you’ve delivered as satisfactory product, they are very likely to buy from you again.

The easiest sale you’ll ever make is to an already established customer of yours. They already trust you. They feel comfortable in dealing with you. You’ve delivered what you said you would so a certain degree of trust has already been established. Your customers are probably quite confident that you wouldn’t sell them something that wasn’t in their best interest.

The high road to increased profits always takes the route of established customers. There’s always an expense associated with finding a new customer. Regardless of the marketing method used there’s always an investment required in establishing a customer whether in terms of real dollars or human capital. Once you have a customer, any subsequent sale is made without the cost of locating that customer. The cost or finding a new customer is proportionally much higher than the cost of retaining an existing customer.

Keys To Success

The secret of capitalizing on your customer base is to continually feed them with new products and services you know they’ll want. This is no time to diversify into completely new areas. Everything that you make available to your customer list must be compatible with what made those people customers to begin with.

Whatever subsequent products and services you offer must be related in some way. Think of your customers as belonging to a specific group. They’re gardeners or small business owners or health enthusiasts. Whatever you offer must fit that product niche.

Always be on the lookout for new things you think your customers would gladly pay for. And give customers first crack at any of these new products and services. If you can offer a discount, that’s even better. By letting them in on new products and services, you’re giving them priority customer status, an added value of doing business with your firm.

Be careful not to overdo it. You don’t want to annoy anyone, least of all your customers. Allow enough time and space between customer contacts. How much time you allow between mailings or calls depends on the nature of your business.

Examples

When a clothing store receives a shipment of new designs, they should first notify all previous customers who’ve purchased in the same price range. All the store has to do is contact these customers by phone or by mailing invitations to a special event where this new line is unveiled. Suggest to customers how additional new outfits can be created by mixing and matching and you’ve provided an extra service that will help retain customers.

This approach would seem natural for a wholesaler who relies on distributors or retailers to act as re-sellers. By showing your new merchandise and suggesting ways to move more of it, you’re providing a valuable service while keeping in touch with your customers.

A self-published author of book on camping tips, should come up with natural additions to his product line to sell to buyers of his book. Things like maps of parks, local facilities, lists of “must-see sites” or specialty camping equipment, could all be add-ons made available to the author’s buyers.

“Revenue Warrior”, Joe Heller moves between different types of businesses and professions showing his clients to “out think” the competition. Clients see growth of 517% or more with his advice and strategy on copywriting, marketing materials, life-time value, target markets and profit acceleration. 

Joe Heller’s clients include entrepreneurs and professionals to huge corporations. Joe is the mastermind behind the successes of hundreds of individuals who have taken their businesses to new levels of profitability and growth. Read more about Joe here.

Over on Leadership Turn my chum from down under, Kevin Dwyer asks: “What Is A Team?” – fascinating insights from Kevin as ever.

Tomorrow:”Ideal Customer Profiling” – does the ideal customer exist?
 

One unhappy customer tells 10 to 15 others about their experience. If it’s really bad they’ll tell the whole world.

For every complaint that could be made, around 20 people don’t bother. This means 20 lost opportunities.

If you handle a complaint badly or with a ‘couldn’t care less’ attitude or, worse still, if you hide behind the ‘rule book’, you will lose that customer for good.

You can’t afford to lose even 50p because this will mount up according to something known as the “multiplier effect”.

The Income Multiplier Effect

Example:
A potential customer goes into a leisure centre which was built last year. The centre is trying to build up its customer base. It employs 50 staff, part time and full time, who haven’t received much training in customer service and complaint handling.

The customer asks about booking a gym session for later that day. He doesn’t receive a positive reply and the receptionist’s attitude is very much ‘take it or leave it.’ He shrugs and walks away.

How much has the centre lost in potential revenue?

• £5.00 primary spend – the price of a gym session.
• £5.00 secondary spend – a drink, sandwich, possibly a swim, etc.
• £500.00 potential membership fees.

He will tell at least seven people about his bad experience so £510 x 7 = £3,570.

It is easy for a small amount of lost income to multiply to dangerous proportions.

Don’t know about you, but I am still waiting for summer to start – I cannot remember such a depressingly wet and windy June: Must be the “greenhouse effect”!

As ever, wherever you are in this rapidly shrinking world of ours, have a great weekend. – JF

The JF Guest Author Spot

“Follow Up Focus” by Diane Helbig.

How effective is your follow up? Do you follow up? So many businesspeople and salespeople fail to follow up with prospects, clients, and associates. However, follow up is a critical part of business existence and growth.

Many people tell me they just don’t have time to follow up. I submit they don’t have time not to follow up! The key to successful follow up is developing a tracking system. Decide what methods you want to use for touching the contact. This depends on results and desired outcomes.

The Sales Process:

When you are selling, your follow up can be the difference between getting the sale or not. Think about it – what is the point of making the initial contact (cold call or introductory letter) if you aren’t going to follow up with a phone call? Why bother? Do you really think the prospect is going to call you? Sometimes they do. More often than not, they don’t. You’re the salesperson. It’s up to you to show the prospect that their business is important to you. There are several ways you can stay in contact with prospects: calling, emailing, sending snippets of information you think might be of interest to them. Establish a program and stick to it. Like any habit, it gets easier once fully adopted.
New acquaintances:

When you meet someone at a networking event, luncheon, seminar, etc., ask them for their business card and follow up with them. Sometimes just a handwritten note is sufficient. Depending on who they are and the conversation you had with them, you might want to drop them a note and suggest a future meeting. Once again, you’ll have to follow up on the suggestion. Don’t wait for them to call you up. They might, but if it’s important to you to develop a relationship with them – prove it. Call them.
Old acquaintances:

Have you ever run into someone you knew in the past but for some reason you had lost contact with them? Whether they are someone you want to establish a current relationship with or not, send them a handwritten note telling them how nice it was to see them. If you have no interest in pursuing a relationship, wish them well. If you do want to keep in touch, suggest a meeting. And again, follow up on the suggestion.
Clients:

Some people are in constant contact with their clients so follow up may seem unnecessary. I submit that everyone should be following up with their clients on a regular basis. This can take the form of a survey, a drop-in, a note thanking them for their continued business and support, a small gift, and so on. Choose one or more methods depending on your client base, and establish the routine to make sure it happens.
Everyone likes to feel appreciate and important. By taking the time to follow up, you are letting the people you know and meet, that you value them. It’s so simple and yet can yield huge results.

Copyright © 2007 Seize This Day Coaching

Diane Helbig is a Professional Coach, and the president of Seize This Day Coaching. She works one-on-one and in groups with small business owners, entrepreneurs, and salespeople to help them create successful business development strategies. As a team, they embrace the possibilities. Diane’s website seizethisdaycoaching.com and her blog can be found here:seizethisdaycoaching.blogspot.com

Tomorrow, some thought provoking commentary on sales training!!

When it comes to looking after our customers, quite often there’s a gap, a huge gap between theory and practice. There are books about customer relations; there are videos about customer relations; there are Gurus (mostly self-appointed) about customer relations. None of them actually have to deliver customer relations. That chore is left to what was known in the last two World Wars as the PBI – as in “Poor B….y Infantry”. – the foot soldiers. The front line people, your front line people. So what do they make of it all?

You know about Pareto’s Law – I discuss it often enough – yes that one, the one that says 80% of the business comes from 20% of the customers? Well, it (almost) applies in this case. More than 80% of front line staff haven’t yet totally bought into the idea of effective customer relations. The other 20% have discovered a very enriching way of achieving a satisfactory outcome from interactions with customers. In other words, most of the time they succeed! And when they succeed, the customers actually thank them!

This can’t be about you – can it?

So what’s the problem? The first answer is: ‘the Directors” the next answer is “the Managers”. “Nonsense”, you say. “I’m one of those, and I have explained very earnestly why we must all focus on achieving first class relations with customers”. Mmmmm! Creating business and profit enhancing relations with customers requires the right environment, ethos, culture and philosophy. You can’t achieve it by simply telling other people to do it. You can tell them the technique for turning “difficult” phone calls around, but if they don’t feel like doing it, then they won’t.

If you and your whole organisation don’t believe in developing good relations with all of your customers – it won’t happen.

When so much time and money is spent on training people about the need for constructive relations with customers, why is it often so bad? For much the same reason that when so much money has been spent on telling people that smoking kills you, they still insist on smoking. No, the issue is the environment. There used to be spittoons in bars. What is a spittoon? It’s a bowl or bucket into which people spit. Oh yes, people used to spit into spittoons. They spat because they chewed tobacco; they spat because they had – please forgive the term – phlegm. For whatever reason, they spat. And so there were spittoons. So long as the environment accepted people spitting, there were spittoons. Once that environment changed, the very idea was repulsive. Which gets us back to relations with customers. So long as the environment in your organisation is tolerant of taking a patronising, competing or negative attitude to customers, some people will do just that. Continue Reading

Last week, I promised faithfully to keep you fully updated with regard to a new initiative I plan to launch and I am now able to confirm the TheTop10SalesArticles.com should launch on March 5th – Mmmm I hear you ask, complete with quizzical expression, “So, Jonathan give us the sales pitch” OK, no sales pitch as nothing to sell but here are the details:

The primary objective of The Top 10 Sales Articles is to provide an additional location for the very best business authors to showcase their work and benchmark the quality of their writing against that of their contempories.

As a general rule, ten nominations will be posted on the site every Monday and the winner will be announced the following Friday – the winner of the Article Of The Month award will be announced on the last Friday of every month.

Where will the articles be chosen from? I have invited just ten article communities who either specialise in sales and marketing or who have extensive sales related sections within their site, to become founding partners and the ten articles will be drawn from these sites only.

Thus, from March 5th, you will be able to read a review of the very best sales related articles from the previous week, in just one location – exciting stuff! Just one downside – I will never get to be nominated.

Two further in depth articles for you. On the Group site: thejfagroup.com I examine the growth in personal coaching, particularly for business leaders.

“Executives Who Balk At Taking The Journey Of Self Development Could Find Themselves Isolated”

“Traditionally, one of our largest clients ran its business from manuals. Staff who wanted to know how something should be done would be directed by a senior manager “to look in staff manual 108” for the answer. It was not a motivational style of management, and had become unsuitable for fast-changing modern business conditions. So eight years ago, based on our recommendations they created what they called “The ultimate service provision” by merging all the information technology (IT) and back-office functions. Management broke with old habits and traditional training, and decided to improve the leadership skills of the senior managers through coaching.

The outcome has been a resounding success, producing far better results than conventional development training. The evident superiority of coaching explains why more companies are taking the same route and making it a priority.” Continue Reading

And on my personal site: jonathanfarrington.com there is a piece on changing the emphasis and focus away from leadership and back onto the “followers”:

“Moving The Focus Away From The Leaders To The Followers” “Some researchers prefer to move the focus away from the leader altogether and to examine instead what makes others prepared to follow these individuals. In 1988 an important article published in the Harvard Business Review, entitled “In Praise of Followers, began to shift attention away from the machismo of leadership to the less glamorous side of the same equation: the role of ‘followership’.

What the advocates of followership recognised was that to become an effective leader, most people first had to learn how to be good followers. With few exceptions, this is as true of the corporate world as it is of military and political leaders. Aristotle noted: “He who has never learnt to obey cannot be a good commander”. Continue Reading

OK, that’s it – as ever, wherever you are in the world, have a great week – JF