Selling to Consumers | Sales Training Blog by Skip Anderson

The Race to Sales Competence: A Case for Sales Training

 
Like it or not, all sales organizations are participants in the race to sales competence.

How many sales leads will your organization, whether a sole-proprietorship or large sales department, burn through because your sales people are incompetent (or, at least, less competent than they should be) at selling? How many marketing dollars will you invest in various initiatives to get your phone to ring more or to get more customers into your brick-and-mortar location(s) when those dollars would be better spent getting your sales team to sales competence?

I know readers of this blog sell everything from appliances to fine art to RVs to cabinets to clothing and beyond. Regardless of the product or service your company sells to consumers, how much valuable time is being wasted by not getting your salespeople sales-competent? How many wasted marketing dollars will you spend before you decide to invest in teaching your salespeople to convert those pricey leads to sales? How many customer objections will continue to be answered ineffectively? How many opportunities for customer engagement will fall into the no-sale abyss? How many random sales interactions will replace strategic sales interactions with those leads you've so carefully (and at great cost) cultivated? How many sales of $1400 that could have been $1900 (or sales of $14,000 that could have been $19,000) will you allow to happen before you recognize your current position in the race to sales competence?

Someone is in first place in the race right now - it's either your company or a competitor. Someone is doing a bang-up job of presenting their products so they resonate with their prospects. Someone is closing sales at a far higher rate than someone else. Someone is likable and engaging and assertive and hard working and highly energetic while the also-rans are plodding along in the middle of the pack (or worse) in the race to selling competence.

Every day that passes means more missed opportunities for sales and missed opportunities for larger sales. What is the cost of not committing to sales competence today? You know your key metrics. You know what dollars are being made in promotions, marketing, and advertising. You know what commission plans you've tried, at times only being frustrated that the desired results haven't been achieved. You know how much time and energy of your sales team is being spent every day, every week, every month, and every year working with prospects that could have become customers, but didn't because the you're not winning the race.

What would a closing rate of 85% instead of 65% do for your company's bottom line (or 50% instead of 20%)? What would a 25% increase in your average ticket do for it? What marketing dollars could you save if your sales team sourced 15% of their own leads instead of 0%? 

This is real money. It's real potential profit. It's a real race.

But the real race is against yourself. What will it be? Marginal sales success? Or winning the race to sales competence now?

Sales training can help your team become sales competent.

If you like this post (or don't) please leave a comment.Skip Anderson is the Founder and President of Selling to Consumers Sales Training. He works with companies that sell to consumers in all B2C sectors to increase sales by realizing the buying potential of every prospect.

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How Well Do You Really Know Your Market?

Your market is made up of all the people who have done business with you, along with the people who have some likelihood of doing business with you. Everyone in business has at list minimal understanding of their market, but do you really understand yours?

Many start-up B2C companies and salespeople target people with lots of money, but these people are possibly only members of their imaginary market. People with lots of can't and won't buy every product or service out there, nor will they buy from every salesperson in the world.

One reason people lots of money is because those people don't spend it. If you're looking for prospects who will spend money with you, it doesn't necessarily mean you should look first at individuals who have lots of money. Sometimes, it's better to focus on other market segments.

When I was selling furniture and interior design related products, I can't tell you the number of big, beautiful homes I visited that didn't have any furniture. At the time in the Twin Cities, a $500,000 or $800,000 house was quite large and usually quite nice. But why didn't they have any living room furniture, or a dining table?

The answer is they either couldn't afford it (all the money was tied up in their home), or they could afford it but chose not to. After all, dining tables don't usually appreciate in value whereas real estate usually does over the long term.

Sometimes my best customers, even though I was selling what was perceived as upscale products for upscale companies, were average middle-class or families who wanted to revel in owning a beautiful piece of art or a beautiful console table for their living room. For these customers, owning these items made them feel rich even though they weren't.

Some businesses conjure up imaginary reasons why their customers buy from them. "They like our quality," the owner may say in a sales meeting. These imaginary assumptions can lead sales teams in the wrong direction by going after the wrong types of prospects.

But further investigation may reveal that the reason people buy from them is because they're located in real estate that is easily accessible by their market, for example, retired people who live in the nearby senior living facilities surrounding the company's showroom.

Collect data from front line sales reps, do market research, survey your customers who bought and those who didn't. Constantly work to refine and develop your understanding of your market. When you do, you're getting closer to key information that can have a significant impact on your business success.

If you like this post (or don't) please click on "comments" below and share your comment. Skip Anderson is the Founder and President of Selling to Consumers Sales Training. He works with companies and individuals who sell to consumers in B2C, retail, in-home selling, in the financial, real estate, and insurance markets, and other consumer-selling industries.

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Business Networking Tip #3: Give Before You Expect to Receive

Some of us in the sales profession do lots and lots of networking (all of us should be networking, regardless of the type of selling we do - and yes, that include retail sales pros, too). I've noticed there are three types of networkers:

1. Those on a mission to receive.

These are the individuals who are always looking for business, introductions, and referrals through networking. The individuals can be quite aggressive, and even off-putting. What many of these real estate agents, insurance sellers, financial professionals, and others don't fully comprehend is that prospects and customers typically care primarily about themselves, and are not programmed to go out of their way for others.

What is this group's fatal flaw? They seek to receive without giving first, and this is a turn-off for many. Therefore, networking success for these folks is often very limited.

2. Those on a mission to give.

These salespeople know that they will eventually receive if they give first. They've learned to be the first one to extend a hand of support, or share a lead, or provide a valuable tidbit of information. These salespeople, who we should all aspire to become if we aren't already, have a spirit of helping others, knowing they will benefit be creating the relationship first and receiving the benefits of that relationship as time marches on.

Give before you expect to receive.

3. Those who network but aren't on a mission.

These individuals don't have a clear networking plan. They have a lot of contacts, they connect with a lot of people, and they enjoy meeting new acquaintances. But they are missing a networking strategy. They likely know where they want to end up (with revenue generated via their network), but there is a disconnect between their strategy and their desired end game. These individuals enjoy the hunt, but they don't reap benefits from it.

What is this group's fatal flaw? Random networking activity that doesn't get them to where they want to go.

* * * * *

While we're on the topic of networking, I wanted to let you know about a book I've recently read by Kathleen Watson, MBA. "NetProfit: Business Networking Without the Nerves."

What I love about this book is the simplicity of the layout of the book. There are copious checklists of activities, self-checks throughout the book to get you to analyze your own networking behaviors, and valuable "bottom line" summaries.

The chapters are fairly brief and easily digestible, but don't take that to mean light on content. This is a very good book, and anybody who is interested in improving their networking skills would be well-served to read it. Get information here about NetProfit.

 

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Skip Anderson is the Founder of Selling to Consumers Sales Training, a B2C and retail sales training and management consulting company. Skip is mad about helping companies and individuals sell more. 

Sales Training Advice: Selling Door-to-Door

Spring is finally upon us here in Minnesota (at least I think spring is here; sometimes it's hard to know for sure in Minnesota). I saw one sign of spring earlier this week: I had a door-to-door canvasser ring our doorbell at our home.

I admire door-to-door canvassers; they experience massive amounts of rejection, and yet they still get out there, walking the streets and by-ways of the community, to identify prospects to whom they can sell. For most, it's not an easy job, but it can pay big dividends, especially if you know what you're doing.

So I admire the guy who came to our home the other night. He had a pleasant and sincere smile, and he was working hard. But he could have done a much more effective job.

Here's what he said when I answered the door: "Hi, I'm with _____________ Painting, and I'm wondering if you have any painting projects planned in the next year."

I said, "No."

He then gave me a door-hanger and asked him to call him if I decided we needed any interior or exterior painting. The was the end of the interaction.

What follows are some suggestions that, if implemented, would improve this salesperson's success rate.

1. Stand back from the door 6-8 feet after you ring the doorbell. Many people feel a twinge of uneasiness when somebody they don't know is at their door. That feeling of uneasiness is magnified when the unknown person at the door has their mug mere inches from it. Give the homeowner some breathing room.

2. Wear a large ID badge attached to your clothing or hang it around your neck. It should show your company's name and your name in large letters, and it should have a picture of you on it. When you introduce yourself to the prospect, left up the id badge to call attention to it. This helps the suspect feel at ease.

3. Rarely, if ever, should a door-to-door salesperson start with a closed question (one that can be answered with yes or no, or a multiple choice question. Start with an open-ended question. A perfect open-ended question for the gentleman who visited us the other night would have been, "I couldn't help but noticing the patch of rotting siding on the side of your house. It made me curious; What happened?"

It's a long story about why we have a patch of rotting wood siding on the side of our house, so I won't go there, but we certainly need to have some siding replaced, and after it's replaced, it will need to be repainted. So why did I tell the salesperson that I didn't have any painting projects planned in the next year?

Like a lot of customers, I took the easy route. His closed question made it too easy for me to say "no." But if he would have engaged me in a more effective manner, I probably would have shared this information with him. I've also been avoiding thinking about the rotting siding; so my psyche is in denial mode. He question let me continue in denial mode.

The key is customer engagement. Closed questions are notoriously poor engagement instruments. Open-ended questions, on the other hand, are fabulous for this purpose.

4. Ask for referrals after a suspect shuts you down.

"You know the people in your neighborhood much better than I do. Who would be the 2 or 3 people that you think it would be most important for me to talk to?" Some people will refuse to answer your question, but some people will give you some neighborhood intelligence that may be helpful in finding viable prospects to talk to.

Even if they shut you down again, follow up with another question: "I would love it if you would give me the names of two or three people you know who might possibly want to talk to me about painting...even if they don't live in your neighborhood."

Hand the prospect a referral sheet and a pen and see what happens. You'll definitely get some referrals if you utilize this approach consistently.

Happy canvassing!

If you like this post (or don't!), please consider leaving a comment, or subscribe to our free sales tips newsletter.

Skip Anderson is the Founder of Selling to Consumers Sales Training, a B2C and retail sales training and management consulting company. Skip is nuts about helping companies and individuals sell more. 

Do You Sound Like This On the Phone When Selling?

If you've been to any of my training sessions, you probably know that I like to play actual recordings of actual sales interactions. What a great way to be a fly on the wall and observe an encounter between a customer and a salesperson.

Art Sobczak is a telesales expert and sales trainer who likes to do the same thing. I always enjoy it when he shares a recording of an actual phone call he received from a salesperson because we can all learn from it. The call Art shares with us is a business-to-business call, but those of us that sell in a business-to-consumer environment can still learn from it.

Pay particular attention to how the caller doesn't engage his prospect. Instead, his methodology is to spew sales-talk gibberish. Prospects don't like to be spewed upon, especially if the spew doesn't relate directly to the specific situation of the prospect. Whether you sell in person or on the phone, spewing is bad.

Listen to the call Art took here: A Recording of an Unprepared Caller.

Your comments are always appreciated. Please share your comment by clicking "comments" below.

Skip Anderson is a professional speaker, sales coach, and the Founder of Selling to Consumers Sales Training, a B2C and retail sales training and consulting company. Subscribe to our free sales tips newsletter.

It's Fearless Friday: Time to Take Some Sales Risks

Today is Fearless Friday! I have deemed it so on your behalf.

This is the day for you to fearlessly try new things. Throw caution to the wind! Put your best foot forward and try those tactics you've been thinking about but haven't yet mustered up enough guts to try. Today is your day to step out of normal status quo automatic pilot selling and into a new a brief new world of excitement and potential. It's time for something new.

What do you do for Fearless Friday? That's up to you. But make today count. Make today different: Out with your normal routine, and in with freshness, creativity, outrageousness and daring.

Here are a few ideas:

1. You've had your eye on that wealthy couple at church, and you'd like to sell them an insurance policy. Call them today!

2. Your retail clothing business is slow and you've wanted to try something new. Today is you're day off? Good. Go knock on ten doors of small businesses today and take a new spring men's suit with you to show the male executive. Schedule an appointment for him to come in to your store to try on his size or find another suit that is to his liking.

3. Instead of holding a sign that says "Will Work for Food," stand on a street corner holding a sign that says "I sell carpeting. Need some?"

4. Go to Starbucks (or, in Minnesota, Caribou Coffee!) and pass out your business card to all the folks sipping coffee.  Attach a Dove chocolate bar to your card first. See how many Starbucks you can hit before noon.

5. When you're on a sales appointment at your customers' home, ask this question: "Of all your neighbors, which one do I have the best opportunity to sell my product?" Then go knock on their door.

6. Go see the mayor of your community today. Introduce yourself. Ask how things are going in local government and offer to help in some way. Give him/her your card and ask who he/she knows who would be a viable prospect for you.

7. If you sell shoes, bring out TWO OTHER PAIRS OF DIFFERENT SHOES to each prospect who asks to see a particular pair in his/her size. Bring a pair of shoe trees with for each pair. Set the shoe trees down right next to each shoe box. When it comes time to buy, they'll be more likely to buy the shoe trees, too.

8. Work in retail? Dress up like cupid today.

9. Jewelry salespeople, wear a diamond ring on each of your ten fingers today. I know, I know, they won't let you...but have you asked? Maybe diamonds are a bit wishful, but wear something on each finger today.

10. Bake (from scratch, please) some chocolate chip cookies this morning, then give them to your prospects in your furniture store who are looking for a dining table today. Instead of having your prospect just sit at the table and rub their hand over the top of the table, give them a napkin with a couple cookies and a glass of milk. Let them try the table rather than just sit and gawk at it. Join them. Make sure there are some comic books handy to lay out on the table, too.

11. Your prospect comes in looking at a fishing boat this morning? Great! Take him fishing in it this afternoon.

12. To all your customers looking at microwaves today: pop a bag of popcorn in the microwave they're most interested. Dump it into a bowl and give them a soda to go with it. Then do your presentation.

13. Don't just lay out a shirt and tie for your suit prospect; lay out three dress belts, too, and a pair of shoes. And shoes require socks, don't they (three pair, please).

14. On your in-home custom closet sales appointment, bring in a huge garbage bag. Say, "I'm hear to collect all the clothes you don't need anymore so we can design a new closet for you!" Then help your prospect fill up the bag with her two-sizes-too-small clothes she hasn't worn for six years and donate them on behalf of your prospect.

15. When you go to your prospect's home to sell a sunroom, say, "One of the things I like best about my sunroom is sitting in it and enjoying my morning cup of coffee." Then, say, "Speaking of coffee, I brought you some coffee beans (pull coffee out of bag; hand coffee to prospect). How about if we have a cup and talk about your interest in a new sunroom?"

Now, I'm certain my readers are infinitely more creative than am I. So let's hear your ideas about how salespeople can make this Friday a Fearless Friday.

Your comments are always appreciated. Please share your comment by clicking "comments" below.

Skip Anderson is a professional speaker, sales coach, and the Founder of Selling to Consumers Sales Training, a B2C and retail sales training and consulting company. Subscribe to our free sales tips newsletter.

Looking for New Retail Clients?

I'm connected to Kim Hayes on LinkedIn (feel free to connect with me, too, on LinkedIn). I've never met Kim, but I was one of (I assume) many people who received a message from her last week. Kim is a selling specialist at Bloomingdale's on Michigan Avenue in Chicago.

The subject of Kim's LinkedIn message was "I'm looking for new clients!" Her message continued: "I wanted to let all of you know that the next time you find yourself in Chicago for business or fun or of course SHOPPING, please stop by the Bloomingdale's on North Michigan Ave." The message went on to give her contact information and some additional details that would be helpful to visitors.

Kim's message made me smile. Retail salespeople have historically taken a reactive approach for business, i.e., if business walks through the door, then great, but if traffic is slow, then so be it. Few other sales positions can survive with a similar strategy, and with the current recession upon us, it's looking like many retail sales positions won't be able to survive without a change from the traditional reactive retail selling methodology. Kim reached out to try to find new ways to find new prospects. A message to her LinkedIn contacts is appropriate, and I doubt any of her contacts was offended by it.

What can you learn from Kim? Don't settle for the status quo. Whether you sell in a retail setting or some other type of sales environment, stretch yourself to try new, creative, and innovative ways of creating new sales opportunities.

What new or different selling strategies have you tried recently?

Your comments are always appreciated. Please share your comment by clicking "comments" below.

Skip Anderson is a professional speaker, sales coach, and the Founder of Selling to Consumers Sales Training, a B2C and retail sales training and consulting company. Subscribe to our free sales tips newsletter.

New Sales Podcast Episode: Sales Prospecting

 
Some of us in consumer selling are adept at prospecting for new business leads. In fact, for many (real estate, insurance, financial sales), it's the single most important sales survival tool.

But many in retail selling (big ticket retail, home improvements, automobiles and the like) don't prospect for business effectively, if at all. The latest episode of the Selling to Consumers Podcast will help you develop a prospecting plan, which is the first step in creating revenue via prospecting. Listen to the sales podcast here.

If you wish, you can subscribe to the free Selling to Consumers Podcast on iTunes or at our sales training podcast site so you receive new episodes automatically when they're published.

Skip Anderson is a professional speaker, sales coach, and the Founder of Selling to Consumers, a B2C and retail sales training and consulting company. Subscribe to the free Sales Tips newsletter.

Networking: An Interview with Liz Lynch

Certainly, some B2C salespeople spend a great deal of time and effort networking (typically, those who sell real estate, financial products, and insurance). But other consumer salespeople haven't jumped on the networking bandwagon yet (those who sell in retail stores and showrooms, or those who sell in customers' homes). I'm always preaching the importance of networking as a way to expand both revenue creation and the reach of professional influence.

Liz Lynch is the author of the new book Smart Networking: Attract a Following In Person and Online.

I interviewed Liz Lynch to get some networking advice for readers of the Selling to Consumers Blog:

Skip Anderson: Liz, if a salesperson who has never put any effort into networking wakes up one morning and realizes, "Hey, I've got to start networking," where would you suggest they begin?

Liz Lynch: That exact same thing happened to me, so I’ll tell you what I did. Since it takes time to build relationships from scratch, I reconnected with people I already had in my network. These are the folks who already knew me and my work and who would most readily support anything I wanted to do. As it turned out, I got nearly all of my business my first two years from that small group. We can get so caught up sometimes in trying to meet the next new person who can bring us a million dollars of business, that we forget about the contacts we already have.

Skip Anderson: There are only 24 hours in a day and seven days in a week. How can a savvy networker decide where to put their efforts to achieve the most return on their time investment?

Liz Lynch: I didn’t pay you to ask this question, but you teed up the exact premise of my book perfectly! Smart networking starts with a purpose. First articulate the goal you want to achieve, then determine who you need to have in your network to help you reach that goal. Next figure out the best way to connect with those people. Is it in person or online? Is it through direct contact or an introduction from a mutual connection? By putting together a plan like this you can focus exclusively on the activities that will help you build the right relationships.
 
Most people work backwards and start going to events and meeting whoever they can meet and fitting them into their network somewhere. Or they join an online network but don’t really know who they’re supposed to connect with. It can be very random and take a lot of work for little result.

Skip Anderson: Are there certain personality types who do better at networking, and other personality types who struggle with networking?

Liz Lynch: I think different personality types have different struggles and triumphs when it comes to networking. Extroverts may find it easier to get out there and be energized by walking into a roomful of strangers, but they may shine the spotlight too long on themselves. Introverts may have a harder time getting started, but if they can get over this initial hump, they’ll may end up building rapport more quickly. Because they (we, because I’m one too) don’t like the attention, they’re more likely to want to keep the other person talking by asking questions, and this will actually help them develop a stronger bond.

Skip Anderson: Networking for salespeople needs to be not only about expanding their network, but also to create revenue. What suggestions do you have for networkers to align their networking activities with their need to generate revenue?

Liz Lynch: Ah yes, we all like revenue, don’t we? To get more focused on revenue, get more focused on who you’re networking with. Build your own strategic alliance group of folks who target the same customers as you do, but with complementary, rather than competing, services. You can bring each other in on projects and be more of a resource to your clients because you’re able to help them with more of their business needs. Use your networking time to find the right people for your alliance and to get to know each other well so you know exactly how to leverage each other.

Skip Anderson: What is biggest mistake salespeople tend to make in their approach to networking?

Liz Lynch: I think the biggest mistake is trying to sell at a networking event. People go to networking events to make connections, not to buy stuff. They don’t want to be subjected to a sales pitch. Of course they’ll ask you what you do, but it’s not the time to go into a 10-minute presentation and use boiler room closing techniques to get the next appointment. Have confidence in relaying what you do, but focus on getting to know them too, and on building a close enough connection that they’ll want to sit down with you for a follow up.

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Skip Anderson is the Founder and President of Selling to Consumers, a B2C sales training and consulting company specializing in sales training in retail, in-home selling, and services. Subscribe to the free Sales Tips newsletter.

Fear of Selling

A sales person I know sells in her customer's homes. She wants to do more prospecting for new business because the number of pre-set appointments her employer has been able to schedule for her has been steadily declining.

First, let me say congratulations to her for deciding to do something differently to achieve a different (better) result.

I suggested to her that one easy way to find new prospects is to visit the neighbor to the left, the neighbor to the right, and the neighbor across the street of every home she visits.

She resisted. She said, "I don't want my customers to see knocking on their neighbors' doors."

To that, I say, "hogwash!"

A salesperson's job is to generate revenue. A prospector's job is to find opportunities to talk to prospects so he can generate revenue. To find opportunities, you must be willing to put yourself out there, to be visible, and to be assertive. And you have to be willing to experience rejection.

To be successful, pilots can't have a fear of flying; Skyscraper construction crews can't have a fear of heights; And salespeople can't have a fear of selling.

Please share your comments by clicking on "comments" below.

Skip Anderson is the Founder and President of Selling to Consumers, a B2C sales training and consulting company. Subscribe to the free Selling to Consumers Sales Tips Newsletter.

Prospecting White Paper

Tibor Shanto at Renbor Sales Solutions offers a nice white paper on prospecting. It's called "3 Must Haves for Prospecting Success." You can get it here.

Please share your comments by clicking on "comments" below.

Skip Anderson is the Founder and President of Selling to Consumers, a B2C sales training and consulting company. Subscribe to the free Selling to Consumers Sales Tips Newsletter.

Think Like a Sales Person

Entrepreneurs and designers need to think like salespeople. This can be a challenge if the entrepreneur or designer doesn't have a sufficient background in sales (or sufficient sales training).

Last weekend, my wife and daughter and I went for a walk in an adjacent neighborhood to our neighborhood. This was new territory for us, so we had fun looking at the homes and the landscaping.

We came across a home with beautiful landscaping. The homeowner was working in the yard as we walked by.

My wife yelled to her, "You have beautiful landscaping!"

The homeowner responded: "Oh, thank you! I do it for other people, too!"

My wife said: "Well you do great work! It looks wonderful. What's the name of your company?"

She said: "XYZ Landscaping." (not the real company name).

I said: "You've got the nicest landscaping in the neighborhood."

The homeowner said: "Thank you."

We paused for a moment, and then walked on. This was a missed opportunity by a entrepreneur and landscape designer to act like a salesperson.

What could she have done to initiate a sales process with us? She could have gotten up off her hands and knees, and walked 15 yards to us to introduce herself. She could have asked us our names, and found out where we live. She could have given us a business card. She could have engaged us in conversation.

"What kind of landscaping needs do you guys have?" would have worked wonders, as we currently have some landscaping needs.

How much would it have cost this women to procure a new prospect? It wouldn't have cost her anything. She lost an opportunity to act like a salesperson because she wasn't thinking like a salesperson.

Think like a salesperson!

Please share your comments by clicking on "comments" below.

Skip Anderson is the Founder and President of Selling to Consumers, a B2C sales training and consulting company. Subscribe to the free Selling to Consumers Sales Tips Newsletter.

Who's Out There?

Who do you know that might want what you sell?

I know, you spend every day selling; you're constantly looking for new customers, and you're busy. I know. There are a lot of customers to service and problems that need to be handled. Vendors don't respond so you have to call again. Your boss makes demands of your time. I understand.

But rid yourself of your day-to-day demands for just ten minutes. Do it now. Don't answer the phone. Get out a legal pad. At the top, write "People Who Might Need Me."  Write down ideas that come to mind. 

Maybe some of these ideas will spark some opportunities:

> Is there someone from your high school you should contact?

> College roommates you've lost touch with?

> What about that person who lives three doors down?

> Someone at your place of worship?

> Your friends have friends that might need your product.

> Have you asked your neighbors for referrals?

> Is there somebody your spouse works with that's interested?

>You have aunts/uncles/nephews/nieces. Hmmm.

> Does your waiter/waitress know someone?

>What about the person you first kissed long ago?

> There's that guy you always see at the convenience store.

> And what's-her-name you used to work with at XYZ company.

> Sorority/fraternity connections?

> The attorney you used two years ago...who does she know?

> The plumber knows lots of people!

> Pick up flowers on the way home tonight. Who does the florist know?

> A challenge: your ex knows people who need what you sell.

> Your child has ten friends. Each probably has a parent. Or kid.

> That person you volunteered with last year...call them!

> My dental hygienist is very well connected. Yours is too.

> I know the FedEx and UPS people are always busy; ask anyway.

> The butcher? Baker? Candlestick maker?

> The massage therapist spends quality time with many people.

> Your brother-in-law knows somebody that needs you right now.

> Does the person who lives directly above you have your card?

> Yes, pick up your dry cleaning. But who do they know?

> The officer will write you a speeding ticket this afternoon. Ask!

> The kid who mows your lawn knows people.

> Hair stylists chat it up with lots of people. Some of those people need you.

> When he's not busy, hand the Starbucks guy a fiver. Ask him!

> Millions of kids will take swimming lessons this summer. Parents? Teacher?

Go get 'em!

Please share your comments by clicking on "comments" below.

Skip Anderson is the Founder and President of Selling to Consumers, a B2C sales training and consulting company. Subscribe to the free Selling to Consumers Sales Tips Newsletter.

A Good Day For Consumers (At Least For This Consumer)

Here are two interesting stories from my day yesterday (at least they're interesting to me):

1. Yesterday I had an appointment for a service person to do some repairs on our irrigation system at home. When I scheduled the appointment early last week, I was told his window for arrival would be between 8 a.m. and noon.

At 12:45, I decided to phone their company to see why they hadn't arrived. Nobody answered, so I left a voicemail message to inquire about my service appointment.

A few minutes later, a manager called. He apologized for their mistake and told me they were committed to getting my service call completed yesterday (which they did). He blamed the mix-up on their new computer system (I don't know if this was true, but it sounded plausible to me, especially since last week (a) my scanner quit working, (b) my wife's computer got fried, and (c) some new software I purchased did work as expected).

The Lesson: As I suggested in my previous blog post about the importance of apologies, provide your customer with a sincere apology when he deserves one. It can work wonders to defuse an angry customer.

2. I filled my gas tank at a convenience store yesterday. Directly adjacent to this convenience store is one of those quick oil change places. There weren't any customers in their establishment, but sitting on the driveway in front of the service bays was one of their employees, on a chair holding a sign that announced, "Manager's Special - $24.95."

When I crawled back into my car after fueling, I noticed that I was, indeed, overdue for an oil change. So I drove next door and told the guy holding the sign that they could change my oil if they would get the work done within a half-hour.

He said, "Would fifteen minutes work?"

Yes!

The Lesson: Thanks to the oil change establishment's unconventional method of attracting customers, I took notice of two things: (1) their business; and (2) my need for an oil change. This resulted in a win-win outcome for both of us.

What unconventional (but extraordinarily simple) strategies could you employ in your business that would boost your revenue today? Let's talk about your ideas...
 
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Skip Anderson is the Founder and President of Selling to Consumers, a B2C sales training and consulting company. Subscribe to the free Selling to Consumers Sales Tips Newsletter.