Jul 6, 2019 | Customer Experience, Sales & Retail
In a program I was conducting yesterday here in Sydney,
Australia, I heard about a customer who had purchased a $90,000 automobile,
only to find the battery in his key fob wasn’t working after only ninety days.
“No big deal,” the customer reportedly thought, “I’ll just
get the dealer to replace it.” And, of course, they did.
However, what the customer didn’t expect was a bill for $15.
The problem for the customer wasn’t really an issue about
whether a battery was covered under his warranty. It was something
infinitely more important: how his patronage was valued by the dealership.
After dropping $90K on a car and being a good customer, the unwillingness of
the dealership to take care of a small battery left him with a terrible taste
about his relationship with their organization.
The dealer got their fifteen bucks. And, they lost a
customer that was probably going to spend tens of thousands of dollars with
them over the next few years.
They were stepping over dollars to get to dimes.
In a recent episode of my podcast, PROJECT DISTINCT, I
related the story of an executive who had spent thirty nights in a hotel here
in Sydney. When he awoke to his room temperature in the upper 70s, he called
the front desk to be told the air conditioning had been turned off “for the
season.” The hotel not only refused to make things right for him, they told him
he was “lucky” they didn’t assess a charge for early checkout.
This great customer won’t return to the hotel.
They were stepping over dollars to get to dimes.
The problem for many of us is that we will read these
examples and believe – while unfortunate to those who have had to endure the
indignity – that kind of mistake won’t occur on our watch. Yet, it often does.
Team members who believe the enforcement of policy is more
important than a thrilled customer is the cornerstone of this challenge.
Leaders must be committed to establishing a culture where everyone’s job is
less about following procedure than pleasing our patrons.
- I don’t believe that anyone at the car dealership
or the Sydney hotel went to work that morning with the intention of destroying
the lifetime value of a good customer.
- But, somewhere along the way, no leader ensured
that every team member knew that they were never supposed to step over dollars
to pick up dimes.
By the way, does YOUR team know that? Are you CERTAIN?
Jun 2, 2019 | Sales & Retail
OK, I’ll come right out with it: I despise many of the
approaches that are prevalent today about how sales professionals should think
and act.
It’s my belief that some of these approaches are not only
wrong – they can end up being toxic to the careers and livelihoods of those
who use them.
On Instagram this past week, I saw a video from a so-called
“sales guru” pushing his online course to help you “close more deals” while
wearing a t-shirt that said, “I’m a sales bad-ass!”
- For some reason, I cannot imagine a wife turning
to her husband saying, “Honey, who can we get to help us plan for our
retirement? Who could best recommend the investments we need for our future?” —
and his response is, “How about the ‘sales bad-ass’?”
- Or, “Honey,” he says, “you know, I think it’s
time for us to get a new car. What would you prefer?” “I don’t care,” she
responds, “as long as we high-pressured into buying one by the ‘sales
bad-ass’!”
So, why do we see all these guys – and, yes, they are almost
always male (and that’s nothing for my gender to be proud of) – telling you
that if you’ll attend their seminar or buy their course they can show you how
to multiply your business by ten, fill your funnel with prospects that convert,
close any prospect, crush any objections, become a power player in the world of
sales and more?
Because, sadly, there are so many people who are desperate
to succeed in sales that they will listen to – and purchase – this advice. They
believe that if they can only learn that “secret” that the “guru” delivers,
they too will have the riches they covet.
Here are three points you need to know – but, probably that
you don’t want to know:
- There are NO secrets to sales success that
“they” (whoever “they” are) don’t want you to know. In this time where
there are even network television shows displaying how magicians do their
tricks…when you can find anything on the Internet…there is no magic
bullet that will make sales work that anyone is trying to keep from you.
- One way to sell more is to become the person
you’d like to buy from. Seriously – ask yourself if YOU’D like to deal with
the “sales bad-ass” or the guy trying to 10X HIS business but doesn’t give a
damn about YOURS? Chances are, you want to engage with someone with a sincere
concern about solving your problem and fulfilling your needs. Be THAT person –
not the “always be closing” huckster.
- If you’re learning hard-core sales, you’re
learning an outdated model. Do you want the doctor who hasn’t learned
anything about medicine since the 1980’s? Then, why do you want to be a sales
professional trapped in a by-gone approach? The type of sales these “bro-sales”
guys are proclaiming is based upon a time when the salesperson had more
information than the customer – which is clearly not the case anymore
when we can learn about your products and services online before we talk with
you. And, sales are moving from a
transaction model to a subscription model. Today’s sale is not about closing
the deal – it’s about opening and maintaining a relationship. No one wants to
be in an on-going relationship with a high-pressure, aggressive jerk.
You will do better over an extended period – and will be more appreciated and revered by your customers – if you follow the approach of engagement…rather than the “bad-ass” approach that has become so out-of-touch with the real customers of today’s marketplace.
Jan 19, 2019 | Customer Experience, Sales & Retail
Most of you reading this probably only know about drive-ins from watching movies that were set in the 1950s or 60s. Do any of you remember when customers had to visit their bank on Friday afternoons to get enough cash to make it through the weekend?
Most of you probably can’t imagine what life was like when there was only one television in the entire house and only a handful of channels to choose from. Now we do not drive-in, we drive through! (And with Uber-eats and other delivery services revolutionizing the way we gain access to meals, have we reached the point where even driving through is too inconvenient?)
Today, you no longer have to stand in line at the bank so the teller could provide you with cash; you can just swipe your card through an ATM. In fact, in many cases, we no longer need to worry ourselves about having cash-on-hand at all. With technology like Apple Pay or Google Wallet, we’re able to purchase what we want without cash or even a credit card – as long as we have our smartphones! (Could ATMs be in danger of going the way of the VHS machine?)
Many homes probably have a TV in every room — and each family member has a gadget that streams movies. In fact, we’ve even grown tired of traditional TV. It’s predicted that by 2020, digital video will surpass TV with 75% of all video content transmitted via the Internet instead of regular television. (When you think about how much more we watch on YouTube or Netflix, could the days of TV dominance be coming to its end?)
You’re probably wondering what this trip down memory lane has to do with your business and your customers…
It means that along with these changing times and evolving technology, people have changed as well.
As times change, people change.
These people are our customers, and their buying behaviors are impacted by the technological changes that have driven the speed of transactions.
Critical questions for YOU:
- How do we improve the speed of transactions?
- What about the delivery of our products and service?
- How do we do all this while simultaneously enhancing and deepening the relationships we have with customers?
- How can we repackage our personal styles to appeal to different demographic groups and generations?
- How do we change our products and services to attract customers and potential employees across a greater demographic and generational spectrum?
- Do we need to insert more of the “fun factor” to appeal to a generation raised on television and digital media?
- If all our business training has evolved around economic (rather than emotional) principles, can we compete when the rules of the game change?
- For many of us, we need to analyze the ways we can change the way we lead our businesses to keep up with innovation that directly affects customers’ habits.
We should be asking ourselves what we can do to keep up with the speed at which things are changing while continuing to enhance relationships with both our customers and employees. And, we must still deliver those compelling experiences that make the most significant impact in how they respond to us.
Remember, in today’s world of change; you cannot succeed by working harder on an old plan. You must grow and evolve.
