Take A Chance!

 

Happy Friday!   Some of you read this Daily Sales Crumb...well, daily.   Others open 1 or 2 a week (didnt think I could see you, huh?) and others not at all.   That's all ok.  This is real life.   As I sit here each time to write them I only think of one thing...service.  How can I serve this great profession?  How can I encourage someone to keep going?  How can I help instruct people to a higher level of success?    So 5 days a week I take a chance and hit the send button.  Fingers crossed.   EVERYDAY I get a few shout outs to let me know that the message that day hit home in some way.   That makes it worth it!  I am willing to take the chance of communication to reap the harvest of service.   Think of your business, product and your clients.  What types of ongoing communication create synergy for greater client satisfacation?      Here are my Top 10 Ways to Stay In Touch with Clients #6 - Hold Education Sessions - Depending on your industry and product, your current clients might benefit from additional education.  If you are in insurance or financial services, the list of topics is endless.  These meetings are not designed to be sales events, but set you up as a trusted advisor.  That will help you generate more business! #7 - Connect with Social Media - Ok, so your clients probably shouldn't be friending you on Facebook, but they can follow your business and "like" it.  There has been much hype over social media, but used effectively, you can reach out to clients in innovative ways.  Of course, make sure to keep these outreaches strictly business! #8 - Video Messages - YouTube and Vimeo and other services make it possible for anyone to present relevant information to a worldwide audience.  You can make a message or series of messages that provide greater insight into your products and your services.  You can even create your own channel that your clients can watch and refer people to.  Also helps establish higher credibility. #9 - Emails - We all get more emails that we can read each day.  You could use form emails to send to your entire client base, but a personal email is more effective.  You could send a "thinking of you" email that contains n interesting article.  You can also send new product information that attaches all the company bells and whistles to make it compelling and interesting. #10 Conduct a Survey - Do you really want to know what your clients think or what they want?  You should.  That is the key to determining how to get them to buy more or refer more people to you.  There are several online survey platforms that will allow you to send a simple, short survey and even offer an incentive for their feedback! As you stay in contact with your clients, not everthing you do will be a hit.  Some things will miss.  You have to be consistent and your motive has to be service in order to have that occassional interaction that warrants a "shoutout".  It is worth it...so    Take a chance! Until Monday, I wish you Money, Power, Success!

Stay In Touch!

I think I have mentioned, I wasn't the smoothest guy in middle school and high school when it came to the ladies.   I know it is hard to fathom that such a charismatic, articulate and not to mention handsome guy like me wasn't a playa in his day!  I wasn't.    Sad, but true.   I was a strategist even then and always mapped out my "communication" strategy for the young lady I was wooing (did I just say "wooing"?).  A typical schedule;    A bouquet of Dum Dums (remember the little suckers that your mom was afraid would come of the stick and choke you?) on Monday.   A small box of Hershey's kisses with a note inside promising to score the first points of a basketball game for them on Wednesday.   Cap it all off on Friday with a poem (an apology to Donny Hathaway for stealing his obscure song that become a big hit and my girlfriend found out it wasn't original...but I digress!) to ensure she thinks about me over the weekend.    If you need proof of my romantic strategic prowess click here.     Communication.  The key to building any relationship.  Small gestures.  Make you memorable.  When combined, they make you impossible to live without.    In sales that means you get repeat business, referrals and create raving fans.   Not nearly has hard as sales people try to make it, but you do have to have a strategy...a plan.  Here are my Top 10 Ways to Stay In Touch with Clients #1 - Organize your clients - Where is your list of clients right now?  If you are typical (which would make you average!) they are on the floorboard, stuffed in your leather portfolio, in your trunk and stashed in folders.  A lot of good they are going to do you in there.  Get organized and, at a minimum, get your clients in an Excel spreadsheet.  Trust me, you will be glad you did! #2 - Use a Client Relationship Management tool (CRM) - Once you have your clients organized and electronically archived, take the next step and upload them into a CRM that will allow you to conduct specific outreach campaigns, set up reminders (like birthdays) and do a host of other structured "high touch" activities.  Need a free CRM?  Go to www.freecrm.com. You can thank me later! #3 - Send a "Thank You" note - This is the icebreaker for all your future communications and sets the stage for elevating your clients to raving fans status.  How many things have your bought in the last 6 months?  How many Thank You cards have you gotten?  Thought so.  Write them by hand (no rubber stamps!) and include a personal note to make it memorable. #4 - Call them after 30, 60 and 90 days - The best time to solidify the sale and the relationship is during the "reinforcement" phase after the sale activities.  Do you set yourself up for service issues and product problems?  Yes.  Do you put yourself in the position to get repeat business and referrals?  Yes.  It is worth the "risk".  Make the calls! #5 Remember them on special occasions - Your CRM is fantastic for reminding you of special occasions such as birthdays, product anniversaries, annual reviews, etc.  These contacts have to be personal in nature to set them apart from what others are doing (and you will be in limited company anyway!). As you build your year-long strategy, the key is not to saturate your client with frivolous outreach, or a sales pitch each time, but to make sure they know you will...   Stay In Touch! Until tomorrow, I wish you Money, Power, Success!

I Miss You!

I Miss You!

Hello Yeah, it's been a while Not much, how about you I'm not sure why I called I guess I really just wanted to talk to you    And I was thinkin' maybe later on We could get together for a while It's been such a long time And I really do miss your smile The lines from a great song from the 70's from England Dan and John Ford Coley - the last of the baby boomers out there (and my sister Donna!) will remember - the Generation X and Y'ers...not so much.  The romantic sentiment notwithstanding, the lines above could reflect how many sales people feel after a long period of no contact with your clients.  An awkward exchange.  One that recognizes that the bonds created in the intimate sales process have been broken.  You told them they would hear from you periodically, if only to check in on them.  You told them you would make sure they are satisfied. Have you done it? As I mentioned yesterday, I recently spoke to an sales agent who had not reached out to their clients for 3 years. As I was humbled by my own recent exchange, I began to ask her some questions.    Are these people still active clients of the product you sold them? Yes.  I can still see them on my renewal commission list. Great.  How many people do you want to re-connect with? Over 125 people are still active with this product. Why haven't you contacted them in 3 years? I know I should have, but after I enrolled them, I got busy.  Then, I didnt want to call them because I thought they might overwhelm me with problems and service issues.  After the first year, and the renewals came, I just let it go.  After the second year, I was too ashamed to call them since it had been so long.  Now, the quilt of getting these renewals without even checking in is too much. So there is no motive for your call now?  There is no major change in the product and you are not trying to sell a new product? No.  in fact, the product has improved this upcoming season.  I can't talk about that until it is offically announced, but I don't want to wait until October to reach out.  Certainly, I dont have a right to ask them to buy another product, or even ask for referrals at this point.  I have not held up my end of the bargain and I am embarrassed.  I just want to re-connect.  What should I do?   She was really scared and embarrassed.  She understood that the lack of contact was ultimately an indictment of her as a professional.  It didn't truly represent her values as a person, but was the situation she found herself in. How would her clients react to her "coming back from the dead"? I know many sales people that are in the same position.  Time and competing priorities make the sale in front of us, more valuable than the ones behind us. We lose touch.    I told her to review the list of clients.  Who was the most memorable client she could remember? Without hesitation, she found a woman she remembered well.  She began to recollect the interaction with great detail.  The agent smiled thinking about how warm and receptive this woman had been. Call her tonight...just the one call. The next day, I called the agent to make sure she had followed through.  She told me that she and the woman talked for over an hour.   Only a few minutes about the product, but mostly about life. "I felt so relieved.  I know the rest of the calls may not go so well, but at least now I know some will allow me to re-connect and earn the right to be a trusted advisor. What struck me about the conversation were the first words she said after 'Hello'..."   I Miss You! Until tomorrow, I wish you Money, Power, Success!

Hey, Remember Me?

I was in the grocery store the other day and a couple of isles over saw a face that was familiar.  I knew it wasn't a recent face - several years or more since I last saw him.    I am normally great with names, faces, useless trivia...in a word...brilliant!  Normally.    This time, I was stumped.  I walked slower to give myself more time to bring it from memory or make the decision to avoid the casual run-in.  Then in a flash my supercomputer delivered me to a complete download. I remembered his name, his wife and children, where we met and the specific conversation.  He had attended a training event I did back in 2007 and we had a direct conversation about his struggles in sales and insurance. I recall giving him encouragement and advice.  He even emailed me a year later to tell me how things had gotten better for him and about his success.  I felt all warm inside recollecting my impact on his life, and then hurried to catch him "accidentally" at check-out.  I greeted him by name and extended my hand.  He shook it warmly and as I went in for the bro hug, he looked at me quizzically and said, "You look familiar...what's your name?"    How could he forget?  I impacted his life.  Helped him avoid foreclosure and financial ruin.  I singlehandedly changed his life...for the better.  His words, not mine! I told him my name and reminded him of the interaction almost 8 years ago.  He did a complete 180.  He jumped up and down, then proceeded to tell me how that day changed his life...for the better.  He called his wife on his cell phone and I talked to her...she actually cried.  So did I. He didn't forget me...he just needed a reminder.  We had not talked in 7 years.  Unless you are brilliant (like me!) it is not fair to think people you have not talked to in a long time have you on their mind or remember you. Made the connection yet? Just yesterday, I had a sales person ask me how to reach out to all their clients, but they have not touched base in almost 3 years.  I gave them the "shame on you" speech and told them how they had lost repeat business, referrals and their place as a trusted advisor. Then I remembered my grocery store encounter.  I stepped down off my soap box (and high horse!) and told the agent all is not lost.  You can regain that status.  We will review more about re-connecting the next couple of days, but it simply begins with a call...     Hey, Remember Me? Until tomorrow, I wish you Money, Power, Success!

Bridge Over Troubled Water!

Happy Monday!  Brandon, are you ok?   Looking at the subjects over the last few weeks, that would be a fair question.     I'm fine. Still overflowing with optimism and wisdom that 50 years (almost!) brings.  It's some of you I am thinking of with each day's subject. I am hearing from you daily and with each outreach, I am reminded of my mission of "Helping Millions Achieve Success...One At A Time" and remember that I am called to the 80% in sales.  To say someone is part of the 80% is not to meant to disparage or assume they are down trodden.  In fact, quite the contrary.  They are resilient, perseverant and determined to make it day to day, but they are more sensitive to subtle changes in process or opportunity.    Is Bridge Over Troubled Water over the top?  Take a look some of my readers profiles; I have several 100 Medicare agents just finding out that payment for their efforts from 10/15 to 12/31 will not be paid until mid January.  60 days of work with no pay...they need a bridge.   100's of new agents read this daily.  Some are on straight commission, some have small base salaries, but all of them need reliable income to make it.  The clock is ticking...they need a bridge. About 100 people who are looking to transition to sales but fear cutting off the security of their bi-weekly check from their current employer...they need a bridge. While driving in your car, bridges bring two sides together.  Two sides divided by something that is not conducive for standard modes of transportation.  It could be water, treacherous terrain or other perils.  To make it to the other side you have to cross that bridge when you come to it.  That is the paradox with your career.  You have to leave the security of the side you are on to cross over to your destination (destiny).  You have two options to make it through any rough patches in your career and life. You can find a bridge...or build a bridge.    I have been in many of the situations some of you find yourself in today.  Time and life have taught me a three things about building bridges. #1 - Your solution is in your situation.  You have to look at where you are with a different perspective. There are thing around you - products, people, and processes that will help you make it over and through this period.  You are not the first to go through what you are facing, so diligently seek the answer.  As I said Friday...it is there! "Believe it can be done. When you believe something can be done, really believe, your mind will find the ways to do it. Believing a solution paves the way to solution." David Joseph Schwartz #2 - The bridge you build is the key to the next level of your success.  Fear and doubt are normal "filters" that weed out the undetermined crowd and the pretenders.  If you earnestly desire a new road to travel, this troubled time is part of the price of admission.  "You do not pay the price of success, you enjoy the price of success." Zig Ziglar     #3 - You have what it takes.  Remember the expression, "don't let your mouth write a check that your butt can't cash"?  You can't get into more trouble than your gifts and skills can get you out of.  I know some people that are not happy unless they are in "over their heads".  It requires them to fight with zeal and passion.  No retreat.  No Plan B.  Push yourself to make it across this current divide...you can do it.  "Believe in yourself, take on your challenges, dig deep within yourself to conquer fears. Never let anyone bring you down. You got to keep going."   Chantal Sutherland    Prospecting ideas?  Tomorrow.  Closing techniques?  Coming soon.   I will help you do the things that make you better at sales when the coast is clear of this current and present situation.  I know that my job for this day it to help you build a...    Bridge Over Troubled Water! Until tomorrow, I wish you Money, Power, Success!