"If you make customers unhappy in the physical world, they might each tell 6 friends. If you make customers unhappy on the Internet, they can each tell 6,000 friends."
Jeff Bezos
All it takes is one less than stellar experience, one broken promise and one not doing what you said you were going to do, in order for your customers to move on to the competition.
One way to minimize the possibility of your customers moving on is to let them know how much you care.
Love, cherish, adore, idolize and worship... seldom used words within the sales profession. Caring, a term not often heard as well. Defined as, displaying kindness and concern for others.
Ask many in sales, and you might just hear, "sales is a means to an end." A means to earn big fat commission checks.
Dale Carnegie nailed it:
“You can make more friends in two months by becoming interested in other people than you can in two years by trying to get other people interested in you.”
Sales is serving and serving is sales. To serve is to care. It's caring about your clients, the people who buy what you have to sell. Listen up... if you're looking to increase your sales then I encourage you to capture the hearts and minds of your clients and prospects.
"People don’t care what you know until they know that you care."
Theodore Roosevelt
Showing you care, it's not about being "mushy and gushy", it's about being human, being real and being your authentic self; every step of the way. It's placing your clients up on a silver business platter.
IT'S ALL ABOUT THE EXPERIENCE
You operate in a highly competitive business world where many products are viewed as a commodity. You may not think so but your customers sure do and this my friends is what counts! Creating an outstanding and memorable experience has become the true differentiator for sales success.
Why has Apple, Starbucks and Disney been so wildly successful? They understand the importance of creating memories. They’ve built their brands around creating an outstanding customer experience, an experience many are willing to pay top dollar for.
These customers are not just buying a product. They’re buying into the brand, the experience, and how it makes them feel. Let this sink in... its about how a customer feels about their experience which influences their loyalty and whether or not they’ll recommend you to others.
Customer experience is...
"The perception that customers have of their interactions with an organization."
Bruce Temkin
PLACE YOUR CLIENTS AT THE FOREFRONT
Are your clients at the HEART of everything you do?
I'm sure you work hard every day to provide great customer service, but I am asking you now to think about creating an outstanding and consistent experience.
Here are a few simple things you can do.
SHOW APPRECIATION
Showing appreciation, many find it requires great diligence and commitment to cultivate a persistent attitude of appreciation.
After a customer agrees to do business with you, it’s the perfect time to say THANK YOU. I know what you're saying right now, "This is common sense", however; I'm going to challenge you to kick it up a notch. Appreciation can really go a long way when you put some thought, extra time and effort into it.
"The deepest principle in human nature is the craving to be appreciated"
William James
How your clients feel about you and their willingness to continue doing business with you are closely related. In their eyes it’s all about them. If they feel valued and are treated with care and attention, aren't they more likely to become loyal?
Appreciation, this is something that takes practice, consistency and the true understanding of people. Meaningful and credible relationships do matter. Integrating the use of SendOutCards is hands down how you ratchet up relationship building and appreciation. This is how you create an emotional one-on-one connection and a memorable experience. I guarantee a personalized card and tugging on one's heart strings, the card will never been thrown away.
A true human connection lives beyond surface level. Discover what really matters to someone and strengthen your relationship with them.
Here's an example...
FEEDBACK
"Feedback is the breakfast of champions"
You must invest in your clients!
Without feedback, how do you know how well you're doing? Invest the time to enhance the experience. Investing in client feedback is a source of business growth. The opportunities for referrals becomes mind-blowing.
"Take care of your clients and they will take care of you"
Live up to the promises you made and what was expected of you when your clients decided to do business with you.
Your clients are the most important stakeholders to you and what you do. This is why it's mission critical to hear their feedback. However, collecting client feedback is the first step to ensuring an outstanding experience. It’s what you do with the feedback that truly matters.
Dig in and ask...
- What can I do differently?
- What can I do to improve or enhance my service to you?
- What can I do to help you do better business?
I'm asking you to rock the boat on this one because a comfortable mindset is a terrible thing to waste. Think of the all the competitors circling around your clients just waiting for the right moment to reel them into their establishments of paradise.
LISTEN TO THEM
Truly listen and show genuine concern and interest. Listening, it's the key to creating the WOW factor with your clients.
We live in a world of attention deficit disorder. No one has the time to listen.
How many sales reps are patient enough to sit back, ask questions and then really listen?
One of the most powerful things you can do is listen. However, most sales people listen just long enough and then immediately jump into sales pitch mode the moment they uncover a pain point.
"What would it look like if we simply listened to learn about our clients business?"
Listening to learn... I believe this drives trust while also allowing you to discover the full scope of their goals, dreams, challenges, and business drivers.
Heartfelt conversations allow you to emotionally connect with your clients. This allows for intellectual discussions that lead to exciting new discoveries and the personal sharing of information.
ENHANCE THE EXPERIENCE
Creating an outstanding experience is one of the biggest opportunities you will have to capture your clients' interest, get them to act and have them continue to do business with you.
Stop operating with the same mindset, delivering the same HO-HUM experiences as you expect different outcomes.
What could you be doing to give your clients the experience they deserve? There’s absolutely no excuse for ignoring this fact. I encourage you to start curating client memories. If you're not providing outstanding experiences, then really, what are you doing?
I understand and I get it. I get where you all are coming from. Every day, I walk in your shoes. I'm fully committed to helping your sales team integrate social aspects through the eyes of a practitioner into your current sales process to grow new business. I want you to get results. This is why I am passionate about doing this the right way, the genuine way, the authentic way! It's about understanding value before visibility.
Selling From the Heart is making a difference! I poured my heart into every page of this book and I think you're going to love it. You can find it on Amazon in paperback and Kindle. You can click on the book image below and this will take you to Amazon.
You can find more material inside Selling From The Heart.
In a world full of empty suits, I'm passionate about helping sales reps succeed by getting valuable before they get visible. I help sales teams understand the true value they bring to the market.
I appreciate getting the opportunity to share my stories. Integrating the use of social and sharing my story on LinkedIn was my “game-changer” in the highly competitive office technology world. With great pride I transform, challenge, coach and inspire sales teams to grow new business by helping them share their story and how they communicate it out by integrating the use of social inside the sales process. You can follow me on LinkedIn, Twitter and on my podcast by clicking on Selling from the Heart.
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