What a week! Seven speaking engagements in five cities in Washington, California, and Texas, with five flights provided for an exciting but tiring trip. When my wife picked me up at the airport last night, the last thing I wanted to do was dine out. However, she had had a long week as well. She was prepared to have a quiet dinner at home, but I surprised her by suggesting we go out for dinner.

Jensen’s Café in Burnsville, MN is a wonderful breakfast and lunch restaurant, open from 7 AM to 2:30 PM. The Jensen’s are third generation restaurateurs, with another store called Jensen’s Supper Club in Eagan, MN. On my flight home I read in a magazine that they were diversifying their business by using the Jensen’s Café location to launch Jensen’s Wine & Dine, which uses the same facilities and opens at 4:30 PM. They have an entirely different crew that comes in to provide a warm, upscale, but reasonably priced dining experience with fine wines, an excellent menu, and an entirely different feel than you would find if you showed up earlier in the day for breakfast or lunch.

What does this have to do with sales? Jensen’s is growing their business using four principles of successful diversification. To be successful we must focus on what we do best, but when we become successful, we can diversify our business, and add exponential growth to our bottom line. To diversify your sales business you can use the same strategies, which are:

1. Stay in your area of experience and expertise
2. If possible, use existing business assets and resources
3. Provide better service to and more profitability from existing customer relationships, and/or…
4. Use diversification to expand your customer base

Don’t forget to focus on the profitability of expanding your offerings; it has to make sense from a business perspective. Once you have established yourself and become a solid presence in your marketplace, offering additional products and services allows you to increase your profitability and take advantage of scale. Take a look at what you can offer that will build on and strengthen your existing business. Build a plan to grow…and execute your sales plan!

Bon appetite… and good selling!

Technorati Tags: speaking engagements, sales business, customer relationships, sales plan

Many firms use surveys as a way to gauge different aspects of their business. It makes sense for salespeople to survey customers as well, even if their company already has a survey process. The first objective of corporate surveying is to improve the company. Smart firms know that helping their salespeople will ultimately help the company, but there may be some information that YOU want to know that isn’t being covered in the corporate survey.

Here are some examples of questions that will help you grow your business:

• “Do you feel I listened to YOU to determine the solution to best fit your needs?” Sometimes we spend too much time talking, and not enough time listening. Jaime Calva, a master salesman with TSC, a company in the corporate retirement plan business, says, “Telling isn’t selling!” Jaime has been selling for over 50 years! Enough said.
• “If a family member, friend, or business associate asked you about [Your Services] and wanted to know who you used, would you mention my name to them?” If they say “Yes,” call them and thank them, and then tell them to whom you wish to be referred!
• “May I use your comments with people / companies that I call upon?” Testimonials sell! And how beneficial will it be to be able to tell prospects that a large number of your clients…and use the number…are willing to refer you!
• “What could I do to serve you better?” Sometimes you will get answers that might surprise you; in fact you might find out problems you didn’t know you had!

Another reason to survey your clients is to find out their hobbies and interests. If you find out you have a large number of clients that have the similar interests, you can send them articles or information on those topics. This becomes an additional way to develop deeper relationships with your clients and prospects. It shows that you CARE about their business and about THEM.

To get the maximum feedback from as many clients as possible, build in an incentive if they complete the survey. For example, give away a gift certificate or a choice from several types of gift cards. Consider offering discounts on a particular type of product or service from your company; you can do that at cost! Also, this is a great way to allow customers to sample new items, or experience a new service that could lead to future sales.

This may sound a little cumbersome. To make customer surveys easy, take a look at a company called SurveyMonkey. This firm offers internet-based survey tools at a nominal cost. A basic subscription is FREE, and a professional subscription is about $20/month, and includes up to 1000 responses per month. SurveyMonkey is easy to set up and effective.

A little effort in developing a meaningful survey will tell you a great deal about the people that are your business…your customers! This knowledge will help you grow your business and provide better customer service, and your customers will tell you how to do it.

Good selling!

Technorati Tags: salespeople, customer service

Today was busy. I had two meetings, and a luncheon. In addition, I had to prepare a speech for a meeting in California next week. And there was the ever present list of phone calls to make. Two calls were priority. One call was to work out the details of a very large strategic planning contract and the second concerned a speech to a bankers’ association. In addition, I needed to go pick up a new suit from my clothier, Bill’s Toggery in Shakopee, Minnesota.

During the drive to Bill’s, a third generation business, I was on my cell phone non-stop. As I pulled into the parking lot, I was in the middle of one call. I sat in front of the store for 15 – 20 minutes in a detailed discussion, scribbling notes as I listened. I saw somebody walk out of the store, and it was Keith Galles. Keith has almost 45 years experience in the men’s clothing business. His service is always first class. Keith knows me; he knows a do a tremendous amount of business on the phone, and looking out the window of the store, he could tell I was engaged!

I was talking away, and he walked up with a suit bag, raised his finger to his lips to signal me that no conversation was necessary. He smiled, hung the bag up in my car, and mouthed the words, “Good luck!” With that he walked back into the store. He KNEW I was busy; I am ALWAYS busy. That small act of knowing his customer and giving that little bit of extra service to help me on my way are the types of things that keep me coming back.

Keith is a pro. He can SELL. And he always takes care of his customers. Do you give your clients that kind of exceptional service? Do you pay attention to the little things, and follow through on your good intentions? Little things make a difference if you are in the service business…and who isn’t?

Good selling!

Technorati Tags: strategic planning, exceptional service

With a haircut like mine, you go to the barber fairly often. I go to Preserve Barbers in Eden Prairie, Minnesota. Deb has been my barber for about eight years.

Last week I was getting a haircut (a GREAT haircut, I might add) and Deb was telling me about a recent example of sales excellence she witnessed in her shop. Preserve Barbers is in a small, upscale mall. An “Energy Consultant” (AKA light bulb salesman) named Bill Johannes from H & H Industries in Elmwood, IL services the lighting needs of the stores in the mall, and came by with a replacement bulb. He insisted on installing it, and in the process, a small crack showed up in the Plexiglas fixture. Deb said it wasn’t noticeable; no problem. Bill INSISTED on replacing it, and went to Home Depot. When he returned, it was the wrong size! After another trip, he discovered that it was a nonstandard fixture. What to do?

What Bill did was take it home that night, and cut it to fit. The next day he returned and replaced it…no charge. Deb told him it wasn’t necessary to go to all of that trouble, but Bill said he couldn’t sleep knowing he had cracked her light fixture.

I visited H & H’s website, and read, “We’re a third generation family-owned company, directly involved in the manufacture and supply of quality lighting products for your business. With over 250 individuals dedicated to meeting your highest expectations with the highest quality, most cost-efficient, products available on the market today. We’re the ONE supplier of solutions you’ve been looking for.” I wasn’t surprised. In addition, their website noted they were the winner of an “Illinois Small Business Award.”

I suggest that you ask yourself the following questions:

1. Do I really believe that the customer is the reason for my professional existence?
2. When faced with a service challenge, will I do whatever it takes to solve the customer’s problem?
3. In doing so, will I feel I have earned the right to referrals for exceptional service?
4. What can I do to provide three of my best customers with more than they paid for?
5. Who are those customers, and will I call them TODAY?

You see, referrals are the reward for excellent service. Most salespeople run from customer problems; they are totally focused on the next sale, not service. By building your business based on exceptional service and referrals, you are guaranteed to survive in the worst of times, and thrive when times are good. Congratulations, Bill. You are a true Sales Superstar! I’ll call you if I need light-bulbs…and I’m sure I will receive excellent service.

Good selling!

Technorati Tags: sales excellence, referrals

As a professional speaker and sales trainer, it is important to know what I don’t know, and as a result, I focus on very specific topics. I just returned from western Kentucky. While I was there I heard the following on a local radio station, and it is the antithesis of specialization. This may not be an exact quote, but it is VERY close.

The medical staff at [NAME] Hospital specializes in all types of general surgery.

How do you specialize in all types of general surgery? Doesn’t the term “General Surgery” preclude specialization? Is it really possible to specialize in being a generalist?

Organizations and salespeople need to be careful in the way they position their services. I see sales brochures and advertisements that say “We specialize in…” followed by a list of 10 -20 items. Does that send the message that you really specialize, or does it say indirectly that you need some business, and will sell whatever you need to sell that day just to make a commission? If in fact you do specialize, be specific and zero in on your best possible target market. If you truly are a generalist, define yourself by the problems for which you are the solution. Doing this conceptually as opposed to offering a laundry list of products and services communicates a clearer message of what is in it for your prospects.

In positioning your business, the best success comes when you can niche or micro-niche yourself with products or services that truly make you totally unique and valuable to a large potential customer base, or when that expertise is so specific that you are the only solution for a certain problem. Few of us have that high a degree of expertise, so craft your defining statement to appeal to the largest possible prospect audience. No matter how tempting it may be, you will maximize your profitability if you don’t specialize in everything.

Good selling!

Technorati Tags: professional speaker, sales trainer

This week I attended the Hospitality Business Breakfast in Eagan, Minnesota. The HBB is a monthly education session for those in the Hospitality Industry produced by a mentor of mine named Stuart Gray. Stuart brings in professional speakers who are acknowledged experts in various disciplines to speak in a public forum for those in this industry. The audience includes restaurateurs, restaurant managers, sales trainers, food service representatives, and others in this multi-billion dollar industry.

This month’s speaker was Ryan Estis, a nationally known authority on “Employment Branding,” which is how a company positions itself in order to attract and retain A-level talent. Ryan gave a fascinating presentation on what companies must do to become and remain “Employers of Choice.” Ryan skillfully demonstrated the challenges employers will have due to a shrinking US workforce, employment attitudes of younger people in the workplace, and the demands being made on HR Departments of companies of all sizes.

If you work for a company, it has a brand. Americans buy brand. Brand is by far the largest component of the buying decision. At the same time YOU have your own personal brand. You are the “Human Capital” of your sales business. To maximize your sales potential, you need to develop build a unique and distinctive personal brand that identifies you as the “Vendor of Choice” within your market.

David McNally, co-author of Be Your Own Brand with Karl D. Speak, says that brand is a relationship with your customers. So, what is the “experience” that people have when they do business with YOU? Consider the following questions for your business?

1. What makes me different than my competitors?
2. How would my customers describe what it like to do business with me?
3. What do I provide for my customers that they don’t have to pay for?

These and other questions can help you become the “experience within the experience.” They will provide the reasons that when all other things are equal, your customers choose to buy from you.

Good selling!