Yesterday I was in New York at the National Speakers Association Convention.  While I was in town, I called the office of a sales coaching client who is a retail financial advisor for a large bank.  This bank has about fifty offices spread over seven states from coast to coast.  I provide sales coaching for their advisors, and thought I would stop by and say hello to this particular person.  I called the advisor’s office and asked “Do you know which branch [advisor] is covering today?”  The answer was short and to the point.

“No,” was the reply, followed by silence.  No offer to find out the answer or find someone who could assist me; just a simple no.

First impressions make or break sales.  If I had wanted to discuss opening a new account, I would have chosen not to dig any deeper.  Were I an existing client, I may have considered moving my account.  Shep Hyken, CSP, CPAE is one of America’s top customer service experts.  In an article titled “First Impressions”, Shep states that “Most of the statistics range between eight to twelve good things to make up for a Moment of Misery.” 

Solution: Make certain your staff and colleagues are trained on proper telephone technique.  Script them, and leave nothing to chance.  In today’s world, tolerance is preached on every corner, but never be tolerant of poor or rude telephone technique.  Believe this; your clients won’t be tolerant if they are treated poorly.  Conversely, if people are trained and expected to deliver exceptional client service in every way, people will want to do business with you, and refer you to others.

Good selling!

Technorati Tags: sales coaching, financial advisor, refer

When we speak of being “over-served” normally we are referring to something that has to do with adult beverages. Not always, however. Tony Pappas represents the best of professional salespeople, and has been a consistent sales leader over a career that spans four decades. Tony wholesales insured investment products for John Hancock, calling upon independent financial advisors. Recently he spoke with one of his best clients, an advisor in Michigan, and Tony asked his client for the secret to his success. The advisor said that one factor in his success was that he consistently over-served his clients. This advisor’s clients received such a high level of service that these clients consistently told their family, friends, business associates, and neighbors about the advisor’s exceptional service.

Tony gave me another example of exceptional service. He took his wife, Judy, to the Capital Grill in Troy, MI for dinner. Capital Grill is a high-end chain restaurant known for exceptional food and premier service. When Tony and Judy arrived for dinner, the server asked if this was a special occasion. Tony responded by telling the server they were celebrating their fortieth wedding anniversary. The server returned with complementary champagne. In short order a photographer arrived to take a photograph of the Pappas’. The head waiter and general manager soon arrived with greetings and congratulations. When they left the restaurant, the maître d’ presented them with the photograph – framed! Two days later they received a congratulatory card from the restaurant.

Do you think they will go back? Might they recommend Capital Grill to others? I suggest they are enthusiastic customers – for life.

How do you make your clients feel special? What client service touches demonstrate your appreciation for their business and relationship? Would they say you are their only advisor - their advisor of choice? Over-serve your clients, and you will increase your business through repeat sales and non-stop referrals.

Good selling!

Technorati Tags: professional salespeople, sales leader, client service

All of us learn from our experiences. The problem with learning from personal experience is that you have to take the test before you learn the lesson, and that can be painful to you and your clients. One solution is to learn from the experiences of others. By learning from others you compress time and omit unnecessary mistakes. To benefit the most from this strategy, choose to listen exclusively to the masters.

No greater master exists in the investment business than Don Connelly. Don has long been acknowledged as America’s leading advisor to financial advisors. With forty years of unparalleled experience and success, he provides common sense ideas that benefit advisors regardless of their distribution channel or level of achievement. Today Don shares his expertise through “Camp Connelly.” Don possesses a wealth of information gathered from the best of the best in the investment industry. This is a can’t-miss resource for financial advisors.

Still have more to learn about the investment industry? Check out “Camp Connelly.”

Good selling!

Last week I was meeting with one of my sales coaching clients in his office. As a professional speaker and business consultant I meet with larger groups of people every week. However, most of my sales coaching work is over the phone. This client’s office is only a short distance from my office, so occasionally we meet in person.

In the course of our meeting, I showed a report to him that I thought would be of interest. He liked it, and wanted a copy. Instead of asking his assistant to make the copy, he first went to his desk, looked for and found a staple puller, and proceeded to remove the staple from the report.

I asked him what he was doing, and he said he just thought he would pull the staple to make it easier for her. I commented that he should provide his administrative staff with staple pullers. He knew the point I was making concerned dedicating yourself to performing those tasks that only you can do and allowing your staff to do the rest. Still, he said, “Why are you making a big deal about a staple?”

My response was simple; it’s not the staple – it’s the attitude. Of course you want to help your team, and always be courteous and thoughtful, but if you don’t focus on your highest and best use of time, the business will not be as successful as it could be. Whether you are in sales with a single assistant or if you manage a large company, look at every area of your business, and ask yourself if there are activities and tasks you take on that could be delegated or outsourced.

Your time and talents are your biggest assets; don’t waste them.

Good selling!

Technorati Tags: sales coaching, professional speaker, business consultant

In February 2008 Starbucks closed for three hours to retrain more than 135,000 employees in an effort to create “a renewed focus on espresso standards.” Starbucks’ mission statement includes a point that states the company wants to “Develop enthusiastically satisfied customers all of the time.” Howard Shultz, legendary founder of the coffee giant, said in a news release that the shutdown was a way to energize its employees and provide some barista re-education in the “art of espresso” at its 7,100 U.S. locations. Some said this training activity was a publicity stunt. If so, it worked. News sources from major networks to online news services to sales and marketing journals all picked up on the story. (Hey, this writer is guilty as well!)

A couple of days after this training was delivered, I stopped in a Starbucks in Chicago O’Hare Airport on the way to Tampa. Guess what - the training didn’t work. I received service that was uninspired at best. Don’t get me wrong – I like Starbucks. But the person who was supposedly trained to serve enthusiastically satisfied customers like me didn’t come through.

On the other hand, there is a barista named Rose that works at a Starbucks in Eden Prairie, MN that gets it. I don’t know Rose other than as her customer – don’t even know her last name or if she is a manager. I do know this – she is a service pro. She always has a smile on her face, gives exceptional service, and would make Howard Schultz proud! She greets customers as if they were old friends, with great eye contact and personality.

The moral of the story is simple – some people get it and some people don’t when it comes to delivering exceptional customer service. In other words, training is wasted if you don’t start by hiring the right people. So whenever you hire someone for your sales team, ask yourself if they seem to embrace the service standard that you desire for your customers and clients. If you don’t feel it immediately it probably isn’t there. After you hire someone who is enthusiastic and personal, then train them to become even better!

One last tip; for a great cup of coffee and fantastic service, try Dunn Brothers on Preserve Center Drive in Eden Prairie, MN. Dianne and Dan have built a great atmosphere that feels like friends and family.

Good selling!

Last week I received a call from a headhunter who had called me about six months ago. At that time she was recruiting for a financial wholesale sales position available with one of her client firms. She was pleasant to speak with, and the first time we talked I provided her with a contact that might be a good candidate for her search. When she called last week, she said there were two reasons for her call:

First, she wanted to thank me for helping her with her last search last October. While she did not place the position with the person I suggested, the lead I had provided to her in October was a good candidate.

Second, she needed help with a new search she was working for a position in the upper Midwest.

When we thank people for doing business with us, or helping us with a problem, do we thank them immediately or do we wait until we are looking for the next sale? While this headhunter is very pleasant, and I was impressed with her approach the first time she called me, it struck me that I would have been much more impressed had she called me in the interim to say thank you for helping her with the previous search, as opposed to waiting until a time when she once again needed help. Don’t get me wrong - she thanked me, and graciously at that, but it would have meant more after she spoke to my contact in October than it did when she needed another lead last week. In the past I have waited too long to give thanks, and I know it hurt my credibility. My guess is this headhunter was and is sincerely grateful, but her timing could have been better.
The moral of the story is to call your customers to thank them for their business – before the next sale.

Good selling!

It is New Year’s week, and I am in Biwabik, Minnesota with five of my best friends. We are staying at Giant’s Ridge, a beautiful golf and ski resort in the northern part of the state. The drive up was spectacular – “Winter Wonderland” truly describes Minnesota. The camaraderie was fantastic. A great dinner, laughter, and companionship capped the first day of our three day trip. Today skiing is on the agenda. An amazing result of this wonderful start to the New Year is that our businesses will grow as a result of this trip!

You see, this isn’t just a circle of friends – it is a mastermind group. (Read Think and Grow Rich, by Norman Vincent Peale, for the definitive description of a mastermind group.) All of us are professional speakers and trainers. We meet on a regular basis to share ideas, discuss marketing, and offer honest, candid opinions on different facets of our businesses. We cooperate instead of competing to help each other grow. Make no mistake; we are six very competitive people, but we see each other as standards of excellence as opposed to threats or competitors. As a sales and marketing strategist this group is invaluable to me.

After our arrival at the resort, we took a quick walk around the property. Then we set up flipcharts in one of our suites and each of us built a list of what we would like to work on this week to help build our business in 2008. We prioritized the lists, and shared them with the group, with each of us taking notes of our thoughts on how we can help on another. Today the real work begins, as we tackle how we can achieve these lofty goals and ambitions. After lunch – we ski!

Steel sharpens steel, and professionals know they can learn from the colleagues and associates. Survey your professional relationships to see who may fit into a mastermind group that will benefit each of you in building your businesses. The more you give, the more you will get. You really can “think and grow rich.”

Good selling!

Technorati Tags: professional speakers, sales and marketing strategist

As 2007 draws to a close, New Year’s resolutions emerge from the unfulfilled promises of the year and the excesses of December. According to Marie Hartwell-Walker, Ed.D., in an article on Psych Central, the Internet’s largest and oldest independent mental health social network created and run by mental health professionals, ”most New Year’s resolutions are broken within 48 hours.” So as we plan our 2008 sales year, this statistic begs the following questions:

• Should we even make New Year’s sales resolutions?
• If we choose make to make resolutions, what should we change and how do we quantify that change?
• Once we commit to change, how do we keep these resolutions?

Should we even make New Year’s sales resolutions? Absolutely! The seed of progress is the desire to improve. It is true that we either grow or we die, so it is imperative that we seek never ending improvement. A salesperson that is “comfortable” is in long-tern or possibly seven short-term peril.

If we choose make to make resolutions, what should we change and how do we quantify that change? The thing we should not resolve is to change results. You can’t manage results; you can only manage behavior. The decision to change behavior (activity) creates meaningful changes, and sometimes quickly. There are only two ways you improve sales results – increasing activity and improving technique. Improving technique takes time, but increasing activity gives immediate or near immediate results. Make plans to improve activity and technique.

Once we commit to change, how do we keep these resolutions? Follow these four tips to help make 2008 your best year ever.

1. Set realistic goals. Make these goals activity oriented, even if you are scheduling new training to improve technique. If you reduce your goals to manageable activities, you will see positive change.
2. Set timetables and review dates. Goals without deadlines are daydreams. Give yourself a deadline for projects, such as signing up for a particular sales course no late than (date), and schedule daily and weekly sales activity objectives, such as five calls per day – minimum.
3. Don’t make activity goals cumulative. In other words, if you exceed your sales call goal Monday, there is no carry-over to Tuesday. Likewise, if you miss a daily activity goal, start over the next day without feeling the need to catch-up. Don’t be afraid to fail, and don’t get down when you miss a day. Resolve to succeed tomorrow.
4. Develop a personal reward system. When you achieve any goal, no matter how small, have an appropriate reward and celebrate your success. For example, if you hit your sales activity goal early in the day, give yourself a pat on the back. Hit a weekly activity goal? Take your spouse or a friend out for dinner, or see a show, or take a day off.

New Year’s resolutions can be the start of something great. Follow these tips to jump-start your newest best year of your life.

Happy New Year – and Good Selling!

This morning I received an email from a long-term sales coaching client. He is in his mid thirties and has built a wonderful financial advisory business. His is client-service and long-term focused. Here is a portion of his message:

“Good morning, just got to work to catch up on some things. I checked the 15th pay run and the office is at $607,000 in gross commissions YTD!!! Last year we hit $505,000. I couldn’t have ever hit those numbers without your mentorship….I’m thankful for you.”

———————————–

What follows is my response, which I believe is appropriate for any salesperson, or for that matter, any business.

———————————–

Congratulations! You are a star because of your willingness to learn from many people, and there are many who have helped you down the path. But at the end of the day you were the one who had to do the work, so you can take satisfaction in the fact that YOU are the one ultimately responsible. The chef uses ingredients from a variety of sources that were not a result of his or her own work. However, without the chef, it is just stuff. Because you choose humility, it makes your work special, as you have acknowledged others and because your clients come first.

This is the trap. When you look at the commissions it would be easy to become absorbed in “look at what I did.” Take a look at the $600K and then look at the sales blotter for the year. Spend an hour looking at each transaction and ask yourself, ‘How did this benefit this client, their family, and their business?” Spending this hour, or however long it takes, will keep you grounded.

This is the secret. By focusing on what you do for your clients, and the benefits you provide them, it gives you the ability and the privilege to ask yourself important questions, such as:

• If I do $750,000 in commissions in 2008 (or for that matter $1,000,000; the choice on how big to dream is up to you), how many more people will I serve?
• In what ways could I provide better value and better service to my existing clients?
• What can I do to make it easier for my clients to tell my story, and thereby help them grow my business?
• Exactly how will I find more clients, and where will they come from?
• By hitting my sales number what would it mean to my family?
• What kind of opportunities can I provide them?
• How would our free time be better spent?
• What kind of vacations would we take?
• What kind of experiences would I be able to share with my children?
• How would I make certain that my wife still knows she is also my girlfriend?
• What would I do for my parents?
• What would the effect be on the charities and causes I hold close to my heart?
• How can I help my clients enjoy and discover the same types of experiences?

If you live in the questions, then you will find the answers. There is no limit on what you can accomplish, if you do it in the spirit of service above self. So my questions for you are:

• What’s next?
• Where do you go from here?
• How can I help?

Your move.

———————————–

As you enter this holiday season and plan for 2008, put together a list of questions for yourself that empower you to take the next steps to exponential growth in your business.

Happy Holidays - and Good Selling!

Technorati Tags: sales coaching

Business strategist and professional speaker Michael Roby addressed a group of leading financial institution sales managers at a management conference in St. Helena, CA on December 3, 2007. Bank Insurance Securities Association (BISA) hosted their “Sales Management Fall Workshop,” which was open to institutions in the United States and Canada. Roby conducted his “Managing Excellence” seminar, which teaches sales management strategies and skills.

BISA, based in Wayne, PA, fosters the full integration of securities and insurance businesses with depository institutions’ traditional banking businesses. BISA reaches out to and offers services to executives throughout its member firms. BISA participants include executives from the securities, insurance, investment advisory, trust, private banking, retail, capital markets, and commercial divisions of depository institutions. The BISA provides a single forum for these executives and their product and service partners to work together to find solutions to help grow their businesses.

Michael Roby is a nationally known speaker that helps his audiences get improved sales results that are quantifiable and lasting. While corporations and audiences know Michael as an authority on sales, marketing, and the distribution of financial services, he is also known as one of America’s best motivational speakers. Roby delivers thought-provoking keynotes that leave a lasting, positive impression on his audience. His website, www.michaelroby.com is also home to a leading sales and marketing blog.

Technorati Tags: Business strategist, professional speaker, Bank Insurance Securities Association, sales management