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Archive for the ‘Customer Service Skills’ Category

What’s Your Back Up Plan?

Posted on: March 20th, 2012 by Beth Heilman

Two things have happened here recently that drives home the importance of having a back up plan in case of a business hiccup.

The first was an excellent audio by my Mentor and Coach, Sandi Krakowski where she gave examples of how to make sure you can do business under crazy circumstances like bad weather, power outages and dead phone lines.

The other is something I'm going through right now in my own business. I have a very sweet, very nervous first-time home buyer who is days away from closing on his home and because the mortgage company doesn't have their back up plan in place, the possibility exists that we'll miss our closing deadline losing him both his home AND his earnest deposit.

Here's what's going on.

The mortgage company we went with is well respected and the Loan Officer is someone I've worked with many times before.

She's good.

And if you know the Real Estate business, you know that a good loan officer is worth their weight in gold.

The issue isn't with my Loan Officer, who by the way just went on leave for a surgery.

The issue is with the company itself and the fact that with my trusted mortgage gal down for the count, the loan is being handled by some one else and a processor who never answers her phone. Aaaaack!!

OK, so we're three days away from our closing deadline. No loan documents at the title company. I'm calling the processor and leaving messages ALL day. The Listing agent is sending me emails in all caps (and we know what THAT means) and my buyer, God bless him, waited all day to call me before freaking out on the phone.

Can't blame him…I've been there.

When I finally get someone at the lender's to answer the phone I'm told by the other loan officer that she doesn't know what's going on with the file (but she'd find out) and that the processor had gone home early that day. Oh, and she hoped she'd be in the next day to take care of this.

She HOPED, that MAYBE she'd be in. Wrong answer…aaaaaa…you lose.

These guys have absolutely no back up plan for something critical like what's happening with my buyer. So, if one person goes home sick that entire block of business stops and no work gets done until they feel better? Nope, sorry, not buyin' it.

Maybe I'm just being a little sensitive, but when my buyer stands to lose a couple thousand dollars AND the contract on the house AFTER we had to do a 7 day extension for something that wasn't his fault, I get more than just a little miffed. And now because of poor planning on the lender's part, everyone has to jump through hoops to get this home closed.

That's just plain looney…and unacceptable.

The morale of the story. Plan for the unexpected…anticipate that things could go sideways for no good reason. Always make sure that someone can step in to take over in case of an emergency.

You may never need your back up plan, but won't it be nice to be ready if you do. I'll keep you posted on my Buyer. I'll be getting him a nice bottle of wine for a house warming gift. Think I'll get one for me, too.

After this I think I'll need it…

Ever had something unexpected happen and you were totally unprepared…or maybe the unexpected happened and you were ready and sailed through it. Please share in the comments below. You never know who it might save from pulling their hair out in a crazy situation.

Until then…

Sonrisas (smiles),
Beth

Beth Heilman is a 20 year Real Estate veteran and Owner/CEO of Red Leopard Marketing, a company specializing in using Social Media Marketing (and some other nifty cool things, too) to help Real Estate Professionals attract, engage and keep their ideal customers. After experiencing the devastating effects the housing market crash had on her and her fellow Real Estate peeps, she has made it her mission to get businesses back on track using innovative marketing strategies with an emphasis on Social Media. Business as usual just doesn't work anymore. Beth has lived in fabulous Las Vegas for 30 years. She's a mom of four great kiddos and a "gramita" to 10 amazing grandmunchkins. Her philosophy in business and in life is "when you do the right things for the right reasons, things will turn out just fine". Know what? She's right…
 

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The Secret To Sales Success Is Connecting With Your Customer

Posted on: October 10th, 2011 by Beth Heilman

Today I want to talk with you about how connecting with your customer is the secret to sales success…in ANY business.

How many times have you gone into a store or (gulp) stepped on a car lot and were met with one of two things? Either you were ignored totally while the clerks of said store gossiped amongst each other or horror of horrors…you stepped out of your car only to be descended on by a school of hungry piranha?


Neither scenario makes you feel like doing business there and the last one I mentioned makes you want to run for the hills!!

What's a person to do when all they want is to get a little help, get some questions answered and, big shock to the merchant, actually buy something.

What ever happened to good, old fashioned sales skills? I'm taking a stand for a sale skills revival and it's gonna start right here.

The first thing any dedicated salesperson needs to do is make a connection with their customer. By that, I mean greet them with a smile, find out their name and what it is they came to you for.

Here's one of the most important secrets…Ask them questions about what it is they need and what it is they WANT (yep, folks there is a difference). And then, here's the most important part…LISTEN.

It's been said many times and in many ways that we all have two ears and one mouth and they should be used in that proportion. In other words we should listen at least twice as much as we talk 🙂

Don't plan what it is you're going to say next. Don't have a laundry list of answers to their objections ready to rapid-fire back to them.

Really listen. Your customers will let you know exactly what it is they want if you'll just listen.

I remember a few years ago I was in the market for an SUV.  I'm an Acura girl from way back( I've had three of 'em, still own two)and I knew I wanted an Acura MDX.

Now here in Las Vegas we have one Acura dealer and I stopped at the car lot one afternoon to take a look. After checking out the inventory for a few minutes, a very well dressed gentleman came out and asked me what I was interested in. I told him. I wanted a late model used MDX ( I rarely buy brand new. Depreciation…ick!!) with low miles, Touring package, loaded. I'd done my homework (hint: your customers have probably been doing their homework, too. That's how they found you).

This guy didn't hear a thing I said. All he kept asking me (several times) was what color did I want. Color? I never mentioned color. Not once. He was fixated on the color thing (I guess women car buyers are supposed to only care what color the car is, huh?) to the point that I finally told him I'd take anything but purple  (there is no such thing as a purple MDX, by the way). At last, in frustration I left the lot, went up the street to the Honda dealership, found exactly what I wanted and I'm still driving it today.

The moral of the story? Customers today are smart, educated and more than a bit skeptical when it comes to parting with their money…especially large sums of money. Can you blame them?

The more you take the time with your prospects and customers to find out about them and what they want, the easier, more fun and more profitable the sales process will be for you and them. Now…got your questions ready and your listening ears on? Get to it!! Happy selling!!

Ever had a nightmare sales experience (or a really good one where everybody came out a winner?) Please share it with everyone below. It's just as important knowing what NOT to do as it is what works. Until next time…make it a wondermous day.

To Your Sales Success,
Sonrisas(smiles),

Beth 🙂

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You Call That Customer Service…Really?

Posted on: September 26th, 2011 by Beth Heilman

Customer service is a subject that should be on the top of the list for every business, but especially when you're a small business or an entrepreneur.

I had something happen to me yesterday that still has me asking, "Huh? You really just said that?"

Here's the skinny. As most of you know, in my "other life" I'm a Realtor and although I don't do it full time, I do still work with referral
clients.

In this particular situation, I was the referral agent for someone who rented a house. Easy transaction. Show the client the house, send them to the agent who has the house listed (with all necessary paperwork in hand), client rents the house, I get paid. No brainer, right?

Not!

My client had been in her new house for over a month and I had still not been paid. Now, sometimes the listing broker doesn't cut the checks until the first of the month and I understand that, but it was now 22 days past the first.

I had called the agent on the other end (the one who listed the house) over a week ago and she assured me she had turned in all the paperwork and given the file to her broker. I believed her.

I called the office where she worked to find out the status of my money and was told by the agent who answered the phone (without her skipping a beat, mind you) that the check had been sent out the previous Friday. Hmmmm…curious, but OK I'll give her the benefit of the doubt.

When a week went by and still no check, I called again. This time I got to the Broker. The conversation we had is the reason I'm writing this.

After giving me all the excuses about how the agent was on bed rest, she was just handed the file, she had no idea about the details on the property, did I know she needed more paperwork from my broker (nope, it was never mentioned) blah, blah, blah, she stated not once, not twice, but a minimum of five times that "she didn't even know I existed". Nice.

I feel warm and fuzzy all over.

Seems she didn't look all the way through her paperwork (which is her responsibility to do) and I had just "fallen through the cracks". Again, her words. Just wants to make you join hands and sing "Kumbaya" don't it? 🙂

Folks, this is anti-customer service at it's finest. All I got was a laundry list of excuses and not once did she apologize. Still haven't
gotten the referral fee either.

What's the lesson to be learned here? Customers are the reason you're in business and should be treated with respect…always. I know, there will be a few turkeys in the bunch, but even turkeys need respect. You never know which one may refer you business down the road.

When dealing with customers and clients, the Golden Rule should always be applied. Treat your customers the way you want to be treated. You may be having a bad hair day, you may have PMS, you may have just had a fight with your spouse, your kid may have used your good shower curtain as a towel to wipe a glob of vaseline off his hands (don't ask 🙂 ).

Whatever is going on in your world, for the most part your customer doesn't care (nor should they). Your job is to serve your customers with the honor and respect they deserve. Your reward will be their loyalty and a nice healthy bank account. Pretty good deal, huh?

Have any anti-customer service experiences you'd like to share? I'd love to hear 'em (keep it clean, please. All expletives will be deleted 🙂 ) Businesses and customers are scared these days and I see customer service slipping big time. Let's decide together to turn that around. It all starts with us. Have a great one…
 

Sonrisas (smiles),
Beth 
 

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