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Posts Tagged ‘business relationship skills’

The Number One Speed Bump to An Entrepreneur’s Success

Posted on: October 24th, 2011 by Beth Heilman

While it's no secret that going into business for yourself can be a challenge ( heck, it can be downright scary), but the number one speed bump on the road to success is one itty bitty word…sales.

For some folks, just the thought of having to sell something to someone makes them break out in a cold sweat like they have the latest strain of the flu.

Why is this? As someone who made the bulk of her living as a Real Estate Agent for 20 years, and making commission-only at that, the idea of helping a customer solve a problem with a product I represent makes me feel warm and fuzzy all over. Selling them what they need is actually serving them.

To withhold what I know will help them solve a pressing problem or make them feel better actually feels selfish…now.

There was a time however when I could completely relate to how my sales team and coaching clients feel.

Sales was scary. There were sales trainers teaching techniques that were in a word…manipulative. It felt unnatural to memorize 20 different closes (remember the Ben Franklin close?).

Today, sales is all about building relationships and to that I say, "Yipee!!"

For entrepreneurs that should be a breath of fresh air.

Most entrepreneurs are "people people" and creating and nurturing relationships is what we do best. Things change though when that "sales" words gets tacked to it.

It's time to stop all the weirdness and get comfortable with the idea of serving your customers by getting them involved with your product or service.

Want to feel comfortable with the sales process and smooth out the speedbump? Put the focus on serving your customer with what you have to offer and take the focus off feeling like you're doing something "to them". You'll succeed when it becomes about them and what they want. The result will show themselves in happy, repeat customers; a sense of pride and satifaction is your business and oh, a healthy bank account.

How do you feel about the selling process in your business? Are you satisfied with it or are there things you want to change? Leave a comment below and let's talk. Until then…Make it  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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Your Ideal Client: Narrow Your Focus For A Broader Reach

Posted on: July 28th, 2011 by Beth Heilman

As small business owners, it makes sense to reach out to as many potential customers as we humanly can.The reasoning behind this is that the more people we can see, talk to or get to visit us the more we’ll sell, right?

Well…no.

It sounds counter-intuitive I know, but not everyone is your customer. That’s a good thing…really.

Let me ask you something…

Is it easier to write, video or speak a marketing message that tries to attract the attention of a huge group of people? Or is it easier to concentrate on a very specific problem that a specific group of people is having and speak to that.

Ideal Client

I’m thinkin’ it’s the second one. Here’s an example…

Years ago I was very active in a Direct Sales Company that sold skin care products. The products were fabulous (still are) and the general feeling of the powers-that-be of the company was that it should be a no-brainer to sell because “everyone has skin”.

Yes, everyone DOES have skin, but not everyone wants the sames results for their skin.

Some is dry, some is oily, some has break-outs, some is getting kinda crinkly around the edges. You get the idea, right?

The best and most effective way to sell in any business (yes, I said sell. It’s not a bad word) is to narrow your focus and identify the customers you want to work with and help the most. Direct all your marketing towards them.

Talk to them like you’d talk with a friend over lunch and see how easy (and fun) it is to build a relationship with them that will keep them a customer for years to come. Narrowing your focus won’t cut down on the number of people you serve. It will strengthen your relationship with the right people…your ideal customers.

How do you figure out who your Ideal Client is and where do you find them? Stay tuned for the next post and I’ll tell ya 🙂

In the mean time, your input is really important to me. Leave a comment below and let me know how I can help you in your business. Til next time…

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Selling By Intuition

Posted on: May 14th, 2011 by Beth Heilman

Intuition. What is it exactly and how can you apply it to your sales career? The dictionary.com definition of intuition is

–noun
1. direct perception of truth, fact, etc., independent of any reasoning process; immediate apprehension.
2. a fact, truth, etc., perceived in this way.
3. a keen and quick insight.

I define it as an inner “knowing”. In other words it’s not a head knowledge, but a “heart knowledge“.

Selling By Intuition

Selling By Intuition

Have you ever been working with a customer and they were saying all the right things, agreeing that what you have to offer is perfect for them and you’re thinking to yourself ka-ching…payday!! But, something deep inside you is saying that something’s “out”, something’s not quite right. Intuition…

You keep going, you proceed with your best close. They follow through and make the purchase only to call you the next day and cancel. Rats!! So close…but were you really?

Were you listening to them with your head or listening with your heart during the sales process? There is a difference.

Even if you tell yourself you don’t have a good intuition, you really do. Everyone does, some folks have just developed it more than others; that’s all.

So how do you develop your “sales intuition”? First, you have to acknowledge that you have it (you do).

Second, think of a time when there was something you “just knew”…

Maybe you were driving on the way to an appointment and all of a sudden you got the urge to turn left instead of turning right like you always do. At first you’re curious why the urge to make a detour was so strong, then you may get aggravated that now your trip is going to take longer. Later you find out there was a traffic accident on the route you were planning to take and traffic was backed up for hours.  Taking the detour meant you made it to your appointment on time. Hmmm…

Maybe it’s a phone call you know you need to make. You’ve been thinking of the person you had to call and then, brrrringgg.

The phone rings and it’s that person you were thinking of on the other end. Spooky? No. Intuition? Yes.

So how do you apply intuition in your sales career?

When you’re asking your customer what their wants and needs are, listen for the answers with your heart and not your head.

What I mean by that is, do the answers they’re giving you “feel” right? Do the words they’re saying, the tone of their voice and their body language all match up? Is there a real connection and flow to the interaction?

If so, great. Keep moving forward to the close.

If not, relax. Be patient, ask more questions, trust your intuition (your inner voice) and really listen. You know if what you have to offer is right for them and if it is, they do too. When you’re being your authentic self and letting your intuition guide you, you’ll always do what’s in the best interest of your customer (and you).

Develop your sales intuition muscle and sales success will naturally follow.

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Relationship Selling and The Power Of The Truth

Posted on: September 8th, 2010 by Beth Heilman

These crazy economic times we’re in call upon those of us in business to especially mindful of Relationship Selling; customer service, trust, honesty and integrity. To illustrate the point, here’s a story that happened to me.
Relationship Selling
The other day when I was checking around,getting prices for a repair job on my car that was
hit in a rear end collision.

Since the other person’s insurance company will be paying for repairs, I wanted to get a couple of opinions so they would know I wasn’t trying to “pull one over on them”.

Let me start by saying that I have an Acura SUV. It’s my third Acura, so I know they’re not cheap to fix.

The first place I went gave me an estimate of over $1700, just to replace a muffler. That doesn’t take into account the body damage. I thought that was a little pricey so I called another muffler place for a second opinion.

The answer I got is the reason I’m writing this now.

Now, I know my car and I know the price of the parts are a little steep. When I called the second muffler shop (mind you I already had the first estimate) The guy who answered the phone quoted me a price off the top of his head of “around $150”. No asking anyone, no checking in the computer for the part number or price.

I reminded him of the make and model of my car and he then rethought his answer and said “well, maybe then double that to around $300).

Still not convinced, I stopped by the shop later that day to get a written estimate for the insurance company.

My car was put on the lift and examined. They called the parts supplier and the final estimate was over $1500!!

Now, back to point of the story. When a client or customer asks something of us, it’s because they consider us an expert.

They’ve come to us because they need the product or service we offer.

Nothing, but nothing, will kill business faster than pretending to be an expert and giving someone an answer when you don’t know all the facts.

Any business person that gives a customer an answer that “sounds good” Any amount of trust that had been established is now gone. Even if the customer still chooses to do business with that company, they’re going to be suspicious of anything they’re told.

Long term business success is based on trust and honesty.

We’re the one’s working in a certain establishment or running our business. We know more than they do, right? And if we’re not sure of something, the last thing we should do is make something up. That’s what this kid at the muffler shop did.

Rather that look up the information if he wasn’t sure, or ask someone who had more experience, he told me something that even I, as a non-mechanic knew wasn’t true.

Did I go in and get the estimate anyway? Yes, they are a national chain that I knew the insurance company would recognize.

Did I believe the actual technician who looked at my car? Yes, because he showed me (in black and white) the price for the parts. He gave me the information I needed to make an informed decision and didn’t just quote something off the top of his head.

All our customers want is some understanding and honesty. They’re not asking for perfection. People are a whole lot more receptive to the not-so-great news (like the price to fix my car) when they’re being consulted with and not talked at. That’s relationship selling at it’s best.

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