“Our value proposition” is becoming the phrase in sales these days. But what is it? And how do you maximize and use it to increase productivity? A value proposition is the end-result benefit statement of what you offer. Though this seems straightforward, how you have described your value in the past needs to be overhauled to better fit what is happening today.

In an unpredictable economy, more concrete specifics around decreased costs, increasing productivity, and reducing risks and unpredictability are necessary to get attention. You will need to adjust your value proposition statement to make your point most POWERful

POWER up your value proposition by:

Preparing a value proposition that is directly linked to the situation. Generic propositions such as “We save our clients money” can be so much better when it is relevant to them! Take time to research something about this person or company and find a specific value or benefit that will fit them.

Observing how the statement sounds and looks as you practice it on paper and out loud. The word choices and length of what you include may be very different if it is stated verbally or in writing.

Working specific metrics into the value statements whenever possible. Numbers speak!

Explaining the What this means for YOU  is… Spell it out – don’t make them work to make the connections between what you provide and what it will mean to them.

Restating the value throughout your discussion. Don’t dump all the benefits on them in one statement. Sprinkle them in when appropriate – during your introduction, prefacing some of the questions you ask, during your presentation and especially before asking for a decision.

A value proposition is not a one-size-fits-all statement. And overhauling yours to best fit the realities of your customers and prospects within today’s economy will help you continue to move sales through your funnel.

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Filed Under: Sales Productivity
Tags: recession proof sales, Sales Productivity, value proposition, WIIFT

What a way to start our week in sales as this morning’s headlines continue to paint a grim financial picture for the global economy! We don’t have to let the economy dictate OUR success though. Following are tips that will help you make the most out of the next 90 days. The actions you take now are the ones that will set you up for a better 2009.

The foundation of success in ANY economy is having clear goals. A former post gives a simple process for the #1 tip of goal setting. And once you know where you want to go, following are 10 additional tips that you can put into action:

1. Overhaul your value proposition. Think beyond the WHAT of your specific product and service to the value you offer to THIS person, company, situation?
2. Prepare strategically. Research industry trends, use Google alerts to know what is going on with THIS person, company, situation.
3. Maximize every sales contact. Prepare, prepare, prepare. Not only with research on what is going on with them, prepare for the WIIFT. Using a focus on What’s in it for THEM and following a process within the discussion to connect with the person, ask awesome questions, facilitate their understanding of what you do and what it means to them, work through objections and ASK for a decision.
4. Identify alternative prospect streams. Think creatively on who might use your product that currently isn’t. There are some industries that are positively impacted by a slow economy.
5. Give something of value today. Information is free. Find an article, a reprint, a cartoon that you can share and stay in front of them. Give a cup of coffee, a lottery ticket. Find something positive to contact them about.
6. Use the power of one. One more action each day can make a difference later. One more phone call, one more email, one more note sent, one more plan, one more question…you get the idea.
7. Reevaluate your prospect list. Categorize and find out where you are spending your time. Identify actions you can take to move the most likely prospects to the next step in your sales process.
8. Reintroduce yourself to customers you’ve “lost” over the years. Maybe they are ready to return if they were asked. Research what is going on with their company and then reconnect.
9. Ask for referrals. Tap into reciprocity generosity. As you provide something of value its the best time to ask “Who do you know that might benefit from what I do?” It’s amazing what contacts you might make.
10. Tap into social marketing. There may be a whole group of prospects that you can now connect with. There are many webinars and articles about how to use the many tools.

Each of these tips will have its own post in the upcoming weeks. But don’t wait! Good intentions will stall you, find something you can do today.

“You cannot change anything in your life with intention alone, which can become a watered-down, occasional hope that you’ll get to tomorrow. Intention without action is useless.” Caroline Myss

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Filed Under: Uncategorized
Tags: recession proof sales, Sales Tips, sales tips, WIIFT

There are many ways to differentiate yourself from your competitors. And selling yourself in different ways is important in recessionary times. This morning as I was searching the web with my high school senior to verify today is actually Mole Day and he should wear his tie-dyed t-shirt for the celebration, I was reminded how easy differentiation can be.

Ever heard of Mole Day? If you are in chemistry, mathematics or education you may have. National Mole Day commemorates Avogadro’s Number (6.02 x 10^23) – helpful if you need to measure REALLY small masses like scientists do. There are school celebrations, websites on how to celebrate, joke sites and so much more! What does this have to do with business? It’s a great example of how every industry, discipline and sometimes company has unique language, celebrations and measurements that, if we know about, we can use to “connect” with them.

The Internet provides an abundance (I’m sure I could apply Avogrado’s Number to this somehow, but science isn’t my forte) of information on unique celebrations. There is Water Day, Make a Difference Day, Techies Day (which is today too), Bald and Free Day, and so many more! Sites with usual and unusual dates of celebration:

http://www.holidayinsights.com/
http://www.sldirectory.com/cal.html
http://www.calendarzone.com/Holiday/
http://www.brownielocks.com/month2.html

Think about your client base, your industry, your specific customers and what their interests are. Then look for the unusual! What relevant celebrations might make them feel special? Send them a note, a small trinket, something that lets them see that YOU are “in the know”.

Everyone could use a smile, and when you are the one providing it, you do differentiate yourself!

P.S. If you want to send me a note on a special day – July 26th is Nancy Day

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Filed Under: Uncategorized
Tags: customer loyalty, Sales Tips

Selling in a tough economy seems more challenging, doesn’t it? And yet, many people are not feeling the pinch as much as others. How can you ensure you prosper during these times? With action! I am writing a series of articles on what you can do to ensure your sales success isn’t derailed. And I’m not going to make you wait for it all to be done!

This is the first in a series of posts with practical tips and ideas for you to ensure a great end to 2008 and a prosperous 2009. The ideas and tips won’t help you if you don’t take action on them…today!

The first tip is to Set Goals. In the past month many of my “students” have told me that they CAN’T set goals because everything is changing and they aren’t sure what tomorrow holds. What? That is WHY we should set goals! So we don’t get caught in reactionary activities and then don’t get where we want (and deserve) to be. To get us thinking, a quote by Diane Scharf Hunt…”Goals are dreams with deadlines.” Who couldn’t use a little dreaming today?

Following is a goal process to implement right now…really, RIGHT now, take out a piece of paper and writing instrument and make 5 columns on the page:

1. In the left column write at least 5 things you want to happen in the next 60 days. These are outcomes like “I have one meaningful sales appointment each work day.” or “I am closing $___ in business each week.” These are now goal statements.

2. Look at each statement- what actions do you need to take to get there? Write 2-3 actions for each outcome in the 2nd column.

3. Write a specific time/date when you will take that action in the 3rd column. Is it each day? Week? How often?

4. Next identify your reward for completing those actions. Think through the BENEFIT of completing the action that leads you to the goal or outcome. Will you sleep better? Will there be self satisfaction? A treat like a special coffee or candy? Be prepared to “reward” yourself with what you write. Write these in the 4th column.

5. And in the 5th column write the name of a stakeholder for this goal or outcome. A stakeholder is someone that will care about this outcome – it might be a manager, a spouse, a colleague, a friend. You may have different stakeholders for each goal.

Now look at this paper – you have at least 5 goals and a plan of action in the next 60 days to get there! Congratulations.

What’s next? Taking action! The first is to share the goal with your stakeholders as they may be able to:
1. Clarify the outcome.
2. Identify other actions that can get you there quicker or easier.
3. Help you in some way to achieve the goal.
4. Celebrate your progress and ultimate success!
5. Add accountability.

The rest of the tips I share in the next weeks may (and should) become actions for you to add to this Goal paper. For today, this is a GREAT start.

Did you get this completed? Tell us your reaction to having these items on paper!

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Filed Under: Uncategorized
Tags: goal setting, recession proof sales, Sales Tips

What do you think of someone with a slouching posture? Lack of confidence? No energy? Sloppy? Maybe even – oh, a bad back? That can happen in our sales too! If we are not upright and confident we send a message that keeps us from success.

With the slower economy, many business people are feeling less than optimistic about many things. The last thing they need is a slouching business professional calling on them. As we make contact everything about our “posture” matters.

To show you’re no slouch:
1. Prepare to be positive and have positive information to share. This will involve some research about the person, the company, the market they are in, etc. Find SOMEthing that will make them smile.
2. Smile and use an upbeat, genuine tone of voice. You don’t have to fake it. But being doom and gloom won’t get you anywhere.
3. Have questions that move the discussion past today and the economy.
4. Give a gift! A card for a cup of coffee, a movie pass, a bag of M&Ms, an inspirational note- (Compendium offers really inexpensive Thought a Day cards.) How about a lottery ticket??! For very little out-of-pocket you can make a difference.

Any one of these items will posture you as memorable and, more importantly, someone they WANT to do business with. Stand tall and know that a positive approach is a winning approach!

What do you do be avoid being a slouch?

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The updated rec room is nearly done! We have been painting a LOT lately in our house – all to match the fabulous new sofa we found. As I was putting on yet another coat of red (it takes a lot of coats for the red to look good, I discovered) – I considered the layers of paint and the brush strokes, and thought of Matt Donnelly.

Several weeks ago I mentioned Matt, the 84 year old who was still learning and developing his skills in sales. Matt had impressed me with his willingness to travel 1/2 way across the country to spend a day and a half with sales experts. He painted a picture of professionalism for me!

What I didn’t know is that the painting was not yet finished. Jill Konrath, Chief Sales Officer of Selling to Big Companies, sent Matt the blog link! Matt followed up with a wonderful email thanking me for mentioning him and letting me know that he indeed has more to learn. Wow! Another stroke of professionalism added to the canvas he was painting.

And yet, he still wasn’t finished. Matt sent a hand written card as another follow-up and he had his OWN signature postage stamp on it! (See the photo) I realized, the picture Matt is painting is never going to be finished, he is LIVING ART! He continues to refine, add layers and dimension to the impression he leaves.

What an example for each us! If you were an artist and each contact another brush of paint on the canvas to your customers, would they consider you living art or a discard?

What can you do today to paint a masterpiece with your customers?

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Filed Under: Uncategorized
Tags: customer loyalty, Sales

I promised a follow-up to the recent post on the challenge of getting through a phone system at a local furniture store. It was a three strikes, dust in your face, ugly out! And my feedback did get some attention from readers and from Steinhafels!

After publishing the post, I went to the Steinhafels website to send a comment to the President, as the Receptionist had instructed. Of course, there wasn’t a link to “Write the President” – but there was a section to comment and you could direct it to go to different departments. I sent them a link to the post. Hitting Submit, I felt a little relief. Until…The auto-response on the screen said “Your request has been submitted successfully. A representative from our company will be contacting you within the next couple of days.” What? A couple of days?

Fortunately, Lynn S., in customer service contacted me the next morning. Her email was polite, and included an apology and a statement of what they are doing to fix the problem. Great! Then I decided to call Linda personally. I got her voicemail promptly without being stuck in a loop. And she called me back to review the situation. Since she was receptive to the feedback, I let her know that the auto-response added to the irritation the night before. I was grateful she didn’t make me wait a couple of days, but at the time of sending a complaint, reading it might be a few days was NOT what I needed.

Linda did tell me that “we receive over 300 messages a day, and we try to get back to everyone with 24 hours.” She went on to say the message was to make sure they could meet that. Not exactly the answer that made me feel better. I explained, that in the interest of helping them, it is something that they should consider adjusting. Linda said she did forward the information to the Customer Service Manager. She then helped me to arrange the pick-up of our sofa and ended the call nicely.

Okay, I thought. Not bad…but are they really going to fix this? A few hours later Kevin Polaski, the Service Department Manager followed up. He left a great message about wanting to talk with me because they are working on a customer focused initiative, apologized and he wanted to hear anything else I might share. Kevin also personally greeted my husband at pick-up time.

We didn’t connect on the phone until today and Kevin gave me the information on the actions Steinhafels has been implemented for customer focus. Not because of my note, but works in progress. Somehow I seemed to have called during the transition. He again was apologetic, assured me they are working on this, and helped me with the missing coasters for the sofa – another story in itself.

To reinforce what has happened with me and Steinhafels, I was reminded of a study…

THE COST OF AN UNRESOLVED COMPLAINT

This study conducted by the Washington, DC based Technical Assistant Research Programs, Inc. found some interesting data. They found that:

1. For every customer who bothers to complain, there are 26 others who remain silent.
2. The average “wronged” customer will tell 8-16 people. Over 10% will tell more than 20 people.
3. 91% of unhappy customers will never do business with you again.
4. If you make an effort to remedy customers’ complaints, 82-95% will stay with you.
5. It costs about 5 times more to attract a new customer than to keep an old one.

So, with the complaints from last week, Kevin and Steinhafels did things right since then. They were prompt in getting back to me, have taken steps to resolve this for me and others in the future and valued my input. My level of satisfaction is higher now than it would have been had everything gone right in the first place.

And…it hasn’t cost them anything but time. Off-line some have asked “what are you going to get for your troubles?” I never even thought of asking! I didn’t need a discount or free item – I needed to be taken seriously, listened to, and assured they were fixing the problem. Great sales and service doesn’t mean you need to give stuff away.

My reason for the post last week was for all us to learn how easy it can be to make customer contact harder than it needs to be. And Maggi F. let me know that posting a comment to this blog wasn’t easy either! So, we are remedying that situation. Until then, if you click on Comments below the post, it will take you to the Comment screen for you to post. If you don’t want to create an account, you can click on Anonymous and it will submit without further information.

How about you? In what situations have you done the right thing and therefore created a more loyal customer?

P.S. We do LOVE our new teen-friendly sofa!

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Filed Under: Uncategorized
Tags: customer loyalty, customer loyalty, customer service, unresolved complaint

I often observe sales and service professionals who are so busy and who believe that multi-tasking during phone calls, conferences, while driving, etc. makes them more productive. My friend, Kelly, calls this “wearing your Busy Badge”. Does this sound like you? I know it can be me. That is why it was interesting to research information on the productivity of us busy people.

I found Dr. Edward Hallowell, a Massachusetts-based psychiatrist, who has written a book titled Crazy Busy. I love that title because it is something I hear often from friends, clients and colleagues. In fact, I have two emails from people in the last week using that term…”Sorry for this or that, I’ve been Crazy Busy!”

Dr. Hallowell gives some interesting information for us to consider… he says multi-tasking is a “mythical activity in which people believe they can perform two or more tasks simultaneously.” In an article, he described a new condition, “Attention Deficit Trait.” ADT is “purely a response to the hyperkinetic environment in which we live,” writes Hallowell, and its hallmark symptoms mimic those of ADD. Whew, I thought I needed Ritalin to get through the day.

“Never in history has the human brain been asked to track so many data points,” Hallowell argues, and this challenge “can be controlled only by creatively engineering one’s environment and one’s emotional and physical health.” Limiting multi-tasking is essential.

Mutli-tasking affects our economy as well! Jonathan B. Spira, an analyst at the business research firm Basex, estimates that extreme multi-tasking costs the U.S. economy $650 billion a year in lost productivity. How can that be? Researchers at the University of California at Irvine monitored interruptions among office workers; they found that workers took an average of twenty-five minutes to recover and return to their original task after an interruption such as a phone call or answering e-mails. Twenty five minutes! Even if the phone call was 2-3 minutes – this is nearly a half hour of lost productivity.

Now the big question is how can we minimize multi-tasking – and yes it can be done!!!

Two sources for ideas for these ideas:

1. The Power of Focus for Women, a book by Fran and Les Hewitt. Many of the ideas are not just for women. Les adds a man’s perspective at the end of each chapter.

2. Business advisor and author, Timothy Ferris, The 4-Hour Workweek. Now his philosophy is definite Gen-Y – and many of us baby boomers consider it radical. And yet, as I read through his ideas and blog at the fourhourworkweek.com there were several very practical ideas I can implement in addition to some from the Hewitts.

Anti-Multi-tasking ideas to consider:

1. Outsource what you can – no matter what your income, there are things that take you more time and energy than are worth the cost to have someone else do them. It is amazing how inexpensively some things can get done. Each time I add an outsource I think, “Why did I ever do that for this long?” Virtual Assistants are so reasonable and can help so much!

2. Prioritize each morning. And then address the most important first.

3. Set time aside for you and the things that you are passionate about. At the Sales Expert Summit last month, Danita Bye said that “just because I am competent in something, doesn’t mean I am passionate about it.” If you aren’t passionate about something, why are you trying to multi-task with it.

4. Delegate. This is different from Outsourcing. Delegating means it is someone at home or work that you can assign a responsibility or activity do…and not pay them extra to do it!

5. Minimize the number of times your emails are received. Both on your computer and on the hand-held. A colleague, Alice Kemper, scheduled hers to only be received every 60 minutes. we thought she was nuts. But guess what? She now is more in control of her time and schedule. Unless we have life-or-death matters being emailed to us, why do we need to be interrupted every 3-5 minutes?

For all you multi-taskers, this is a lot to consider. And it will be great to hear how you either believe your Crazy Busy schedule works for you. Or additional ideas for reducing the amount of multi-tasking going on!

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Filed Under: Uncategorized
Tags: focus, multi-tasking, productivity

As a consumer AND sales and service expert, I can be a discriminating buyer. I LOVE to buy from sales professionals who understand that the best way to earn my loyalty is to give me great service, ask me questions and make the experience quick and easy.

Tonight my family shopped for furniture for the family room that was unplanned – I won’t take space to mention too much about how hard BIG teenage boys are on furniture when they can’t be seen. As we shopped we had the pleasure of working with Julie K. at Steinhafels in Greendale, WI. She greeted us well, asked us how she could help and then pointed us in the right direction. It wasn’t an easy process, trying to get teens and parents to agree, but she was patient, left us at the right moments for discussion, found information we needed outside the norm and actually did ask for a decision!

My husband wanted to think about this unplanned purchase overnight. Julie agreed and gave us her card and her schedule. On the ride home, we decided that we should just order the sofa. It was perfect, in our price range and we didn’t want to spend another evening or day shopping.

This is where the story turns. I dialed the phone number on the business card and was sent to the “corporate” office. And heard the familiar recorded message “If you know your party’s extension, you can dial it at anytime.” Yeah! Julie had written her extension on the card! So I dialed it. And was circled back to the opening message of the corporate office again…I dialed again (figuring I dialed in error)…and back to the corporate office message again…dialed…again the message…pressed “0″…and again the corporate message.

Of course, I figured I was doing something wrong, so I hung up and dialed again. And had the same experience. Then I dialed the direct line instead of the 800 number, and was circled round and round again.

Next? I got on line to research where else I might buy the sofa we liked so much. They had now made it too difficult for me to buy! But could not find it anywhere.

So, I took out the phone book and AHA! a different phone number for the specific store. But…it connected to the SAME corporate message. This time the “0″ finally worked and I got someone live. Yeah, “Could you please connect me with Julie K.?” A very long pause and then…”Um, do you know what store she is at?” By now, over 26 minutes had passed and my irritation was high. “Greenfield”, I said. And when she transferred me? Yup! Back to a recorded message and when I dialed the extension, I got another garbled message that it could not be transferred and then it disconnected.

What??!!! I called back the phone number to get the live person and explained to her what happened and that I was extremely irritated, that I knew it wasn’t her fault, but that they had to do something about this phone system. I then said I wanted to send a letter to the President to explain and she told me to go the website and contact customer service. Then she said “I know its frustrating…I’m sorry, I will stay on the phone in conference to make sure you are connected.” Okay, now we’re talking.

Until, I got a person at the correct store and when I explained to her that it had been nearly 30 minutes since I started this process, she told me “I know, the phone system is awful and my family can’t even get in touch with me!” What??!!! What do I care about her family getting in touch with her? I am a customer trying to make a nice size purchase! She did then transfer me to lovely Julie who was apologetic and said that she has commented on the phone situation weekly because it drives customers away and they are not supposed to give out the direct store number.

She then very nicely took my order and I let her know that I will be contacting the president. And she said again she was sorry.

Count how many times I explained my frustration and how many employees agreed. THREE! That is a big O-U-T in baseball! And while all were sympathetic, no one took ownership to fix it for future customers.

Being in the business of helping organizations with sales and service productivity, I will contact the President and try to help them understand the significance of this inconvenience to their bottom line. They only got my sale because I did not have another option to get what we wanted.

Think about your company – what are the barriers to a customer getting to someone to help them? Is the process difficult enough that many (or even some) will say “forget it!”?

You might also be thinking “you should have hung up!” And, yes I would have if it hadn’t been the one sofa we all agreed on and I wasn’t going to spend hours more shopping. I could have never guessed how long getting through would take.

I’ll let you know what kind of progress I make with the company. Let’s see how long it will take to get to someone live tomorrow.

Comments and advice welcome!

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Filed Under: Uncategorized
Tags: customer loyalty, customer service, Sales

I grew up in a large family run by a hard working, strong-willed Italian mother. Lots of noise, lots of love and no tolerance for sitting around. No wonder the following Italian Proverb caught my attention! “Often he who does too much does too little.”

We were taught that keeping busy and working hard were what mattered. Now, I do attribute a lot of my good attributes to Mom, but the message on keeping busy wasn’t her most sound advice. I am always busy and doing a LOT. Years ago I named what I do as “flitting” – like a bee who is on the move and sipping nectar from one flower to another. What I realized is that while flitting does allow me to stay busy, it does not allow me to be as productive as possible.

What does work?

1. Making a list of priorities. The daily list is made once a day. The weekly list once a week. Items on the lists include To Do actions and other priorities to keep in focus.

2. Having boundaries. It is easy to get caught in the “got a minute?” trap. Think back, when someone asks if you have a minute, is it really a minute? It’s okay to ask if you can get back to them, or ask for a minute to wrap up your thought, email note, etc. so that you can then focus on the other person.

3. Setting goals. I don’t consider these the same as a list of priorities or actions. Goals are outcomes that you want to work toward in some future time period. The actions to reach the goals will end up on your priority and To Do lists.

4. Pausing. Pause and take a deep breath which will also allow you to glance at that priority list to see where time should be spent.

5. Slow down on the response time. Set emails to be received every 60 minutes. When working on the computer and the box pops up with a new email, my mind flits right over to see what it is. The discipline to let those go is easier when they aren’t loading every 3 minutes!

Focusing on what is important will allow you to be more productive and accomplish so much more. Busy-ness without a focus may keep us looking productive, but does not allow us to be efficient. Sorry Mom.

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Filed Under: Uncategorized
Tags: focus, priorities