Posted by Deborah Chaddock Brown on December 25, 2009 under General | 
Just a minute ago my first born was this precious, innocent child filled with excitement for the season.
Everything viewed through his young eyes was fresh and new. He wasn’t cynical or skeptical; he took things at face value.
Remember when we were young and couldn’t wait to close our eyes and go to sleep because we knew the next morning would be Christmas and there would be surprises and great joy at every turn?
Remember when your business was young and you had that same sense of excitement and innocence about the possibilities?
Well, I don’t know about you – but my kids are no longer those young innocents believing in all the secrets and excitement of Santa. But we still manage to create MAGIC together.
We continually look for ways to make it FUN. I have found that it is the simpliest pleasures that bring the most joy.
Our customers feel the same way. It is the simple touches – remembering their name or how they take their coffee. Their favorite product line or their favorite booth in the restaurant. Or just greeting them with pleasure in your voice so they know they are valued.
The other day I went to a nursing home with several other friends to sing carols and it was our silly jingle bells, Santa hats and joyful spirit that brought smiles to the resident’s faces (it sure wasn’t our singing).
Here’s hoping that today and every day you can find the simple joys to bring to your life and the lives of your customers. It really does make a difference!
I wish you and yours a wonderful Christmas day. May it be filled with all of the fun, simple pleasures of your youth.
Posted by Deborah Chaddock Brown on December 21, 2009 under Communication, Connecting Moments, Websites |
One of the primary services of my company AllWrite Ink is providing content for websites that connects with the reader. I always find it interesting that most website content focuses on the company; their history, their products and their services. I understand that the company wants to put their best foot forward and reassure the reader they have what the reader is looking for – but does that build a relationship?
The purpose of your website should be to get the reader to take a predetermined action: pick up the phone, send you an email or fill out a contact form.
When it comes to building relationships on your website with the reader you have to first:
- Get their attention
- Show them you understand their problem/pain
- Convince them to read beyond your headline
- Inspire them to take the action
We only have 3-7 seconds to grab the reader’s attention once they land on our website page. So how do you get their attention?
- Start with a question. Questions require an answer and if the question hits a chord with the reader, they’ll find themselves answering the question and reading the next line. bonus!
- Use short sentences, lots of bullet points – make it easy and fast to read the most important points
- Use BENEFIT STATEMENTS – don’t talk about your line of widgets, instead talk about the difference they’ll experience because they’ve used your widgets: a life that is better, faster, cheaper, better looking
- INVITE them to pick up the phone and call you – MAKE IT EASY TO CONTACT YOU
The real relationship building comes when you have actual contact with the reader. That’s when you can ask additional questions, uncover needs and make recommendations. It is that relationship development that begins the process of building trust in the mind of the prospect and hopefully turns them into a customer.
So does your website capture the attention of the reader and inspire them to call you so you can start to the process of building a relationship?
Visit Ohio Web Writer for a free web paper on the 5 Elements of a Website People Read. Make sure your website is doing its part to capture the reader’s attention and get them to pick up the phone so you can do your magic.
Posted by Deborah Chaddock Brown on December 18, 2009 under Customer Moments, Missed Moments, Resolving Conflict |
I’m struggling to regain my composure. I have just been made to feel more stupid than dirt and it isn’t a feeling I enjoy.
You may have read that I joined a gym recently - happy one week anniversary to me – and I’m using this TechnoGym thingie that keeps my workouts on a computer chip. I insert the handy-dandy thumb drive into each piece of equipment and it tells me the seat height, number of reps and weight I should lift. At the end of the session, I put my thumb drive into a main computer and it tells me how many pounds I lifted (15,680, thank you very much) and gives me more charts and graphs than I care to look at.
But what happens when you have to use one of the old fashion, non-computer pieces of equipment because the fancy stuff isn’t available? Well, that’s what happened to me yesterday and today. It isn’t a prob – I just used the regular equipment, but it messed up the computer thumb drive.
So today I decided to ask for help to fix the problem. The staff member shall remain nameless (but it sounds like TROY) lolly gagged his way across the gym in my direction, the tortoise could have beat him and still had time for a movie, and doesn’t make eye contact but mumbles something.
I hate mumblers.
I am already frustrated but I know it is human error, my human error - I just want a work around. Show me how to get credit for the sweat I just left all over the bike.
He put my thumb drive in the machine.
“You didn’t do the exercise.”
“Yes. I did. I already said that. I just did it on a different machine.”
“Well, it says here you didn’t do it.”
“Y..e..s..I know that. That is the problem. How do I get credit for it?”
“You can’t because you didn’t do the exercise.”
I am about to learn a new exercise called strangulation, but I take a deep breath. I decide to take a different tack. Because here’s the deal – if I don’t figure out how to get credit it won’t allow me to access my other workouts.
“How can I get out of this computer mode?”
“You can’t until you do the exercise.”
URG.
So, what did I do? I got on the Techno bike and RE-DID my exercise so the computer would feel better.
He came over and said. So did you figure it out?
AHHHHHHHH.
I felt like he thought I was stupid. I felt like the computer thought I was stupid and now my legs are like rubber because I did the exercise twice just to make the computer feel better. How stupid is that?
And guess what? I AM PAYING FOR THIS!
I am not a happy customer right now. I am not happy that I paid EXTRA for this computer support and I definitely don’t feel like I experienced good customer service. I limped out of there bordering between anger and tears over a stupid exercise.
How often do we follow the rules and policies to a tee and make our customers suffer the consequences? When we talk down to our customers, use company jargon, don’t listen carefully to the issue we run the risk of making our customers feel stupid. What customers wants to pay their HARD EARNED MONEY to feel stupid?
Not me.
Posted by Deborah Chaddock Brown on December 16, 2009 under Customer Moments, Missed Moments, making a difference |
I was reading Leslie Ungar’s monthly newsletter from Electric Impulse Communications - always a great read but one of her Lessons this month really hit home:
Retail – In Person and Email
This particular boutique emails to me their monthly newsletter and sales announcements. I assume the purpose of Internet marketing is to create sales. I walked into the small store. One person was behind the desk, I was no more than five feet away and talking to her when she picked up the phone and called a vendor, totally ignoring my presence.
Lesson Learned: One way to create sales is to get people into the store. The marketing worked, I was there in person. Yet, a phone call appeared to be more important than engaging me in even trivial conversation. All the marketing in the world will not succeed if people do not transform prospects into buyers. It is not the job of the prospect to buy it is the job of the seller to sell. Are you taking advantage of face to face time to engage prospects and clients?
Here is a perfect example of marketing driving the traffic and a sales person dropping the ball. I used to have a franchisee who said to me “you bring them to the door and I’ll close them.”
That’s fine and good, but if the sales associates don’t understand the importance of those first 30 seconds, then you’ve missed the opportunity to make a difference. We only get one chance at a first impression and Leslie’s first impression clearly isn’t positive in this example.
Do your associates understand the value of a smile, eye contact and a quick hello.
In this case, the associate could have done both: greeted Leslie warmly and answered the phone. It isn’t an either/or proposition.
Does your marketing drive traffic?
How well do your associates handle that first make or break moment with the customer?
Posted by Deborah Chaddock Brown on December 15, 2009 under General, marketing |
I can remember sitting around the executive table at Pearle Vision with the competition ads in front of us. We would scour over their wording and product focus and even their color scheme to see how we could position our message to stand out.
Then one time and gosh I wish I could remember who said this – we threw out the competition material and decided to look with a fresh, clean slate. “If we only compare ourselves to the competition then we force our thinking into a rigid box. We need to just compare our performance and company to ourselves and then begin to think outside the box.”
I just joined a gym. Yes – I’m paying good money for all the pain I am in. I look around the room at people 20 years older than I am lifting weights, working out on the machines going a mile a minute and it is hard not to be intimidated. But the trainer that helped me get started gave me some great advice.
“Don’t look at them. Don’t compare yourself to them. Don’t look and see what someone else is doing, just focus on your own progress.”
And I am making progress. I can see it in my clothes and on the scale, I can feel it in my knees and I am enjoying a greater sense of energy than I’ve had in the past, but it is hard not to compare yourself to others.
When we compare ourselves to others we do so without all of the information. We don’t know their strategy or what they have planned for the future – we can only see the tip of the iceburg and therefore in our comparison can make invalid assumptions. Whereas, when we only look at our own performance for comparison, we do have all of the information. We know about the great margin discounts we received from a supplier or we understand the unique needs of our customer or the fact that we just invested money in a customer service training program for our sales staff. We can see what the results are based on the effort and focus we put forth.
So rather than comparing yourself to the competition – hold the mirror up and ask yourself a few simple questions:
- How am I doing based on the customer’s expectations?
- Has my referral or repeat business increased?
- What percentage of my customers are returning customers?
- Has my average transaction increased?
- Have we improved relationships with our vendors?
- Has the number of complaints dwindled?
- Has the number of compliments increased?
- How is the employee morale versus last year at this time?
Just like Mom always said “keep your eyes on your own plate” when I’d complain that my brother didn’t have to eat as many peas as I did – we need to just focus our attention on improving business based on our own performance rather than that of the competition.
What benchmarks do you have for your business? How do you compare and measure success?
Posted by Deborah Chaddock Brown on December 14, 2009 under Perceptions |
Ray Romano of Everybody Loves Raymond fame, premiered a new show on TNT last week and the second episode airs tonight. Men of a Certain Age.
It follows the life of three 40/50 something guys and gives the viewer an insight into how they think.
My best friend couldn’t wait for the show to air, being a man of a certain age himself, and so I watched as well. We chatted the next day – our review?
He LOVED IT.
I thought it was a show about three pathetic guys who didn’t know how to SUCK IT UP and deal.
hmmmm.
So I had lunch with a business acquaintance today and the show came up in conversation. He also is a man of a certain age and LOVES THE SHOW.
“Finally a show that shows how I am thinking and what I deal with.”
As I watched the show I kept waiting for one of the men to be a shining example – a role model. I look at my BFF and don’t see someone who has given up like the characters on the show.
“There are tons of shows and movies about women of a certain age,” he told me. “Now finally there is one for me.”
So is this a difference in perspective? Is it a gender thing?
And how does this relate to our customers?
If you’ve had sales training you’ve most likely taken the Myers Briggs analysis (or something like it) in which you’ve learned your personality type. You’ve then been taught how to analyze someone else’s type and then use a modified sales technique to effectively connect with them.
We also know that men and women are motivated differently and therefore it requires perhaps a different approach with women than with men. In fact, there is a book In Women We Trust, which outlines the difference in marketing to women and the fact that they influence 80% of all purchases.
But what happens when your view of a circumstance is so vastly different from the person you are having a conversation with?
The reviews of the Men of a Certain Age are through-the-roof FANTASTIC. So is it just me? Is it because I’m a woman? Are the writers of the show only interested in attracting the men pictured in the show and thumbing their noses at a younger audience and the female population?
As a company do you craft your message to such a targeted niche that you turn off 50% of the population? Is that okay with you?
I don’t know if there is a correlation here – but when I find a product (the television show) and two such vastly different opinions about the same product – it makes me wonder how that information can be used constructively to help others in business.
So what do you think? about the show? about gender messaging? Or am I on an island alone on this topic?
UPDATE: After watching last night’s episode I must now revise my opinion of Men of a Certain Age. Wow – powerful, dynamic relationship development. Yes – there is some back bone. I am now curious to see how this develops.
Posted by Deborah Chaddock Brown on under Customer Moments, First Impressions, Perceptions |
In the recent edition of Cosmo there is an article that talks about the Six Things Guys Notice in the First Six Seconds. There are a few obvious answers: smile, hair and cleavage but also a couple surprises: makeup, skin and your purse.
The article reports that guys make certain assumptions about you by what they notice in the first six seconds. For example:
Are all women who haul around big purses—in other words, cavernous rucksacks stuffed full of old receipts, emergency sweaters, and half-used bottles of hand sanitizer—high maintenance? Maybe not. But guys will go ahead and assume they are anyway.
I heard about this article on the radio this morning and a caller said – I have a large bag but it was a gift. Another caller said their purse was big because it contained items they might need in an emergency – they wanted to be prepared. The third caller said she had items in her purse so that she could look good for her man.
The DJ said “it doesn’t matter – it is the PERCEPTION the guy has about you.”
Ahhhh reality isn’t really a factor.
So let’s bring this around to our customer. What assumptions do our customers make about us and the products/services we provide and our ability to solve their problem? Are their perceptions based in reality? Would we be surprised?
Customers make assumptions from the moment they pull into our parking lot or click on our Home Page. They look around, and may not even be aware, but begin to make judgements about our ability to suit their needs from the first greeting.
Kevin Stirtz offers some suggestions for making a great first impression.
Daryl Logullo has written an article talking about how the difference between perception and reality can negatively impact your word of mouth reputation.
Bottom line – you have to keep an on-going, open line of communication with your customers to ensure their perception of you as a person, your company and your products and services are the same as what you believe them to be.
How do you measure your customer’s first impressions of you and your business?
Posted by Deborah Chaddock Brown on December 10, 2009 under Connecting Moments, Listening |
We did a book swap at Boardroom this morning and I picked up the book 5 Minutes with the VITO - a Sandler Sales book. VITO stands for Very Important Top Officer and is the one person in the company that can say YES. The prospect every sales person longs to meet and build a relationship with.
The book talks about walking and talking the same way a VITO does so that you are peers – co-conspirators, if you will on a journey to achieve the goals the customer has set.
Part of this sales process is understanding the “pain” the customer has. Not a new concept; I often talk about understand the customer’s expectations and needs so that you can find the solutions that will make their life easier, better, faster, more profitable.
But this book divides the “pain” into three parts:
- The problem itself
- The reasons for the problem
- The impact of the problem
I’ve always just thought of the problem and the solution. However, adding the impact allows you to attach a dollar amount to the pain. Understanding the reasons behind the problem gives you an opportunity to point out different alternatives/solutions.
When you divide the problem/pain up like this what becomes clear is the GAP between what they currently have and what they long for.
Someone in Boardroom talked about a presenter who spoke at a luncheon and they referred to the entrepreneur’s sweet spot as “owning the gap.” If you can understand what separates the customer’s pain from their goal – the gap – and can offer a service or product that removes that gap; you have the opportunity to be the hero in the eyes of the customer. Or the VITO – the person who can truly appreciate the value you bring.
So how do you identify the gap?
You have to ask questions. You have to learn about your prospect – their customer – their industry – their operational process so that you can uncover the opportunities (gap) and find a way to insert yourself.
Matt Alderton offers suggestions on how to gather that information in his article Finding Out what your Customer Wants.
Last month I wrote a post on understanding customer needs.
Posted by Deborah Chaddock Brown on December 9, 2009 under Customer Moments |
I was reading Investor’s Business Daily last Friday (December 4) and reporter Marilyn Much was sharing retailer’s results from the Thanksgiving weekend shopping.
75% of retailers missed their goals.
The general consensus was that consumers have a lot going on right now that doesn’t necessarily equate to holiday shopping like it has in the past:
- 10.2% are out of work (a 26 year high)
- consumers are feeling a lot of pressure from a variety of angles
- they are focused on the deals – not necessarily driven by relationships or loyalty
- just purchasing basic necessities
- looking to purchase items at low price points
With 16 shopping days left until Christmas – is there a strategy you can adapt that will meet the frugal needs of today’s consumer?
Now – more than ever – companies who UNDERSTAND THEIR CUSTOMER will benefit. If they get in the heads of their customers they will be more likely to spotlight those products and services that will meet the price points and basic needs of those shopping.
You are hearing many companies that are getting Back to Basics with their selling strategies and the same can be said for our customer. Look to your offerings for those items that are at lower price points and make it easy for customers to continue to choose you this holiday season:
- Look for less expensive items to offer and strive to sell many of little rather than few of much
- In the spirit of “back to basics” what do you offer that reminds customers of simpler, better times – homemade items, programs where customers are hands on or can use their creativity
- Experiences – can you offer an experience that allows your customer to join with friends and family to create a memory rather than a high priced gift that may soon be forgotten
- Take basic essentials and create clever packaging – like piecing together the components of an Italian dinner into a clever gift basket or all that they’d need to bake cookies with their children in an inexpensive gift tin
With the economic year this country has experienced, it really shouldn’t be a surprise that consumers are not ready to jump in with both feet and charge their cards to the limit. Frankly, their credit cards are already at the limit with basic food and gas purchases.
So how are you changing sales strategies this December to meet the more frugal needs of your customer? Can you share a success story?
Posted by Deborah Chaddock Brown on December 7, 2009 under Customer Moments, Internet Connections, Trust |
Do you ever read Consumer Reports? I know that when I plan to make a large purchase, I’ll research before heading to the store (or car lot) by looking for a recent issue of Consumer Reports for the scoop. But they don’t just research the large ticket items.
I was doing a little work at the library yesterday (enjoying a wonderful holiday flute/guitar concert) and noticed the December issue of the Consumer Reports. The magazine includes the latest research on large ticket items you might be purchasing for the holiday like electronics and appliances but also smaller priced gifts like coffee makers and music players.
They are IN THE HEAD OF THE CONSUMER. They get what is important to the customer. They did an in-depth study on PAPER TOWELS. And just in time for New Years Eve; a comparison of condoms! (BTW – the one to avoid? Night Lights - it may glow in the dark, but won’t necessary provide the best protection.)
Each comparison provides the reader with information on:
- Pricing
- Quality
- Warranty
- Customer Service
- Shipping
- Availability
- Easy of doing business
- and an explanation of the fine print
The table of contents even includes a financial statement: here’s how much money you’ll save if you take our advice on which oven range to purchase!
Consumer Reports understands what is important to the customer and then they provide it in an easy to understand, reliable and consistent manner.
Their website continues the same theme of information access in a customer-friendly manner.
So how can we copy the example Consumer Reports provides?
- They understand their customer
- They have a clear understand what information will be important
- They provide details in an easy-to-understand manner
- Their information is consistent
- They are readily available
- They offer information for free – online
- They provide background information that allows you to see how they test and what their methods of gathering information include
Great stuff. It isn’t a magazine I curl up with on a Saturday night – pour a glass of wine and loose myself in their data – but it is a place I know will provide great value and that I TRUST before I invest my money; whether it is for a $2,000 computer purchase or a $1.69 roll of paper towels.
Just a minute ago my first born was this precious, innocent child filled with excitement for the season.
