Your Next Call Might Be Your Best Call

Previously I wrote a blog about how I made $7K in just four hours, but now here is the rest of the story. Years ago I worked as a sales rep for a local yellow pages company. It was my first foray into selling and if I do say so myself, I was doing somewhat ok. I was making sales and earning money. I had two things going for me, I had a strong drive to succeed, (so I read books on selling and applied that knowledge) and I had a great boss that worked with me and helped me to develop my selling skills.

On the last day of our campaign, I was just a little short of making bonus. It was a Friday and I had given it my all for the length of the campaign, (approximately 6 months) and decided that I would keep my nose to the grindstone through the morning as best I could and then probably not work that hard in the afternoon and maybe take off an hour early or so and enjoy my weekend. (This was about as lazy as I ever got).

Even under those circumstances I set a goal for myself that morning. I had picked up a real estate book off the giveaway shelf in the local Safeway, you know, the kind that list homes for sale and shows pictures and bios of the real estate agents inside. Real estate agents were not a great market for the yellow pages, but some of them sometimes would come across big. I told myself that I would call every agent in the book (probably about 50 calls) and if I didn’t make a sale out of it, I would probably call it a day. After about three straight hours of calling and getting nothing but grumpy hang-ups, my will was weak and my stomach was growling. The battery on my phone didn’t last more than a few hours, and since I was using it heavily, I had to stay in my car an keep it plugged in to keep it charged.

Can you picture me, parked in an industry parking lot, little book in my hand, sitting in the driver’s seat of my car dialing numbers and listening to “NOs” for three hours straight. Trust me I was ready to give up and call it a day. I decided to make one more phone call before going to lunch. Just one. Well, as you can probably guess, it hit and it hit big. You can read about that adventure here, but that’s not the point of this blog. https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/how-half-hour-could-change-your-life-maybe-bring-you-full-max-martin/

The point of this story is discipline, goals and pushing yourself. No matter what job you do or what company you run, YOU must be the strongest person in your business world. YOU must set goals, YOU must apply self-discipline, and YOU must be willing to push yourself. Make one more call, send out one more video, write up one more proposal, do what t takes to make yourself successful. If you run a company and set this example and instill this mind set in your employees your rewards will be ten-fold.

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06.28.2021

A BAD REVIEW MAY BE THE BEST THING THAT EVER HAPPENED TO YOU - IF YOU KNOW WHAT TO DO...

IT HAPPENSIt happens, you get a bad review. Every company has to go through this sooner or later. And sometimes that bad review is scathing! Here's why, even though that one bad review might damage your reputation in the short term, this could be the best thing that every happened to you or your company...WHAT NOT TO DOFirst off, DON'T ignore it! Ignoring it will only make matters worse, people will think that you don't care about the person making the comments and even worse they may think you're ignoring it because everything in the comment is true. Second, DON'T retaliate! You may feel the urge to "tell off" the person that posted such horrible things about your company or even make personal remarks about you! Now is the time to draw upon your professionalism. If you choose to "retaliate" other people reading your reviews might view you as a difficult or even rude person or company to deal with. OK - SO WHAT DO YOU DO?The best thing to do is keep your cool and respond in a calm and professional way. (We'll help you a little later in this article with some specifics) But why is it so important to keep your cool and respond in a professional way?HERE'S THE BIG SECRETEverybody's watching! Yes, that's right, while you may be responding to the individual that left you the horrible review, potentially hundreds or thousands of other people are going to ready your response. People are drawn to one-star reviews like moths to a flame. They will be fixated on your every word. All those other potential customers will make a decision on whether or not they want to do business with you based on HOW you respond to that one bad review. SO WHAT DO YOU SAY? Here's a step-by-step walkthrough on the proper way to respond to a bad review- First - How not to respond: ORIGINAL REVIEWThis is an actual review taken from the internetMy home warranty company sent this plumbing company out to fix our water heater. I paid the warranty company directly. My water heater wouldn't light so they found a cap on it and removed it (we just moved in). The plumber turned around and asked my Husband for $165.00 to remove the cap not knowing I already paid the home warranty company. The plumber told my warranty company that they flushed the water heater which they did NOT do. I called the plumbing company directly and spoke to some rude immature girl and told her what happened and she said "well you should have better communication with your Husband!" They are crooks. Be ware! They bill for work that they don't do and the customer service is awful!! Not to mention they showed up 3 hours late to the appointment!! I complained to the home warranty company so hopefully they won't use them anymore! WRITTEN RESPONSEThis was the response from the company5/21/2019 We would like to clear some information that you said in the review, Frist of all, our plumber quote your husband 165.00 for a work that your home warranty policy was not covering, the instructions we receive from your home warranty was to check the work and report back to them the findings, we find the water heater disconnected from the gas line and also had water in the drip pan and the home warranty denied coverage, we do not have control over what your policy will cover or not, its out of our hands, we never reported to the home warranty that we flushed your water heater unit, we don't bill for work we don't do and usually home warranties don't cover for that, second of all we did not arrive late to the appointment your appointment time was between 4pm and 7pm and the plumber arrived around 5 pm that is between the window that we provided you.HERE WERE OUR SUGGESTED KEY POINT TO KEEP IN MIND WHENEVER RESPONDING TO ANY REVIEWS SUGGESTED RESPONSE – KEY POINTSLet Them Know They've Been HeardBe Empathetic And Don't Get DefensiveEngage The Customers - Show You're InterestedCreate A Personal Dialogue - Show Others You're InterestedLet Them Know You're Going To Make EffortsIncentivize Them To Contact You AgainKnow When To Say WhenRefund, Discount, Free Offer (Never do this publicly, only privately on the phone or direct email - otherwise others reading your response will also demand the offer) You won’t always use all of these elements in each response to a bad review, but they are a good set of guidelines and each of your responses should use most of them. THIS IS THE WAY TO RESPOND TO A BAD REVIEW TO GAIN MORE CLIENTSIt’s important to keep in mind that you are not only writing this response for the current customer you area ALSO writing this for the next customers that are going to read your reviews. Everyone gets bad reviews, that’s an inescapable fact, but how you respond to them will greatly influence your potential customers to either call you or forget about you.We’ll use this bad review and re-write the response using these key points written above. Dear (Customer name) we apologize that you had this unfortunate incident, we wish it didn’t’ happen at all, and we appreciate that you’ve taken the time to write this review. (empathy and let’s them know they’ve been heard).It appears there might have been some miscommunication between our office and the home warranty company that assigned the job to us. We’re looking at how we receive the details from the warranty office to see how we can improve the process for future jobs. (Show you’re interested and going to make an effort to correct any issues on your end. ) We have strict scheduling controls and arrived in the allotted in time window, but perhaps there was misunderstanding between our staff and dispatchers which we’ll look into. (Show you’re making an effort) What we’d like to do is take the opportunity to make it right for you and your home. (Let’s them know you’re going to make efforts.) Please call me directly so that we can discuss this issue personally and make everything to your satisfaction. Our aim is to create a stellar experience for each and every one of our customers, and I’m confident if you contact us we can achieve this goal her as well. (more empathy, incentivize them to contact you) Our aim is to create a stellar experience for each and every one of our customers, and I’m confident if you contact us we can achieve this goal her as well. (more empathy, incentivize them to contact you) It’s important to keep in mind that you are not only writing this response for the current customer you are ALSO writing this for the future customers that are going to read your reviews. Everyone gets bad reviews, that’s an inescapable fact, but how you respond to them will greatly influence your potential customers to either call you or forget about you.If you sue the steps cited above you can turn that bad review into a pot of gold. As future customers see your online reputation and see the empathy and understanding that you used in responding to reviews they will recognize you as a reputable company that will treat them with dignity and respect and WANT to o business with your company.A COUPLE LINKS THAT WILL GRETLY HELP YOU WITH YOUR ONLINE REPUTATION:HOW TO GET AN ONLINE 5-STAR REPUTATIONHere's a video we created to help one of our clients: HOW TO RESPOND TO A BAD REVIEW

12.03.2019

How a Half Hour Could Change Your Life and Maybe Bring You a Wheelbarrow Full of Money

HOW A HALF HOUR COULD CHANGE YOUR LIFE Update No this is not some feel good seminar I’m talking about, or the latest iteration of the newest yoga, it’s something much deeper than that. Now, I’m not knocking yoga, the health benefits have proven themselves over the years. But, I am talking about something that could significantly improve your business’s bottom line or if you’re not working for yourself, help to catapult you to the top of the corporate ladder. What I am talking about is reading. Wait, before you yawn and move on, let me tell you about how reading, for only a half hour a day helped me to make $7000.00 in just 4 hours. Years ago, I hired on as a sales rep for the local yellow pages in my area. I knew nothing about selling other than it involved having conversations with people and that you had to smile a lot. At least that’s what I thought. Then I got a call from my mom. My mom is a wonderful woman that is always trying to help me out with any venture I get into. This time she helped me out in a BIG way. She was at a garage sale and she had bought me a book called How to Master the Art of Selling by Tom Hopkins. (A must read if you’re in the sales industry). Not having any sales experience, I decided to start reading it on my lunch break. Fortunately the chapters are not long and you can read them pretty easily in ½ hour or so. The book had straight forward practical advice that was easy to understand and apply. As I read each chapter, I thought to myself, I’ll try this technique on my next meeting with a client. Lo and behold, it worked! I did this for about two to three week, each time learning more techniques and applying them as I went, until I was done reading the book. The information that I learned was invaluable. I made thousands of dollars because of that book. Now, not all of it was because of the book, I did sit down and have very good evaluations and training from my boss, and I also grew with experience. But the book gave me the foundation to learn and grow. Oh, and how did I made that 7K in just four hours. It’s because I applied the principles of the book to the last sales day of the campaign. I got a little lucky, I cold called a prospective client that was working at a real estate brokerage firm who said “come on by”. I was expecting a quick sale for a few dollars and then I would head out to lunch. It turns out this client was starting their own lending company. He wanted to go big in the yellow pages, and by big I mean BIG! He wanted a full page ad, he wanted supplemental ads, he wanted the “tip-on” (a special feature where they apply a 3 x 5 card to the outside cover of the phone book), he wanted it all. And guess what, I helped him get it all. I was in his office for four hours (skipped my lunch) but of course it was worth it, by the time the dust settled my (eventual) commission for that job was just under 7K. Of course this article is not written to endorse this specific book, but rather to endorse the habit of reading. Reading for ½ hour a day on your lunch break equates to about 10 hours of reading a month or approximately 130 hours of reading a year! Even if you apply this technique only every other day that’s still 65 hours of reading or roughly 13 books! Think of what you’ll learn about your business, or your industry, after reading another 13 books, and that’s if you only do it every other day. You could read another 26 books in a year if you’re disciplined! The next time you see a book that can help you grow your company, or help you to further your career, and you think “I don’t have time to read this”, think again. Take that 30 minutes and apply it to yourself, invest in your own future. I challenge you right now, go out and find a book that you know you need to read, or take a book that’s been sitting on the shelf collecting dust, and have it start helping you collect dollars. So read on your lunch break, It takes no time away from your day, if helps you to feel better about yourself, it helps you to recharge your batteries in the middle of a stressful day and it could someday bring you a wheel barrel full of money.

11.27.2019

You need to Know Where Your Customers Are Coming From - And We Tell You Why.

If you run a small business, it’s imperative that you know WHERE your business is coming from! Update Today, Google Analytics can help track your internet clientele, but that only goes so far and only gives you some of the information, not to mention it is open to interpretation and bias. For instance did you know that when a secure site refers a client to an unsecure site it shows up in the “direct traffic” section. And speaking of direct traffic, if someone refers a friend to your business at an event or social gathering, they will type in your URl and it will show as another “direct traffic hit” when, in fact, it was a referral. On top of internet advertising, how do you track results from Newspaper ads, Magazine ads, TV ads, Radio ads; and just how many people are contacting your business through referrals? What is your business doing today to keep track of where your business is coming from? And WHY is this important? Let’s answer that second question first. It’s important to know where your business is coming from for a variety of reasons, the most important is so you can capture more business. But just as important is to determine how much it costs you to acquire a customer and which advertising medium is working best for you. Not only are advertising mediums important for their cost of customer acquisition, they are also important for the quality of the customer they attract. Every business has those products or services they provide, because they have to in order to stay competitive, but really would rather not. And every business has those products or services that are the easiest to deliver and give the highest profit margins. (Yes even my business.) So, I think we can all agree that knowing where your business is coming from is an integral part of helping your company to grow and stay ahead of your competition. That said, here are a couple old tried and true methods that will, if nothing else, get you started in the right direction. It starts before the customer contacts you. Here are a couple very easy ways to help you track your most profitable customer acquisitions streams. 1. PUT DIFFERENT ADS IN DIFFERENT PLACES. If you’re advertising in three mediums let’s say the local newspaper, a local “giveaway” magazine and the yellow pages (yes they still exist and are being put to good use by some industries), then place a slightly different offer in each location. For instance in you can put a 25% off add in the newspaper, put a “buy three get one free” offer in the local magazine, and in the yellow pages put a $25 off for purchase of $100 or more. All three of these ads are essentially 25% off, but when the customer calls in and asks for the “buy one get one free” offer you are reasonably sure they saw your ad in the local magazine. (Reasonably sure because they could have just been told about the offer by a friend and given your business a call.) However it breaks down for your company you’re still far ahead of those who do no tracking at all. 2. TRAIN YOUR STAFF. If you have staff answering the phone, greeting customers at the door or just taking orders, you’ve got to train each and every one of them on the importance of finding out how the customer heard about your company or special. Teach each one to work it into the conversation as they are taking the order or greeting the customer. Be careful that they don’t “attack” the customer with a barrage of questions before they even hear the customer’s concern or request, this will kill orders. They can respond with replies such as, “The buy one get one free offer is a great offer, where did you see it advertised?” If the customer cant’ remember, then follow up with “Did a friend tell you about it or do you think you might have seen it in the paper or the magazine?” A casual “off-the-cuff” questions will elicit a much better response and customer experience than a “check list of questions” sitting in front of the employee. A strong rule of thumb is to limit your employees to three or less questions. If they can’t get the information out of the client through three or less questions, then just accept it and move on. 3. AN OLDIE BUT A GOODIE. Here’s one that comes from the very old days of mail order sales but is still used everywhere today to good effect. Add a department to each and every ad. For instance when you place an ad in the local newspaper, you can simply instruct your customer through the ad to ask for Department NP1 to take advantage of the offer. You can even code specific offers with individual codes, for instance if you ran a 24% off offer in the newspaper, you could have your customers ask for Department NP25 to receive the offer. Of course there is no Department NP25, but you’ll train your staff to recognize that as the code for the ad that was 25% off that ran in the newspaper. They can simply say “This is the correct department” or “I can help you with that.” Trust me, this is done ALL the time even today. Pay particular attention to radio and TV ads and you’ll see it popping up everywhere. Why? Because it’s free and it works. I mentioned that the last suggestion was free, but of course, they’re all free. Thus ANY business can apply these techniques and apply them today. There are MUCH more sophisticated methods of tracking where your business is coming from but most of them (typically) only apply to the internet and usually cost money or require quite a bit of upfront practice / learning to apply them. I’m not saying they aren’t worth it (which they are) but these are free, easy to implement, simple and - - they work! ONE LAST IMPORTANT NOTE. Now that you have the process in place to collect all of this valuable information, how will you keep track of it? Through a simple spreadsheet that you can easily create. You can collect the numbers in a couple of ways, you can hand out a copy of the spreadsheet to each employee and then at the end of each month or at the end of a given advertising campaign, you can consolidate the numbers and decided on where to spend your money for the next campaign. (If you want to make it a little easier, you can use google docs for free and make a single online spreadsheet that all employees log into which will tabulate the numbers for you.) Remember, the better you track where your customers are coming from, the better decisions you’ll make about spending your advertising dollars and the more your company will grow.

Your Next Call Might Be Your Best Call

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