Marketing

December 28, 2015

9 negative phrases to avoid with your clients (& what to say instead)

NOV 06, 2015 | BY LYNETTE GIL

Check yourself, before you wreck yourself, and practice what you’re going to say before making calls to prospects.

It usually plays out in slow motion; at least, it seems that way to you. You’re having a great conversation with a prospect or a client, and you’re thinking, “I think we could do business together.” That is, until a few words escape from your mouth that you didn’t intend to say, and everything turns sour within seconds.

If only there were a time-travelling machine that would allow us to rewind to just before the exact moment that we catch ourselves saying the words that damage our relationship with that client or prospect. We’re still working on said time machine — and building it to look like a Delorean — but in the meantime, SlickText, a marketing company that specializes in texting campaigns, put together a cool infographic with nine phrases that “pressure cook” problems. Visit Website to learn about how to establish good customer relationship and you will also see as a bonus, they also share what to say instead.

These phrases were originally meant for customer service representatives, but they apply to anyone in sales, really. More helpful tips SlickText offers when preparing to make a call include:

Don’t take complaints personally.
Show off your personality. This increases trust, and helps people relate to you and the solution.
Prioritize a solution. Instead of focusing on the problem, work towards results.
Don’t sacrifice your safety. If your gut is telling you something isn’t right, ask for help.
Once the problem has been solved, move past it.

Remember that practice makes perfect and practicing these blunders will help you quickly adjust to different people and situations.

1. Don’t say: “Let me look into that.”

2. Don’t say: “Unfortunately, no…”

3. Don’t ever say: “There’s nothing I can do.”

4. Don’t say: “Let me correct you on that.”

5. Don’t say: “There must’ve been a miscommunication.”

6. Don’t say: “I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry.”

7. Don’t say: “I have another call coming in, can you hang on?”

8. Don’t say: “I don’t have any record of your purchase/account.”

9. Don’t say: “That’s not something I can do.”

Remember these five tips:

To read the original article and see the infographic, visit the Slicktext blog here.

Astonishing tales of customer service

Why your prospect won’t return your calls

Click here for the original article.

December 14, 2015

5 Tips to Use Networking to Actually Get More Work

Written by Bill Cates | @Bill_Cates

Formal networking groups can be a waste of time or a great opportunity. It all depends on how you “work it.”

I don’t remember who said it, but the saying goes something like “It’s not called net-sit, or net-eat. It’s called net-work.” Here’s a checklist of five habits you want to establish to make the most out of a networking strategy.

1) Be referable.

This is, by far, the most important item on the list. If your networking colleagues don’t fully understand how you provide value to your prospects and clients, they won’t refer you. And if they don’t like you and trust you, they won’t refer you. You have to have both conditions going for you.

One way to accomplish this is to talk about why you do what you do. Talk about your value in a way that’s personal to you. Tell your story. Provide clear examples. This brings your value to life and fosters a personal connection at the same time.

2) Meet outside the group.

It’s pretty hard to become referable in short encounters at group meetings. Identify the members who are most likely to know the types of people you want to meet. Then meet with them outside your normal meeting (over a meal is nice).

Make sure you fully understand their value and they fully understand yours. Hint: This often takes more than one meeting.

3) Give referrals.

Just because you give referrals to someone doesn’t necessarily make you referable, but it sure can help. When you do give referrals, practice the Golden Rule of Referrals: give referrals unto others as you would have them be given unto you. In other words, make valuable introductions and strive to create real connections.

4) Remember that leads are not the same as introductions.

Have you noticed how hard it is to reach people these days? Don’t settle for leads or low-level referrals (“Tell him I sent you,” “Here’s the name of a guy who could use your services — give him a call,” etc.) Make sure you arrange an introduction. Then take the next logical step by saying to your referral source, “Let’s talk about how you introduce me to Laura. First, I want you to feel comfortable in doing so. Second, I’d like to pique her interest in hearing from me. Could you say something like … ”

5) Get a few members to become your clients.

If there’s a “magic bullet” to making networking groups work, this would be it. It’s one thing for you to tout your value. It’s so much more effective for someone else to do so.

The members of your group who have actually experienced your value are the ones mostly like to become your advocates. Once you get one or two, the popcorn starts to pop. More and more members of the group will either want to work with you or feel more confident introducing you.

With this in mind, strive to get at least one new client out of a networking group. Then watch the work roll in.

How do you approach networking? I’d love to hear from you. Send an email directly to me at BillCates@ReferralCoach.com

Click here for the original article.

November 26, 2015

Don’t chase the money; chase the client

NOV 12, 2015 | BY SHEP HYKEN

Take care of your clients and the money will follow.

I recently had the chance to interview Tariq Farid, the founder and CEO of Edible Arrangements. If you aren’t familiar with Edible Arrangements, it is like a flower shop, but instead of flowers, they sell and deliver bouquets of fresh fruit.

The company originally began as a flower shop when a neighbor loaned Tariq the money to open the business while he was still a teenager in high school. He quickly repaid that loan and started to expand into what is now a 1,200 unit international franchise organization. Ivy Kids is also providing franchise opportunities at affordable deal.Hence you can also make use of it.

Tariq shared stories about how he “wowed” his customers with a level of service that allowed him to compete and win in a very competitive business. He walks the talk, having created a simplistic three word mission statement, which is “To Wow You!”

In addition to using customer service as his competitive weapon of choice, he grew his business by listening to his mother’s sage advice: Don’t chase money!

What that means is that if you care more about the money than the customer, you won’t always make the sale. And if you do make the sale, you might not keep the customer long term.

So what does it really mean to put the customer before the sale? I think it is best summed up with a personal story about a shopping experience I had several years back.

I went to the mall to buy a shirt that was advertised to be on sale. Unfortunately, the store was sold out of the shirt in my size. The salesperson picked up the phone and called the other stores in the area, but to no avail.

None of their stores had the shirt. That’s when the salesperson called a competitor in the mall. She found the shirt, in my size, and had the store hold it for me. Pretty impressive! Her effort earned her my loyalty.

I once heard a similar story. Everything was exactly the same except for the ending. Rather than send the customer to the competitor’s store to pick up the item, the salesperson asked the customer to come back in about fifteen minutes. The salesperson went to the other end of the mall, bought the shirt from a different store, and brought it back to sell to the customer. It didn’t matter that the store didn’t make any money on that sale. What mattered is that the salesperson took care of her customer.

I’ve been a believer of this concept since the beginning of my career. The late Dr. Theodore Levitt, professor at Harvard Business School, used to say, “The function of a business is to get and keep your customers.”

If you ask people, “What is the function of a business?” most will say, “To make money.” Unfortunately they are wrong. Making money is the goal, and if you confuse the function with the goal, you may not hit your goal.

If you’re looking to expand your business internationally and reach clients abroad, Acclime Singapore offers valuable assistance and support every step of the way. So, don’t chase the money. Chase the customer!

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Click here for the original article.