I was speaking at the BONA Certified Craftsman conference last weekend. It was a great group of business owners, eager to learn how to build their organizations. Fortunately for me, there was a break in my schedule, so I visited another speaker’s session.
John Vachalek, president of Webolutions, a strategic marketing agency shared many great ideas during his session. One idea really caused me to have a ‘duh’ moment. He asked the audience, “How many of you have a specific marketing budget for client retention?”
Now, I have a budget for marketing and entertainment. I have specific budgets for involvement in associations and trade shows. I don’t have a specific budget for the customers that brought me to the sales dance. Duh!
So here are questions that we are asking ourselves at SalesLeadership.
- What are we doing that has our clients saying, “WOW?”
- Are we meeting or EXCEEDING client expectations? (For example, everyone expects an ironing board in their room when they stay at a hotel….)
- How EASY is it to work with our company?
- Do we have RAVING fans or…just customers?
The next question is, what can we do to get a resounding YES to the above questions?
#1. Focus on delivering the WOW factor. Dr. Robert Childini, author of Influence, shares that the WOW factor is often achieved by adding the element of surprise. Zappo’s, the on-line shoe company, grew to a billion dollars in revenue in 10 years. They are masters of the WOW factor. Just one example of many is how they surprise a first time customer by shipping their order overnight at no extra charge. WOW!
#2: Focus on exceeding customer expectations. Set up client meetings for the sole purpose of asking and discussing this question. Or, secret shop your company and rate the customer experience. Would you do business with you?
#3. Ask the same questions every day. Harness the power of focus at your organization and ask these questions: What are we doing to create raving fans? What are we doing to create a great client experience? Tony Robbins, personal development expert, has a great phrase. “If you want better answers, ask better questions.”
Get busy taking care of the ‘dates’ that brought you to the sales dance.
Good Selling!
Colleen Stanley
