Roy's Blog: August 2011
August 29, 2011
Serve and Sell
Customer Appreciation Events Don’t Make Sense
Great Leaders are Awesome Translators
Thank You #2
Serve, Serve, Serve and Sell. The fact is, selling is NOT different from serving if done right. Sales = Serving. Period.
Serve someone well by taking time to truly understand their wants and desires, by showing you care about them and you will discover an opportunity to offer them something you provide that will make their life better. Simple.
The problem with Sales today is they are seen as a distinct entity with the responsibility to move what the business supplies to the market. Most Sales organizations are supply-centric and are compensated to flog as much product as they can. Under such a mandate it’s no wonder that the needs of the customer take second priority.
A right angled change is necessary. Sales Serves. The prime role is to Serve in such a way that the opportunities for the company are uncovered through caring engagement and conversation. Effective selling happens within a Serving dynamic not outside it.
And if you do a good enough job at it the customer will be compelled to buy. Compensate your sales people on Serving and trust that sales will result. You won’t be disappointed.
Cheers,
Roy
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August 25, 2011
Customer Appreciation Events are WRONG
VALUE is…
Great Leaders are Awesome Translators
Thank You #2
Customer Appreciation Events are commonplace in business. Customer Appreciation Day, Week or for the more ambitious, Month, are intended to show customers how much they are cared for.
Why? I don’t get the logic. And in most instances it’s hypocritical.
Do we only appreciate or care for people one day (or week, or month) a year? Do we save up all our love and dump it on them at one time and expect them to thank us and believe we sincerely want to develop a deep intimate relationship with them?
I have always been offended by this marketing tactic because it implies that the business doesn’t give a damn about someone for the rest of the year. Even worse is the situation where a company with marginal service does this believing it will mend broken customer relationships. Really?
Think you’re fooling people? Think again.
So, to those who want to throw their money into an event that few customers believe in, I say this: invest in providing caring service to your customers EVERY MOMENT of EVERYDAY and you shall reap the rewards of rich Fan relationships and maniacal Advocates who will spread your word to others.
Keep ‘grinning’ your most precious asset once during the year and you won’t be around long.
Cheers,
Roy
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August 22, 2011
Thank You Economy Take-Aways #2
VALUE is…
Fueled By Fans
Lets Give ‘em Something to Talk About
More gems I took away from Gary Vaynerchuk’s latest book The Thank You Economy:
- ‘In the Thank You Economy social media allows us to get fresh, visceral, real-time feedback, not stale focus- group opinions.’ Really agree with this. BE DiFFERENT Customer Learning is a process of continually discovering customer’s Secrets. Social Media gives us this capability in spades.
- ‘It just makes sense that the better you know your consumers, the better you can tailor your marketing to them, and the more likely they are to buy from you.’
- ‘Learn how to implement a culture of caring and communication in your business, scale your one-to-one relationships, and watch your customers reward your efforts by using their new and massively powerful word of mouth to market your business and brand for you.’ The power of Sneezing once again purported as the critical strategic marketing issue.
- there is a significant ROI on Customer Caring. Just ask Amazon why they invested $1.2 Billion to buy Zappos.
- no matter what obstacles an organization faces in The Thank You Economy the solution will ways be the same…. OUTCARE your competition.
- care more about your employees than your customers.
- we need a Chief Culture Officer in organizations to take care of employees.
- layer social media on top of traditional media to extend the conversation with people.
- ‘Good intent’ may be the single biggest differentiator in this new economy.
I recommend this piece of work. It has a very practical bent to it which will allow you to apply it’s concepts right away.
Cheers,
Roy
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August 20, 2011
Saturday - Fueled By Fans
VALUE is…
Great Leaders = Superb Translators
Thank You #2
I have written many Articles on the importance of Fans to an organization.
About the need to focus on them for GROWTH created by the word-of-mouth virus. About giving THEM the prime choices and the best deals over others.
The one thing I haven’t talked about is the adrenaline push you get from your Fans to drive you on to new levels of performance. When your Fans go nuts about what you do. When they are delirious over your product. They can on sheer energy alone provide the motivation for you to vault your performance to levels you couldn’t do otherwise.
Take Care of your Fans and they will provide you with the Breakaway Emotional Energy needed for you to win.
A Fan = Your (Promoter, Growth Engine, Energy Source, Trusted Advisor, Friend, Ally).
Choose not to serve them at your own peril.
Cheers,
Roy
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