When a customer calls to tell your company that they are unhappy with something, look at this as a blessing. It is a blessing as they are bringing their perception, which is their reality, to you and giving you a chance to shift this perception. It is also a blessing as often customers can point out what didn’t serve them allowing you to make your systems or operations more customer-friendly. To hear the customer fully, do the following:
1. Listen without being defensive. Assume the customer is RIGHT and distance yourself from your pride in the company. Listen although the company was some other company you were not associated with.
2. Ask questions. Gain as much information and understanding as you can so you fully understand and have clarified what exactly the customer is saying and how they are feeling.
3. Understand expectations: Find out how the customer would handle this or prefer this to be. Ask them about their expectations and what would be right for them.
4. Be grateful. Thank the customer for what you have learned and for sharing with you.
Think about the companies with whom you deal and your reasons for giving them your business. Sometimes, it isn’t about price or quality, or even excellent customer service… so, what is this elusive attraction, and how can you employ it to grow your own business? Sometimes, it is a natural bias towards a certain company brand, and if so, what it is that attracts such loyalty in you. “Loyalty” being the key word here.
You may have come across the term “ladder of loyalty ,” which describes the various levels of customers your business enjoys. You may have read about “suspects” – people who haven’t even heard of your business yet; prospects - those in your target market; customers – may have done business with you once or twice; clients – those who return time and again, and then “advocates” – those who think your business is the best thing since sliced bread and can’t wait to tell everyone. Your aim is to promote your customers into advocates.
Consider your bond with your customers and clients in terms of relationships. If you build up a solid relationship, loyalty will be your reward. When you consider that your competitors also offer low prices, excellent customer service, and possibly top name
brands – clearly it will take something more than these to establish a worthwhile “relationship.”
Think of your good friends. You are interested in them and you understand them, and vice versa. You will do things for each other without expecting anything in return. You share honesty and trust. You help each other. Lastly, you keep in touch. Loyalty exists between you!
These are the qualities you need to establish between yourself and your customers. To make “friends” with your customers, to establish that relationship, first you have to understand them. What do you know about them? Who are they? What do they want? Are you providing a product or service that they really need? Do you provide value for money? Are you dealing with them as you would with a good friend?
Don’t expect miracles immediately. As with new friends, you aren’t likely to establish a relationship with a customer on the first transaction. Make sure you keep good records of all your customers – so you know how to keep in touch and you know what interests them. Then “keep in touch”. It might be with a newsletter, a personal letter, a flyer, or a phone call. Offer them interesting information that you know will be helpful to their business. Show interest in them as you would with your own friends. This interest will pay off and your customers will gradually turn into loyal clients who will want to tell all their friends about you.
There are many stories around of competitors who send their best clients to the opposition because they know the opposition has a special sale on which can benefit their client. The client is impressed and grateful. The client remembers… and remains a loyal client because you have now proven that you really do have their best interests at heart.
Increasing your customer base will gradually become a cheaper exercise as more of your customers climb this ladder of loyalty, and word of mouth from those experienced in dealing with you can achieve more than any expensive advertising campaign.
One of the main differences between mediocre business people and
highly successful business people is their appetite for “more”… they are ALWAYS hungry for something more. Having achieved a major goal, they are not satisfied just with that and will immediately start working towards the accomplishment of a new goal. Their success comes from constant action, constant movement towards new goals. Think of Richard Branson, for example!
Being hungry and moving forward need not always entail new ideas.
Perhaps, if you think of the project just completed, you may think
of something you wish you had done better or differently – this is a healthy hunger and great results can come from trying to appease it.
Hungry people realize they don’t know everything, but they don’t stop searching and trying to learn new things.
Are you maximizing your talents and those of your staff? Develop yourself and those who work for you to their fullest potential. Pinpoint areas where each different talent may excel and don’t be afraid to experiment. Hungry people try new things -You won’t know if you don’t try!
Hungry people are competitive and want to outdo themselves. Their hunger fuels their determination and their efforts.
While many people would be satisfied with the accomplishment of one goal and sit around enjoying a celebratory champagne, hungry people have enjoyed one glass and have now left the room, donned their thinking caps and are already off in search of their next win.
Hungry people keep their eyes and ears open for new opportunities and they march to the beat of their own drum.
There is nothing wrong with being satisfied with what you have or where you are – you should be satisfied with what you have and where you are. It’s just that if you do want more, wishful thinking will not get it for you. You need a healthy appetite!
- 1. Shift from personalities to operating systems.
Most insurance professionals run by their personality. A longer-term, successful approach is to systemize your business to avoid burn out and business resentment.
- 2. Shift from adding value to doubling expectations.
If you give too much to your client, they will feel overwhelmed. The goal is to exceed their expectations and to wow them, not just to provide value or “stuff”. When you exceed expectations, you will get referrals.
- 3. Shift from selling to educating.
Selling is a way to convince someone to purchase something. Educating is being honest vs. seductive with the client, giving them a straighter story.
- 4. Be interested, not interesting.
People want their insurance agents to be interested in them, not just offer an interesting product. Insurance sales are most effective when you demonstrate an interest in your potential client versus a flashy brochure or financial report. Ask them questions and stop giving slick answers. Be credible, not impressive. Plenty of business will find you if you demonstrate a sincere interest in the person you are speaking with instead of talking or “pitching” them.
- 5. Focus on beneficiaries vs. clients.
The client is the one buying your product. The consumer is the one who may ultimately use the long-term care insurance. The more you think about the consumer, the better. Now consider the beneficiaries. This could be the spouse, children and others that will benefit by your sale of long-term care insurance. Think 2-3 generations down and include all the players as you design and expand your business concepts.
- 6. Attraction vs. advertising/promotion.
Invest in sponsoring special events for clients or potential clients such as picnics, golf tournaments, an informative website, etc. People are numb to advertising, brochures and promotion. They are attracted to people who are great at what they do, offer a great service, anticipate their needs, tell the truth, and fully listen to and respond to them. This is the nicest, cheapest and easiest way to get clients.
7. Structure vs. momentum.
Structure comes from having systems in place, which will accelerate your momentum. Momentum by itself will fade.
- 8. Agent vs. consultant.
An agent sells a product. A consultant is more than a seller of a product. You are the center stage of a highly emotional transaction. You have the opportunity to be part of a highly intimate relationship with your client. Educate your clients about who you are – not just what you do.
- 9. Team 100 vs. Rolodex.
Create a list of 100 key people in each business line you can think of from
A-Z. Your clients will have many needs. You are in a position to refer dozens of service providers to your clients. Ask each team 100 person to do the same for you. Forget the Rolodex of people you aren’t connected with.
10. Referral business vs. leads business.
Many agents believe they have a referral business, when in fact they have a word of mouth or leads business. A deliberate organized referral business is predictable and measurable and will result in automatic business growth.
SUCCESSFUL MARKETING STRATEGIES: BUILDING YOUR BUSINESS WITH EASE
Put simply, marketing is the communication between a potential customer or client and a professional. It fills the gap between simply having great products or services and letting people know they are available and how to access them. Through marketing, potential customers learn of your services. The focus of marketing is usually customer satisfaction combined with communication of services or products. Marketing is typically based around meeting potential and current customer needs. The communication of how you fill the needs is the marketing strategy or message. Often our services are promoted by word of mouth. This is certainly a great approach because of the power of a personal referral. We can not relay on this concepts nor can we rely on the belief that if we give great service we will get customers.
We can never be so wrapped up in providing our services that we think people need it and want it. We have to determine what target marketing of the population needs our services or may be attracted to our services or products. Going beyond this purely service approach means we need to educate potential customers about our benefits. We have to know what the pubic wants, needs and what they value. Once this is established we can then communicate our message to the target population through promotional efforts.
Many professionals who are providing a service have trouble realizing that selling is a positive word. Selling is beneficial in bringing clients in the door. Selling is an honest and ethical profession and can improve the bottom line. Let’s begin our marketing success with a discussion of person to person selling.
By person to person selling, I am speaking of the interaction between a representative of company with a product or service to sell and a potential customer with a need that the product or service can fulfill. Person to person face to face interactions is the most powerful way to get your message across. This type of selling comes naturally to all of us. We are simply meeting with another person, hearing their needs and describing our services. As we engage in active listening we then tell the customer how our services meet their needs and let our enthusiasm about our service come across. During this interaction the potential client should realized how much we care about our clients and they should hear how our services benefited our clients in the past.
Are you an entrepreneur? Are you finding yourself with more ideas than you can handle? Many entrepreneurs report feeling out of focus with their work consuming their lives. They say they are so centered on making money that they often lose perspective in many other areas. Many entrepreneurs even thrive on chaos.
You can be an entrepreneur who develops into a wise and successful businessperson. You can have a more balanced life. How? Here are some simple steps for transitioning from entrepreneur to businessperson.
First, instead of working on many ideas or projects, only work on two or three simple projects. Get the focus narrowed down immediately. Instead of consistently starting a new project, slow down. Actually, take a break between one project and the next. Design your business around your life – not your life around your business. Learn to enjoy your life and you will enjoy your business more.
Often, entrepreneurs work very long days. When I get them to focus on spending time enjoying life and actually putting in fewer hours, they are shocked that their productivity is actually increased, not decreased. As the entrepreneur learns to manage themselves better they become more relaxed and their business flows better.
When making the shirt to a businessperson, the entrepreneur needs to confide in one or two supportive partners. These support structures will help the entrepreneur to enjoy making money and concentrate less on making lots and lots of money. Making money can be fun and it’s great to sit back and enjoy it!
If you are living on the edge with little or no financial reserves, decide to set up a strong plan to have a one-year reserve established. Not only will this take pressure off you and give you some security, but also it will allow you to enjoy serving your clients rather than trying to win them over or sell them.
As a businessperson, the entrepreneur must be able to release ideas and concepts that aren’t working and be profit driven rather than revenue driven. Frequently entrepreneurs come to me with a business that isn’t growing or is shrinking. When I coach them, we often find the answer is usually that they are too attached to ideas that need to be set aside and are so caught up in increasing sales and revenue that they are not making the kind of profits they deserve.
So, relax. Do fewer projects. Take time for yourself and your family. Create balance in your life and enjoy what you have already established. You will find that your business will gain more profits when the business owner is calmer and is willing to put direction and focus into themselves and their business.
Growing a business and increasing market share in tough economic times can be a daunting task, and sometimes very frustrating.
But it doesn’t have to be. Not if you have a well thought-out plan… a step-by-step system that has been time-proven to produce measurable, quantifiable and predictable results.
But true “systems” are not often found in most businesses. Most small and medium-size business owners or managers operate their businesses on a whim or by the seat of their pants, and then wonder why they’re not getting the return on the investments of their time, effort and money that they think they should.
A real “system” is something that you do 10 times, and 4, 5, 6, or 7 of those times, you get a result that you can count on. That’s why it’s called a “system.” When your business operates by such systems, life is so much easier, business is fun once again, and worries can become a thing of the past.
That’s what you’ll learn in the Overnight Cash Surge seminar. You’re going to leave with plans, structures, and systems ready to implement as soon as you get back to your business.
The title, “Overnight Cash Surge” was created on purpose. Because that’s exactly what can happen in your business when you implement what you’ll be learning from this fast-paced, information-packed seminar.
And on top of it, you’ll be helping fund the dream of our young Make-A-Wish candidate. When you can spend one day, a handful of dollars, and leave with more ideas than you can implement in a
month… PLUS help a child live their life’s dream… it doesn’t get much better.
I sincerely hope you’ll be joining us. It’s going to be a great time and I’d love your participation!
To register for one of our space-available seats, www.overnightcashsurge.com
To download your Business Doubler Fast Start Guide, http://overnightcashsurge.com/businessdoubler.htm
I hope to be seeing you at the event!
Terri Levine
So many people are watching the Olympics and rooting for the gold to come home to their country. I am rooting for my VIP client’s and their businesses to take home the gold.
You see when businesses follow the simple things I teach they accelerate their revenues without spending money on marketing so they have a huge increase in bottom line profits.
Most businesses need a marketing fast track to success and don’t have a proven marketing model and are throwing up ideas hoping some of them will work and stick.
I look for my business owners to move from spending a lot of money on ineffective marketing to getting great remuneration for their time and owning a recession proof business.
Business owners struggle with lead generation and closing sales and retaining clients… by learning 4 simple moves, they can take home the gold and win the business Olympics when they understand the systems that work to make gathering leads, securing clients and retaining clients a system that works.
If your business is not positioned to win the Olympics what do you plan to do about it?
While Delaware is in a state of emergency with the snow and blizzard that hit the northeast, I am also stuck inside today and my clients were unable to fly in … we have so much snow on the ground that I can’t get out of my door or driveway… so what am I doing now that my clients and I aren’t meeting today?
I am helping business owners through their own state of emergency. What’s the emergency? Lack of business, declining revenues, and not knowing what to do to make huge profits during the economic crisis.
So what am I doing? I am sharing my business expertise and that of my business partner Martin Howe to help business owners and to also make a difference to a Make a Wish Child… are you ready for this?
Growing a business and increasing market share in tough economic
times can be a daunting task, and sometimes very frustrating.
But it doesn’t have to be. Not if you have a well thought-out plan… a
step-by-step system that has been time-proven to produce measurable,
quantifiable and predictable results.
But true “systems” are not often found in most businesses. Most small
and medium-size business owners or managers operate their businesses
on a whim or by the seat of their pants, and then wonder why they’re not
getting the return on the investments of their time, effort and money that
they think they should.
A real “system” is something that you do 10 times, and 4, 5, 6, or 7 of
those times, you get a result that you can count on. That’s why it’s called
a “system.” When your business operates by such systems, life is so
much easier, business is fun once again, and worries can become a
thing of the past.
That’s what you’ll learn in the Overnight Cash Surge seminar. You’re going
to leave with plans, structures, and systems ready to implement as soon
as you get back to your business.
The title, “Overnight Cash Surge” was created on purpose. Because
that’s exactly what can happen in your business when you implement
what you’ll be learning from this fast-paced, information-packed seminar.
And on top of it, you’ll be helping fund the dream of our young Make-A-Wish
candidate. When you can spend one day, a handful of dollars, and leave
with more ideas than you can implement in a month… PLUS help a child
live their life’s dream… it doesn’t get much better.
I sincerely hope you’ll be joining us. It’s going to be a great time and I’d
love your participation!
To register for one of our space-available seats, www.overnightcashsurge.com.
To download your Business Doubler Fast Start Guide, http://overnightcashsurge.com/businessdoubler.htm
I hope to be seeing you at the event!
OK, for sure the weather is weird and mother nature is full of surprises this year… here in Philly we are under snow again and in Illinois they have had an earthquake… well, this is your wake up call. It is time to get your business shaken up and moving forward at a quick speed.
Stop blaming the economy or the weather or the government and start taking massive daily actions to grow your business. If you are sitting at home behind a computer or using the law of attraction without action, you will not flourish.
This is actually a great economy to be an entrepreneur so stop your whining and blaming and complaining. Put together your plan and take action now.
You must know 4 things to succeed: attract, convert, leverage and retain. Just those 4 moves will create wealth no matter what business you are in. If you keep doing the same activity you have been doing you will get the same results you have been getting.
If you want me to take you by the hand and show you move by move, step by step how to succeed, I will do that for you if you are serious. I don’t teach theory, I teach what works and the few simple behaviors you need to succeed. I teach based on 30 years of fact because I know one thing and that is how to grow a business quickly.
I know only 3% of you reading this blog will take action. The rest will never move forward and I am sorry for you if you aren’t in the 3%. If you are in the 3% I want to know you, hear from you and offer you my support. Are you open to embracing a new process for success? Are you ready to increase your revenue immediately?
I welcome the handful of you who take action and who are open to having me in your life and business to make a real difference to you and your family.