MY NAME ISN’T ON A $50 BILL. BUT, IT’S ON MY CREDIT CARD

“Names have power.” —Rick Riordam, American author

 If there is a field of study that creates few, if any, millionaires it is, “anthroponomy” which analyzes the names of human beings.  I have not personally met an anthroponomics practitioner. But I know person’s name is significant and has the power to shape and influence their life.

I'm not sure if I am the only person that likes his or her name. But I am proud of my name. My name is straightforward and short; not a name that invokes celebrity.

Knowing your name gives a business the ability to personalize the seller/buyer relationship. Personalization occurs in several ways. Knowing your customer buying habits and addressing them by name are only two of the ways but critical ways.

Recently I made a reservation with a local car dealer to have my car serviced on a Friday morning at 9:00, I showed up at 8:55. My motto (borrowed from the Army) is:  To be early is to be on time; to be on time is to be late, and to be late is non-acceptable.”

The service representative, greeted me with, “How can I help? WOW! How can I help? Really? You have a computer that shows I will be here at 9:00 a.m. with my 2015 car for the 12,000-mile service and the updating of two recall notices.

I’m sitting in my 2015 silver Ford Escape looking at you. It's 8:55 a.m. If you had taken the time to look at your daily schedule, you would know who I am and why I am here. I know it is early, but you set the time. A great greeting would have been, “Good morning Mr. Nalls, I see you’re right on time, and we’re ready to update those two recalls and service your Escape. Have you had any problems with the vehicle?”

What makes this a great greeting?

1.    The greeting, “Good Morning” is positive and friendly.

2.    Using my name tells me you know who I am as a person and not just a customer.

3.    “I see you’re right on time” acknowledge my punctuality and tells me that you appreciate me being on time.

4.    “We’re ready,” signals you expected me and the service would be prompt and timely.

5.    “Have you had any problems,” shows interest and concern. You want me to be satisfied with my Ford Escape.

You know my VIN, but not my name. Like most people, my name is important to me, and when someone uses it, it helps bridge the gap between us. If you’re in business, and I’m buying your product or services, calling me by name sounds like a relationship.

While my photo isn’t on any of my credit cards all of them, have my name. I hand my card to a cashier, they scan it, hand it back along with the receipt. I say, “thank you,” and they wait on the next customer. They had my credit card, with my name on it, and never once said, “Thank you, Mr. Nalls, we appreciate your business.

To be fair, there are employees in the "zone" with their customers. I had my computer serviced yesterday. The company does all the work using the internet to “look” at my computer. Once they determine the problem, they fix it. Well, this morning I got up, and the new router they had connected for me wasn’t working properly. I call them. Before I explained my problem, I said, I’m sorry to have to call you back but.” The service tech interrupted me and said, “No, Mr. Nalls you don’t need to apologize, YOU ARE THE REASON I HAVE A JOB!

So, I think about these three experiences, all three employees have my name, but only one of them called me by name. People have a name for a reason: for others to recognize us.

The Day They Didn’t Pick Up The Trash

This is that day, the day the trash wasn’t picked up. It’s Monday, trash is always removed on Mondays…every week on Monday (unless Monday is a holiday). I checked the calendar and today is a normal Monday, not a holiday.

Did someone not show up for work? Was there an equipment problem? Was today an unusual heavy work day, making it impossible to complete the route? Are the workers striking? I’m not a fault, I paid for the service. But today, no service.

Trash “service” —unlike most customer service—isn’t judged by how it’s picked up, who handled it or if the workers smiled and show courtesy. Trash service is: trash picked up on time.

Does your organization always “pick up the trash?” When your customer, client, patron or buyer has a “Monday” experience, are you there to pick up the trash i.e. problem? By in large, people judge customer service by how prompt and effectively you handle the problem.

TEAM WORK vs. KAMIKAZE RECKLESSNESS #83 041712

The Merriam Webster’s Collegiate Dictionarydefines team work as, “work done by several associates with each doing a part but all subordinating personal prominence to the efficiency of the whole.”

I suppose that the saying, “There is no ‘I’ in team”, is based in the part of the definition that says all subordinating personal prominence to the efficiency of the whole. In considering this, we should also remember, “the whole is greater than the sum of the parts.” In cooperating or working together, the team is able to produce a result that no individual alone can create.

This “lone wolf” verses the pack concept reminds me of the Japanese kamikaze pilots of the Second World War who made suicidal crash attacks upon war ships. No matter how dedicated and willing these pilots were to fight—exchanging their life in a single act of dive bombing their plane onto a ship—their reckless act bore little fruit.

A graphic picture of the success spectrum finds team work at one end and kamikaze recklessness at the other end. By focusing on team success, we see clearly how subordinating kamikaze desire for personal prominence to team work, provides a competitive advantage. Nothing beats people working together for a common cause.

Work to be the best team member you can be. Success is about teamwork. Perhaps Peter F. Drucker was thinking of teamwork when he wrote, “One of the weaknesses of young, highly educated people today is that they are satisfied to be versed in one narrow specialty and affect contempt for the other areas.”

I know when I first got started in sales, I adhered to the motto: Nothing Happens Until a Sale is Made. Those words put me at the center of company. Everything revolved around me. But, I quickly learned that once the sale was made, it took a village of people to complete the sale: Credit had toapprove the sale, Inventory was needed to fill the order, warehouse pickers pulled the order, drivers loaded and delivered the order, billing invoice the order, purchasing replaced the sold inventory and IS tracked the sale from its origination to the receiving of the customers check and bank deposit.

Over the years experience taught me additionaltruths about sales: The closer your job
ties to sales, the more secure your job. So, if you are a receiving clerk,be known as a receiving sales clerk; if you are in operations let it be known,you are in operational sales. Even a receptionist is selling. As they are often the first line of personal contact with customers and prospects, make certain they know their job is selling the company, its philosophy its values and its products and services.

Make certain that all employees know that customers exchange their dollars for solutions to their problems; customers buy solutions not products or services. The better the team identifies problems—from the customer’s viewpoint— and offers specific solutions, the more prosperous the organization.

The first team to uncover the solution to the prospect or customer’s number one problem gains the inside track. Why not get the sale quicker by asking, “What is your number one problem? Then, target a solution.

If you are a team leader, manager or supervisor, you should train your people to quickly and easily be able to state in twenty-five words or less why customers buy from you rather than competitors. Idea: Insure that everyone on your team knows who the competitors are.

Someone somewhere showed the wisdom of King Solomon when they said, “A business exists to satisfy customers.” Satisfying customers—when you drill down to it—is another name for the selling activity. So, all employees are always selling.

THREE POINT SUCCESS SUMMATION


SUCCESS THOUGHT: To build a great organization attract and retain great “sales” people. People whose job—no matter the title on their job description— it is to see things from the customer’s point of view and to offer solutions to the customer or prospects problems.

SUCCESS QUOTE: “To sell Jane Smith what Jane Smith buys, you have to see things through Jane Smith’s eyes.” —Dr. David Schwartz

SUCCESS ACTION: Get your entire team focused on sales, train them—and let ‘em sell!

wn-tampa@att.net

How To Bring the Customer Back #75 050711

I think there are valuable business lessons to be learned that are best learned in slow economic times. It may be that people best learn from adversity and not from success Often these lessons are not new discoveries but the rediscovery of principles and guidelines and even laws that prove immutable but also forgettable. And when we forget to serve our customer, we soon find our customer has forgotten us.

This past week, I went to office supply store to buy a memory stick for a digital camera I had purchased a couple of years ago. Upon entering the store, I heard the manager instructing her new cashier to, "Position yourself so you can say, 'good morning' to every person who comes in today. We want everyone one enters our store to know that we appreciate them choosing to shop with us."

She went on to say, "Ask everyone can you help them find what they are looking for?" Basic business, yes. But, this is an art that is finding its way back into mainstream business. For the last several years it seems like the question, "Can I help you?", had become political incorrect

When I travel I stay at a particular hotel chain. In the last month, I have noticed an added interest in me personally when I check in. It is hard to miss statements like: "We're glad to have you back." "You must attend our welcoming appetizer get-together this evening, the food is great!" And, "We serve a delicious breakfast from, 6:30 to 9:00, right here in the lobby." My request for a wakeup call results in a cheerful "It is my pleasure."

In my room I find a bottle of water—a free bottle— along with a package of Oreos. Five minutes after I enter the room, I get a call, not from the front desk but from the SERVICE desk asking, "Do you find everything ok?" The hotel personnel have always been courteous, efficient and friendly. But I see their recent customer relations training being acted on.

Currently, the country and the world are experiencing tough economic problems. The problem is too big to fix with cost cutting or productivity increases alone. Most people have jobs and people are still buying. Though, they may be more discretionary than in times past. Today people expect their supplier to show genuine gratitude for their patronage. A simple, "Thank you" is not enough if you want your customer to do repeat business with you.

Customer service is a relative thing; it's relative to how the customer defines it. If he or she believes they are getting 5 star service from your competitor and you are providing only 4 star service, you lose.

I wish someone would explain to the under forty generation that while life offers options and they can opt to be indifferent to the customer, the customer can just as quickly opt to be indifferent to them. The difference is, you need the customer; he or she may not need you.

We make a big mistake to think of organizations as profit centers. Organizations create costs. In exchange for your product or service, customers provide the revenue that offers the potential for profits. Organizations can be labeled as an expense entities. Customers are revenue entities; they pay the bills. Simply put, the customer holds the trump card. Always has and always will.

Treating people right is a great investment with immediate and long-term pay back. Most organizations have invested heavily in technology, and rightly so. They have invested big time in processes and organization. In the rush to grow, expand or stay in business, the customer has often been forgotten. This oversight is unforgiving.

People and organizations appreciate being more than a number or an account. They show their appreciation in a number of ways, principally by buying from you. People want to know that you care. It has been said, people don't care until they know you care.

A concluding thought. If you are the man or woman in charge, make certain that your company delivers exceptional service to internal and external customers. If other companies are putting people first, why not your company? Put people first and the first thing you will see is a first-class bottom line.

Three Point Success Summation

HOG THOUGHT: Don't get comfortable. In fact, stay uncomfortable. Always assume your definition of customer service may not be your customer's definition. Focusing on competitive products and pricing may not be enough. Competitors have great products and sharp prices. The advantage goes to the provider that genuinely cares. It is hard to beat authentic service.

HOG QUOTE: "Want of care does us more damage than want of knowledge."— Ben Franklin

HOG ACTION: If you are looking for a competitive advantage, Treat people like you want to be treated and even better.

The Red Walking Socks #39

During a recent and unplanned trip to the local hospital emergency room, my wife was required to stay 24 hours for observation. She had gotten up during the night, blacked out and fell backward hitting her head on the marble topped night stand beside the bed. Nine hours later, a half-dozen test and seven stitches, a nurse took her to a hospital room for 24 hour observation.

It seems a lot of people fall. According to a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention 2008 analysis of 2005 statistics on falls, each year one of every three Americans 65 and older falls—and almost a third require medial treatment.

I thought it strange when a nurse came into my wife’s room and replaced her hospital-issued green “walking socks” with red ones. When I questioned the nurse why the change, she said, “the red socks alerts all the nurses on the floor that the wearer is prone to fall.” The red socks act as a warning sign and alert the nurses to be extra vigilant.

It would be nice if disenchanted customers, patrons or clients wore red walking socks to alert you that you had fallen out of step with them. It’s easy for a customer’s loyalty to slip on a late shipment, or stumble on a product mix up, or lose balance over what they perceive as a lack of attention resulting in a loss of sales and even switching to a competitor.

Often customers will not tell you what you are doing wrong, so sales fall prevention begins with you. Keep yourself in front of your customer—personal visit, phone call, email, fax or a simple note sent via US Mail—on a regular basis. Six actions you can take right now to reduce your risk of being a victim of falling sales:

1. Consistently review your sale reports and look for variances, especially those that aren’t easily explainable.
2. Look for evidence of inroads being made by your competition.
3. Ask your customer to evaluate your service, product and pricing. Just say, “How am I doing?” “Are we living up to your expectations?”
4. Ask, “What can I do to improve my serve?
5. Ask, “Is there something else I or my company can do to make your job easier?”
6. Ask, “What does your supervisor or boss think about me and my company?”

Whatever you do, you should consistently follow the first rule of customer service: enough is never enough.

Always be working to improve your service.

HOG THOUGHT:
Professionals are constantly doing two jobs at once: selling profitably today and positioning themselves to be successful tomorrow. If you plan on tomorrow being more profitable than today, you must make a habit of looking for red warning signs and take corrective action.

HOG QUOTE:
“I was always afraid of dying. Always. It was my fear that made me learn everything I could about my airplane and my emergency equipment, and kept me flying respectful of my machine and always alert in the cockpit.” — Chuck Yeager

HOG ACTION:
Be alert to recognize customer or client dissatisfaction, discontent, or frustration. At the first sign of red walking socks, determine the problem, assure your customer or client that you are on it and then get the issue(s) resolved in a timely manner. The quicker a problem is recognized, the faster it is solved. Great opportunities often are disguises as problems. Recognizing and solving problems is a key to relationship building.