Archive For: Sales

Can You Do It Again?

Cust SvceAccording to a recent American Express Global Customer Service Barometer Survey 25% of Australians think businesses take their custom for granted while 10% think businesses don’t care about them at all! Is your business like that? Is the service you give like that?

Speaking to the Master of Million Dollar Relationships, Danielle Storey, the secret to continuous excellence in customer service is consistency. While it is important to have some kind of process to provide excellent customer service, once is not enough. Whether you are giving great service to your customers, your internal customers or even your suppliers, you need to be able to do it time and time and time again.

From simply answering the phone in a professional manner, welcoming people who come into your business, thanking customers for paying their invoices or having an ongoing loyalty program, it is consistency that really counts. Make sure your systems and process are simple and straight forward enough so you can do it again and again and again.

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Why Do You Do It?

Book Cover

Today I am enjoying the Queen’s Birthday Holiday. It always makes me laugh that the UK don’t get a holiday for her birthday but we in the colonies do!
What better way to start the day than staying in bed reading a book. One of my favourite authors is Stephen King. Not because I am a horror fan (far from it) I just love the way he writes.

His short stories are some of my favourites. Many don’t realise he wrote (among others) The Green Mile, The Mist, Running Man, Stand By Me and Hearts in Atlantis.

In the introduction to Just After Sunset (my current read), he mentions that he

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writes not for the money, not for the fame and not for himself. He writes for those who will read his stories. He writes to create a better experience for them. He is also serious about his writing. In his non-fiction book “On Writing” he says if you are serious about writing you need to read

4 hours a day and write 4 hours a day.


So why do you do what you do? Is it for the money, to provide for those you love, to master the art of it, is it a game or is it to improve the lives of your end customer? How much effort do you spend at your skill? Why Do You Do It?


P.S. This is the blatant promotion piece. I have just had a new demo reel created. You can see it here. To celebrate, as well as it being the end of financial year, any bookings made with deposits paid before 30 June 2011 will get over $300 worth of books, CD’s and eCourse’s PER ATTENDEE. Send an email to warwick (at) warwickmerry (dot) com for more detail.

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Who Wins a Price War?

Aussie 100 Dollar
Who Wins a Price War?
I was running an MC Mastery workshop on

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Saturday and there were questions about pricing. In the industry some are charging 10 to 30% of what others charge.

I learnt early in the game “No One Wins a Price War”.

Look at recent price fights with the supermarkets. Milk prices are down, bread prices down and beer prices were almost down. Supermarkets have long had “loss leaders” – products at or below cost to get customers in the store. They then make up the margin on other products. Customers get the illusion of a bargain but suppliers get taken advantage of! Dairy farmers make less profit per litre on milk than supermarkets do yet the farmers do all the hard work (I grew up on a dairy farm and know the large amount of work for the small amount of money).


CUB chose not to participate in a beer war but not selling product to the two major supermarkets. They also sent team members to buy back valuable brands of wine that were being sold below wholesale. Don’t mess with CUB!


What about your prices? Once you have to start defending your prices, you are lost. Put your efforts into showing your value and how much it is worth and you stay out of a price war. Show your prospect what they get for their money. What intangibles as well as tangible products and services.

This is the same for employees. Don’t ask for a pay rise because you haven’t had one for over 12 months. Justify your pay increase or bonus request by showing how much value you have brought the business. Money you have saved, sales you have contributed to, and value you have brought to the business.


No one wins a price war, so don’t even think about it. Focus solely on the value you are providing and make it a logical win-win decision.

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What is the Value?

Whether you are selling, motivating, leading, parenting, exercising, marketing or just making things happen, you HAVE to know, what is the value.  What is the value of what you are trying to achieve for you, your team, your family, your friends, whoever is on your side.


Why would someone want to buy your product or service? What problem will it solve for them or what benefit will it give them?
Why would your team member want to exhibit the behaviour you want? What do they get for it or what do they avoid?


Sales and motivation is all about value.  Show them the value and you can’t help but be a success.


So what is the Value?

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Selling is Not Smart

Conversation



Selling is Not Smart

I have done many sales courses over the years.  I have read many sales books, blogs and newsletters.  I have listened to many sales CD’s and tapes.  I have come to the conclusion that Selling is Not Smart.

What I mean by that is that there is no super smart magic special formula, sentence, statement, or approach that is guaranteed to work every time.  There is no secret that you are missing and the super stars know.

The foundation of sales is this.  

How can you solve your customer’s problem?  



To get to ask this question you need to build rapport in a way that is comfortable to you and that doesn’t alienate your prospect.  Basically, be you and have a conversation. The best way to find out how is to practice having an engaging conversation and listen for the issue or problem they have.

Practice on your partner, your kids, your friends, your work colleagues, your clients, your prospects and all of a sudden you will find that you are a legendary sales person – simply by finding out how to solve your customer’s problems.

Like I said, selling is not smart, it’s an effortless conversation.

Image: Clairity 

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Thank You Agent Of Action

You are an Agent of Action!

Thank you for taking action!



Your order has been received and a receipt will be sent to you shortly.

I expect the book to be delivered from the publisher early January at the latest. Once I receive it, I will send your copy plus all your bonuses post haste.

Some of the bonuses will be scheduled for later Jan and early Feb.  This will give you a chance to read the book and not feel overwhelmed by a stack of resources hitting you all at once!

If you have any questions regarding your Agents of Action Pack, please don’t hesitate to call me on +61 408 592 158 or email warwick@warwickmerry.com

Warm regards
 
WGM Sign 
 
Warwick
 
 
PS If I get any further bonus items from the other authors I will pass them directly on to you!
  

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Want to Get More Sales?


Last week I was interviewed by Annemarie Cross on her Career Success Radio program.  We talked about many things for just under an hour.  In particular, we were talking about sales and how to increase them.

I thought that it is the kind of thing many people would be interested in.  If you are interested visit Annemarie’s Blog and have a listen.

If you like what you hear and are interested in finding out how to Double Your Return when exhibiting at your next Trade Show or Expo, then visit www.DoubleYourReturn.com to get your free copy of  the Double Your Return CD and special report on how you can Double Your Return when you next exhibit.


Enjoy!!

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Are They Eating Out of Your Hand?

As I write this I am enjoying the last day of a four day get away at Wye River. It is a stunning location where mountains meet the sea. The glorious gum trees are filled with bird life. We have seen cockatoos,

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rosellas, willy wagtails (not sure of their real name but this is what I call them), currawongs and king parrots.


I decided I wanted to get up close and as you can see I finally had them eating out of my hand. You can use the same process to get your customers eating out of your hand.

Parrot Eating
  1. Go where your customer is – I went on to balcony when the birds were there
  2. Give them what they want – I had broken bits of biscuit that I knew they liked
  3. Make it easy for them – I put some crumbs on the railing and then held my open handful of crumbs next to it
  4. Support them and make them comfortable – I held my hand steady and gave them more crumbs as they stood on my hand
  5. Show gratitude – As they fed I was saying thank you for visiting us
  6. Celebrate your success – The rest of us staying at the house came out to say hello to the king parrots

What about you? Do you have your customers eating out of your hands? Use this process and you soon can!


Enjoy

PS Do you Exhibit at Tradeshows, Expo’s or Conferences? Want to have your visitors eating out of your hand? Register for the complimentary webinar 5 Steps to Double Your Return.

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How Sticky Are You?


I don’t mean that in the brown and wooden stick kind of way, I mean do you stick to it?  Do you commit to a strategy and give it every chance to succeed? Or at the first (or maybe second) sign that it is struggling do you stop working on it?

Don’t get me wrong, sometimes we try things and they don’t work.  It makes sense to change the strategy or approach but too often people don’t give it enough of a change.  Imagine if we did that in all aspects of life.

Maybe your parents were trying to get you to walk and after three times you kept falling over so much that they said, “They will never walk, it’s crawling for them!”  Think of how much that would hold you back!  My friend’s mother (now in her 90’s) had a mild accident on her fourth driving lesson when she was 20 and then decided she couldn’t drive and never did again. I still struggle with that.

So what is your strategy and as part of it, when are the check points and how will you know when to change strategy?  This is particularly relevant when exhibiting at shows.  In a previous business, my partner and I decided that we should exhibit our $900 product in the exhibitions at the International Coaching Federation (ICF) conferences globally.  We knew that the first one would not cover costs.  Two airfares, accommodation let alone exhibiting costs were significant.

A couple of shows with no sales was tough but we stuck to the strategy.  After three years (nine shows) it started to pay off financially, but the payoff in reputation and awareness happened far sooner and was more strategic.  My partner went on to be Australasian President of the ICF as developing a significant database of prospects for future work for us.

So what is your strategy?  Where is the payoff? How will you measure your success or lack thereof?  Most importantly, how sticky are you?

Enjoy!!

PS If you are in Melbourne next Tuesday 26th, come and visit me at the Meetings Mart Expo at Crown Promenade. I will be giving away copies of my new CD 7 Secrets of Successful Sessions as well as creating solutions for business wanting to Get More from their next Conference or Training Session.  Come as a guest of the Get More Guy and you even get free parking!


Image: Oaklara Nutgrabber

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How Good is Your Signage?

A speaking colleague of mine and Marketing Guru Winston Marsh, told me years ago that you have to be a better Marketer of what you do than a Doer of what you do.  Without some effective marketing, people wont know what product, service or value you offer.


At a Trade Show or Expo, you need to put this principle on steroids!


You have such a short time to get the visitor’s attention, let alone their interest.  It astounds me how people still put up posters with sooooo much text on it that it makes your head spin. Or has a fabulous picture but nothing that actually tells you what they do.  You have to make your signage work for you.


Here is a great example of signage which misses the mark.

It may have worked in 1919 for the Temperance Movement (I have my doubts), but it wouldn’t work today.  People would just keep on drinking!

How is your signage?  
Is it easy to grasp? 
Does it encourage your target market to find out more?
Does it lead to more sales or qualified prospects?

If it doesn’t do these things, then change it.  You don’t want your target market to just go on drinking!





PICTURE: Not sure of the original source, but lovely Bronwyn sent it to me. It sure is funny!

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Marketing via Humour

A friend just sent me this joke email
Instructions for a fun time on the interstate … 

Step 1. Tie 3 balloons to your pickup truck…
Step 2. Drive like a bat out of a hell!
Step 3. Watch people freak out!!!


This is very funny.  Almost like a Warner Brothers cartoon funny.
But then I noticed the truck. NonStop Action.  I did a search but couldn’t find further info about them, so lets play “What if”
What if “Nonstop Action” was a:

  • TV Channel
  • Paint Ball park
  • Video game arcade
  • Extreme sport agency
  • Balloon manufacturer
  • Event organiser

This simple idea of driving on the freeway/motorway/interstate with some unique balloons and some appropriate contact detail on the side of the car would definitely get you some attention.
A more detailed search has shown this to be the 2004 Cannes Lion Grand Prix Winner for Outdoor Advertising.  The company was indeed a TV Channel.
So what about you?  What can you tie to your car to attract attention?  Or maybe just stick to the side of the car, colour in the window, attach to your brief case, hang from your hand bag?
Use this award winning idea to come up with a funky idea to market yourself.
Let me know what you do!


Warwick Merry
The Get More Guy
www.warwickmerry.com



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Are You Insane?



Of late I have seen more insanity in the workplace that usual. Here are some samples of insanity I have been a witness to:

  • A friend of mine told me how one of her peers had her office door removed (without consulting her) so he could “better communicate with his team”.
  • I was chatting to someone on a flight to Alice Springs who worked for a major bank. An external consultant recommended that as part of an OH&S audit one of the branches to be sampled was Tennant Creek. An external OH&S lawyer and senior HR person had to travel for a day and a half to perform a 90 minute interview that was not permitted to be done by phone.
  • I have personally sat in a meeting called to discuss why we were having so many meetings

Personally, I cannot understand why any of these and many other things happen. I see insanity on the Trade Show and Expo floor also.

At a recent three day trade show, one of the exhibitors was so embarrassed about how her stand was doing, she would not call her manager and tell them their figures at the end of each day. They were 75% down on previous shows. I asked if she had done anything different from a previous show and she said yes. Their new products needed some explaining so they kept the stock out of the customers reach. For almost two days they had this format. Even though in the old format they had made major sales! I told her to instantly change the booth back to have the stock at the front with the new stock to one side. They had not finished the change and it started to make an impact. Visitors saw the stock and came up to ask questions and buy.

Einstein defined insanity as doing the same thing over and over while expecting a different result.

If what you are doing on a show floor is not working, change it. If your greetings and attempts to engage don’t work, change them. If you booth doesn’t look good, change it. If your staff are

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not working out, change them. Most shows are at least two days long, don’t get to the end and say “It didn’t work”. That would be insane. If something is not working, change it.

What insanity do you need to change at your next show or in your work place?


Warwick

PS Many people have asked where can they see me speak. I am speaking at an upcoming seminar (that is remarkably affordable – some would say insane!) in Melbourne on How to Get More Face to Face Sales. Get the details here.

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Do you Do the Numbers?

Not just the simple “How much money did we make?”  I mean really do the numbers.

  • Do you consider the total costs? (not just booth cost but labour, pre show marketing, post show followup, accomodation etc)
  • Do you know how many people stopped at your booth? (you could measure people for 6 mins each hour and multiply by 10 for an hourly average)
  • Do you know how to measure your brand impact?
  • Do you know how many people bought from you after the show because they met you at the show? (maybe using a special code from the show)
  • Do you know whether the numbers add up to make exhibiting worthwhile?

Use these ideas to make sure you do the numbers for your next show!


Lovin’ your work!


Warwick


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Get More Sales



There is a very simple formula for sales:
More Connections = More Sales


But this doesn’t mean you have to go out and find a truck load of more connections yourself, sometimes you only need to work with you existing connections to increase your sales. Selling more to an existing client or selling them additional products or services is so much more cost effective than trying to find a whole lot of new customers.


They already know you, they already like you and they already trust you. It is simply a matter of finding out what their needs are and then satisfying them with a product or service (it doesn’t even have to be yours!! Could be a joint venture or affiliate!)


Find out more on this video I did for Broker News TV – while the picture below looks like I am in pain, trust me there really is some good stuff in it!! 


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What Inspires your Booth?

In talking with many exhibitors, one of the things that comes up frequently as an issue is “How should my booth look?”

Now you don’t have to have a person bungy jumping through the floor or hanging from the cross beam like these guys did, but what can you do to stand out and still reflect the values of your business?


A common suggestion I make to my clients is look at the big players in your category.  If you are selling a low to medium priced product, check out the department stores.  Department stores spend millions of dollars on their visual merchandising and store layout.  Get inspiration on what you think appeals to your customer and what can be adapted to your product.  Maybe they have a certain rack or shelving system or types of posters or backdrops that would work well for you.  Be open to anything.


If you sell higher priced items, make sure the quality and presence of your booth reflects your product.  If you are selling high end, high quality products, you can’t afford to have a cheap, dodgy or low quality looking booth.  Again, inspiration can come from your own product.  Like our bungy friends above, maybe you product shown in action is what your clients would like.  Or a large replica that your prospects can interact with how they never could before.  For example, if you sell high end data storage, imagine a hard disk device about 10 times normal size that a prospect can touch the insides of.


Inspiration can also come from other displays in a completely different industry.  As an example, if you are selling custom made clothes, you could display your range of fabrics and accessories like a Lexus dealer displays their car colour charts.


You will be amazed at where your ideas come from.  The secret is that you have to go out looking for them.  You are far more likely to get the burst of brilliance when you are submersing your senses in possibility rather than sitting at your desk willing the ideas to come!


So what inspires you?

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