They say you only have once chance to make a first impression. That is true, but I find that in this business I there are at least three first impressions. At some point a potential client is going to have to learn of you. This could be through a referral, your web site, advertisement, etc. I don't expect anyone to call for an appointment if the work you have done for their friend is poor, if your website is unnavigable, or the phone number is incorrectly listed in your ad.
The second "first" impression is going to be your initial phone conversation. I cannot stress how important it is to call quickly and to during a reasonable time. I suggest you call every client within 24 hours of getting their information. Call no earlier than 10:00am, and call no later than 7:00 (even that may be stretching it). Don't call on Sunday or on major holidays, and if you get an answering machine LEAVE A MESSAGE. Document the date and time of your calls. If you leave a message and don't hear back call again in a day or two. Sometimes people lose your number or can't understand the recording. If you don't hear back from the second call wait a week (they could be on vacation). If after three messages they don't call you back then don't keep calling. If they are interested they will get back to you. I have had people cal back 6 months or a year later stating that now they are ready to begin.
The third "first" impression is when you arrive in person. Nothing tells a customer that you don't value and respect their time like showing up late (except maybe not returning phone calls). While some parts of the country believe that 5 minutes early is 10 minutes late others expect you to arrive exactly on time and not surprise them before they are ready. In general the earlier the appointment the less acceptable it is to show up early. That being said leave your home or office early. Arrive early. You can always wait around the block, but if traffic is bad (as it always is in the DC metro area) that time might be needed.
So, in review. Call in a timely fashion, leave messages, arrive on time. If you also return calls in the same manner you will have a big lead on your competition, far too few people do the above.
If I forget remind me some time, I think a discussion of artistic vs. professional appearance is another good topic.
Thursday, April 28, 2011
Monday, April 25, 2011
Overcoming objections...
I went to our Centreville, VA location today and was explaining to the staff how I do my job, when one of them asked me a question. She said "Do customers ever call afterwards and ask to cancel? For example do they say 'My husband thinks it costs too much.'" I replied "Of course they do." You can't deal with thousands of people and write hundreds of contracts without have a few people call and ask about cancelling. That could have been the end of the question, but what kind of a post would this be then?
I told her it is the same as in the stores, but the more important question is "Why are they attempting to cancel?" When working from an overcoming objection based model of sales one needs to be careful not to paint a customer into the corner. With a bit of practice it becomes very easy to overcome every objection that a customer throws your way. If you do this then invariably when you are not there to counter they will try to cancel. If you work for the sort of company that will force someone to accept something that you bullied them into, maybe you should consider working for another company...if you work for the kind of company that will let someone out of a contract because they are unhappy what was the point in boxing them into it in the first place?
Getting past that, the real issue is to determine what the issue is and address it. Some companies will throw money at any problem (example, it's too long...how about we give you $250 back and you keep it) I suggest a more discriminating approach. In the above example the customer asserts that her husband thought it was too expensive. If you've really done things right then the husband should have been at the house when you did the whole thing, but we'll assume he wasn't. If you have painted her into a corner and she is falling back on her husband as a way to get out then nothing you say is going to result in a happy conclusion for all parties. If her husband really does think it costs too much then you can work one of several ways.
The first thing to do is ask what price range he/they wanted to be in. If we are going to assume you didn't get the husband there to meet you then we might as well assume you didn't determine their budget either. Good thing this example is about you and not me. If the amount is a smallish difference it may be possible to simply apply a discount to save the sale. If the amount is a larger figure they may be a way to modify the existing selection to decrease the cost (less fullness, less expensive lining, removing trim or other surcharge laden items), if the amount is LARGE then either selecting an alternate treatment/fabric may be in order, eliminating entire pieces, or sometimes...just sometimes you can sell the customer the fabric only, and they can do the labor themselves (or pay you to do it at a later date).
More than once I've had a customer who demands (I'll use their words) an "obscene discount". The only way to handle it is to decrease the fullness to the minimum and use the least expensive option for each of the items discussed. Since these requests always come from only my absolutely wealthiest clients I also show them what they had initially selected side by side. Either way they would like the order I am happy to do it. Naturally what they really want is the expensive one with proper fullness at the lower cost, but given the two options, they nearly always chose the more expensive one. NOTE: Don't ever do that to a client who can't afford the expensive option. You will guarantee that you make no sale and that they feel bad.
So, in review: If someone tries to cancel determine why. Address the objection with an appropriate response. And finally go help the next person.
I told her it is the same as in the stores, but the more important question is "Why are they attempting to cancel?" When working from an overcoming objection based model of sales one needs to be careful not to paint a customer into the corner. With a bit of practice it becomes very easy to overcome every objection that a customer throws your way. If you do this then invariably when you are not there to counter they will try to cancel. If you work for the sort of company that will force someone to accept something that you bullied them into, maybe you should consider working for another company...if you work for the kind of company that will let someone out of a contract because they are unhappy what was the point in boxing them into it in the first place?
Getting past that, the real issue is to determine what the issue is and address it. Some companies will throw money at any problem (example, it's too long...how about we give you $250 back and you keep it) I suggest a more discriminating approach. In the above example the customer asserts that her husband thought it was too expensive. If you've really done things right then the husband should have been at the house when you did the whole thing, but we'll assume he wasn't. If you have painted her into a corner and she is falling back on her husband as a way to get out then nothing you say is going to result in a happy conclusion for all parties. If her husband really does think it costs too much then you can work one of several ways.
The first thing to do is ask what price range he/they wanted to be in. If we are going to assume you didn't get the husband there to meet you then we might as well assume you didn't determine their budget either. Good thing this example is about you and not me. If the amount is a smallish difference it may be possible to simply apply a discount to save the sale. If the amount is a larger figure they may be a way to modify the existing selection to decrease the cost (less fullness, less expensive lining, removing trim or other surcharge laden items), if the amount is LARGE then either selecting an alternate treatment/fabric may be in order, eliminating entire pieces, or sometimes...just sometimes you can sell the customer the fabric only, and they can do the labor themselves (or pay you to do it at a later date).
More than once I've had a customer who demands (I'll use their words) an "obscene discount". The only way to handle it is to decrease the fullness to the minimum and use the least expensive option for each of the items discussed. Since these requests always come from only my absolutely wealthiest clients I also show them what they had initially selected side by side. Either way they would like the order I am happy to do it. Naturally what they really want is the expensive one with proper fullness at the lower cost, but given the two options, they nearly always chose the more expensive one. NOTE: Don't ever do that to a client who can't afford the expensive option. You will guarantee that you make no sale and that they feel bad.
So, in review: If someone tries to cancel determine why. Address the objection with an appropriate response. And finally go help the next person.
Tuesday, April 5, 2011
Reminder...
When working with a commercial or industrial client you might want to think really hard about the potential consequences of ignoring fire codes. Sure your client might not care, but what about your conscience?
Sunday, April 3, 2011
Team building...
There is a story about a famous baseball player who always refused to work with the rookies. Any tip, any trick or technique that he could have taught them he viewed as a threat to his position. At the end of the season how do you think his team fared compared to what they could have done? Nobody can know what will happen, but I like to make sure that my team has the strongest and best possible members, not just those that I am better than.
This blog is no different. There is no Decorator draft. We are not competing for the title, flag or any other analogy you wish to use. I intend on giving the best advice I can to those who are or would be my colleagues. I hope that you will all do the same.
This blog is no different. There is no Decorator draft. We are not competing for the title, flag or any other analogy you wish to use. I intend on giving the best advice I can to those who are or would be my colleagues. I hope that you will all do the same.
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