Category: Sales

I recently stayed
in a supposedly luxury
all inclusive resort.
It was no longer luxury.

Why?

Because the resort had
(wisely)
cut costs during the pandemic
and now that travel was
opening up
once more,
they hadn’t reversed the cost cutting.

Each patron was, for example,
allocated exactly one bath towel.
There were no bath mats,
no face cloths,
no hand towels.

There were no offers
of additional grated cheese
at the Italian restaurant.
There were no pepper grinders.
There was little variety of food
and few garnishings.

There were a thousand
small cost cuttings
that likely someone in head office
thought no one would notice.

I noticed.
I didn’t feel pampered.
I won’t ever return
on my own accord.

You likely installed
cost cuttings
during the pandemic slowdown.
That was the right decision
to do
THEN.

With the economy opening
back up,
it is time to reverse
those cost cuttings.

Ensure the customers
who return to you
stay with you.
Give them the experience
they expect.

Many business builders
are trying to decide
whether or not
they should bring employees back
to a physical location.

There are many considerations
when deciding this.

One that I think is key
is…
how are these employees
‘meeting’ with customers
(external and internal)?

Managers
should be meeting with them
the same way.

If customers are calling employees,
managers should be hosting
meetings via calls
with employees.

If customers are meeting with them
on video chat,
managers should be having
video chats with them.

If customers are having
lunch meetings with them
at restaurants,
managers should be having
lunch meetings with them
at restaurants.

Why?

Because this increases
opportunities for training
tremendously.
Employees learn
not only by their managers’ examples
but also by
other employees’ examples.
Everyone improves
and the customer experience
becomes better.

(There will be exceptions, of course,
times when a different type of meeting
is best
but at least some of the meetings
should mirror the customer experience.)

Meet with your employees
the same way
they meet with your customers.

A couple of my stories
are listed
at permanently free.

However, when I promote them,
I state
“For a limited time.”

Why?

Because the booksellers
have ultimate control
over pricing
and they could change
(and have changed)
the price at any time.

If that happens
and I don’t state
“For a limited time”,
some readers WILL
accuse me
of false promotion
and/or ask to be reimbursed.

Does adding “For a limited time”
add a sense of urgency?

Yes.
But that sales lift
is offset by people
who don’t want to spread
the news
about a promotion
that might end at any time.

Consider using
“For a limited time”
when you don’t have
full control
over the event.

A salesperson loved one
gave a great presentation
on a new development
in the industry.

After the presentation,
a member of the audience
rushed up to him
and asked him
to give the presentation
to his Fortune 500 company.
He said it would be ‘easy.’
The salesperson
could use the same presentation.

Except it wouldn’t be
the same presentation.
The audience would be different
and a great presenter
changes his or her presentation
for different audiences.

This new audience,
for example,
wouldn’t know the same acronyms
and some of the same jargon.
They would respond better
to examples
from their niche.
They require a different speed
of presenting.

I do the same thing
with my book descriptions
(sales copy).
I offer a different book description
for an ad
in a newsletter with price conscious readers
than I would
for an ad
in a newsletter with
prefer-to-read-books-first readers.

If you’re giving the same
presentation
or using the same
copy
for everything,
you are likely not maximizing
your sales.

Consider changing them
for each new audience.

One of my partners
went dark
for four months.

I sent her work.
She said she received it.

Then there was nothing.

I emailed her.
I received no response.

The drop dead
deadline
for the project approached.
She still didn’t respond.

I was panicking.
I was looking
into alternatives.
I was reaching out
to friends,
begging for favors.

Then she sent me
her completed part
of the project
ON the deadline date.

Her excuse
for not responding
was she thought
she’d finish it quickly
and respond with her completed part.

I thought she had ghosted me.
I worried she’d died.

I will never trust her again
and
I will likely partner
with another person
for the next project.

Reply to partners
and customers
on a timely basis.

No reply will be seen
as an extremely unprofessional ‘no’
by new customers
and it will irritate
the f*ck out of established customers.

Many people
in the Romance Novel Industry
swear by the elevator pitch.

You have 60 seconds
to promote your book
to an agent or publisher.
What do you say?

I hate the elevator pitch concept.

It always assumes
I know nothing about
the person I’m pitching to
and that situation
would never happen.

I would never pitch
to a complete stranger.
I would do my research first.
I would figure out
what THEY wanted.
I would tweak my pitch
to address those wants.

Seth Godin
shares

“The alternative is
the elevator question,
not the elevator pitch.
To begin a conversation
–not about you,
but about the person
you’re hoping to connect with.
If you know who they are
and
what they want,
it’s a lot more likely
you can figure out
if they’re a good fit
for who you are
and
what you want.
And you can
take the opportunity
to help them find
what they need,
especially if
it’s not from you.”

Selling isn’t about us.
It is about the prospect
and serving HER needs.

I’ve found recently
there has been an increase
in nasty feedback,
especially from supporters
of a certain former world leader.

Don’t respond
to it.

EVERY time
I’ve done this,
it has been a disaster.

They NEVER want
an explanation.
They don’t want an apology.
They don’t even want
a simple
“Thank you for your feedback.”

And they definitely won’t be
swayed
in their opinions
of the situation,
of you,
of your product.

They often want a fight.
They want to hurt someone
and you are an easy public target.
Sometimes they merely want
to vent.

Compose a message
offline
if you feel you need to respond.
Get your feelings on the page.
Then delete it.

Don’t respond to nasty feedback.
It will merely encourage
more of it
and more public versions
of it.

I know when
someone checks
their messages
or isn’t paying attention
while I’m talking to them
on the phone.

I suspect you know also.
You might not be
100% certain
but you have a feeling
they aren’t giving you
their full attention.

I usually end the call
when that happens.
My time is
as valuable
as their time
and
they’re not listening
so why am I continuing
to talk?

And I’m less likely
to answer their next call.

This is why
when I receive a call,
if it is at all possible,
I stop everything else.
I turn off my music.
I find a quiet place.
I might take notes
as that forces me
to pay attention.

I do whatever I can
to be 100% there
for the caller.

And I suspect
they notice.

We know
when you’re not
paying attention.

Note:
This is why
great salespeople
don’t pitch to prospects
while driving.

I travel quite a bit.
When I travel,
I like to give my business
to local companies.

Due to the pandemic,
I haven’t traveled in
about a year.

I’m now receiving
hundreds of notifications
from local businesses
saying they’ll close my accounts
due to inactivity.

This pisses me off
for a number of reasons.

I will have to
open new accounts
if I want to shop with them
again.
That’s a huge hassle.

But the most irritating thing
is…
I don’t feel special.

I went out of my way
to shop local,
to give them my business,
and they didn’t even
take a few minutes
to pursue the list of patrons
whose accounts they were threatening
to close.

Look at your systems.
Are they still applicable now,
during a pandemic?

And if you’re thinking about
sending threatening letters,
perhaps take a moment
and see if many of those customers
have something (obvious) in common.

“We treat all our customers
equally.”

That might be a great
marketing slogan
but it is complete bullsh*t.

H*ll, almost all businesses
charge different prices
to different customers.

I don’t have sales
on new releases
because I know
pre-order readers
don’t care
(as much)
about pricing.
They value reading stories first,
not reading stories
at their lowest cost.

I discount older stories
because there are huge groups
of value readers (customers)
who don’t care
how old stories are.
They’re mostly looking
at the price tag.

If customers negotiate
for lower prices,
they usually get them
…eventually.

And coupons
are designed
as a means to charge
different customers
different prices.

Seth Godin
shares

“If a consumer cared
about saving money
more than time or hassle,
they could clip the coupons,
bring them to the store
and pay a different price
than people who couldn’t be bothered.
In essence,
there were two prices
for these products,
based on how much
the consumer wanted to spend
and how they chose
to allocate their time.”

Not all customers
should be treated the same
because not all customers
value the same things.

It is normal
to charge different groups
of customers
different prices.

Consider making that
part of your strategy.