Both are bad.
A conversation is supposed
to be two-way,
anything other is a monologue.
Although I try to say as little as possible
because the less I talk,
the more I learn,
I DO talk.
I ask questions.
I facilitate discussion.
Why?
Because as
James Morris in
The Art Of Conversation
shares
“… realize that it is bad manners
to monopolize a conversation,
it’s equally bad manners
not to talk enough.”
No wallflowers.
Hold up your side
of the conversation.
I was talking to someone yesterday.
Although she had been the person
to approach ME,
she kept glancing across the room.
Finally, I gave up and walked across the room
to find out what was so interesting.
Susan RoAne in
How To Work A Room
says
“A roving eye gives the impression
of an insincere, hand-pumping Mr. Sleaze.
People always remember the room surfer.”
That ties into her other key message
“If you can tell someone is working a room,
that person is doing it wrong.”
When I attend a party,
my goal is to find ONE person
I can make a solid connection with.
Focus on quality not quantity.
With exciting developments ahead,
this is no time to slow down
on your business building.
Your clientk Work It Reminder Of The Week
comes courtesy of
Harvey Mackay in
Swim With The Sharks
Without Being Eaten Alive
“I have known successful salespeople
who were alcoholics, gamblers, liars, thieves…
but I have never known a successful salesperson
who sat on his ass all day.”
“You can do all those other nasty things
and still make a decent living.
But if you blow off your nine to fives
on useless, time-consuming behavior,
you will fail.”
Go out there
and do it!
Bonus quote from
Swim With The Sharks
Without Being Eaten Alive…
“Most sales manuals will tell you
that the most important thing
you are selling is yourself.
This book won’t.
In my opinion,
selling yourself can sometimes be a very bad idea…
because very often, my friend,
you and I are lousy products.”
Most bloggers,
myself included,
get a request a day
for a ‘link exchange.’
This is the internet equivalent
of a stranger walking up to you
and asking for your wallet.
Only the insane say yes.
My readers are important to me
(if they weren’t,
would I blog every day for the past 5 years?).
I’m not going to hand them over to you
blindly.
As Pamela Slim from
Escape From Cubicle Nation
states
““Link exchange” is a thing of the past.
Before someone knows
if they want to share you and your ideas
with their audience,
they want to get to know and trust you.”
Blogging is about building relationships.
Business is about building relationships.
Don’t ask for the ‘sale’ on the first meet.
One of my favorite forums
won’t let me post.
Why?
Because it now requires more user information.
Information like birth date
(including month and day)
and address.
For an online forum.
I’ll likely make up something
(make myself 100 years old)
but it bothers me.
They don’t NEED that information.
Why do they ask it?
It especially irritates me
that they’re holding my account hostage
until I supply it.
Having
users, readers, customers
is a privilege.
Don’t abuse it
or you’ll lose them.
They have choice.
Every rational company
runs credit checks
on new customers,
especially if purchases are large
(i.e. ‘theft’ of that purchase would greatly
hurt the company).
Not as many companies
run credit checks on existing customers
but with bankruptcies rising,
this is a prudent move.
As customers can see
who runs credit checks on them,
it is best to have a policy
(so they don’t feel they’re a concern).
One company I know
runs a credit check every year.
Another runs
credit checks for purchases or balances
over a certain amount.
Credit checks add to the selling costs
and the turn around time
but are well worth it.
A loved one of mine
complains constantly.
It doesn’t matter how wonderful something is,
she always finds a fault with it.
Complaining makes her happy.
That’s one reason
why large companies track complaints.
The payoff for constant complainers
is the complaint.
They like to be listened to.
They don’t need stuff or action to make them happy.
If you listen to their complaints,
they’ll happily (or in this case, unhappily) continue to buy
(only you can decide whether the sale is worth it).
How to tell if you’re dealing with
a constant complainer?
Again, tracking.
Many companies have a sliding scale
of freebies they give to unhappy customers.
First call may be a stack of coupons for free cartons of orange juice.
Second call may be one coupon for a free carton.
Third call may be a $1 off coupon.
Until eventually,
the caller receives only a written thank you for their complaint.
If they call back after that,
you have a constant complainer.
What to do with constant complainers,
these masters of negative word of mouth?
If you can go without their sales,
cut them off kindly.
Refer them to the competition
(double plus – one less complainer for you,
one more complainer for them).
If you need their sales,
listen.
This week,
two of my buddies told me
their companies slashed commissions
as part of their cost cutting.
What the F**k?
Commissions are NOT costs.
Yes, on financial statements,
they are often lumped in with costs
but commissions are, in reality,
cost of goods sold.
They are incentives.
They’re the cost of selling something.
You WANT to pay more commissions
because that means you’re selling more.
If you need to motivate your sales team,
if you need to sell MORE,
(maybe because you’re battling a recession economy)
commission percentages should INCREASE,
not decrease.
While we’re talking sales ‘perks’,
selling achievement recognitions
such as President’s Clubs and
other top Seller incentives,
also pay for themselves.
Salespeople only get these if they sell.
To cut these would be the height of foolishness.
I’ve noticed a trend lately.
Emails from some coworkers
have gotten shorter.
From some.
I had a theory as to the cause
so I asked a few questions.
The common link?
They’re all on Twitter.
I’m not a crazy Twitter fan
(though I do use it).
It can be a time waster
and a lawsuit waiting to happen.
However, one benefit is
it forces people to communicate in 140 characters or less.
That cuts out B.S.,
posturing, useless information.
And that saves me time.
The Toilet Paper Entrepreneur
has a list of 6 ways to increase revenue quickly.
All are good
but I especially liked #6.
“Go through your local yellow pages
and call on your competitors ads.
You will always find several ads big to small
that have disconnected numbers.
Now call your local telephone company and
have those disconnected numbers assigned
to “ring to” your main number and voila!
You’re now receiving tons of yellow page advertising for Free!”
(In the comments,
you’ll read an entrepreneur
doing the same with domain names.)
This is especially effective now,
during a recession,
with many companies
going out of business.
Take the time and do this today.