Selling

By Ismail Rajur

1 AIDA is the original sales training acronym, dating back as early as 1898, and describes a common list of events that a sales person can follow when selling a product or service. The AIDA model is attributed to American advertising and sales pioneer E. St. Elmo Lewis. Back in 1898 when Lewis first devised his AIDA funnel, customer studies were conducted in the life insurance market to explain the mechanisms and the psychology of personal selling. His studies found that the most successful salespeople were those who following a hierarchical, structured approach to selling which used the four cognitive phases that buyers follow when accepting a new idea or buying a new product. Funnily enough, the AIDA model is probably more relevant and useful today than it was back when it was first created. Modern theories, distractions and aversions to pushy sales people can often cause sales professionals, managers and companies alike to look for increasing original and innovative ways to sell their products. Instead, what they should be doing is going back to the most basic and obvious requirements and features need to successfully engage a prospect. If you are plying your trade in sales, advertising, marketing and/or are communicating directly with potential customers and you can only learn one sales or selling model; remember AIDA. Sometimes known as the Hierarchy of Effects Model, AIDA describes the basic process for motivating people to act on an external stimulus (such as a new idea or product), which includes the way successful selling happens and sales are made. Here is the acronym broken down: A Attention I Interest D Desire A Action This AIDA modelcan also be applied, and has been successfully over many years, to advertising and marketing literature aimed at generating a response, making it a useful and reliable template. This simplistic sales approach works on the basis that anything we buy comes as a result of theAIDA model and because of the that, the best way to sell is also through the AIDA approach. So first, something gets our attention, and if it is relevant to us we become interested in it. If the product or service fulfills a particular want or need we might have, or is special, unique or rare, then we start to desire it. If our desire is strong enough to overcome our natural aversion to purchasing, we then become motivated to take action, buying the product or becoming more susceptible to the salesperson trying to sell to us. Here are some tips and ideas for using the AIDA model in your selling process: 1

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Attention

First impressions count. You have only 5 seconds before your prospect forms an opinion of you, so make it a good opinion. Smile, be polite and courteous, but also be different. Surprise them. Think outside the box. When making sales calls, you often will get blocked by gatekeepers like PAs and receptionists, so you dont get attention from the decision makers. Adopt your calling times to before 8.30am and after 5.30pm times when the decision makers may still be in the office without other people to take the calls! Be honest. People are sold to every day on television, on the streets, over the phone and via email and it is irritating. Remain honest and avoid gimmicks, tricks and crafty techniques and you will predispose the prospect to you, making it easier to sell. Relax. Nothing deters attention from a prospect as quickly as a nervous, sweating, mumbling, stuttering salesperson. 80% of the time, youll get a No so just relax and enjoy the process. Treat it like a game and youll learn to have fun selling. Use good openers. As stated, you have 5 seconds to grab them so dont waste it. Use pulling statements like, Have you ever.?, Are you noticing.? and Can you see.? to address their problems and concerns head on, right away.

Interest

Make an impact. You have 5-15 seconds to make an impact and create interest. Make your first statement simple and relevant. Keep it relevant. To keep their interest, the person or business must have a specific want or need for the product or service you intend to sell. If not, then why are you wasting time pitching to them? Engage your prospect. Get your prospect actively involved in the pitch. Demonstrate products and services, ask them to use the product themselves, keep them engaged and show how the product works instead of trying to hit them with a hard sell. Express yourself in simple terms. Nothing loses an audience quicker than bloated pitches filled with jargon and confusing terminology. Remember the KISS model: Keep It Simple, Stupid. Avoid the bordom factor. No matter how good you are at getting interest, if you pitch for too long you run the risk of overcooking the sale. That could be in the form of confusion for the prospect or, worse still, bordom and disinterest. Say what you have to say quickly, get them interested and dont keep pushing.

Desire 2

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Build trust. You must create trust and build rapport with your client to dispel any fears or doubts they may have in you and your integrity before they can truly desire what you are selling. Use social and economic proof. Show them how others are excited about the product, quoting big orders from other, possibly rival, companies that have acquired the product and approve it it. Solve a problem. Describe to your prospect precisely what your product will do to help them with their specific problem or need, citing cost, time or other advantageous factors that the product will save them if they place an order. Use scarcity. If applicable, you can show them that the product will not be available for long and that they may not have another opportunity to place an order.

Action

Convert. Once you have gained attention, established interest and sparked desire, the next logical step is to convert that into action. Whether that is an order, a provisional order or any other end goal you are aiming for. Ask for the business. Natural caution and inertia quite often dictate that clear opportunities are not acted upon by purchasers. Basically this means that if you want to close, or continue the discussion of, the sale then you as the salesperson must suggest that to the prospect. Ask, and you shall receive. Summarize. Towards the end of the pitch, summarize what you are offering and cite their specific problems and needs when doing so. This recap gets everything you have discussed back into the front of their mind, ready for them to make a decision. Use the right closing questions. Asking a closed question such as, Would you like to go for that today? instantly casts doubt into the mind of the prospect. If you have done your job right and successfully covered their needs and how your product solves them, you can ask, Would you like to go with the blue or the red? or, How many would you like for your initial order?. If a further meeting is required, dont ask a generic, When would you like to meet?. Instead, ask What day shall we meet next week?.

AIDAS, AIDCA & AIDCAS In more modern times, c.1980s-1990s, the AIDA model has been adapted and extended. The most popular of which is AIDCA, which means the same as AIDA but with the addition of Commitment prior to taking action. Commitment can and often is implied by the Action stage but the reasoning here is that there are more likely to take action if they have committed to purchase beforehand. As any salesperson 3

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knows, orders can and do get cancelled prior to payment and goods changing hands and by using the AIDCA model, this is less likely to happen. The other acronym is to add an S for Satisfaction to the end of either AIDA or AIDCA to become AIDAS or AIDCAS. This part of the sales process is based around the assumption that loyal, happy customers will be happy to purchase from you time and time again. Quite often this is true, but it is not always the case and many people do not feel it is necessary as a step, since you should be satisfying customers anyway. For most uses, AIDA and AIDCA are all you will need.

2 Buyer behaviour - The decision-making process How do customers buy? Research suggests that customers go through a five-stage decision-making process in any purchase. This is summarised in the diagram below:

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This model is important for anyone making marketing decisions. It forces the marketer to consider the whole buying process rather than just the purchase decision (when it may be too late for a business to influence the choice!) The model implies that customers pass through all stages in every purchase. However, in more routine purchases, customers often skip or reverse some of the stages. For example, a student buying a favourite hamburger would recognise the need (hunger) and go right to the purchase decision, skipping information search and evaluation. However, the model is very useful when it comes to understanding any purchase that requires some thought and deliberation. The buying process starts with need recognition. At this stage, the buyer recognises a problem or need (e.g. I am hungry, we need a new sofa, I have a headache) or responds to a marketing stimulus (e.g. you pass Starbucks and are attracted by the aroma of coffee and chocolate muffins). An aroused customer then needs to decide how much information (if any) is required. If the need is strong and there is a product or service that meets the need close to hand, then a purchase decision is likely to be made there and then. If not, then the process of information search begins. 5

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A customer can obtain information from several sources: Personal sources: family, friends, neighbours etc Commercial sources: advertising; salespeople; retailers; dealers; packaging; point-of-sale displays Public sources: newspapers, radio, television, consumer organisations; specialist magazines Experiential sources: handling, examining, using the product The usefulness and influence of these sources of information will vary by product and by customer. Research suggests that customers value and respect personal sources more than commercial sources (the influence of word of mouth). The challenge for the marketing team is to identify which information sources are most influential in their target markets. In the evaluation stage, the customer must choose between the alternative brands, products and services. How does the customer use the information obtained? An important determinant of the extent of evaluation is whether the customer feels involved in the product. By involvement, we mean the degree of perceived relevance and personal importance that accompanies the choice. Where a purchase is highly involving, the customer is likely to carry out extensive evaluation. High-involvement purchases include those involving high expenditure or personal risk for example buying a house, a car or making investments. Low involvement purchases (e.g. buying a soft drink, choosing some breakfast cereals in the supermarket) have very simple evaluation processes. Why should a marketer need to understand the customer evaluation process? The answer lies in the kind of information that the marketing team needs to provide customers in different buying situations. In high-involvement decisions, the marketer needs to provide a good deal of information about the positive consequences of buying. The sales force may need to stress the important attributes of the product, the advantages compared with the competition; and maybe even encourage trial or sampling of the product in the hope of securing the sale. Post-purchase evaluation - Cognitive Dissonance The final stage is the post-purchase evaluation of the decision. It is common for customers to experience concerns after making a purchase decision. This arises from a concept that is known as cognitive dissonance. The customer, having bought a product, may feel that an alternative would have been 6

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preferable. In these circumstances that customer will not repurchase immediately, but is likely to switch brands next time. To manage the post-purchase stage, it is the job of the marketing team to persuade the potential customer that the product will satisfy his or her needs. Then after having made a purchase, the customer should be encouraged that he or she has made the right decision.

3 9 Sales Activities to Take This Week To Improve Your Results (and That Your Sales Management Isnt Measuring) 1. Call and Thank Your Largest Client Maybe your largest client gets plenty of attention. Maybe they demand plenty of attention. Call three contacts at your largest client this week to thank them for their trust.

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2. Call a Client to Schedule and Unscheduled Review Formal, scheduled reviews are a wonderful way to work with your clients to continuously improve. But there is no reason to wait for the calendar to change to sit down with your clients, even if a review is imminent. Call one client and schedule an unscheduled review. Find out what you can do toimprove your service between now and the next scheduled review. 3. Review and Analyze Your Wallet Share Make a spreadsheet with four columns. In column one, make a list of your clients by name. In your second column, make a list of how much they have spent with you this year. In the third column, add the amount you believe they spend in your category. In the fourth column, divide column two (the amount they have spent with you) by column three (the amount you believe the spend). The result in column for is yourwallet share. Just stare at the list and let the numbers sink in for a while . . . when the pain is too much to bear, move on to number 4. 4. Schedule to Review Your Performance with Low Wallet Share Clients Schedule appointments with your highest value, lowest wallet share clients. Visit them with the sole objective to listening to them talk about you, your business, and your performance. Find out what makes you hard to do business with so that you can make the necessary adjustments and sell the changes inside. 5. Schedule an Unscheduled Visit With You Sales Manager (Or Sales Person) to Strategize on Dream Clients and/or Wallet Share You dont have to wait until you have a scheduled meeting to work with your team on improving your performance. Schedule a meeting with your sales manager to discuss ways in which you might move some of your dream clients into the pipeline. If you are a sales manager (or a Vice President of Sales), schedule to meet with a salesperson to brainstorm how you might help them move a dream client. Also, this is the perfect time to talk about your Wallet Share report. 6. Take Two Non-Sales Members of Your Team to Lunch To succeed in sales (or anything else), you need to build relationships. The relationships on the inside of your company are every bit as critical to your success as the relationships you develop outside your company.

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Identify two members of your team with whom you need to develop a closer, more effective relationship and take them to lunch (yes, you have to pay for their lunch . . . we are courting them like we would a client!). 7. Write a Public Letter (Or Email) of Appreciation for Your Non-Sales (but Still Essential) Team Members We win deals. But that endeavor, no matter how it might seem, is the result of the work of your whole team. Dont believe me? You know those letters of reference you carry around in your binder? You dont really think those are about you alone, do you? You received the credit for the win. You received the public accolades. You are receiving the commission. You arent doing all of the work. Write a very public email thanking your team for their work on a single account. Choose the account for which you will publicly praise their work based upon how much it stretched the whole team. Let them know that their work means the world to you and your client . . . it does! (less than two paragraphs isnt thoughtful enough and more than three mans they will know someone put you up to it) 8. Make Your Pipeline a Work of FactNot Fiction Your pipeline is full of client names that arent in any way, shape, or form real opportunities that you should be pursuing. Review your pipeline with a fine-tooth comb. Remove any opportunities that are no longer opportunitiesand remove the entries that never were really opportunities. 9. Make a List of Dream Clients (And Call Them) This is old advice for readers of this humble blog. But it is still rock solid. Dream clients are the prospects for who you can do breath taking, awe-inspiring, results-transforming work. If you have not made this list, do it now! Make a list of the prospects that fit the above description. Then make a list of reasons you believe you can do drop dead, magnificent, game-changing work for them. Thencall them and share what you have been thinking about. Nurture these relationships! Conclusion Your sales manager doesnt measure all of the activities that you must take in order to succeed in sales. Some of the most important performance-improving activities arent measured at all. Complete these nine activities this week; they wont show up on your reports, but they will show up in your results!

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By Ismail Rajur

4 The Sales Execution Model: Pre-Sales Activities, Sales Activities, and Post Sales Activities I have heard it called Sales Execution Model, Sales Strategy Model, or just the Sales Model but whatever you call it, its a process, or discipline, sales reps should follow to analyze, diagnose, prepare, execute and evaluate in their territories or on their calls. There is a flow or strategy to selling that falls into three phases: Pre-Sales Activities, Sales Activities, and Post Sales Activities. We will review the three phases and look at how they apply to all sales rolls.

Pre-Sales Activities

The Pre-Sales Activities can be broken into two areas, planning and preparing for the call. Planning, by definition, is action based and is a scheme or method, developed in advance, for doing, proceeding or making something. Planning, in the Pre-Sales Activities, can include Prospect/Customer identification, Product/research/customer analysis review, competitor/industry research, creating a call strategy, evaluation of your products and services relative to the competition. This not an inclusive list but a good start in planning for the call. How many of us do that much research? Come on, be honest, we dont spend that much time. Some of us may engage in the research but we do not do so thinking ahead how we will use this data in our sales calls; we should. To prepare is to put together or make by combining various elements or ingredients. So how do you prepare for the sales call? Its time to transfer your plan to a written document. How do you use the information gathered in the planning phase? You will use that information when you write a clear objective for each sales call. Write an objective, determine the processes you will use to achieve those objectives, set quantifiable goals for each objective and practice for the call. Pre-Sales Activities around preparation will look like creation of meeting presentation material, proposal/pricing creation, contract generation, determining use of marketing material, identifying customer objections, and planning to address those in the presentation or meeting, and defining the quantifiable return you expect to see after the meeting. After you have set the objective and determined how to meet the objective, you must practice for the call; that practice is integral in preparing for the sell. Wow, seems like we are spending a significant amount of time in Pre-Sales Activities. Well, we are. Analysis indicates most sales reps do not spend enough time in pre-sales. The reps that do more planning and preparing see a higher return on the time investment and tend to be less frustrated after sales calls.

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Sales Activities We all know what Sales Activities look like right? Probably but lets make sure we are all on the same page. Sales Activities are the execution of all your hard work planning and preparing. These activities may include the sales call/meeting, negotiation or follow-up, closing the deal/order taking, and relationship building and networking. Easy? Easier when you are prepared and carry out your plan. In another article we will dive deeper into how to execute. Post Sales Activities How many sales reps live for, or even like, Post Sales Activities? Be honest, not many of us. Thats because Post Sales Activities such as product/service implementation, customer service and support, gathering customer feedback, continued customer relationship building, future sales forecasting, and evaluation of the sales call are not what we want to do. None of these activities are highlights of the sales reps day but they are all integral. I would point out that of all Post Sales Activities, the one that should be of most interest to the sales rep is evaluation after a call. Given open and honest diagnosis of your sales call, this activity will set you up better for your next call and will, in and of itself, lend to more productive sales in the future. Why you ask? If you truly evaluate and determine what went well/what could have gone better on the last call and make changes based on this data, future calls will go more smoothly. So, no matter what you call the Sales Execution Model it should consist of three phases, Pre-Sales Activities, Sales Activities and Post Sales Activities. Remember to spend more time, do your due diligence, in the Pre-Sales Activities phase. This will garner you better results.

5 Customer Retention is the activity that a selling organization undertakes in order to reduce customer defections. Successful customer retention starts with the first contact an organisation has with a customer and continues throughout the entire lifetime of a relationship. A companys ability to attract and retain new customers, is not only related to its product or services, but strongly related to the way it services its existing customers and the reputation it creates within and across the marketplace. Customer retention is more than giving the customer what they expect, its about exceeding their expectations so that they become loyal advocates for your brand. Creating customer loyalty puts customer value rather than maximizing profits and shareholder value at the center of business

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strategy.[1] The key differentiator in a competitive environment is more often than not the delivery of a consistently high standard of customer service 1. Send "Thank you" letters. Thank you letters boosted the former President Bush from a nobody to VP and eventually President of the United States. Think the 1,000 thank you letters he wrote a year made a difference? 2. Utilize better implementation. Project managers are key to success. If you don't have a project manager for each new customer, consider hiring someone dedicated to this function. It is key to all new launches. Statistics I've seen indicate that projects with a program or project manager (implementation manager) are 70% successful where those driven without this key person only succeed 30%, in general. 3. Handle complaints proactively. When a customer voices a complaint, ask them how you might ideally help them. If you don't have a solution, ask them what a suitable solution for them might be. Let them be in charge. Then offer them the solution, if you can, or point them to where they might find the solution. Do everything in your power to avoid customers remaining upset with your business. One negative customer can destroy twenty positive interactions with a prospect. You want to avoid toxic customer relationships, at almost any cost. 4. Get clear on what you want from each other. Avoid the common challenge of vague vision of relationship. If the relationship has not been clarified between your firm and the customer, you're running the risk of losing them to a competitor. People who can set the vision include the CEO, Salesperson, Operations Manager, Customer Service Representative, Greeter, Checkout, and more. I'm a big believer in this. To this end, I've been developing a model for Semantic Collaboration. Truly dynamic teams collaborate to deliver positive a experience for customers. So, if you aren't sure how to build cross-functional, dynamic teams, contact me and I'll hook you up with some resources. 5. Words matter. It's not just training people on what to DO, but also training to know what to SAY. Too often customer support agents, are thinking from THEIR point of view (as a seller or support person), not from MY point of view (as a buyer or customer who has a need that I want met). It's not about them, it's about me. If I have a concern as a buyer, it needs to be heard by the seller or agent of the seller. Why don't people get this? I suppose, it's because we're all dealing with our own point-of-view, yet when we transcend this we can truly deliver unique and wonderful customer support. Training ALL employees on how to identify, meet, and communicate regarding customer needs is essential. If you don't have a program to do this, I can help you develop one rather inexpensively. Developing programs to increase customer loyalty and decrease turnover ought to be crucial to your long-term customer retention plan. 6. Hire and keep those who LOVE their job. (Get rid of the rest.) People that hate their job create 12

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dissatisfied customers. Why? They'll talk bad about the company, give a less effort, and deliver halfway results. How well are you empowering employees? If they are clock-watching, they're not loving their job! If they're staying overtime, they MAY be loving their job, or it might be culture coming from you, or from other managers. A WIIFM meeting usually won't determine how much people love or hate their work. People usually end up hating their work more after a WIIFM meeting than before it, from my experience. I'd poll people discretely, anonymously, every three months, then you can spot trends as to job satisfaction. How many of your employees hate their jobs? 10%? 20%? It is kind of a harsh question, but can be even harsher if you don't know the answer. Go down the list of your employees and answer honestly. Are there many? Are there any? What does this figure mean? Actually, it means quite a lot. The implications of employees hating their jobs are significant to the extent that they affect the quality of customer service. Employees who hate their jobs are most likely to develop the following behaviors: * They are apt to quit at any moment. Many are highly sensitive and the slightest annoyance will trigger their leaving. * Theft. When employees are not satisfied with their jobs, they see their actions as justifiable, however questionable they may be. Their justification may be that they feel they are owed or they may simply be vindictive and want to hurt the company. * Rude. They are much more apt to be rude to customers--it's a way to act out their feelings of anger and frustration. * Uncooperative. They will not be co-operative; they will not inform anyone about problems that they notice, ones that could be prevented and serve to improve the business. * Their attitude will rub off on satisfied employees making everyone dissatisfied. This is a phenomenon that I find amazing. How can one employee with a bad attitude affect so many good employees negatively? You'd think it would be the other way around; many employees with good attitudes should affect the bad employee. Unfortunately, that is simply not so. The fact is, one unhappy employee can spoil the whole rest of your team. So, like a dead limb on a tree that needs pruning, so it is with your team. 7. Client maximization. It's 5 times easier to sell to the client you have than to add a new one and the 13

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last study I read indicated it costs 10 times more to sell to the new client than the existing client. How often do you ask your clients if they have any problems or concerns that you are NOT yet helping them with? This will open the door to new opportunities. Do you have a program to cross-sell to existing customers? Customer Retention programs are actually great ways to disguise this important selling method. Are you up-selling people? Customer Retention offers the ability toup-sell people. Sometimes, if someone is unhappy, they have the wrong level of support. Sell them MORE and they GET MORE. Also, Customer Retention and Loyalty programs offer opportunities to ASK FOR REFERRALS (in my experience, the single most powerful sales tool in existence.) Maximize your sales opportunities and grow your business through your Customer Retention program. 8. Evaluate your salespeople. If your salespeople are selling the wrong product or service, your customer can be very angry. I was once assigned selling to the Radisson Hotel, and when I called the controller, Frank, he was very upset with my company. When I dug deeper, I learned that the former salesperson had over-committed our ability to deliver product to him. And, when products were late, people would practically stomp on his desk out of frustration. Amazing he had any fingers left when I met him! Anyway, Frank explained the situation, and I learned that the former salesperson had set improper commitment levels. When I reset the commitment expectation to one that both Frank and I could accept and know I could deliver upon, Frank became a happy customer again. Customer Retention calls are opportunities to save lost business. They are also opportunities to learn if your salespeople are displaying bad habits. Good salesmanship ensures you can deliver service thats consistent with your value proposition and brand. 9. Measure trends. Are you using polls, trends, surveys correctly? Smart Customer Retention knows if various levels of support are getting better over time or slipping a little. If they slip a lot, you stand to lose a lot of customers! Make sure you use polls and surveys to measure the lifetime value for different segments of your offerings. Also, use that data to improve your marketing to these segments, too. 10. How focused are you on retention? Are you using retention as a major focus of your marketing efforts? Every three months I go through my emails and look for problems, missed opportunities. You'd be surprised how many times I've created a customer by using this practice to self-monitor my own 14

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customer retention. If you've overlooked a question, you may have an opportunity. If you missed a chance to resolve a negative, take action and fix it now. The last time I did this, I ended up getting more business the next week. Is retention part of your annual plan for customers?

What are ways you can surprise your clients? a. Extra service. b. Extra product. c. Improved quality. d. Better price. e. Free shipping. If you brainstorm on this with other colleagues or even people outside your industry, you might come up with all kinds of ideas that (hahah) surprise you!

6 Customer attension There can be 2 scenarios in gaining customer attention. One where you are going to customer with an appointment and other where you are making a cold call. Gaining customer attention with an appointment is comparatively easier as compared to cold calls where you have to overcome sales resistance. One of the key factors which contributes to customer attention is your sales pitch as well as your conversation abilities. The sales person needs to establish good rapport as soon as possible. Thus the sales person can use 3 main techniques to get customer attention 1) Have a ready sales pitch By a sales pitch i mean you should have an idea of what you are going to speak, along with the normal conversation starters. It shouldnt be that you have a 500 word speech ready and as soon as you are in front of the customer you start reciting it. A sales pitch should greet the customer, ask him for his free time and then proceed. gauge the customer reception and remember if the customer is irritable, it is best to postpone your pitch for later or vary it on the spot according to the customers mood. 15

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2) Try to relax the customer The customer will have expectations from you. Thus having a calm conversation with him, asking him about his business and interests and his future prospects and than later on connecting YOUR product to his vision is important. In this manner the customer slowly relaxes and is more prone to asking questions by himself and if not, than at least he will be open to conversation. You can then lead him onto the product presentation stage and gain his interest. 3) Do not appear too eager Enthusiasm in sales is important and if you have confidence in your product, your enthusiasm shows. However it is necessary not to appear too eager because eagerness in itself can be a turn off and the customer might lose interest. Your approach towards the customer needs to be in accordance to the customer. Sometimes direct, sometimes subtle. Remember Shouting gains attention for a minimum time period whereas talking stays in the memory. You therefore need to talk to your customer rather than shout. 1.) Look professional. I dont mean with your physical appearance, though that can help. But your web-site presence and your shop or store front should look like you know what youre doing. Professional (or well-edited) photos, clean lines and white backgrounds do wonders. Your web content, product descriptions and taglines should be attention-grabbing, concise and thorough. I ordered a hair bow online a few months ago from a boutique that was having a pretty big sale. The pictures werent great, and nothing about the website was particularly appealing, but the colors matched the outfit I wanted it for, so I bought it. After 8 long weeks of trying to get this boutique-owner to respond to me about me order, and after countless promises that she sent it, I finally filed for a refund and Ill never purchase from them again. Had she been more serious about her business, her site would have reflected that. 2.) Prove you are the expert. Customers come to you because they believe you are the expert in the field in which you work. Experts are the ones who can answer any question in record time, know their competition, research their field and products so that they always have the best to offer, communicate well with their customers and never compromise their quality. Most of the time, even if you sound like an expert, and its half-way believable, you can probably get away with it, as long as you continue to grow and educate yourself in your field. I often order hair bows from an online boutique which is considered the best of the best. (Did you know there was such a thing?) The owner uses thick ribbon instead of the floppy stuff. She assembles them in a way that even the most destructive toddler couldnt destroy them. She secures the ends so they dont fray. Her designs are unique, un-matched, original and always with extra flair. She can answer and question about any ribbon, centerpiece, assembly-technique and clip. Her packaging is beautiful, her turn-around time is fast and a lot of people trust that she is The Expert Bow Maker. 3.) Ask them what they want.

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When working with clients and customers, it is always most important to find out what their need is and to meet it. This is especially true if you fill custom orders or services. In order to create a plan, product or service specifically tailored to a customers needs, you will be expected to listen very carefully, so that you will be able to give them exactly what they want. And dont just stop there- make sure you give them what they ask for. This shows customers that you are willing to take the time to listen to their needs and that you value their business. Its a sure way to get repeat business and referrals.

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4.) Follow up with a thank you. You want your customers to remember you above all the other competition. Thanking customers for their purchase makes them feel appreciated and valued by you. Ways to show appreciation could include an email, a coupon, a promotional code, a gift bag, or even a small, inexpensive gift, perhaps with your logo or brand on it. These things could include bottle openers, pens, magnets, etc. The frequency with which you send these can also vary- after each purchase, quarterly or at Christmas. When I order a handmade hair bow online, I love receiving the package with a small clippie or something cute as a thank you. In my own business, I send out Christmas cards with a thank you note and a promo-code for future transactions.

7 promotion- push and pull strategies "Push or Pull"? Marketing theory distinguishes between two main kinds of promotional strategy - "push" and "pull". Push A push promotional strategy makes use of a company's sales force and trade promotion activities to create consumer demand for a product. The producer promotes the product to wholesalers, the wholesalers promote it to retailers, and the retailers promote it to consumers. A good example of "push" selling is mobile phones, where the major handset manufacturers such as Nokia promote their products via retailers such as Carphone Warehouse. Personal selling and trade promotions are often the most effective promotional tools for companies such as Nokia - for example offering subsidies on the handsets to encourage retailers to sell higher volumes. A "push" strategy tries to sell directly to the consumer, bypassing other distribution channels (e.g. selling insurance or holidays directly). With this type of strategy, consumer promotions and advertising are the most likely promotional tools. Pull

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A pull selling strategy is one that requires high spending on advertising and consumer promotion to build up consumer demand for a product. If the strategy is successful, consumers will ask their retailers for the product, the retailers will ask the wholesalers, and the wholesalers will ask the producers. A good example of a pull is the heavy advertising and promotion of children's toys mainly on television. Consider the recent BBC promotional campaign for its new pre-school programme the Fimbles. Aimed at two to four-year-olds, 130 episodes of Fimbles have been made and are featured everyday on digital children's channel CBeebies and BBC2. As part of the promotional campaign, the BBC has agreed a deal with toy maker Fisher-Price to market products based on the show, which it hopes will emulate the popularity of the Tweenies. Under the terms of the deal, Fisher-Price will develop, manufacture and distribute a range of Fimbles products including soft, plastic and electronic learning toys for the UK and Ireland. In 2001, BBC Worldwide (the commercial division of the BBC) achieved sales of 90m from its children's brands and properties last year. The demand created from broadcasting of the Fimbles and a major advertising campaign is likely to pull demand from children and encourage retailers to stock Fimbles toys in the stores for Christmas 2002.

8 CFS - Customer Feedback System "Companies that fail to use their knowledge of customers, to develop their product and service, what those customers will need next, are leaving the door open for another company to lure them away. Expressed complaints are serious issues that can create greater customer attrition and departure. It is in every service organizations interest to elicit as much customer comment as possible. Few companies have a systematic way of doing this. CFS (Customer Feedback System) as a software tool does just this. The ShawMan Customer Feedback System records feedback from the guest. This enables the user to respond to changing customer requirements, the objective being to resolve problems recorded in the 19

Selling

By Ismail Rajur

CFS and try to retain the customer inspite of the difficulties faced by the customer. A lot of feedback given by the customer is heard but forgotten and this information does not reach the decision makers, the people who matter. The CFS helps the user to know which of the areas where are guest problems and which of the areas, are guest delights.

Key features of ShawMan CFS Integrated System - One system for logging in, service recovery, aggregation and reporting/analysis. CFS captures guest difficulties i.e. complaints, guest delights i.e. compliment and guest suggestions i.e. comments. Sharing vital information - Information is made accessible to everyone (unit/corporate).Feedback from all sources i.e. Frontline feedback, Executives, sales force, GSTS/RSTS, room comment card gets aggregated in one database. Structured Capture Feedback is captured upto the minutest level of an attribute. Structured codification process, ensuring different levels of detail, based on requirement. Supports third Party interface - Linked to any third party PMS front office software, which is a primary requisite in the hospitality vertical for smoother function. Quick and cost effective - Feedback flows from origin to where it is required to go by using email as a quick and cost effective transfer of feedback. User friendly one screen format for everyone across the organization. Email engine is used to send the mailers to the customers. The customer gets an e-mail with a link, which points to the feedback form in CFS system. On click of this, feedback form opens up and the customer can give the feedback online. Feedback gets submitted in CFS system which can be viewed at the same time from CFS site. MIS available. CFS Data Warehouse- Data mining can be done by the reports generated in CFS warehouse.

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Selling

By Ismail Rajur

8.a In recent years, mature companies with far flung network of frontline sales staff banks, retailers, airlines, healthcare and telecom providers, for example, have devoted a great deal of money and effort to retaining their current customers. However, traditional loyalty programs, customer relationship management (CRM) technology, and in general service quality improvements fall short of expanding the breadth and depth of customer relationships and on translating the resulting loyalty into higher sales as well as a healthier bottom line. So, how do you create a spark between the customer and front line staff that helps transform skeptical people into strong and committed brand followers? The answer lies in measuring the quality of service at the moment of truthi.e. the exact moment when your staff interacts with a customer who has lost a credit card, complained about a cancelled flight or is dissatisfied with your service. Customer Feedback Systems (CFS) is an international best practice that helps an organization to put in place a continuous customer feedback monitoring process. It has a unique electronic device, which provides actionable, real-time feedback collected the moment your customer experiences your service. Now, at a touch of a button, your customers can tell you in a matter of seconds exactly what they thought of your service. CFS enables to quantify customer service thereby creating a measurement system to uniformly raise customer service levels to ultimately meet the set benchmark. The Five-Step Process

The CFS Advantage

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By Ismail Rajur

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By Ismail Rajur

9 Pareto's Principle - The 80-20 Rule How the 80/20 rule can help you be more effective In 1906, Italian economist Vilfredo Pareto created a mathematical formula to describe the unequal distribution of wealth in his country, observing that twenty percent of the people owned eighty percent of the wealth. In the late 1940s, Dr. Joseph M. Juran inaccurately attributed the 80/20 Rule to Pareto, calling it Pareto's Principle. While it may be misnamed, Pareto's Principle or Pareto's Law as it is sometimes called, can be a very effective tool to help you manage effectively. Where It Came From After Pareto made his observation and created his formula, many others observed similar phenomena in their own areas of expertise. Quality Management pioneer, Dr. Joseph Juran, working in the US in the 1930s and 40s recognized a universal principle he called the "vital few and trivial many" and reduced it to writing. In an early work, a lack of precision on Juran's part made it appear that he was applying Pareto's observations about economics to a broader body of work. The name Pareto's Principle stuck, probably because it sounded better than Juran's Principle. As a result, Dr. Juran's observation of the "vital few and trivial many", the principle that 20 percent of something always are responsible for 80 percent of the results, became known as Pareto's Principle or the 80/20 Rule. What It Means The 80/20 Rule means that in anything a few (20 percent) are vital and many(80 percent) are trivial. In Pareto's case it meant 20 percent of the people owned 80 percent of the wealth. In Juran's initial work he identified 20 percent of the defects causing 80 percent of the problems. Project Managers know that 20 percent of the work (the first 10 percent and the last 10 percent) consume 80 percent of your time and resources. You can apply the 80/20 Rule to almost anything, from the science of management to the physical world. You know 20 percent of your stock takes up 80 percent of your warehouse space and that 80 percent of your stock comes from 20 percent of your suppliers. Also 80 percent of your sales will come from 20 percent of your sales staff. 20 percent of your staff will cause 80 percent of your problems, but another 20 percent of your staff will provide 80 percent of your production. It works both ways. How It Can Help You The value of the Pareto Principle for a manager is that it reminds you to focus on the 20 percent that matters. Of the things you do during your day, only 20 percent really matter. Those 20 percent produce 80 percent of your results. Identify and focus on those things. When the fire drills of the day begin to sap your time, remind yourself of the 20 percent you need to focus on. If something in the schedule has to slip, if something isn't going to get done, make sure it's not part of that 20 percent.

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Selling

By Ismail Rajur

There is a management theory floating around at the moment that proposes to interpret Pareto's Principle in such a way as to produce what is called Superstar Management. The theory's supporters claim that since 20 percent of your people produce 80 percent of your results you should focus your limited time on managing only that 20 percent, the superstars. The theory is flawed, as we are discussing herebecause it overlooks the fact that 80 percent of your time should be spent doing what is really important. Helping the good become better is a better use of your time than helping the great become terrific. Apply the Pareto Principle to all you do, but use it wisely. Manage This Issue Pareto's Principle, the 80/20 Rule, should serve as a daily reminder to focus 80 percent of your time and energy on the 20 percent of you work that is really important. Don't just "work smart", work smart on the right things.

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