Gratitude

Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays, not because of the volumes of calories and liquids that I’ll consume, or because of the pumpkin pies that will be served or the televised football games. No, I like Thanksgiving because it’s the official day when our focus should be on giving thanks.

Thanksgiving for me growing up in northern New Jersey meant going to the annual Montclair vs. Bloomfield High School football game to watch ole Clary Anderson coach the Montclair Bulldogs hopefully to victory. The game was followed by a Thanksgiving feast with immediate and extended family. Turkey was the focal point of those feasts with my father slicing the bird into succulent portions for eating. But the highlight, at least for me, was my grandmother’s pumpkin pie served with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. That’s what Thanksgiving meant to me and means to millions of Americans…feast, football and fun away from school or work.

With the passing of years I’ve begun giving “thanks” each and every day and not just on this special day. Why do we need a special day to remind us to stop and appreciate everything that we have? Why do we dwell on what we don’t have? Or, what’s preventing us from accomplishing what we want? Why do we spend more time worrying, fearing and denying instead of appreciating what we have and the opportunities that lie before us?

I prefer to focus on all the good around me; to be grateful for all that I have been blessed with. The choice is yours. Will you daily be grateful for the all the wonders you have and for thanking those who have sacrificed so that you may have a world of abundance? Or, will you succumb to the “dark side” by worrying, fearing and bemoaning life? If you choose the former, how will you focus on being grateful? I challenge you to be disciplined in daily focusing (min. 3 – 5 times each day) on being Thankful. You’ll be amazed how this commitment will change your disposition and your life.

 

Jeff Lovejoy

Certified Business Coach

404.444.1836

Excite Your Customers – Build Loyalty

You would think that all business owners have instituted a Customer Loyalty Program within their business. After all, what better strategy to generate leads than from existing customers? What better way to encourage customers to refer your business than rewarding their loyalty?

How do you define customer service? Wikipedia says it’s “the provision of service to customers before, during and after a purchase.” Is this your definition? If so, you’re like most owners.

I believe this definition significantly understates the goal of good customer service and results in providing service that only satisfies customers.

If your goals is to satisfy customers only, I suggest your competitors are “circling the wagons” in anticipation of stealing customers. Satisfying customers isn’t enough…your goal should be to provide a level of service that delights customers.

The key to “delighting” customers is appealing to their emotions. Customers have emotional “bank” accounts, and to truly delight customers you must continually make deposits to their account. The absence of deposits can result in a low “balance in their account, which leads to customer dissatisfaction. Deposits don’t happen from providing service that only meets or satisfies expectations…your service must be outstanding.

We worked with a men’s clothing store where the owner adopted a strategy of delighting his customers. When someone purchased a suite he always added a pair of nice socks to the garment bag, unbeknownst to the buyer, with a note that read “thought these would look nice with your new suit.” Two days later he would send the buyer a new shirt, at no charge, with a note that said “I forgot to give you this when you were here and thought it would look great with your new suit.”

Unexpected surprises like these result in large deposits to the buyer’s emotional bank account. It’s best to make deposits when your customer least expects it…not at the time they give you their credit card to make the purchase.

What are you doing to deposit to your buyers’ emotional account?

Here are some other examples of creating WOW for your customers:

• Send cookies with your company’s name on each cookie
• Send a photo album of their new purchases (real estate)
• Put bottled water in their car with a gift certificate to a pizza restaurant
• Provide a round of golf with a golf pro

These surprises don’t have to be extravagant – even tickets to a movie can delight – but they must be unexpected.

Creating a valued customer service strategy is one of the most important initiatives you as a leader can undertake. Create WOW programs that your customers will love and you’ll be well on the way to creating Raving Fans.

If you’re a business owner who appreciates these comments but doesn’t know how to initiative such a customer loyalty program, give me a call and we’ll schedule time to talk. You can’t afford to lose customers to competitors due to your customer’s perception that you don’t care about them. Give me a call or send me an e-mail.

Initiate Positive Change

Initiate Positive Change

Why is it that some people don’t like change?

Or, more to the point, why is it that some people won’t make a change even when gains would clearly result from making the change?

You and your sales team undoubtedly encounter clients with this kind of counterintuitive behavior. For example, think of prospective clients who stayed with their current supplier despite your superior alternative. What gets in the way of their making such a positive change? On a personal level, we’ve all seen colleagues or family members avoid making a change that would clearly be in their best interests. Why?

When looking at change and the stickiness of that change, we look at four things:

1. Level of Dissatisfaction with the status quo =  D
2. Vision of what could be =  V
3. First steps required to make a change =  F, and
4. Resistance to change, the boulder that obstructs the path =  R

Change only happens when the Resistance to change is overwhelmed by your Dissatisfaction (D) and Vision (V) and the First step required to make the change. In other words:

(D  x  V)  +  F  must be greater than R  for change to happen

If dissatisfaction is low, clarity of vision lacking, or the first steps towards making the change are too great, then overcoming Resistance is unlikely and change improbable.

Applying this framework to business situations we see some fairly typical examples of sales challenges you may be facing in your business.

1. Your sales team knows every feature and benefit of your quality product, but their sales results are disappointing. All too often sales teams spend their time promoting features and benefits to prospective customers, but they neglect to probe their prospective client’s dissatisfaction with their current provider.
2. 80% of sales are made for emotional reasons (people buy on emotions and justify with logic – Tom Hopkins). Taping into that emotional component of sales in this case means that the alignment of your service value with the prospective client’s dissatisfaction and/or vision should be high. Effective sales teams make clear how their offer connects with the prospective client’s dissatisfaction and/or vision…that’s where sales happen.
3. Businesses impacted by the recent economy realize that they need to change their strategies and operations to prospect. Yet, these changes are often difficult for business owners to make, especially those who have operated one way for many years. By helping the decision maker(s) increase the intensity of their dissatisfaction or desire to achieve their vision your sales team will have done your prospective clients a service that often results in a sale..

It’s a rare bird who seeks out change, but it comes to all of us in our business and personal lives. “The only constant in life is change”. In those cases where you find making change difficult, it may be useful to examine your dissatisfaction with the status quo, your clarity of vision for what you want in the future, and what’s required to get started. You’ll be more likely to embrace long-term change and to help your clients do so as well.

Jeff Lovejoy

Certified Business Coach

404.250.3221