People Love It
Of course there are exceptions, and some e-mail is better received than others, but generally speaking, “You have mail” are welcome words when opening your e-mail program.

Yesterday’s Inbox
The same was true in times past when all mail came to your physical mail box. The more there was, the better you liked it.

“Thank You.”
When was the last time that you went shopping, came home and opened up your e-mail to find a simple “Thank you” e-mail from one of the stores where you shopped? Such e-mail would likely be well received, especially if it came from someone you did NOT buy from, and does NOT have a “sales pitch” as a part of it. A link to your web site is enough. Everyone likes being appreciated.

CRM’s
I talk with many companies that have Customer Relationship Management systems (CRM) in place to gather e-mail addresses and other customer information, but in too many cases it stops there. Or, they go into a data base somewhere with good intent to send e-mail about upcoming sales, promotions or new merchandise. In some cases even that doesn’t happen.

Pick One!
A good way to get e-mail addresses is to have a weekly or monthly drawing of some sort with winners posted on your web site. Be sure that you do not ask for too much information on the drawing ticket; name and e-mail address is all you need. I dropped my business card in a fishbowl at a cafe recently and got a return e-mail telling me who the winner was (not me), but offering me a consolation prize of a free bowl of soup with my next purchase.

Get it Together!
The names in your data base are pure gold. Get creative; e-mail is free, and properly used can be the most effective and inexpensive marketing tool of all.

PLEASE!
One of the hardest things to teach salespeople is when to shut up.
The bad salesperson doesn’t know when to speak up, the good salesperson too many times fails to shut up.
When the good salesperson learns the art of shutting up, he or she becomes a great salesperson.
When you shut up, it becomes the customer’s time to react. This reaction does a lot more for you than your ongoing words would. Reading the customer’s body language when you shut up will tell you if to continue, back up, or stay quiet.
When you shut up you give your customers the opportunity to ask a question, show interest or dis-interest, present an objection or to buy.
The secret to great selling is; “Speak Up, Shut Up, Observe and Mirror”. Say something, read the reaction and then act as the customer does. It’s Easy!

Retail Merchants - Outrigger Hotels
We had a great turnout this morning for the monthly Outrigger Hotels Success Rally.

31 Days to Go!
My main message today was that there are only 31 shopping days left until Christmas, and that gifts from Hawaii are unique. I shared a list of things that can be done to get our visitors to do some Christmas shopping while on vacation.

“It Worked”
Right after the rally Kate Turtura from Seattle’s Best Coffee rushed over to tell me that right after the rally she had a customer who was undecided if to get anything and when she mentioned that there are only 31 days left until Christmas, she immediately decided to buy.
Things work when you work them.

“$8.01″
I ordered a bowl of veggie chile and brown rice at lunch today and it came to $8.01. I asked the clerk if he could break a $50 and he nodded that he could. As I was thinking about dropping my 99 cent “change” into the tip jar in front of me, he asked, “Do you have a penny?” I checked my pocket and said, “No, sorry.” What do you think he did next? Right; he handed me $42 in change. I wasn’t sure if he was doing me a favor, slighting the store, or was just plain too lazy to count out the 99 cents. What do you think his motive was? What do you think I did?

UPDATE:
Okay; here’s what happened. I did not leave a tip because I considered his move to be stupid, as he made it difficult for me to tip anything less than a dollar, which was a bit high on an $8 tab. I am a big tipper, but his move showed me that he wasn’t interested in the tip and was willing to short the register by a penny to avoid counting out the 99 cents to me. Even asking me for the penny was dumb if the tip jar in front of him had any meaning to him and his co-workers.

I do not remember where I read that, but I surely do remember the meaning, as well as the impact that it had on me. I sometimes see an experienced salesperson land a new job with a company where a well established, proven selling system is in place, like Pro-Active, No-Pressure Selling. At the interview these “experienced” salespeople claim that they understand the “new” system and appear eager to learn and use it. Then, rather than do as promised, many of them will fall back on the way they originally learned to sell.
Learning is not an event; it is a process that never ends. Techniques and technology are always evolving. Everyone should always be open to newer and better ways to sell, or do anything for that matter. While I continue to learn new things about selling, my biggest learning curve is using the computer… I’ll save that one for another time.

Déjà vu
Reading this tweet from Doug Fleener on Twitter this morning caused me to dig into the archives and update this story. “There seems to be no cars available at Dollar Rent a Car. Not a very good experience sitting here waiting!”

It was mid-December (2007) when I contacted Budget Rent-a-Car saying that I needed a car on Maui on Christmas Day. “No way”, or something like that was the response. I had to understand, since Christmas Day begins the busiest week of the year here in Hawaii.
One week later I was on a plane to Maui and got into a discussion with the guy next to me. He turned out to be a VP of National Car Rental. I explained my Christmas Day dilemma and he said, “If I can get you a car, can we have your business?” I said, “You can for that trip, for sure. Where we go from there we will have to see; I have been loyal to Budget for more than 25 years.”
He gave me his card saying, “E-mail me your flight information and I will see what I can do”. I did, and when I arrived on Maui on Christmas Day, there was a driver waiting for me with a brand new car.
Well that was a year and a half ago, (now 2 1/2) and I have not been back to Budget since.
It pays to be willing to go the extra mile to get (and or keep) business.

ABC News
“NEW YORK — General Motors Corp. on Friday told about 1,100 dealers, or nearly 20 percent of its U.S. network, that they will be fired by the automaker late next year because their sales are weak.”

I had to wonder… “How long have sales been “weak” and what have they been doing to strengthen them?”

The Bearer of Bad News
The article said that the bad news was delivered by way of a FedEx letter to GM franchises around the country. Can you imagine losing your business by mail? I suspect the same form of poor communication existed before the firings came. It’s far too common for businesses and managers to overlook shortcomings until after it’s too late. Then they react dramatically, and in case cowardly.
Managers have a responsibility to point to problems and seek solutions early in the game.

“Have I got a deal for you?”
Selling cars is a tough business, and car salespeople are known for their less than desirable approach. It’s time to overhaul this industry from the bottom up. Fewer dealerships doing things the wrong way is not the answer to the problem. People buy people before they buy what they sell.

Sunrise Breakfast 2-19-09
Small Business Hawaii members always bring healthy appetites to this monthly meeting, and once the chow line opens up, they are quick to line up.

Pam Chambers Presents…
Public Speaking coach Pam Chambers was this month’s featured speaker at the Small Business Hawaii Sunrise Breakfast. Pam’s tips on public speaking have given needed confidence to many people in Hawaii amd on the mainland since the early 80’s.

Presentation Tips
Pam’s presentation tips today were not on public speaking, but rather on the one-to-one presenting of your services to a prospective client. She held the audience’s attention with both good information and lot’s of her usual humor. I found myself clicking notes into my iPhone as fast as I could. My next one-to-one presentation will be different.
Mahalo Pam!

One Chance
First impressions ARE indeed lasting impressions, and you only get one chance to make them. New salespeople show up on day one ready to succeed. Sometimes they even sell more than existing “old timers” are currently. What’s with that? How can a brand new person with very little product knowledge outsell a seasoned veteran that knows it all? It’s because the new person still thinks everyone is going to buy, that you have a great company, and that your way is the right way.

The Right Attitude!
That shiney new salesperson may not have the knowledge yet, but still has the enthusiasm it takes to make the right first impression on customers. That means more than knowledge alone. Answers to questions can be found, and sometimes just the honest admission that one doesn’t “know it all” can go a long way to making the sale.

“Water Cooler Training”
It’s important to shield your new salespeople from influences that can be harmful to their success. Too many times we see people get hired and then turned over to the existing staff to “train” them. A past partner of mine had a rule; “Live with them the first week.  Keep them by your side, have lunch with them, and even stand outside the restroom when they go in there.”

“Here’s how it really works.”
At the interview and in your initial meetings with new salespeople they hear how it is supposed to work. Then, when they get to work with your existing staff they find out how it really works. Unfortunately old timers pick up some bad habits along the way. They learn shortcuts that sometimes lead to short paychecks. They start accumulating excuses for missed sales. They gossip about company policies and decisions. Your shiney new salespeople can be influenced by these impressions, and before you know it the shine is gone.

You Cannot Train People!
Animals can be “trained” to do something, and once “trained” will always do it. One would assume that if you can train a dog to sit up, that you can train a human being to sell. I have a problem with the word “training.” Managers sometimes think that once a person has been “trained” that he or she will always behave in the way taught, and the learning stops. The reality is that “sales coaching” is an ongoing process whereas “training” is thought of as a one time event.

Hands on Coaching Works
“Coaching” is understood in athletics, it never stops. Top athletes continue to be coached on how to get better at their craft. I prefer the term “coaching” when teaching selling skills, and as with athletics, it must be an ongoing process. That’s just the way it is!

Who Gets the Money?
Please submit questions or answers you may have on this important topic.

Question: Should salespeople be on individual commission or work as one team?
Answer: My answer to this one varies depending upon the nature of the store or business. Generally speaking when only one person is involved in the sale, an individual commission makes sense. When other team members are required to complete the sale then a team based compensation makes more sense.

“Can’t We Just Get Along?”
Question: How do you best solve disagreements between salespeople as to whose sale it was?
Answer: When two (or more) salespeople are arguing over a sale and I am asked who is right, I say, “You are both wrong. The commission on any one sale is never more important than your relationship with each other. I wasn’t there, get together and work it out, and then tell me what you have decided is fair.”

Then What?
Question: So what’s the solution when they cannot come to a decision?
Answer: It’s Easy; Make it a “House Sale.”

Teams Work
Question: Why does teamwork work?
Answer: It’s Easy; Unless you are a “One Man Band” you can get much better results by working together towards a common goal. Regardless how your compensation program is structured, emphasizing and rewarding teamwork as a part of it will go a long way.