Michael Phelps; World Champion
One day Michael Phelps was beaten by Germany’s Paul Biedermann in the 200 freestyle. Unacustomed as he is to losing, the next day he responded by setting the world record in the 200-meter butterfly.
This is how champions respond to losing.
We see the same thing on the sales floor when a top seller has a bad day or misses a sale to a tough customer. The truly good ones bounce back with a big sale or a record day.

Heidi Kraus
While dining alone at the Westin Maui recently I watched the flower girl go from table to table, being rejected at every one. I began thinking that her job was tougher than any retail salesperson I know of. Mine was the last table she came to. I asked her how she’s holding up with the rejection and she said, “Are you going to reject me too.” 
I said, “I’m alone this evening, but I was given a beautful lei this morning where I spoke, and in the Hawaiian tradition I passed it on to my waitress at lunch today.” She asked me where I spoke and I said, ” At 
Windward Unity Church.” I went on to say that church isn’t where I usually speak. She asked me what I speak about, and I said, “I teach salespeople to handle rejection.” She starred at me and asked my name. 
When I told her she teared up and told me that she grew up hearing about me from her mother, Anita Bell, and that she has read my books.
Anita worked for me for several years. Heidi went on to day that Anita died in April of Breast Cancer. She started crying, and said that she hasn’t gotten over it yet. I asked her to take a seat and we talked about Anita, my parents, rejection, life and success. She left smiling. I told her to say “Aloha” to Anita for me when she appears. 
My regret upon her departure was that I didn’t buy lei from her.

It Only Takes One
We have all heard that one rotten apple can spoil the bunch. As a big Apple fan I was really taken back today by the lack of diplomacy and tact shown by one Apple “genius” at the Kahala store.

The Story
When I bought my MacBook Air almost a year ago I blogged about how impressed I was with the salesperson taking me from a $1,700 “easy sale” up to $3,300 by suggesting several add-ons. One of those was their one-to-one coaching program. As I recall, I paid about $100 for a year’s worth of weekly one hour sessions to teach me about the Mac computer. The salesperson did the arithmatic, dividing 52 weeks into $100. How could I refuse? Well, I found out after the fact that “one year” meant “one year” and not 52 sessions. This meant that I got nothing for the weeks I did not take a class. I only went two or three times in the year and just discovered that I have only one month left. So, I signed up for an hour today to get some coaching on how to use iMovie.

“HELP!”

Because of my low skill level I invited one of my more “techie” clients to come along and observe in order to help me later. About 10 minutes into the session another employee in a dark blue shirt (I think that means “genius”) came by and told my client that he had to leave, because “one means one” and he could not listen. I argued briefly, but to no avail. I thought that there would be some empathy for my misunderstanding, and avoid embarrasment for both me and my client as compared to making us feel like we were stealing something that I had paid for. It would have been cool to say, “Hey guys, the rules are… so next time… okay?” That would have been the “Apple Way.” So here I am at home trying to figure out what I learned today and realizing that the session was a waste. I guess you get what you pay for. Will I still send people to Apple? Probably, but perhaps to a different store! As for me, I am going to hire a geek to teach me how to use iMovie, or maybe Windows Movie Maker.

“A” For Service
One thing all Apple Stores have in common is traffic. Regardless of how busy the mall or street may be there’s always a crowd in the Apple Store.

It’s Not Coincidental
The Apple success is not coincidental, nor is it without reason. I visited the Apple Waikiki Store today to buy an extra charger for my iPhone. I was greeted and helped instanly. When I presented my credit card the salesperson swiped it and then asked, “Is it still okay to e-mail the receipt to at…” and stated my e-mail address. I said, “Yes.” She handed me my charger and thanked me. I walked to my car and as I was getting in the car my iPhone received the receipt as a PDF with the message saying, “Thank you for shopping at the Apple Store.”

“I’ll Be Back”
Now that’s the kind of service I would like to see everywhere. It will keep people coming back again and again.

Think in “3’s”
Ask a commercial real estate broker what the most important factors to retail succeess are and you will hear, “Location, Location, Location.” In Retail Selling Made Easy I say they are, “Location, Merchandise and Salespeople.” Just today I was told it’s a sheer matter of how many people pass by the store, leading me to think of another set of three, “People walking by, those entering the store, and what is done with them when they do.”

It’s The Salesperson 
I consider the salesperson to be the single most important element. Good salespeople make poor locations look good. Salespeople determine what happens after the customer enters the store. Numbers tell a story. It is important to know how effective your salespeople are at converting “traffic” into “sales.”

Traffic Counting
A door counter is a good way to measure many things. I used to discourage the use of door counters for fear that salespeople would use the lower numbers on certain days as an excuse for low sales. How many customers you have is not as important as what you do with them. A question that I ask salespeople all the time is, “How many good customers do you need in a day to have a good day?” The answer is always a resounding, “One”. My attitude about door counters changed once we found a way to present this information powerfully as a part of the Morning Report. I am now surprised at the number of retailers that don’t measure their store’s traffic. Without this number, measuring the true effectiveness of your salespeople is limited.

The Morning Report
We have always tracked things like, total sales, sales per hour, average daily sales, and units per transaction on the Morning Report. But with a door counter in place we can track and display two more very important measurables; Sales per Capita and Capture Percentage. “Sales Per Capita” tells you how much every person walking through the door is worth to you, (on an average) regardless if he or she buys anything or not. The “Capture Percentage” will tell you what percentage of them bought something; anything. These two stats, when displayed dramatically are very powerful motivational tools. Knowing your capture percentage allows you to focus on the missed opportunities in the store rather than a lack of traffic.
 

Beware of “Too” Easy
We have a large wild pigeon population in Honolulu. There’s a lot of food for them to eat all around us. Sometimes they find food on a condo lanai. Many people enjoy attracting them to their homes and the more food the more birds.

“Hey, I’m Hungry”
Sometimes a benevolent condo occupant moves, and the new resident doesn’t put out food, but some of the pigeons keep coming. They have become spoiled by the prior occupants. They feel entitled to the easy food and forget how to look for it. I never read “Who Moved My Cheese,” but I sense that may be what it was all about. It’s okay to take what comes easy, but never forget how to get it on your own.

“Excuses”
I hate the little word hate, but there are six other little ones I dislike even more. They are, “I’m sorry” and “I forgot” and “My fault.”
A good code to live by is, “It’s not who that matters; it’s what!” Apolgies don’t make a wrong right.
When you accept responsibity in the front, there is rarely an excuse needed to cover the rear.
This is not to say that mistakes won’t happen; they always will. It’s about not taking the results lightly and expecting an excuse to fix a wrong. Four better words are, “It won’t happen again.” Those words leave you responsible going forward as compared to “excused” for the past.