Month: April 2024

Do you ever cringe when you hear your people TALK TO YOUR CUSTOMERS?

If you worry about the way some of your team treat your customers, but feel you can’t do anything about it because of employment laws – HERE’S WHY YOU’RE WRONG!

1. The reason you cringe is simple – you would NEVER say what they just said.

You’ve been talking to customers for a long time. Whether or not you’re a people person, you’ve had to talk to them because it’s the only way to build your business. You’ve learned the hard way what NOT to say, and without realising it you’ve learned intuitively what are the RIGHT THINGS to say if you want people to keep buying the service or product you sell.

2. The ball is in your court! First you need to figure out what your people should say to your customers.

Most business owners throw their hands up in despair at this point. “What’s wrong with these people – don’t they know you just can’t treat customers like that?” The answer is often no, they genuinely don’t know because they don’t own a business so they’re more interested in defending themselves from too much work, nasty people, etc. The good news is that it’s not hard to figure out what they should say. You just have to sit down with a pen and paper and over the course of a week or so, scribble down the sorts of things your customers typically say, and then what you say back to them which seems to work. Pretty soon you’ll surprise yourself with a long list of ‘how to’s’ for talking to customers.

3. The next step is a bit harder but not too difficult.

Now you need to write a system. It can be as simple as two columns on a page. On one side you have CUSTOMER SAYS on the other YOU SAY.

4. Now we get to the tough bit – actually it’s not really tough at all – how to get your people to WANT to treat your customers better.

This is so simple that most business owners miss it completely. I did. You REWARD them for talking nicely to your customers. You may find this a little annoying, but it will certainly pay dividends into your bank account. The better they are at saying the right things to your customers – the more your customers will spend with you. Reward your people for saying the right things and they will do it more, and when they do it more they’ll discover the joy of treating people well, and they’ll start doing it even more. It becomes infectious!

The ‘Seven Touches’ That Lead to the Golden Sale

Understanding the importance of seven touches in your sales process puts you well on the path to securing more conversions. If you’re aiming to turn cold leads into loyal customers, this principle is key.

Why “seven touches” matter

One of the most repeated (and true) clichés in marketing is that it takes at least seven touches to convert a cold lead into a sale.

The more interactions you have with a prospective customer – across multiple channels – the more likely you are to build a relationship and ultimately, make the sale.

These can be flexible according to what works for both you, and your prospect.  Some ‘touches’ include:

• Personal email
• Phone call
• Text message
• One-on-one conversation
• Online video meeting (e.g. Zoom)
• Mail (including: catalogue, brochure, samples, etc.)
• Event invite
• Social media invite (e.g. LinkedIn)

Why most sales people stop too soon

Most sales-focused organisations give up after the second or third touch. This happens for many reasons:

• It’s outside their comfort zone
• The first interaction wasn’t warmly received
• They simply forget to follow up – because there’s no system in place

That last one might sound silly, but it’s surprisingly common. How many times have you lost a prospect’s number scribbled on a scrap of paper or missed the follow-up window and felt too awkward to re-engage?

Build systems to stay consistent

The solution is structure. When you have a consistent system for follow-ups and outreach, prospecting becomes less awkward and more effective.

Your prospect should see your name – or hear from your company – on a regular basis. This keeps you top of mind and builds familiarity over time.

Above: A CRM system like Pipedrive (shown above) can automate some of the contact points in addition to helping you keep track of prospects.

Tailor the touches to your offer

How and when you apply the seven touches will depend on your product or service – especially its price and how frequently it’s needed. But the principle remains the same: consistent, multi-channel engagement converts cold leads into sales.

Start building your own system of seven touches – and you’ll start seeing results others give up on too soon.