If you are a sales person you simply have to find new customers.
How do you make that first connection?
That question has been asked for thousands of years.
With the invention of e-mails you can now contact them much quicker and easier than ever. But how do you get them to respond?
Recently I got the following cold e-mail sent to me. I get several of those a week, probably several a day. I don’t read many.
This one caught my attention and was simply the best one I have ever received. It was so good, it inspired me to blog about it.
Well done Mr. Kollat. (Michael.Kollat@sprint.com). Maybe this little blog will help him get more sales that he needs.
Subject: Sprint Introduction
Joel – You don’t know me, but my name is Mike Kollat —let me tell you why I’m writing. I’m using this form because I hate making cold calls probably as much as you hate getting them. So I thought I’d spare us both the agony and just drop you a note. Kidding aside, I have been with the Sprint for almost six years and am dedicated to our business based customers in Northeast Wisconsin. Our business is helping our clients enhance communication and increase efficiency within their organizations. When someone described your business to me last week, I thought it might make some sense to meet. A brief conversation is always the first step for us. It’s simply 15-20 minutes of dialogue to see if there is any reason to talk further. Please let me know either:
1-You’re open to a brief “get to know your business” conversation. Please include some suggested dates/times.
OR
2-You really don’t have any interest in investing any time in this at this point.
Either answer is OK. I look forward to your response.
IF YOU WANT TO DIG FURTHER INTO THE RABBIT HOLE ON THIS SUBJECT:
this one, with the receiver’s personal analysis is AWESOME!
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– Joel Fleischman. Joel is the president & Head Coach of the solution providers for Drexel Building Supply. (drexelteam.com). You can follow him on twitter: @JoelmFleischman. He has provided solutions for builders and their clients since 1996 and a whole bunch of other stuff that you probably don’t care about.
Mike Krzyzewski is an outstanding coach of the Duke Blue Devils — but do you know why? I think that’s important. Of course his National Championships and Final Four appearances speak for themselves. But his most impressive accomplishment to me is how he molded so many strong individuals together from the NBA to win the Gold Medal for Team USA. He obviously has a philosophy that works towards bring people together.
One of his key philosophies is emphasizing a next play mantra. What is “next play?”
Here is how Coach K explains it:
“In basketball and in life, I have always maintained the philosophy of ‘next play.’ Essentially, what it means is that what you have just done is not nearly as important as what you are doing right now. The ‘next play’ philosophy emphasizes the fact that the most important play of the game or life moment on which you should always focus is the next one. It is not about the turnover I committed last time down the court, it’s not even about the three-pointer I hit to tie the game, it is about what’s next.
To waste time lamenting a mistake or celebrating success is distracting and can leave you and your team unprepared for what you are about to face. It robs you of the ability to do your best at that moment and to give your full concentration. It’s why I love basketball. Plays happen with rapidity and there may be no stop-action. Basketball is a game that favors the quick thinker and the person who can go on to the next play the fastest.”
That’s what I like about Coach K’s ‘next play’ philosophy. It pertains to basketball and life. You can have a bad play, a bad game or bad day and the main thing is to learn from it and immediately get on to the “next play.”
Especially in a diverse fast paced company like Drexel Building Supply. You may have just lost a job, make a purchasing mistake, got criticism from a team member, or other “problem”, but the next call not only deserves your full attention but 100% positive energy. The NEXT PLAY! Your teammates and your customers deserve it. And YOU deserve it. This mentality does not let YOU stew over what transpired. Reflect, adjust and get better, of course. But we have to be on to the NEXT PLAY. Mentally tough enough to stay positive and also be laser focused to move on and be more efficient with our time. It’s a wonderful way to play basketball, your career, and your life. These are 3 things I am particularly thankful to God for.
– Joel Fleischman. Joel is the president & Head Coach of the solution providers for Drexel Building Supply. (drexelteam.com). You can follow him on twitter: @JoelmFleischman. He has provided solutions for builders and their clients since 1996 and a whole bunch of other stuff that you probably don’t care about.
Success is often measured by comparison to others. Excellence, on the other hand, is all about being the best we can be and maximizing our gifts, talents and abilities to perform at our highest potential.
We live in a world that loves to focus on success and loves to compare. We are all guilty of doing this. However, I believe that to be our best we must focus more on excellence and less on success. We must focus on being the best we can be and realize that our greatest competition is not someone else but ourselves.
For example, coaching legend John Wooden often wouldn’t tell his players who they were playing each game. He felt that knowing the competition was irrelevant. He believed that if his team played to the best of their ability they would be happy with the outcome. In fact, John Wooden never focused on winning. He had his team focus on teamwork, mastering the fundamentals, daily improvement and the process that excellence requires. As a result he and his teams won A LOT.
A focus on excellence was also the key for golfing legend Jack Nicklaus. His secret was to play the course not the competition. He simply focused on playing the best he could play against the course he was playing. While others were competing against Jack, he was competing against the course and himself.
The same can be said for Apple’s approach with the iPod, iPhone and iPad. When they created these products they didn’t focus on the competition. Instead they focused on creating the best product they could create. As a result, rather than measuring themselves against others they have become the measuring stick.
We have a choice as individuals, organizations and teams. We can focus on success and spend our life looking around to see how our competition is doing, or we can look straight ahead towards the vision of greatness we have for ourselves and our teams. We can look at competition as the standard or as an indicator of our progress towards our own standards. We can chase success or we can embark on a quest for excellence and focus 100% of our energy to become our best… and let success find us.
Ironically, when our goal is excellence the outcome and byproduct is often success.
Every now and then we read about a natural disaster devastating a city in some part of the world with enormous waves. Watching the television footage I am always amazed that some trees are able to withstand the wind and the waves while everything else is blowing away. How do they do it?
With strong deep roots.
A tree with deep roots can whether any storm. In your life and mine it is only a matter of time before this next storm gets here. The death of a loved one, unemployment, financial difficulties, a troubled child, a natural disaster, marital strife or any number of other things, the storms of life are inevitable. The question is not if there will be another storm. The question is when will another storm get here. And when another storm gets here it is too late to sink the roots. When the next storm gets here you either have the roots or you don’t.
You have to do the hard things. You can say it, but will you do it?… very few will, the great ones ALWAYS do. ALWAYS, since the history of time, the great ones understand this, no matter what their position or job title. Be the light of the world. Find your purpose.
You have to make the call you’re afraid to make.
You have to get up earlier than you want to get up.
You have to give more than you get in return right away.
You have to care more about others than they care about you.
You have to fight when you are already injured, bloody, and sore.
You have to invest in yourself even though no one else is.
You have to grind out the details when it’s easier to shrug them off.
You have to deliver results when making excuses is an option.
You have to make mistakes and look like an idiot.
You have to try and fail and try again.
You have to run faster even though you’re out of breath.
You have to be kind to people who have been cruel to you.
You have to meet deadlines that are unreasonable and deliver results that are unparalleled.
You have to be accountable for your actions even when things go wrong.
You have to keep moving towards where you want to be no matter what’s in front of you.
You have to do the hard things. The things that no one else is doing. The things that scare you. The things that make you wonder how much longer you can hold on.
Those are the things that define you. Those are the things that make the difference between living a life of mediocrity or outrageous success.
The hard things are the easiest things to avoid. To excuse away. To pretend like they don’t apply to you.
The simple truth about how ordinary people accomplish outrageous feats of success is that they do the hard things that smarter, wealthier, more qualified people don’t have the courage — or desperation — to do.
Do the hard things. You might be surprised at how amazing you really are.
When I get frustrated with you, and I am sure I have, it’s ALWAYS because I believe in you more than you believe in yourself. I work with you because I truly believe you are one of the few people I have met that have the capacity to be great.
I just spent 10 days jumping from Disney to Universal to Busch Gardens to SeaWorld etc….. The roller coasters at Busch Gardens and Universal are phenomenal compared to Disney. The animals and interaction with them are significantly better at Sea World and Busch Gardens than Animal Kingdom at Disney. The snacks and beverages were less expensive at the other parks and were quite tasty also. The couple shows we saw were good at all parks. After thinking about it for a bit, I have put my finger on one thing that was very different that could account for the reason Disney parks were swamped and the rest were just so-so. In every interaction we had with a Disney employee, we were treated like we were the only customer they had talked to that day, and their enthusiasm about what they were doing made us smile. I knew they were saying the same thing every 2 minutes, but it didn’t matter to them. Always remember – our customers may be doing the only cabinet project they will do in their lifetime. It is a HUGE deal. Treat them like it is HUGE to you too and they will deal better with the long lines, the screaming kids, and the huge price tags:) You will have created a customer that knows the competition may have some things better than you do, but the experience with you is worth giving up some things – this is a lifelong customer. They will take care of our futures.
Never worry about your career and the future, worry about your customers satisfaction, the rest is minor.
If you are in the business of helping people and selling products you have probably been there, THE VERY VERY UPSET CUSTOMER.
If it hasn’t happened to you, no matter your reputation or what you think you do great, you simply don’t have enough customers yet. (For instance my children have never had complaints on their lemonade stand.) A very upset customer, a very tough situation, is going to happen.
So what do you do?
I believe there is a learned process, just like learning a sales process, to handle these steps. Experience of course helps, but so does knowledge. I have worked with a lot of people with years of experience that still handle these problems very poorly.
When we handle these poorly, it of course hurts your reputation (and it’s important to note, these upset customers may never LOVE you, but maybe they will at least understand or respect your business) and it is also stressful and often really wears on you. Yes, handling it badly can really affect YOU and THE CUSTOMER and YOUR BUSINESS.
So, let’s get to it, what’s the process?
One that Drexel account manager Chris Reilly loves to use is H.E.A.T. (NO it’s not a Lebron throwdown. But a way to help customers.) He keeps it taped to his monitor.
H. Hear them out. Really listen. A person yells and is loud because they feel they are not being listened to. They will start to calm down if they feel you are listening. So pay attention. Listen actively – take notes. Nod your head. Look at the person and pay attention. Say “Uh huh” , “Oh, I see”, “Yes, I understand”, etc.
E.Empathize – it’s not our jobs to be judgmental about whether or not this person deserves to be mad. They are upset, and we have to help them through it. Using statements like “That would be a difficult situation” and focusing on using a caring tone of voice will help a lot.
A. Ask Questions – our customers don’t know our buzz-words, jargon or processes. Make sure you clarify exactly what the problem is so you can work towards fixing it.
T. Take Responsibility – our customers look at government like a huge big black hole. It’s mysterious to most and downright scary to some. If you build a bridge to an upset customer they will calm down. Saying something like “I understand your concerns. My name is Wendi (use your own name). I’ve helped people in this situation before. Don’t worry, we’ll get through this together” will help set a customer’s mind at ease.
That’s awesome. Just a few things I will add.
“Be quick, but don’t hurry.”– John Wooden To truly help a customer, try to come up with a few possible solutions and then present them to the customer. Do this as quickly as possible. Delaying in this will only make the matter worse than it already is. Douse the flames! But don’t hurry for a response, let the person consult with others (many will) and some just need time to figure out you are not a big corporate rat trying to screw them.
Do “it” as a team. Involve as many people as possible from your organization. It’s a great learning lesson for newbies, seeing it from many views helps, and working as a team vs. solo shares the burden and stress, we can lean on each others. If there are third, four party, businesses related to this, now is the time to include them too for their unique perspective.
Be as honest, transparent, and blunt as possible. Now is not the time to sugarcoat, save face, or down right lie. If the customer’s expectation was too high (that’s still your fault, for making it that high!) explain that to them. If you screwed up admit it.
Never throw anyone under the bus or pass the baton. There usually is no reason to do this. If it truly is not your fault, don’t pass the buck. Hand the problem personally to that person. I didn’t say this was easy, just the best way. Remember the customer doesn’t want who is responsible, it wants the problem fixed. Finding who to blame is not solving anything.
It’s NOT EASY. But if you are in sales, management, or ownership YOU DID SIGN UP FOR IT AND IT IS PART OF YOUR JOB. It will never go away so be ready for it. It’s like expecting it will never rain again and then when it does, you lose sleep over it. Don’t be that guy!
Don’t threaten or sue or go to mediation. No one wins but lawyers. Even they admit that.
Suck it up and move on. Seriously.
DO NOT LET EMOTIONS get into it. This is business. When you take it personally (I thought we were friends, I put so much time into it, I didn’t even charge that much, why aren’t they upset about “X” instead) you will get emotional, confrontational and much worse. Refuse to get emotional. Just the facts maam. Just the facts.
Thank them. OVER AND OVER. This is not easy for them. They didn’t want this either. Somewhere a customer is EVEN MADDER than this customer and they never called you. That’s worse right? So, thank them.
Whatever you put in an email, pretend and assume it will be forwarded and put on your facebook page, or on their facebook page. Read it and if you are proud of what it says and can stand by it, send it. If you can’t, fix your wording.
Speaking of e-mails…Chain of critical communication goes like this:
face to face
phone
e-mail
text
You wouldn’t get a text if your mom dies. You wouldn’t have to meet face to face to schedule coffee with a friend.
Handle it and assume you will run into them weekly at church and they will be sitting behind you. That will help you think of them as a person and not “a customer.”
I don’t have people sign off that “they will never bad mouth me again.” What, are you really going to sue them? Is this a professional way to end? I can’t see any reason to do it, but to annoy the customer one final time.
If you think you have a lot of these people, maybe you do. Start tracking them and learn from them. Maybe IT IS YOU. Maybe you are doing awesome, but that ONE PERSON is making you re-think everything. Look back is this an isolated case or something you are doing wrong. If you decide isolated, MOVE ON AND go take care of your current customers, they are waiting…
Hope this helps. I am not perfect either. But we can always get better, even at tough tasks like this.
– – Joel Fleischman. Joel is the president & Head Coach of the solution providers for Drexel Building Supply. (drexelteam.com). You can follow him on twitter: @JoelmFleischman. He has provided solutions for builders and their clients since 1996 and a whole bunch of other stuff that you probably don’t care about.
This link proves it was not just yesterday and that there was life before McNuggets. Thank goodness I have not gotten any older. My start in cabinetry was selling with a door carousel and drawing plans on graph paper with carbon paper behind (No copy machine yet). Orders were mailed to cabinet factories and I patiently waited for acknowledgements to be mailed back to me. Not only before email – but even before Fax! For a break this week I thought I would list a couple things I have picked up over the years:
No one will die if a cabinet is late, it is just a HUGE inconvenience. Be sympathetic and layout next steps in process
The jobs that “go to hell” are never the ones you expect – and the scary ones turn into masterpieces
Listen to the little voice in the back of your head
Continuous learning is a necessity in our profession
There are hundreds of ways to do each project and we must decipher which is the right way for each job
How we fix problems defines who we are
Do not take business decisions personally
Never measure anything when you do not feel good
Having a job where you can smile at work is a great thing
Doing the right thing is the right thing to do
People are very different and we must be chameleons to blend with all
If you think you may have measured something wrong, you probably did
Our success is impossible without a strong team behind us doing the hard work
I am the worlds luckiest person to be here. Can’t wait for the next 30!
It’s Monday. My favorite day, anything can happen on a Monday. (I know it’s true because my outlook calendar tells me this every Monday.)
And if all this failed to inspire you… try this…
I can I will I must.
This guy called the hip hop preacher does a new video every Monday. TGIM. He’s into season 8.
And THINK BIG, THE FUTURE is as bright as you can ever imagine– and the after life is BETTER than you CAN EVER imagine. Watch this…the future!
– – Joel Fleischman. Joel is the president & Head Coach of the solution providers for Drexel Building Supply. (drexelteam.com). You can follow him on twitter: @JoelmFleischman. He has provided solutions for builders and their clients since 1996 and a whole bunch of other stuff that you probably don’t care about.
Our company and particularly our store leaders are drivers. By that I mean they are driven. Working until Midnight. Starting at 5am. Whatever it takes 24/7. We’ve been so busy we haven’t even met, even a conference call, for well over 6 months. Until we went to Hot Springs, NC. Where CC’s tavern in Wayne WI, meets Door County, WI. That’s the best way to describe it, even though probably only a few thousand people in the world know what I mean by that. Country living meets Southern Hospitality. And throw in the wandering souls doing the Appalachian Trail and that’s… Hot Springs. (They got cell service 4 years ago.)
Anyways, our leaders at Drexel talk and stay in touch but never did we break bread or anything like that as it got in the way of the day to day needs of our customers and our team.
Never again. We WILL take a once a year sabbatical, retreat, re-group, re-focus meeting of the minds off site and somewhat off the grid every year as long as I work here. Simply must.
Why? It’s kind of like not getting a good night’s sleep. Sometimes you need to recharge the batteries and connect again. And remember why you love your co-workers, your career, and well just life in general so much.
In fact a long term company goal is to own a re-treat center so more team members and customers can do this with us.
Why was it so good? I will limit it to 10 reasons (I could go on forever but will pick the top 10.) This might help anyone entertaining this idea for their company.
1. The guy.Ken Wilbanks was perfect for our group. An industry insider as well as a mentor and guide. He led us perfectly where we needed to go. He knew where we were coming from and led us into the unknown future. Vee, a wonderful leader in her own right, complimented him extremely well in the process. She is an industry OUTSIDER so the different perspectives on how to grow were perfect.
2. We worked. (Remember we are driven men!) 8 hour shifts. 3 days. Of training. We would of craved even more. For our group a QUICK and FOCUSED TRIP is perfect. Some groups I am sure are more laid back. Be sure to set the right pace for your group. That’s important.
3. We played. A little morning fishing. Some quality time in the hot Springs. Surrounded by nature. The fishing was fly fishing. It was outside our comfort zone. I think an important element to grow with your team. Good to do as a group. Nature is good. It’s good to RELAX AND CELEBRATE. It’s needed in life. And sadly we do forget to do it when we are so “driven” with goals and ideas. A pause is good. And moonshine and singing and all sorts of laughs. I even did the Appalachian Trail.
4. We took away small action plans. Don’t take too many ideas away. People run with too many ideas and choke on em. Grab a few that you can do. Makes you feel like you are accomplishing something to go to the next one. Grab too many and do none and you fail. And feel like you’ve failed.
5. We took away big vision plans (3-5 years.) Everyone needs to be on the same page. Especially leaders. These sort of moderating trips do just that. Every time I have done them.
6. Make others empowered too. We gave the leaders “left behind” a small reward and they embraced their role.
7. The right people. No one in attendance was “on the chopping block” or “didn’t fit in”. If you have people like that 1) fire them before you go. 2) don’t take them and fire them before you go. Yeah, I’m not joking. If they just don’t fit in, fire them. Life is short. Hang out with people you like to hang out with. Don’t expect them to change on a 3 day voyage.
8. Make it off site but in sight. Get off the grid but leave just a little time so everyone can check in. No reason to have anxiety about being away from the world. Make sure they have wifi! Make it in sight. Let your entire team know what you are up to. Don’t hide it. And make sure they know WHY you are doing it. Explain.
9. Take great notes. You will forget 99% of what you learned. Don’t let that fire you lit go out the second you get back into the office.
10. Dont’ be a tourist. Be a traveler. Good general advice. But try to do what the locals do. You will learn a little local culture and your trip will be more memorable. And you can see how your team treats others. There is learning to be done there too.
View of the early morning from the “Smoky Mountains”. All who wander are not lost…
– – Joel Fleischman. Joel is the president & Head Coach of the solution providers for Drexel Building Supply. (drexelteam.com). You can follow him on twitter: @JoelmFleischman. He has provided solutions for builders and their clients since 1996 and a whole bunch of other stuff that you probably don’t care about.
Joel Fleischman's Blog 