FedEx Office Puts Integrity Above Income
It’s refreshing to come across a company that does the right thing, even when no one is looking. While I was in Denver facilitating a sales training class last week, my client added three more students at the last minute. I normally carry an extra set or two of student materials with me just for those circumstances; however, this time I was one short.
Fortunately, there was a FedEx Office store on the first floor of the hotel, and one of the students offered to take a workbook there to make a photocopy. She returned a few minutes later and told me the clerk refused to reproduce the workbook because of the copyright markings on each page. At this point, I took the workbook to the store myself, presented proof that I worked for The Brooks Group and explained it was indeed okay to print a copy. Within minutes, I had an extra workbook in my hands.
Ironically, the clerk tried to apologize to me. No apology was necessary. In fact, I thanked her and her manager for turning away business to do the right thing. Chances are they could have taken the cash and no one would have ever known or cared.
During my future travels, I may come across similar circumstances. I’ll need to make extra copies, and I already know where I’ll go to get the services I need. Well done FedEx Office; you’ve earned a new and loyal customer.
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Air National Guard Wins 3rd Annual Stevie® Award for Hiring and Recruiting Program of the Year
The Brooks Group remains among the sales professional's elite companies
The competition at this year's annual awards for sales and customer service once again featured some of America's top sales professionals and forward-thinking organizations. The honors are presented by the Stevie Awards®, which organize several of the world's leading business accolade shows, including the prestigious American Business Awards.
The Brooks Group and its IMPACT Selling® System were recognized as a finalist for Sales Process of the Year™ during the celebration hosted at Las Vegas' famed Caesar's Palace. In fact, The Brooks Group was the only professional sales and sales management training firm among the six finalists that were recognized for outstanding application of a sales model.
This year, the Stevies received more than 500 entries from companies of all sizes and industries, competing for awards in 40 categories of sales and service.
"Being named a Finalist in the Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service is an important achievement," said Michael Gallagher, president of the Stevie Awards. "It means that independent business executives have agreed that the nominee is worthy of international recognition. We congratulate all of the Finalists on their achievement."
These nominations follow TBG's 2006 win as Consulting Sales Organization of the Year. They also mark the fifth time since 2006 that The Brooks Group has been tapped for recognition of one of their flagship training and coaching programs.
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A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words…
But is it worth a client?
As the popularity of social-networking websites continues to grow, here’s a word to the wise: be very careful what you display about yourself on those sites — it could cost you business.
Recently, during one of the morning talk shows, the host interviewed a consultant who advises companies and individuals regarding the information and photos posted on their Websites. He shared a story of a salesman who was working a potential $1 million deal with a prospect.
The salesperson thought it would be a good idea to invite the prospect into his circle of friends on Facebook.com. The prospect accepted the invitation, and when he started touring the salesperson’s site, he found it filled with pictures of the salesperson with beer bottles in his hands and looking like he drank a few too many of them. I think you can guess what happened next; the prospect ended negotiations with the salesperson, citing his concerns about handing over a large sum of money to someone whose passion appeared to be alcohol consumption.
When is the last time you Googled your name? Are there stories about you or pictures of you on the web? Are they flattering or embarrassing? Furthermore, there are people out there with the same name as you. Could your prospects or customers think the person in the story is you? The subject may never come up in conversation; however, you might want to be prepared if it does.
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Selling to a Committee Brings New Challenges
Here’s one of the most important questions you could ever ask one of your prospects: “Is there anyone else besides yourself who might be involved with this purchasing decision?â€
Why is the question so critical? Because more and more companies are using committees to make major buying decisions. Many salespeople tell me, “I thought I was talking to the person in charge, but when I asked for the sale, I was informed there were other players in the decision-making process who would have to be consulted first.â€
Senior executives who used to buy on the spot are often now consulting several members of their respective organizations. Why? It’s simple – they want ‘buy in’ from the people who will have to manage or use your products and services. In short, don’t be surprised if the person you thought was the decision-maker invites you back to talk with a production manager, a purchasing officer or perhaps even an end user of your products or services. While it’s not bad to be invited back for another appointment, it is time consuming. Furthermore, if you have to meet with each of the other players individually, you may find yourself asking and answering the same questions over and over again.
So what can you do? First, in your pre-call planning research, try to determine how buying decisions are made at your prospect’s place of business. If you discover your prospect uses a ‘committee’ approach, don’t be afraid to recommend that you make your sales presentation to the entire committee, instead of making three or four individual presentations.
Second, allot more time to the committee meeting. It’s likely you’re going to have to field more questions, but it will be worth it. After all, you might find yourself making one sales presentation instead of three or four.
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Did You Dial the Right Number?
I am fortunate to live close enough to my office that sometimes I go home to eat lunch or to exercise. Yesterday, I returned home and noticed the light flashing on my answering machine. The message was from a physician’s office, and the caller proceeded to detail a medical condition and a recommended drug to treat the problem. Unfortunately, there was one major dilemma – the message wasn’t for me or anyone else in my family. The doctor’s office had dialed the wrong number and not realizing it, the caller left the message anyway.
My wife is a nurse and my brother is a physician, so I’m very aware there are strong laws governing privacy of medical information. Consequently, as a courtesy, I called the doctor’s office to report the mistake. Surprisingly — or perhaps not — the person who took my call brushed the incident aside as though it were no big deal (it really is) and issued an insincere apology. I almost regretted getting involved, but remembered my real reason for calling was to ensure the correct patient got an important message.
So what’s the lesson here? Sometimes you have no choice but to leave a message. However, be you sure you’re leaving the right message with the right voice mailbox/person, or else you may disappoint/anger or possibly lose a customer or prospect. Obviously, it’s much easier to ensure your message gets to the right party when the voicemail box identifies a person’s name. However, what do you do if you don’t have a name? If you’re not sure you’ve got the right mailbox, be careful about what information you leave. Simply identify yourself and either ask the person to call you back or let them know you will call them again. Don’t discuss confidential information or deliver bad news. Instead, try calling again later or attempt to make contact with a gatekeeper or office manager – someone you believe you can trust to ensure your message is delivered to the intended recipient.
And if you do leave a message with a company that just has a general voicemail box, be sure to call back within 48 hours if you don’t get a response. Preface your discussion by explaining that you had tried to leave a message once before, but weren’t sure the message made it to the intended person.
Always remember it’s your job — not the customer’s or prospect’s — to ensure your messages are delivered to the right person.
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