Listen Real Close

Hey you. Your clients are talking to you, telling you exactly what they want. Are you listening? Are you hearing them? Take those earphones out for a minute. Sometimes you get so caught up in creating and delivering what you want to give them that you miss hearing what they really need. And then you miss out on the opportunity to deliver it, better serve your customers, become the hero and increase your profits.

Zen Rabbit was built to help business professionals multiply their profits through sweet appreciation. The main tool has always been The Gratitude Cookie. Now, while I doubt that will change and everyone still loves the cookies, I’m also hearing my clients say they want more. They want to work with me to develop a whole repertoire of products they can send in appreciation. They want a monthly program through which they can send something different every month.

Considering Zen Rabbit is really a thank you concierge, I’m excited about coming up with new ideas and finding cool options to offer. That’s how the Money Tree got added to the product line-up and there are more very exciting items coming soon.

In nature, it’s called evolution. What is the next logical step in serving your customers? Are you teaching clients the “how to” without offering the “done-for-you” program as well? Given that so many people are time stretched (or are they just lazy?), there could be an opportunity for you to expand.

I’m not suggesting you give in to the Achilles’ heel of entrepreneurs – Shiny Object Syndrome – and go off in all different directions. I’m merely advising you to pay close attention to what your clients may really need, either in addition to or instead of what you’re currently providing. After all, they already trust you to deliver “A,” so it’s likely they will trust you to give them “B,” as well. Now all you need to do is listen, learn and create the tool or the program or the service that allows you to serve them even better.

You Told Your Customer What?!

Ever have one of those weeks where everyone you’re working with seems completely incompetent? As I texted to a friend, why can’t people just do their freakin’ jobs? Oh, the frustration! She texted back, simmer down tea pot. Ha Ha, at least that made me laugh.

Instead of just being angry about it though, I started wondering why. If you believe as I do that you are responsible for everything that shows up in your life, then what was going on that caused me to become the queen of beating people with a sharp stick to get them to do what they are supposed to do?

I haven’t come up with a good answer to that question yet. And I will refrain from calling out specific companies here (although feel free to take a look at my Twitter feed for the past two weeks.) But what I do have are a few pointers to keep you from annoying customers and pushing them to do business elsewhere.

1. Set expectations that you can and will meet. You hear a lot about the importance of providing outstanding experiences and exceeding customers’ expectations. Under promise and over deliver. And who wouldn’t want to do that? Just be aware that once you set those expectations you’d better at least meet them, or you will end up with a disappointed customer (which is sad) or an irate customer (which is dangerous).
2. If you screw up, take responsibility and admit you made a mistake. Clients understand mistakes can happen. What will send someone over the edge is when you don’t take responsibility for that mistake, you lie about it or you attempt to cover it up. Blaming the U.S. postal service, any of your other vendors or your “stupid” employees is easy, but it doesn’t make you look good and calls into question your integrity.
3. See if you can put yourself in your customer’s position and understand where they’re coming from. Listen to even what sounds to you like the most ridiculous request. See if you can come up with some kind of response that allows the customer to believe he or she was heard. Perhaps there is some kind of compromise you could present that works for both sides. “Sorry, that’s our policy” is NOT an apology. It is a cop out and speaks poorly of your commitment to servicing customers. Repeating your policy over and over as if the person you are speaking to didn’t hear you the first time is also insulting.

Nevermind exceeding customer expectations. Is your business even meeting them? Wake up and take an honest look.

3.5 Steps to Increased Productivity

Here you are, one month into 2012. Getting as much accomplished as you planned? I made my theme for this year IMPLEMENTATION. If you’re wondering why you’re not seeing the results you think you “should” be seeing, based on the amount of work you’re doing, perhaps these 3.5 tips will help you.

1. Think of all the things you do in your life, out of habit, that do not get you the results you want. Some people spend an hour a day on the phone with friends, talking about last night’s episode of American Idol or who said what to whom and at the end of the day, they’re frustrated that there’s still a pile of work to do. I examined how I start my day and decided that I need to NOT open my email until somewhere around noon. What’s been happening is I turn on my computer and immediately check email every morning. That can take over an hour, reading and answering. And when it comes down to it, that activity is A) not making me any money, and B) distracting me from getting to the more important tasks. Honestly, it’s been a challenge to keep the email program closed, but I think it’s really going to help me focus on more important things – like writing – that will benefit from the alertness of a “morning mind.”

2. Get into the right environment. Do you want to fly with the eagles or scratch around with the chickens? How many times have you heard this and when are you going to actually do it? Who you’re hanging out with has a direct correlation with what your results are. If you want to be wealthy, you need to associate with wealthy people. Athletes know that if they want to improve their performance, they play against or run with people who are better at the sport than they are.
Take a look at the networking or professional groups you belong to. Are the people there earning what you want to be earning? Are they delivering the kind of service you want to deliver to your customers? Are they talking about big ideas and exciting plans? If not, you may want to reconsider your association. Find groups with members who are more in tune with what you aspire to.

3. Instill a sense of urgency in yourself and the people with whom you work. Mañana is a fine word if you’re vacationing in Mexico. However, when you’re working toward a goal, today is almost always a better time to do something than tomorrow. Maybe you know someone who is always “meaning” to get to something. A while back I’d been talking to a potential business partner for almost six months. She was a good person and well intentioned. But, every time I called her to see when I could expect samples, pricing, etc., I heard “I’ve been meaning to do that. I had it scheduled for Tuesday and then this happened and then that happened and blah blah blah.” As much as I needed to partner with someone who had the capabilities and equipment she had, I finally decided that this relationship was never going to work for me. Amazingly, as soon as I made that decision, another, better, potential partner came into the picture.

When it really matters to you that the marketing letter gets written and mailed today vs. next week or whether you make the phone calls or finish the project when you said you would, you automatically get more done. A sense of urgency makes you more productive.

3.5. As a follow up to the previous tip, it’s important to know what not to do today as well. Many of you are like I am and have a long list of things to do; things that will take much more time than is available in one day. You aspire to excellence and it’s frustrating to leave things undone. But realize and accept that there will always be tasks that you cannot get to. It’s a matter of prioritization. Get done the projects that are most important – the ones that bring you the most benefit, the ones that are worthy of the value of your time.

Put these ideas to work today and start seeing improvement in your productivity, your results and your income.

Do you “get” what your clients want?

When you understand what your clients really want, you’re certainly in a better position to deliver it. That of course, always leads to more satisfaction for them and for you. And more money.

You cannot be this guy & have a thriving biz

The thing is, I find a lot of business people only want to give clients what’s easy, what’s already on the menu. Don’t go and ask for special orders.

The businesses unwilling to customize may have to learn a hard lesson in the form of decreasing sales. Not many can operate in the way of the Soup Nazi.

Here’s a testimonial I received last week from fab client David Wolfe, President of Lupine Partners. I share it with you not from an egotistical place, but because I’m excited he’s validating one of Zen Rabbit’s prime tenets for serving clients.

Lori Saitz, and her gratitude program, has been a strategic partner of mine since February, 2011. I first heard of Lori while listening to a GKIC CD that she appeared on. I sent her an email while I was listening to the program and requested a meeting. The response from her came very soon after my initial email. I was interested in a custom program that would allow me to tailor my ‘gratitude’ on an as-needed basis with no restrictions. In other words, I wanted the gifts to my customers to go out immediately as soon as I thought of it. I fully expected Lori to tell me what her rules were and how my request did not fit any of her programs.
Instead, she gave me exactly what I asked for. Sent the contract that day and I signed it. Call it the cookie bizarro world…
Despite my sometime curmudgeonly leanings, I feel like she gets me and does a very good job of trying to provide solutions to the scenarios I bring her. I like the way she thinks.

Listen. Let your clients tell you what they want and then deliver it. Seems pretty simple. Makes me wonder why more businesses aren’t doing it.

I would never do that

Incongruent: containing disparate or discordant elements or parts. Synonyms include conflicting, contradictory, contrary, incompatible, inconsistent. None of these are words you would want associated with your marketing. Yet the word incongruent is what came to mind when I was thinking about my recent car-buying experience.

My new car, a 2012 Genesis Coupe

I’d submitted an online form expressing my interest in a particular car. That prompted a barrage of emails and phone calls from several area dealerships. Not to bash car dealers; I think they get enough of that, but from a marketing standpoint, wow, I saw some room for simple improvement. Sure, you might think “I would never do that!” Still, there are lessons here for you no matter what your business.

First point of contact

The first email or phone call sets the tone for the rest of our relationship. One guy called me and was very friendly. He engaged me in a conversation and I had a good feeling about him until he said something to the effect of “girls don’t usually like the manual transmission” or something like that. I called him on it and he backpedaled. The damage was done. In a later conversation he told me there were no cars in the model I wanted with a manual transmission in a 400-mile radius. He had checked for me. Apparently he didn’t do a very good job of checking because I found one to test drive 30 miles away. If you’ve already guessed I didn’t buy from him, bonus points to you! The one thing I will give this guy is that he, more than most of them, was persistent in his follow up.

Other sales people called me and started out with “I saw you’re interested in this car. When do you want to come in?” Hey guys (all but one was a guy), a little foreplay might be to your advantage. How about asking for more details about what specifically I want and why.

Then, after a conversation, I’d get an email. Clearly I’d been entered into a database and sent a generic email. Several of them from different dealerships said, “I haven’t been able to reach you by phone…” Wha???

Or I got emails from three different people at the same dealership with, “my name is… I got your inquiry and am eager to help you.” And a couple of, “I’m the manager and so and so is the sales person with whom you can speak…” and the person the sales manager or GM put in his email is not the same as the one who sent me an email two hours ago. Incongruent marketing!

Make sure the right hand knows what the left hand is doing. Get everyone in your business on the same page so you don’t look foolish and give the impression no one there knows what they’re doing.

Provide requested info
When I was finally ready to buy, (from submitting that online form to purchase was 44 days), I sent out an email to about 10 area dealerships clearly outlining what I wanted and asking for their best price. Only half of them answered and one of those tried selling me something different. The salesperson where I’d test-driven the car didn’t ever respond. In fact, he never even followed up with me after I walked out his door. I’d told him I loved the car, but that particular one wasn’t the right color. Major missed opportunity for him.

If someone is asking you for information, it usually means they want to buy. Answer their questions and the probability you will make a sale, get a client and start a long-term relationship goes up tremendously!

Make me want it more
How can you create an eagerness to buy now or help your client see herself owning or using whatever it is you’re providing? One of the things the sales person from whom I bought the car did that I thought was brilliant was he took a couple of pictures of “my” car in his lot and texted them to me with the message line “your car.” This was smart for two reasons. One, he was cementing ownership of this vehicle in my mind. Two, he was confirming to me that he actually had the car in the color I wanted (because most of the other dealerships did not have it on their lot). And three, he was building the relationship, creating a higher level of comfort, since we hadn’t met in person yet. I asked him about this tactic and he says he uses it especially when he’s doing internet transactions because people need visuals.

Give your customers the ability to see and feel and get comfortable with all the qualities of your product or service. Help them imagine what it’s like to use and own or implement what you’re selling. Give them the ability to “own” it before they actually buy and your job of selling is done.

It’s Too Easy

The theme for 2012 is IMPLEMENTATION! In the past, I’ve been great at coming up with amazing ideas and plans. Implementing said ideas and plans, um, not so much. This is the year of finally implementing the good stuff. No one succeeds in life by just thinking about doing things. Implementation is the key. I know this. You know this. And yet still…

Even when you’re really passionate and committed to a business, a cause, a purpose, it’s possible to be distracted. Not only possible, I’d go so far as to say, likely. Why is that? Too many cool things going on around us? Maybe it doesn’t even have to be something cool, there’s just so much distraction, it’s too easy to lose focus.

I’m starting to think that as long as we’re aware this tendency happens, allowing ourselves to be a little tiny bit distracted isn’t all bad. Think about it. There’s SO much going on in this big, wide world we live in, so much to explore. If you put blinders on all the time, you might miss something that could enhance your life. At least that’s my positive spin on the deal.

Yes, I agree, if you are intent on a goal, you don’t want distractions to lead you off your path. So if you expect to be led astray occasionally by random shiny objects, you can take measures to minimize the effects. For example, it can be hard for me to write. I’m good at writing. I like to write. I especially like to have written. But the act of writing sometimes feels like opening a vein. (Ugh, that’s an ugly analogy! Whoever came up with that?)

To counter my tendency to find 217 things to do besides sitting and writing, (Make a cup of tea! Update the address on my CVS account! Read a random blog post!) I realized I need to allow myself a few minutes of distraction. Then close down the email, the web pages, the phone, everything that could lead me away from the writing. And write.

I’ve started the year scheduling everything into my calendar. Not just meetings or phone calls with others. I mean scheduling the writing time, the web site updates, the strategy sessions. So don’t call me on Monday mornings between 9:00 and noon because I will be writing. If you do call, and I answer, you have permission to harshly admonish me.

Guess what? More productivity. More implementation. It’s even gotten easier for me to start the writing and the words are coming to me more effortlessly – as long as I have my mug of tea at hand. Stay tuned because those ideas from past years are being brought to life.

What is your theme for 2012 and what are you doing to make sure you follow through?

Think You’re Too Old to be an Entrepreneur?

You hear all the time about the young, innovative entrepreneurs who are creating giant tech based enterprises and becoming multimillionaires before they’re 25. Could make someone who’s 40 think he/she is over the hill, too old to create a successful business; missed the boat.

Fortunately for you, that’s not really the case. Ben Franklin invented the lightning rod when he was 44; discovered electricity at 46; and helped draft the Declaration of Independence at 70. Henry Ford was 45 when he introduced the Model T. Sam Walton opened his very first Walmart when he was 44. Ray Kroc was in his 50s when he started building McDonald’s.

Vivek Wadhwa and his team researched the backgrounds of 549 successful entrepreneurs and found that the average age of male founders in this group was 40, and the average age of female founders was 41. Other researchers discovered the average age of U.S. entrepreneurs is increasing, with the 55–64 age group as the most active. See the rest of his article from yesterday’s Washington Post here.

So now you don’t have that excuse any more.

Tis The Season To Spread A Little Joy Among Retail Clerks

The elves and I have been super busy packing holiday orders, so when I saw this article by my associate Ross Reck on his blog, I thought it was so very kind of Ross to write something that would save me from having to write my own post today. Remember, my friends, show a little kindness and gratitude for the clerks!

This is the time of the year when retail clerks catch a lot of undeserved verbal abuse from the people they’re trying to serve.  Stores are crowded, people are in a hurry, check-out lines are long and tempers are short.  Under these circumstances, a kind word or gesture from you can brighten a retail clerk’s day.

I read where one person carried small packets of M&M’s in his pocket to give to clerks as he was going through the check-out process.  He would simply put it in their hand and say, “I hope your day is going well.”  Showing an interest in their welfare can also brighten their day.  During last year’s holiday season, I was checking out in a grocery store and I asked the clerk how her day was going.

She responded with, “Wow!  Somebody asking me how my day is going; now there’s a switch!”  We then proceeded to have a very pleasant conversation.  Several days later, I was back at that same grocery store and the check-out lines were long.  That same clerk spotted me and said, “I’ll open my register for you. Come with me.”  I then let her know how much I appreciated her kindness.  She looked at me and said, “We always remember the nice ones.”  So, take the time to spread a little joy among retail clerks this holiday season.  It will brighten their day and yours as well.

Dr. Ross Reck is the coauthor of Instant Turnaround!, REVVED! and the best selling The Win-Win Negotiator.  He is also the author of Turning Your Customers into Your Sales Force, The X-Factor and his very popular newsletter:  Ross Reck’s Weekly Reminder.

Why Gratitude is Good for Business

Right on is what I said when I saw this article posted by Fortune magazine on CNNMoney. It’s always a good thing when people are talking about the importance of gratitude in business, even if they’re not quoting me. Ha ha.

In fact, two of the people they did quote, Kristina Bouweiri/Reston Limousine and Heidi Kallett/The Dandelion Patch, are strong business women in my local circle of contacts. How cool is that?!

The article totally supports what Zen Rabbit is all about – building appreciation into a business’ daily and weekly plans and strategies and doing it year-round instead of just for the December holidays. Of course these business people are seeing benefits to this approach in terms of more engaged workers and more loyal customers.

See the whole article here, at http://management.fortune.cnn.com/2011/11/23/why-gratitude-is-good-for-business-year-round/

Worthy of the Time of Your Life

I saw a TV commercial yesterday for a new movie coming out in a few weeks, called In Time, where time is the currency. It looks like everyone has a certain bank account of time that they can spend. So for example, a cup of coffee costs you four minutes of life. I’m sure there’s more to this action movie than that, but the commercial, on top of all the articles about and tributes to Steve Jobs I’ve read this week, got me thinking.

What if you measured the value of everything you did against how much of your life it would take? Would you make different decisions or decide differently? Think about evaluating a new project not by how much money you’ll make from it, but by how many hours of your life you’ll be giving up for it.

What if instead of assuming you have “forever,” you came from a place where you worked on a shorter time frame that makes weighing every decision on the time factor real, let’s say one year. So you have one year to spend – 8760 hours – 525,600 minutes. Would you use your time more wisely? Spend it more on what really matters to you and what brings you enjoyment?

Is trolling the aisles and racks of Ross for a bargain a good trade of your time for the savings? It might be if you enjoy the hunt. Is Facebook worthy of the five or ten hours of your life you give it each week? Is working an extra two hours tonight more fun than playing with your child? Constantly ask yourself if what you’re about to do is worthy of your life.

“For the past 33 years, I have looked in the mirror every morning and asked myself: “If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do today?” And whenever the answer has been “No” for too many days in a row, I know I need to change something…” ~ Steve Jobs

People who’ve been diagnosed with life threatening diseases go through this process of evaluation, but you don’t have to have a diagnosis to put it to work. Maybe a year is even too long a time frame. Start with a month, or even a week. Evaluate from this new perspective and see what happens. See how your choices change. It’s your life. How will you spend the currency?