"Persistence Pays "
|
Persistence Pays In this article:
Third Time Is A Charm Twice I walked by the shoeshine stand, and on both occasions, the person manning the stand enthusiastically asked me if I wanted a shine. It was on my third pass that he smiled and asked again. I don't usually have my black leather tennis shoes shined, but I relinquished and had them shined. He was so persistent that I did not have the heart to turn him down again. Persistence Speaks Louder Than Words Often, when on a speaking engagement, the meeting planner revealed that I received the booking because of persistence. If there is a need for your product or service, it is a compliment to keep in touch. Persistence tells the customer that you want their business. Be The Best Pest You don't want to be a PEST, but you do want to let them know you are the BEST. Your persistence, in getting the business, will demonstrate to them how you will treat them after you have the business. Is Anybody There? Does Anybody Care? In the past few months, my house has needed some repairs in order to get it ready to sell. It has been frustrating to get people to respond to our requests to do the work that needs to be done. Several suppliers made appointments, and then did not show up, and they did not have the courtesy to call to let us know that they were not interested in the work. A Moving Experience We have called three moving companies to get quotes for moving our smaller things, and only one of three gave us a quote, after we called them several times. I told one of them that either he is very successful or he did not care about serving potential customers. He said that our business was important to him, and that he would respond with a quote the next day. We have not heard from him.
It Is Not The Economy How sad it is that these same people will go to an industry convention with their peers and tell them how bad the economy is! It is not the economy - it is their attitude toward being persistent that needs some work. Same Day Service We have an office policy that if someone inquires about our services, we send the information to them in overnight mail. Our prompt responsiveness has gotten us many a booking. It Pays To Follow Up I have worked in the field with many sales people. I go in the field and make an initial call with the sales person and get the client seriously interested in looking at a proposal. In some cases, I will check to see how the proposal went, only to find that there was no follow-up with a proposal. When the follow-up was carried out, they usually received the business. They Will Show You The Money There are people with money in their pockets, just waiting to put that money in your pocket. The question is, "Do you want it badly enough to make the effort to show up when they call, and then follow-up with a proposal?" Before my field experience with real sales people in the real world, I would have said that the answer is an obvious yes. Now I know that, in many cases, it is a resounding no. Common Courtesy Counts Challenge yourself to get back to your customers ASAP. If you are too busy to help them, let them know and recommend another supplier that you can depend on to follow through. If you are going to be late for an appointment, give them a call and let them know you are running late. My wife has changed appointments and stayed home, only to be disappointed too many times in the last few weeks. Let The Good Times Roll If you don't take care of business when times are good, don't be surprised if the customer won't be there waiting for you when times are bad. Be There Make a commitment today to follow through with your customers. Be there for them, and they will be there for you.
© 2007-2008 Joe Bonura & Associates, Inc. |
||
|
REPRINT info: Joe Bonura About Joe Bonura His background is unique. Joe owned and operated a highly successful advertising agency for 18 years. During that time, he found his advertising campaigns were more effective when he educated his clients in the areas of sales and service. He conducted training seminars for his clients as added value. Word spread that Joe was a quality speaker and more and more people asked him to speak. The demand became so high that he sold the agency to three of his associates to start his own speaking and consulting company, Joe Bonura & Associates, Inc. Joe is past President of the Kentucky Speakers Association and a Certified Speaking Professional (CSP), a prestigious designation earned by only 8% of the 3,600 member National Speakers Association. Joe presently serves on the board of directors of NSA. He is author of the audio learning systems "Three-Dimensional Selling®" and "Turning Customer Satisfaction Into Customer Excitement®." He is author of the book Throw the Rabbit—The Ultimate Approach to Three-Dimensional Selling. Click here TO ENGAGE JOE BONURA FOR A TRAINING SEMINAR AT YOUR COMPANY
|
