Articles
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Yesterday I went to the ACE Hardware to buy some light bulbs. It’s one of my husbandly tasks on Mother’s Day! Anyway, the ACE Hardware has been there for many years. I remember going there as a child. A lot has changed since those days, (loss of hair, waist size) and chief among those changes is the emergence of massive hardware stores.
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The first step as a coach is to develop a personal style. As you start, get a picture in your mind of a coach or mentor that has helped you achieve your personal and professional aspirations.
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My buddy runs a chain of great beverage stores and the other day he witnessed something that really threw him for a loop. A "stock guy" loaded a heavy keg of beer into a customer’s car, smiled warmly and proceeded to stop and pick up a piece of trash before heading back to the store. Here was somebody with tasks most would classify as menial, yet this business owner was truly amazed by what he saw and how he felt. For a moment, the planets were out of alignment.
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There are commonly thought to be 4 distinct personality types. Your customer sounds like a "driver"…
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I picked up a great book at the airport in Philadelphia the other day. The book's title (How to be a Complete and Utter Failure in LIfe, Work and Everything) caught my eye and I bought for flight home. As the plane made its way to the runway, I started compiling a list of behaviors that ruin beverage careers.
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I picked up a great book at the airport in Philadelphia the other day. The book's title (How to be a Complete and Utter Failure in Life, Work and Everything) quickly caught my eye. I made my purchase and no sooner had the plane hit the runway and I was busy compiling a list of behaviors that ruin beverage careers. Do the opposite and things will go MUCH more smoothly for you...
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Absolutely! You will look better with a thoughtful accurate answer than you will with a rushed reply that is wrong.
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Continuing with last week's theme, here are the final 13 ways (plus the final straightaway) to help your company keep terrific people right where they belong: On your payroll!
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Have you ever been complacent? Have you ever been very happy with a situation, only to realize later that things weren't really so great? It's been my experience in almost 20 years of business that at one time or another, all businesses fall into the complacency trap and as the song goes, you never realize what you have until it's gone.
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Recently, my local wine store lost a terrific wine professional. I bought my wine from him and I know he was salt of the earth. He grew up on a farm, if that tells you anything about his work ethic. Whenever I shopped, he was always very busy, but could stop on a dime to help me find a new syrah or zinfandel when I needed help....
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Too often sales people mistakenly assume that the customer wants the "dog and pony show!" I think power points should be renamed power plays. Too often I've seen suppliers show up and literally take over the room and dominate the time for their propaganda shows. It’s obnoxious.
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Many years ago we had a spirit expert that was "top shelf!" He worked for our retail wine and spirit company for several years before we inadvertently gift-wrapped him and handed him over to our closest and fiercest competitor.
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No doubt about it. These are challenging times. Consumer sentiment is low and fuel prices are high. Conventional wisdom suggests that in times like these, consumers tighten their belts and entertain more at home requiring additional trips to their favorite retailer. The result: retailers have additional opportunities to either shine or push people away forever. The consumer experience is more important than ever!
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ast week during one of my "Think like a Retailer" workshops a young sales person asked me to speak about some of the most common mistakes I noticed during my 25 years in retail. As you know, one of my most sacred core beliefs is to create an environment where your customers do business with you not because they have to but because they want to. To that end, sales people that act like trusted partners rather than self-serving pretenders stand a much greater chance of becoming their customer’s trusted advisor.
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As I travel the country talking to wine, beer and spirit distributors and suppliers, I notice that the most successful companies share the same core beliefs....
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I spend a lot of time at Staples these days. Seems like I'm always buying paper and binders for my presentations. Thankfully, there’s a Starbucks conveniently located right next store. Today, the line was out the door. Wow, a long line for a $4 dollar cup of coffee? That shouldn't surprise any of us but I did notice something that got me thinking this morning.......
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While the goal is to build, cultivate and maintain solid, profitable, enjoyable relationships with your customers, there will always be certain topics that are best to avoid; certain places where the prudent don't go. Certain things you just don't say. Here a few situations I remember from all my years as a retailer.
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The history of empathy in the workplace: In the old days, we were taught to leave all our heartfelt emotions and spontaneity at the door. There simply was no room for personal emotions on the job. The dynamic is shifting. It is now understood that friendly service-orientated people often outsell the manipulators.
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How many of you measure your success by the level of your customer’s success? In other words, if we went around the table at your year-end sales meeting and asked each person what he or she achieved, would anybody mention the word customer when laying out his or her achievements? Sales people that win the customer loyalty marathon measure their success by the successes that their customers achieve.
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That’s an actual quote! Seems like it was just yesterday. We were talking about a program for a popular domestic beer when the conversation turned sour and he blurted out these unfortunate words. I was stunned! Clearly, I understood that I had to buy the beer from his company (if I wanted to carry it); but his attitude shocked me to the core.
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Long ago, in earth earliest days, humans found their world bathed in darkness. The evil goddess Tzintzimitl had consumed the sun and all its light. Quetzalcoatl, the god of redemption and giver of life, was angered by Tzintzimitl’s deed and ascended to the heavens to give battle. While pursuing Tzintzimitl he discovered Mayahuel, her beautiful granddaughter who was being held against her will. Quetzalcoatl instantly fell in love with Mayahuel and returned to earth with her at his side......
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just received a thank-you note from a well-known beer supplier whose name goes back almost as far as the earliest suppliers in the business. It was a handwritten note thanking me for my book, and it took me completely by surprise.
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I was at the Beer Summit in San Diego Sunday and Monday. Some of the people there asked me just what does it mean to See the Finish Line so, as I set in for the long flight back, I started to make another list for you. In a nutshell, seeing the finish line is mostly to do with how you treat your customers - whether you're a distributor, supplier, wholesaler or retailer.
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Crossing the Finish Line for the distributor, supplier and wholesaler community. In a nutshell, 26.2 ways to have your customers do business with you, not because they have to but because they want to
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Are you following the saga with Roger Clemens and Andy Petitte? Both have been accused of putting steroids and other bad things into their bodies......
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As promised, here are the last 13 miles in the race to hire a winning workforce. Be sure to download the FREE PDF that can be accessed by clicking on this link
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Many readers have asked me to throw together some thoughts on how to approach placing new products into accounts. While not nearly the end all, here are some thoughts on that subject in the form of a situation/analysis/solution format.
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"Why do they have a better price than us?" Ever heard that one? Even though price is rarely the ultimate reason for buying anything, every day executives comb the sales ads looking at their competitor's prices. So what do you do when they ask this difficult question? And yes, I've actually heard every response in this article...
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I flew back from Las Vegas last Saturday. My client arranged for my transportation home, so I followed protocol and called the car service once I arrived at O’Hare. I was amazed to see car 345, a huge, beautiful stretch limo. I felt pretty silly getting such great treatment. The ride was uneventful, but as the car entered my residential neighborhood, something interesting happened.........
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I am typing this article on my new Mac Book Pro. That’s right! I took the plunge and listened to my 12-year old. For years he has been trying to convince me to "switch sides" and give up my PC...
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Last week we started delving into the subject of unhappy customers. To be sure, we have all had them at one point or another in our business careers. In Part One, I defined some reasons why customers develop an attitude. Today, in Part Two, I will make suggestions about how to change your customer’s attitudes and perceptions for the better. Actually, since this topic is so important, I am breaking Part Two into two parts! Confused? Well, handling difficult customers is so important to your success that we’ll take our time with it.
