Exactly What to Say When Asked, "How Much Do You Charge?"

A client with a creative business called me one day and asked the following question. It's a question I get asked frequently, so rather than write an entire article, I decided just to tell you exactly what I told her.

Kirstin,

"I never know what to say when a potential customer calls and asks 'How much do you charge? What are your fees?'
I don't want to shoot myself in the foot by quoting something too low, but also don't want the caller to hear a number that they think is too high and hang up.
What do I say to them so I don't put them off, but also don't immediately take myself out of the running to get their business?"

-Ann P., Philadelphia, PA

Ann,

Don't feel compelled to blurt out a number or hand over a price sheet. Calmly and confidently tell the prospect, "It depends." Follow up with, "Let me ask you a few questions...." Then proceed to ask the prospect questions that will help you learn about her needs, uncover her concerns, understand her methods of measuring success, and determine how to show the value of your services.

Without knowing the basic information above, you are not in any position to be quoting prices and fees. Do yourself and your potential client a favor and don't rush into discussing pricing until you have all the facts, m'am.

-Kirstin Carey
http://www.MyCreativeBiz.com

Evaluate Your Customer

Evaluate Your Customer

When a customer walks into your office, don’t sell them the first product that comes to mind. Sit them down and evaluate their needs, than sell them the products that meet their needs.

I once worked with a guy in the banking industry, who was one of the best at explaining the benefits and features of our products, the only problem was, he was spending so much of his time explaining, but never selling anything.

He never sold anything because he never took the time to get to know what his customer’s needs were, therefore he was attempting to sell them things that they didn’t really need.

Nobody will buy things that they don’t need.

This is why it is so very important to evaluate your customer.

Start off by making your customer as comfortable as you possibly can, talk about non-business topics such as the weather, sports, or a current event.

Once you and your customer have built a good enough report, start to ask some questions so that you may evaluate your customer’s needs.

You can begin by finding out why your customer came into see you in the first place. Find out what products they already have. Find out if they already deal with one of your competitors. If so, find out all you can about the products and services they have with your competitor, so that you may compare products and fee’s. This is a perfect opportunity to let your customer know how much better your products and services are compared to your competitors.

Find out what it is they need and can afford, than sell them the products you believe to be ideal for their needs.

Once you have evaluated your customer, the chances of making a sale will be very good, because you will now be offering your customer something they need and can use, so they will most likely buy it.

The last thing a customer wants to hear about, is a bunch of stuff they don’t need. They have a reason for coming into see you, so find out what that reason is and do all you can to satisfy their needs.

Don’t waste your time trying to push off all of your products on them at once. This time can be better spent evaluating them.

Get to know your customer, evaluate their needs, than meet their needs with the appropriate products.

By evaluating your customer before you sell, you will find that the sales process will come much easier to you. Good luck.


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A Simple Strategy to Increase Profits

In today’s competitive business environment it is essential to find ways to reduce costs and increase revenues while keeping productivity and quality high. One of the best ways to achieve this is through hiring and retention of outstanding employees.

Far too often hiring managers rush through the hiring process due to being reactive rather than proactive when filling positions. With some preplanning in the hiring process and implementation of sound strategies once people join your organization, you will lower the cost of doing business by considerable amounts.

As you prepare to hire consider the following:

• What type of person are you looking for?
• What are the values that drive your company?
• How difficult is the job you are filling?
• Do you have anyone internally who can do the job?
• How long will it take to find the right person for the position?
• What are you willing to negotiate with the potential candidate?

In looking for potential candidates you may want to try more than the traditional employee search. Tap into your network of professional connections. Some of your best candidates may be working for your competitors. Be careful about hiring someone just because they are a friend or family member. Not that friends and family members don’t make good employees - often they can be fantastic. And yet, if you are hiring them only because they are a friend or family member, you are setting yourself up for some big problems. With the wrong choice morale with other employees can go down. With the right choice it is just as likely to go up.

Think through the compensation package. Are the wages fair for the job, industry and market? Make sure your benefit package is competitive for your industry. Find out what other companies are offering as far as compensation and consider matching or beating their offerings.

There are occasions when someone may take a position without thinking through income, benefits or fit. Once they have gotten settled in and are feeling comfortable with the position and the company, they may realize the compensation and the job is not all it could be. That can cause some discontent on their part. To avoid this, do your homework.

Another key to keeping good employees is to make sure they are treated with respect, dignity and appreciation. This may seem like common sense and yet, it often doesn’t happen. I consult with various types of organizations employee retention and how to gain more commitment from the staff. I often will meet individually, in private, with a cross section of the staff. I spend at least an hour with each employee in a confidential meeting to find out their view of the company. Inevitably, the areas that are most lacking for the employee to be fully satisfied are communication and appreciation.

Once the area of discontent has been identified I design programs for the company in which to address the problems. What is amazing is the problem is often on the way to being solved by virtue of the fact the organization has brought me in. A common comment is, “Finally, someone is listening to me.”

Often, a company’s problems can be lessened with some good coaching and training of management. It is amazing how many managers and supervisors were put into their position without any training in interpersonal skills, management and supervisory skills, and how to communicate effectively. Nine times out of ten the people who need the most training are the ones who think they need it the least. And, they are often the biggest obstacle to the success of a company.

In order to stay competitive on all fronts you must keep your entire team on the leading edge. By doing so you will be in business for years to come with a happy, dedicated and productive team. And that will equal profits.

5 Action Ideas to Deal with Difficult People

When was the last time you had to deal with a difficult customer? It was probably and external customer but perhaps it was an internal customer, such as a member of your team, a colleague or even - your boss!

I'm sure that you always want to provide exceptional service to both your internal and external customers. However, in the real world, things go wrong and mistakes are made. These "customers" will often judge your level of service based on how you respond to a mistake. Do it well and they'll probably forgive you and possibly even say positive things about your business or your abilities to other people.

The important thing to realise when dealing with an upset customer, be they internal or external, is that you must -deal with their feelings, then deal with their problem. Upset customers are liable to have strong feelings when you, your product or service lets them down and they'll probably want to "dump" these feeling on you.

You don't deal with their feelings by concentrating on solving the problem, it takes more. Here are 5 action ideas that deal with the customers' human needs:

1 - Don't let them get to you - Stay out of it emotionally and concentrate on listening non-defensively and actively. Customers may make disparaging and emotional remarks - don't rise to the bait.

2 - Listen - listen - listen - Look and sound like your listening. The customer wants to know that you care and that you're interested in their problem.

3 - Stop saying sorry - Sorry is an overused word, everyone says it when something goes wrong and it's lost its value. How often have you heard - "Sorry 'bout that, give me the details and I'll sort this out for you". Far better to say "I apologise for ......" And if you really need to use the sorry word, make sure to include it as part of a full sentence. "I'm sorry you haven't received that information as promised Mr Smith". (It's also good practise to use the customers name in a difficult situation).

4 - Empathise - Using empathy is an effective way to deal with the customers feelings. Empathy isn't about agreement, only acceptance of what the customer is saying and feeling. Basically the message is - "I understand how you feel". Obviously this has to be a genuine response, the customer will realise if you're insincere and they'll feel patronised. Examples of empathy responses would be - "I can understand that you're angry", or "I see what you mean". Again, these responses need to be genuine.

5 - Build rapport - Sometimes it's useful to add another phrase to the empathy response, including yourself in the picture. - "I can understand how you feel, I don't like it either when I'm kept waiting". This has the effect of getting on the customer's side and builds rapport. Some customer service people get concerned with this response as they believe it'll lead to - "Why don't you do something about it then". The majority of people won't respond this way if they realise that you're a reasonable and caring person. If they do, then continue empathising and tell the customer what you'll do about the situation. "I'll report this to my manager" or "I'll do my best to ensure it doesn't happen in the future".

Make no mistake about it; customers, be they internal or external, are primarily driven by their emotions. It's therefore important to use human responses in any interaction particularly when a customer is upset or angry. If customers like you and feel that you care, then they're more likely to accept what you say and forgive your mistakes.

Networking while traveling

Networking is more than just putting your business name out there for people to find you, but it is also a part of getting to know people, who are going to spread the word about what you do, what you sell, and that are going to support you in all that you do. Networking is going to involve getting to know as many people in life as you can, and putting your business in front of those people, so they will represent your name, your business, and will tell others about what you have to offer.

If your business requires that you travel often, or perhaps you travel often to find supplies, visit relatives or just because you like it. You should make it a point to get to know those who you are sitting beside, those who are surrounding you on the plane, even those who are sitting on the bench while waiting in the airport. Make it a point to meet and greet at least one new person a day.

How are you going to get started on this?

Start the conversation by saying hello, how are you today?
Ask questions. The best way to get to know someone is to ask questions. Without asking questions, it can be difficult to carry on a conversation. Asking questions is a good icebreaker, in turn, the person is going to want to talk about their self, and where they are traveling too. You can then lead into something like, is this business trip or a personal trip? As you go on with the conversation, the person is going to ask you questions, which is where you will be able to talk about your business and what you do.

As you make it a point to get to know at least one new person a day- you are going to increase your network, which means you will increase the people that you know in life. Increasing your business network is going to be dependent on your abilities to carry on a conversation and to talk with others. Force yourself to do this. Force yourself to stick to your habit of meeting at least one new person a day. As you make this a point, you will make this a habit and in the long run, your business will thrive for it.

Are Routines Holding You Back?

What routines are preventing you from increasing your sales?

Whether you realize it or not, you are a creature of habit. Unless you do shift work, you probably get up at the same time everyday, follow the same routine to wake up and get yourself ready for the day, drive the regular route to work, do the same things once you get to work, and take the same route home at the end of the day. Once there, you probably have dinner, watch television or read the newspaper, and follow some sort of routine once it’s time to go to bed. You set the alarm for the same time and when it sounds the next day, you start the cycle over again.

Don’t get me wrong. Routines can be good. They help us improve our productivity. They allow us to multi-task. They make us feel comfortable, safe, and secure. They reduce stress. Plus, when we have developed a great routine, we can often generate more business. However, the drawback is that they can be difficult to break away from.
When you become accustomed to a specific schedule, it can be easy to forget changes in it. For example, if you usually schedule your first client meeting after 9:30 it is very easy to miss a meeting that was recently scheduled at 8:30. I recently encountered two situations that relate to this.

The first was an appointment with my massage therapist. For several years, she scheduled her appointments on the hour or half-hour. So when she booked my massage at fifteen minutes after the hour, she forgot about it and was several minutes late.

The second was my fault. I normally meet with my trainer early in the morning, three days a week. I had to re-schedule one workout due to a business commitment and made my appointment for a later time on a different day. Unfortunately, I arrived at the gym at my usual time only to realize that I was several hours early. The change in the schedule messed up my routine.

So, how does this relate to selling?

As a sales professional, you need to recognize that routines can prevent you from achieving your full potential. However, if you persist at incorporating that new technique into your sales approach, it, too, will become part of your new routine. That’s the great thing about the human spirit and brain, it is very adaptable. The most successful people in business and in sales know that changes to their routine will cause them some discomfort. But, they are also very aware that these changes will become more comfortable and part of their routine if they work at it long enough.
It can certainly be challenging to change your behaviour and routine when you are used to making a certain number of calls every day, or meeting with a specific number of clients, customers, or prospects. When you have a specific daily routine, it is usually difficult to incorporate something new. Or, when you have developed the habit of selling in a particular manner, it is very stressful trying to change your approach. I see this in my sales training workshops all the time.

People can intrinsically grasp a new concept or principle but experience difficulty trying to actually implement it into the way they sell. That’s why many sales training programs don’t work; you can’t expect to change your behavior or routine immediately. The key is to keep applying the concept even though it feels uncomfortable and foreign. In fact, in most cases, you will begin to feel comfortable with the concept immediately after you experience the greatest frustration and difficulty. Consider learning a new sport, hobby, or task.

At first the movements feel uncomfortable. Your moves are not smooth, accurate or natural. And this feeling usually persists for quite some time. However, just when you feel like giving up because it has become too difficult and frustrating, something clicks and the movements start to feel more natural. You have now progressed to the stage of being able to achieve results. The same process happens when you decide to try something different when selling.
Most sales people don’t enjoy cold calling because they don’t work at developing their skill long enough. They go through the motions of making their calls everyday but they don’t focus on improving their skill nor do they stick with it for the necessary period. People who do acquire the ability to effectively cold call have made enough calls to understand the dynamics, develop their skill at calling, and incorporate it into their routine.

Routines are powerful. However, to get the most from them, you do need to change them regularly.
© 2008 Kelley Robertson, All rights reserved.

Effective Negotiating - The Key To Sales Success

No two persons agree on all things. When people come together to work out a deal, they try to maximize their benefits and minimize their costs. Each person places a different value on individual elements of the deal.An effective negotiation is not just about making people see things from your point of view, but it is also about converging two different views to a point that is perceived by both parties as mutually beneficial. The art of negotiating is the backbone of a successful sales campaign.

Focus On The Customer - Show Him The Money:

The customer is not bothered about how badly you need to make the sale to meet your monthly target. He is more bothered about fulfillment of his needs and getting value for his money.

Talk about the customer's benefit. Don't tell your customer about the latest technology in the car's engine - tell him how this new engine saves him fuel and time.

Know Your Competition:

Knowing your product is not enough. You must know what your competition is offering. You don't want to end up staring at the customer, when he says your competitors are 20% cheaper. Have your answers ready. Give him valid reasons for your higher price.

Don't Waste Your Time With People Who Don't Matter:

When dealing with an organization, learn to prioritize. Don't waste your time explaining the secretary why your power tools are good. Save your time and energy for the decision maker. Try to get an appointment with "the boss". If you can't get one immediately, try for a later one, else move on. The secretary is not going to buy your tools.

Exploit The Copycat Mentality:

Humans have a mentality to copy what others are doing successfully. If a person's competitor or acquaintance is using a product, he may be tempted to use the product too. Keep your references ready and tell him how others have greatly benefited from your product or service.

Get Them To Agree:

When a person agrees to something you are saying, he subconsciously creates a positive frame of mind towards your offer.
Getting the other person to say "Yes" on various occasions brings both of you on the same side - with the same goal.

Your Negotiating Strength Lies In Your Uniqueness:

If it is easy to find someone providing the same service or product that you provide, your negotiating potential is reduced. The more unique your offer, the greater negotiating powers you have. Always make a list of points which differentiate you from your rivals. Sometimes people buy things just because they are different from what most other people are using.

Use Time To Your Advantage:

Every one of us has been to a stock clearance sale. When the merchant runs out of time to sell his stock, his loses his pricing power.

Customers use this tactic on sellers and give a deadline to make a decision on price and terms. The person who is short of time is always at a disadvantage. Never allow yourself to be trapped in a "time limit" trap. Even when you are short of time, don't let it be known to the other person.

On the other hand, a person's urgency to get something done can work in your favor. If the other person is in a hurry to get things done, you can be assured that he will be more willing to bend than he would in a normal situation.

A word of caution - never exploit the other person's urgency to such an extent that it makes the deal grossly one sided. You may get what you want one time, but such deals have a negative impact on your reputation and future business. A win-win situation is always desired.

Price Is Not Everything - Terms Matter Too:

Terms of service are as important as the price itself. An example could be the loans and mortgage industry. Companies are able to charge higher interests rates than competitors by allowing flexible repayment options. Companies offering freebies with their products are compensating a higher price with friendlier terms. Create a balance between the price and the terms - when price is your weak point, offset it with better terms.

"The Policy" Tactic:

Since childhood, people are taught that rules are not to be broken. At subconscious level most of the people carry a perception that it is their duty to follow all rules. You will be surprised how easily people give in when they are told that the terms which they expecting are against the company policy. Salespersons always keep a printed price list with themselves. Those few black words printed on a white paper add authority to the salesperson's arguments and send the message that it is not within their power to alter the terms.

Keep Your Last Price For The Last:

Most buyers have a tendency to ask for a lower price than offered. If asked for "the last price", quote something more than the actual "last price" which you are willing to give. It doesn't matter if initially you offer a price 2% lower or 20% lower - buyers will ask for a further lower price in both cases.

The Final Gambit - Say "No":

Risk taking is an essential ingredient of success.

Agreeing to customers' terms all the time weakens your image in the market. Walk out of the deal if it doesn't seem profitable. If the customer gives in to your terms, you win a profitable deal. If you lose the customer, why repent? He wasn't a profitable customer anyway.