Your front line team members make or break the first impression a client has of your business. They are your most important line of contact. They will be celebrated or scrutinized online in today’s social world of reviewing and sharing of real-life experiences.
30
Aug
How to Make More Sales
You are never too experienced to learn how to sell better.
People often think that selling is BAD. When in fact, the best salespeople are those who do a really good job of serving others. They don’t even have to try to sell because it’s so natural to them that people just want to buy.
09
Aug
Stop Shopping Local
There’s no such thing as a local business today, and if you have one, you’re going to become obsolete unless you quickly change your way of thinking.
Let me explain…
26
Jul
Bad Customer Service is Killing Retail
I’m sure you can think of a time when you’ve had an exceptional experience buying something because of the customer service that you received. Perhaps, you may have even purchased something you weren’t looking for SIMPLY because of the buying experience.
Excellent customer service in the retail industry is an absolute necessity. Without the right people on your staff, you’re not going to be able to maintain and grow a successful, and respected business.
23
Nov
Standing Out In A Niche Market
There is an excuse that is used FAR too often when thinking about starting a business venture in a niche market. You’ve probably heard it before, you may have even used it before. It’s the classic “oh no, I can’t. Too many people are already doing that” excuse.
For the record – that excuse is a lie.
21
Sep
Selling Isn’t A Dirty Word
Business happens when someone pays you for a product or service. Therefore, someone has to be the buyer and someone needs to be the seller for the transaction to occur.
So, then why do many business owners who want to increase the size of their business and make more money, have so much judgement and discomfort when it comes to selling?
If selling makes you uncomfortable chances are, you’ve got to work on your mindset around money.
05
Feb
Is The Customer Always Right?
As a Store Manager working in retail in my early 20s, returns were the bane of my existence. It made me crazy when someone would buy a pair of shoes, wear them and then bring them back and want to return them for some made up reason. It negatively impacted my sales and it went against my values of only accepting returns that were “unworn”.
Repeatedly, I would engage in debates with the customer, point out the scratches, the dirt on the soles of the shoes and try and force them to keep the merchandise.
One day my District Manager was at the store and he taught me a powerful lesson.
He said “Lisa, when it comes to how you sell and serve our customers, treat the business like it is your own. When it comes to accepting returns, regardless of the reason, just let the customer return the merchandise and have a great experience.”
He went on to explain to me the lesson around how one upset customer can tell so many other customers (this was back in 1989) and the bigger impact it has on a business when you don’t treat them well when things go wrong.
That lesson has stayed with me for the most part in my career and business and from time to time – I get tested.
Can you relate?
You know what I mean…You get that feeling in your belly that makes you want to defend or resist a request for a refund. Or you rationalize that it was “their fault” that the program or product didn’t work and think you should have a stronger policy outlining every exception known to man as to why they can’t have their money back because that will stop the next one!
Or, maybe you are in a service business and you get scope creep where the customer expects you to do more than what they paid for and you struggle to say no, or ask for more money and you get resentful because of the way you perceive them to be treating you?
The truth is, this type of thing is usually the exception, not the norm. It is a small percentage of customers who are dissatisfied, or who are challenging to work with and a very very small percentage that are completely off the cuff trying to take advantage of you. Right?
Here is what I know: You have to stop taking it personally.
When you have the right process in place, it is easy to communicate your return policy or to explain the process for requesting additional support outside of a program.
When you react personally you are engaging in something that is rarely about you, and you are expending valuable energy on these exception situations instead of putting that energy to use serving your good customers.
All of that said, is the customer ALWAYS right? Not necessarily. This week’s Shop Talk goes into some of the experiences that I have had when it comes to unhappy customers, or ones who expect too much.
Check out the video below and then tell me in the comments, how do you deal with unhappy customers? Do you have a process?
04
Dec
Smoke, Mirrors, and Spin on a Million Dollar Business
She said, “Congratulations, not many people can say they sold a business that did over a million dollars a year in sales! You can totally use that in your marketing materials.”
I said, “Yabbut even though we sold over a million dollars in inventory, we didn’t gross a million in profits so that doesn’t feel right to me.”
Can you believe I said that!?
I bet you can.
You have probably been taught not to brag, to be humble, never boastful, always downplay your success and never say things to make others feel less than.
And you know that there are people out there that use smoke, mirrors and spin to make things appear bigger than they really are, always stretching the truth and others buy into their hype while you quietly watch and wonder, “Are they really telling the truth?”
Why is it that some people can stand tall and proud and talk about their accomplishments, while others fall victim to shame when really they should be celebrating?
I have my theories as to why this happens.
As a recovering striver, even when I do really well, it never feels good enough because deep down inside there is always the feeling that more could have been done.
When I opened my store in 2006 I really did bust my a$$ to do 1M in retail sales the first twelve months we were open.
I obsessively tracked our sales the exact same way we did in the corporation, worked long hours, analyzed our product mix weekly, and played with every marketing tool available and networked like a fool. It wasn’t easy, and it definitely wasn’t luck.
And although we did over 1M in retail sales, our gross profits were relatively small, and our expenses were high.
So to me, the business valuation was not a million dollars and to market it as such felt like a fraud.
On the other hand, the business was profitable and it was sold for a decent chunk of cash. And yet, I still felt uncomfortable and wonky when it came to talking about it. And I still do.
Why?
Exceptions in our lives can sometimes scar us and erode our self-confidence. This then impacts your ability to stand in your power and be proud of your accomplishments for fear of being judged.
When I wrote about The Pilot Project the very first time and talked about some of my success in business, another WOMAN replied and said, “brag, brag, brag.”
This is an example of one of those scars. Thousands of others read the exact same email and did not reply that way but that one piece of criticism has the ability to impact you.
The same thing happened when I had posted a photo of myself on Facebook and another WOMAN made a snide comment.
Why do women do this to each other?
Women struggle to talk about money every day, to ask for their value, to get paid what they are worth and yet women make tremendous contributions to society.
We need more women who are leaders, millionaires and innovators and in order for this to happen. Women as a whole need to become a lot more comfortable with each others successes.
We don’t need more women tearing each other down, we need role models who stand tall and accept credit for their accomplishments to help others see that it is possible for them too.
That’s why I chose to share this story and why I talk about going from over draft to where I am today when I promote The Pilot Project because I want you to know what is possible for you and when you get there – I want you to stand tall and be proud of all you have done.
There is no shame in making money.
There is no shame in celebrating your success as long as you are not intentionally trying to make someone else feel bad.
The world needs more success and one thing I believe in my heart of hearts is when women make lots of money, they give back to others in need.
Please brag below. Tell me one thing you are super proud of that you have done or accomplished that you kind of cringe when it comes to sharing.
