SOME WORDS ARE MORE MEANINGFUL THAN OTHERS

I have a client that always says “You’re not allowed to say NO to me”

Furthermore, she won’t allow any of her staff to say NO.

Not to anyone!

What she expects from her team are questions that clarify, some form of negotiation or an offer to find a better solution. But never a NO.

Apparently there are some words that are far more acceptable than NO.

For instance she likes:

-could you please clarify?

-what do you think?

-can we just go over that point again?

-would it be possible to?

-can we revisit that point later?

All this because saying NO to people tends to produce negative feelings, it creates bad working relationships and tends to limit innovation, growth and potential.

So instead of saying NO to everyone she expects them to focus on finding solutions to problems rather than saying NO we cant do this or that etc.

If you need some help to produce similarly constructive team dynamics you know a man who can help.

Be Honest....................

What do we want as a customer?

To feel valued

Our needs taken care of

Good customer service

Pro-active approach to  business

To be listened to

If you feel your business would benefit from re-evaluating any of these services, then contact me.

I THINK ‘THANK YOU NOTES’ ARE NICE!

For instance I received this one recently:

Dear Terry,

I just wanted to take this opportunity to drop you a short note to thank you for your ongoing support and patronage.

As you know, most of the people we do business with just want to get our business, and then they disappear never to be seen or heard of again. Getting the order is all they care about!

Not with us.

We believe that our clients are the most important element of our business.

We really do appreciate your ongoing patronage and we continue to look forward to servicing you.

Once again, thanks again for your confidence in us and will strive to continue to earn your trust.

Yours faithfully,

Joe Bloggs

XXX Company

PS-If you have any questions about our services or the way we deliver it, please give me a call on my direct telephone number, 07736417464, and I will personally deal with any and all of the points you raise.

HAVE A CLEAR VISION

Human beings have a lot in common. For instance most of us tend to:

• Be overly optimistic about our ability to perform and the timescales involved
• Expect things to work themselves out
• Underestimate our competitors
• Lazy in one form or another

These character traits can get us into a lot of trouble. They tend to stop us from making meaningful and realistic plans about our futures. I have found that the larger a company or team is the more likely they are to have a vision backed up by a fully thought out plan of action. This is normally because bigger organisations tend to be able to employ higher calibre personnel. Smaller firms tend not to have any systematic form of business planning and most don’t really have any idea of where they want to get to i.e. they have no Strategy so any broadly relevant direction will do.

If we are to be successful, grow and avoid the pitfalls of poor business planning it is imperative that we have some sort of idea where we are going, why and what it will take to get there. It starts with vision and a sense of mission and cascades down through strategic and tactical business planning. How else can our marketers know what is expected of them?

So be on a mission, know what is required, deploy your limited resources appropriately and you will succeed.

If you have any problems you know a man who can help.

Give before you receive

In the Public Sector it is very difficult to associate with members, officers and other personnel. Invitations to events, free lunches and gifts of any description are a no no! However, even in the strictest of circumstances it is possible to get your message across. You are still at large to ‘warm’ prospects up!

We have the means to move people from being perfect strangers to us and our services to becoming eventual ‘Raving Fans’ of our cause.

This process normally starts with some form of ‘visibility’ created via one or more forms of promotional activity. If you as an industry professional attend all the most relevant industry or sector events,  you volunteer to help a relevant body or institution or merely focus your promotional investment to be displayed at the appropriate places and time, then you will stand a very good chance of being recognised as a valued member of the construction community.

Nil visibility produces no new contacts and no opportunities. So it is crucial that you identify who your prospective clients are and find ways to help them. Often this will entail some form of education. This could take the form of a seminar, breakfast meeting or a demonstration. On each occasion you must explain the benefits you can provide and how it will help them to do save time, money or some other important issue.

Find ways to help prospective clients to face up to the challenges before them. If possible or practical show them that there is another and probably a better way to achieve their objectives i.e. simpler, faster, cheaper, less risky and with more chance of success. By having taken the time to research those in order to find out their real needs and having supplied them with highly relevant information you will stand out from the competition.

So why not:

• Host a free open house;
• Sponsor an industry event and supply free tickets;
• Put on a free seminar on a topic of interest;
• Provide information on issues relevant to them;
• Offer a free trial of your service or product;
• Publish and distribute helpful information and reports.

If you need any help, you know a man who can.

How to identify who your prospective clients are

It almost goes without saying that we all need to know what business we are in, where we are in the pecking order and how to effectively engage with our various markets.

I have found that a lot of businesses lose sight of this, they tend to take their clients and key contacts for granted as well as the sources of work they provide, ignore what their competition is up to and have no idea how their markets are changing.

So remind yourself what markets you are in, consider what is likely to happen to them given all the challenges i.e. political, environmental, economic, technology and globalisation etc. Do you want to stay in those markets or are their better prospects elsewhere? Would a more balanced approach be more appropriate going forward?

When you have worked out your ideal place in the scheme of things you will be able to establish how to fill your pipeline with relevant enquiries. Obviously this will be different for every firm depending on what their specialism is, where they sit within the supply chain and what their aspirations are for their business.

What is most important is that you clearly establish who your prospective clients are how best you should address them. Or in other words you need determine:

·         MARKET       Which markets are you targeting and who are the key players?

·         MESSAGE    What is your core offer or service and why is it better than your competitors?

·        MEDIUM       How do you get our message to your prospects cost effectively and consistently?

•  MOMENT      When should you take action?

If you have any problems with these issues, you know a man who can help you

ASKING FOR REFERRALS

Your clients, business contacts and members of your supply chain are all able to introduce you to new people. So why don’t we ask them?

Asking for a referral is particularly beneficial in the ‘personal services’ side of the construction industry. However, as the industry becomes increasingly more sophisticated, professional and interdependent this technique can be used to good effect by most of us. Architects and engineers have been doing it for decades.

Your contacts know a lot of people you don’t. They are members of groups and thus spheres of influence that you have no direct contact with, but they can in many instances prove to be very supportive and instrumental in steering you in the right direction.

Obviously there are various ways to go about creating opportunities to secure referrals. The more advanced tend to have a Referral Action Plan. This type of document will prompt you into considering who your real contacts are, how influential they are, what relevant affiliations do they enjoy and will they go out of their way to help you.

You should always try to ask for referrals in a systematic way. Use Microsoft Outlook or some other reminder system. If you follow the building process as part of your thinking this will prompt you to thinking in terms of events and milestones. This in turn will remind you as to who you know and what is likely to be an appropriate time to ‘pop the question’. If you plan your work to a reasonable level of detail it will produce a framework to act within.

Once you start to put this technique into action and you steadily get more proficient at it you will start to derive real benefits. It’s easy. Just say to your client “Fred we have worked really well together on this project and I know it will be a little while before we get the chance to do it all over again, I was wondering do you know anyone in a similar situation or field of activity to yours that might appreciate some help?” Often Fred will say let me think about it or more likely he will say ring Bill, he’s got a project about to start soon.

Fred might even ring Bill and set up a meeting, and he might even introduce you and your services in a very positive way. Regardless, thank him/her and keep him informed as to any and all progress you might make.

Asking for referrals will work for you. But remember wherever you are and whoever you are with it is likely that an opportunity to ask for a referral will present itself. Don’t miss it.

So start asking and you will receive!

If you have any problems in this area, you know a man who can help.