Be Careful With Your Sales Approach

I recently vacationed in Hawaii, and was at the Thrifty rental counter finalizing our car for the next 10 days. As I began walking out the door, I passed by a kiosk with a lady, who I thought was a Thrifty employee, so I made no effort to make eye contact. However, she was able to get my attention by asking me if the group of five (four children and wife) outside was my family--hooked. As I answered yes, she followed it up by asking if I would be interested in treating the whole family to a nice FREE lunch, receive $100 discount on our rental--and wait there is more...a coffee table book on Hawaii worth $75. Well, of course, I said yes--not without a deep suspicion, however, that this was going to come at a price. Much to my surprise, she replied that since they are trying to showcase a new hotel in Waikiki, all I had to do was take a tour of the hotel and I would be entitled to all of the above benefits. Sign me up!

As I completed the paperwork, it became evident that this was not simply a tour of the hotel, it was much more involved. Once I signed the document to receive the benefits, my suspicions were confirmed, she subtly questioned me if I was familiar with timeshare--strike one. Unknowingly, I had signed myself, my wife and four kids in Hawaii up for a two-hour presentation regarding timeshare ownership of this supposed new "hotel".

Reluctantly, my wife and I, along with the four kiddos attended the presentation. Initially we were directed to the free lunch. Much to our chagrin, once we presented our tickets for the complimentary lunch, our server immediately lost interest in providing any type of service close to deserving a tip. Strike two!

We finally met our sales presenter for our two-hour presentation. She began the presentation with the disclosure that if we were uncomfortable with the proposal, we can say no, and she will respect that and end the presentation. Well, that was not the case. Repeatedly I tried to convey that this was not something for our family, but unfortunately she continued ignoring her promise at the beginning of her diatribe. At one point, she even involved her "finance" manager in the discussion to somehow strike interest. We were now 2.5 hours into our meeting and the children were beginning to grow restless. Strike three!!!!

A few lessons here that we need to tease out. First, be sure that you are not making any false or outrageous claims in your marketing. Ensure that your marketing communication is not hyper-inflated. Chances are that you will not be able to meet the expectations of your prospect or customer if your message is not reflective of your capabilities. In the end, this would mean that your customers will never come back.

Second, if you are going to offer any benefits like a free lunch, be aware that simply giving it away at no cost is not always perceived as a benefit, especially when it is mediocre at best. Select your add-ons carefully.

Lastly, stick to your word. If you make promises to your prospect or customer, it is essential that you respect and honor that promise. If not, the likelihood is that they will not return or refer you to a friend or colleague. Remember Net Promoter Score?

Expected vs. Amazing

Recently, I have been visiting a local coffee shop, BackPorch Coffee Roasters, in Bend, Or. After my second visit to BackPorch, the barista behind the counter immediately recognized me and engaged me in a discussion. "Cappuccino? On the wet side, right?", she asked. Now, I can only imagine how many coffee lovers she serves in a day, and for her to remember me after two weeks since my first visit, I was amazed! I was expecting the service to be, well, somewhat the same as any coffee outfit. "Hi, what can I get this early morning?" Not bad, but not particularly amazing. Starbucks, who is presumably selling experience over the coffee they serve, certainly has never remembered me, even after many visits.

So can your business do this? Yes, absolutely. Instill in your customers that they are the most important thing in the world when it comes to serving them. I was recently on the phone with customer service from an aviation insurance company. My last name is not the easiest thing to pronounce, but the customer service representative asked me how to pronounce my last name to prevent future representatives from pronouncing it incorrectly. For some, this may not be a big deal, but after hearing my surname butchered over and over again numerous times, I was relieved to think that on my next call they will not pause after saying my first name and guess which version of my name they were going to painfully speak.

Here are two crucial things to remember about your customers:
• Name (if possible)
• Reason for their first visit (probably more important that the name)

Keep in mind that there are endless varieties of technological applications out there that companies integrate within their system to remember you. Consider the airline reservation interface. Once you create an account, you can return without doing much work as the system has remembered your preferences from your last visit. Although this is very effective, it is somewhat regarded as "automated" and certainly does not have the impact of a personal experience.

Keep your customers amazed and keep 'em coming back.