Archive for June, 2009
Posted on June 24, 2009
From my friend Chuck Reaves, a master in sales:
The Most Dangerous Word in Sales: Why?
Eighty percent of selling happens at the subconscious or subliminal level. It is amazing how this word impacts our thought processes. It generates a complex thread of thoughts and behavior - and we don’t even realize it! The best way to use this word is to NOT use it!
Whenever we are asked a “why” question, our first reaction is to defend whatever the question addresses. We learn this from childhood, don’t we? An adult asked us why we did something and our answers were usually:
- “Everybody else was doing it”
- “[NAME] made me do it.”
- “I don’t know”
Sound familiar? It will sound even more familiar if you ask your customer a “why” question. Their response will probably be a variation of one the answers above!
For instance, ask your prospect why they are buying from the competition instead of you. How will they answer?
- “They’re the industry leader” (everyone else is buying from them)
- “Our company policy. . . ” (made me do it)
- “I’m not really sure”
Change Your Why Questions
The easiest way is, of course, the one I use. Whenever a “why” question seems to be needed, reword it to a “how” question.
Instead of: “Why did you decide to buy from the competition?”
Use: “How did you make the decision to buy from them?”
See how it works?
An Even Better Way
An even more effective way to reword that question is:
“How was the decision made to buy from them?”
The critical difference is that we remove the personal pronoun. “Why” questions are naturally accusative and they elicit a defensive response.
Rewording the question to a “how” question helps but the customer may still sense the “why” behind the question. So, take them out of the conversation by removing the “you”
Use It Today
Begin now to discipline yourself to remove this dangerous word from your vocabulary. Whenever you need anything from the client - use how
- In your pre-call planing, remove all “why” questions.
- Whenever you think of a “why” question, immediately try to rephrase it as a”how” question.
Contact Chuck for more great information:
404.822.6171 Chuck@ChuckReaves.com
Posted on June 19, 2009
Today’s entry is about a situation where three people demonstrated how not to communicate effectively. It was ridiculous.
We have three players in today’s mess. Me. My admin, Anetris. And the client, who I shall call Sam. Follow this closely; there are many lessons to be learned.
The set-up: On a Thursday, I arranged to meet with Sam to review some work. We were to meet at 11 a.m. Sunday at a local coffee spot. Anetris had work she needed to give to Sam, so she told me she would meet us there.
On my calendar it said: Sunday, 11 a.m. Meet with Sam to review work. Anetris will join us to give stuff to Sam.
Come Sunday, I am at the coffee spot at 10:45. I notice that I got a call but no voicemail from Anetris at 10:30. So, I’m waiting for Sam and Anetris to show up at 11.
A few minutes after 11, I get a text message saying: “I’m running late. Will be there shortly.” I assumed the text was from Anetris for two reasons: (1) she had called earlier and we sometimes use text messages and (2) Sam runs a few minutes late at times and we never text each other.
About 11:10, Sam shows up. “Did you get my message?” he asks. Nope, says I, thinking voicemail.
Sam says he needs to get together with Anetris and I say, “She’s on her way. She’s bringing that material you want.”
11:30-no Anetris. I leave her a voicemail to get there pronto. (She lives less than a quarter mile away.) Sam and I focus on our work and wonder where Anetris is.
11:55-Text message from Anetris: “In church, call you later.” I figure she will show up by 12:15 or so since the church is just down the block.
12:30-I leave Anetris another voicemail. I get nothing in reply. Sam and I are not happy.
Here is how everything got messed up.
1. Anetris didn’t leave a message when she called at 10:30. She knew I was in Sunday school and would not answer.
2. The 11 a.m. text message shows up and I assume it’s from Anetris. Later I realized it was from Sam, who had never texted me before. I didn’t even look at who it was from.
3. I set the expectation for Sam that Anetris was joining us. He didn’t expect that before coming to the coffee shop.
4. Anetris neglected, in her 11:55 text message, to say that she was “in church about 30 miles away with family that dropped in unexpectedly.” Had she told us that in her text, Sam and I wouldn’t have gotten upset.
Morals of the story: Give all the facts. Notice who sent a message. Base expectations on reality.
Posted on June 3, 2009
Think you’re swamped by information (including this message, of course)? Take a quick break and watch this humorous video from Xerox on information overload syndrome.
http://www.xerox.com/information-overload/enus.html
IS IT TIME FOR A REDUCTION IN WORK HOURS?
From my friend Dave Burstein at PSMJ:
I have been asked many times about whether an across-the-board reduction in work hours is better than a layoff of selected individuals. My answer has always been: Don’t consider an across-the-board reduction until you have laid off every one of your mediocre (or worse) employees. For many A/E/C firms (especially those who are heavily in the developer markets), that time has come. For those firms, I offer the following advice:
1. Don’t cut the hours of people who are busy and highly billable. For example, if your firm does a mix of development and public sector projects, your development group may be very slow while your public sector group is very busy. Cutting hours across the board may seem “fair” but it is self-destructive. Not only will you reduce revenue at the time you need it most, you will also jeopardize client satisfaction at the time that your clients are most vulnerable to approaches by your competitors.
2. To deal with the “fairness” issue, let all your employees know that the key to getting back onto a full work week is increasing revenues - and the best way to accelerate that is to maximize the number of people working productively on paying projects. Also let them know that “dumping” time onto projects in order to keep their chargeability high is self-defeating. What you gain in increased chargeability, you lose in having jobs go over budget.
3. Look into whether your state(s) has a program to help employees whose hours have been reduced. For example, Massachusetts employers can request partial unemployment benefits for groups of employees whose hours have been reduced by 20% or more. Under this program, employees in these groups can receive 30 to 40 percent of their lost wages from the reduced hours.
As of May 27, the following states have adopted some type of unemployment benefits for employees who are in “work sharing” programs that reduce their work hours: Arkansas, Arizona, California, Connecticut, Florida, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Maryland, Minnesota, Missouri, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Texas, Vermont and Washington. Other states are considering such programs, so be sure to check with your state labor department.
Contact Dave at dburstein@psmj.com with any questions.
Check out their website at www.psmj.com.
