The majority of customers visit your website or your brick-and-mortar location only one time. All the marketing efforts and money that is spent on driving traffic to your business results in most customers only giving you one shot. And it can cost 5 times more to attract a new customer, than it does to retain an existing one. According to Bain & Company’s research, increasing customer retention rates by 5% increases profits by 25% to 95%. With these statistics in mind, it makes sense to focus efforts and funds to nurture your existing customers who are spending their money on your goods or services time and time again. This is not to say that you shouldn’t market to new consumers, which is a must, of course. But these statistics should be taken into consideration when budgeting how much you spend on acquiring new customers versus taking care of your existing customer base.
Look forward, not backwards
Each time you choose to trust yourself and take action, you can never quite be certain how the situation will turn out. Sometimes you are victorious, and sometimes you become disillusioned. Remember that there are no mistakes if you have learned something in the process. At the end of every day, ask yourself these three questions:
What did I learn today?
How did I grow today?
What will I do differently tomorrow?
Exploring the edges
Jamaica is a beautiful island located in the Caribbean. According to travel guides Jamaica famous for so many things, for example, reggae music, Bob Marley, Ursain Bolt, Blue Mountain coffee, rum, etc., etc. Both my parents are Jamaican and as I was born and raised in London, I have never explored the possibility of Jamaican nationality. It appears that so many professional footballers are in the same situation. There has been so much written in the media about the forthcoming FIFA World Cup in Qatar, so I thought I would change the narrative as I’m not sure whether to boycott or not. What about you, will you be watching?
Stories speak to emotions
We all know that there are two sides of the brain, the rational and the feelings/emotional side. In almost all kinds of decisions the emotional side of the brain is predominant, and stories speak to emotions. Nowadays when we are inundated with data and information it’s even more important that we focus on stories. You can speak about numbers, data and facts and leverage that in your storytelling, as the narrative helps us make sense of that data. I think that when we speak to people’s emotions it gathers and results in a higher response. Watch this video and see how changing the message will change the results.
Let's see what you've got
The further away a goal is in the future the less motivation it brings to today, they will have very little power today to govern our actions. If you don’t have a definition, at least get a direction by asking yourself the following questions:
1. Why is the goal important to you?
2. What will accomplishing that goal do for your life?
3. What will happen if you do not accomplish this goal?
Reach out
Sales is the first thing you should focus on doing when you are starting out with your business. The key to successfully selling a product, service, or idea, is to ask questions and then listen quietly and carefully to the answers. Many of us try too hard to convince people to buy instead of discovering what our customer really wants, needs, and desires from us. The very best salespeople have a combination of the following:
1. Lead Generation
The finder introduces you to new markets. Finders are door openers and are really good at connecting with decision makers, bringing people together and networking.
2. Lead Conversion
The closer follows scripts and is good at asking questions. The closer interacts with the people that the finder brought to them, makes the offer, and closes the deals.
3. Lead Retention
The developer is the relationship builder who follows up with the clients after the sale has been made.
Reading the room
First, you read what you see - I mean reading body language. Salespersons soon learn that if the customer have their arms folded and chin tucked down with a frown on their face then this is going to take all your skills to get their arms unfolded and make them a little more comfortable. Crossed arms and legs are a clear signal that there is resistance to your ideas. Second, you’ve got the read what you hear. If it’s a two-way conversation you must listen as well as talk. We have two ears, one mouth, therefore, we should listen twice as much as we speak. Listen so that you know how to proceed and the best way to improve your listening skills is to practice "active listening." And finally, you have to pick up the emotional signals, for example, are you coming on too strong? How does your customer feel? etc.
I think reading the room is an art form; first what you see, then what you hear and finally what you feel. Speaking the same language as your customers is a subtle way to make them feel more welcomed. Contact me via e-mail for 1:1 session or to arrange a “reading the room” workshop for your team.
Do as you're told
Education and learning are not the same thing. Mass education was the ingenious machine constructed by industrialism to produce a constant flow of factory workers. Learning is the lifelong process of transforming information and experience into knowledge, skills, behaviours, and attitudes. Education is what we do for compliance and it’s about cohesion and you get a prize as a reward, that’s how they get you to do what you are supposed to do. I think that there are some educators who are also teachers and help with learning and there are also a lot of educators who are creators of an obedient system.
“If you only read the books that everyone else is reading, you can only think what everyone else is thinking. ”
Fit for use
Is it worth more because it has my name on it?
Good quality does not mean luxury. Luxury means it’s expensive and you paid extra happily. In my opinion, luxury is a useful thing and there are a lot of luxury brands who do really well. On the other hand, quality means that this product or service meets the specifications and expectations, for example, what’s the difference between a Rolex and a Casio watch? Rolex is a luxury watch and if you can’t afford a Rolex, it may be a better quality to buy a Casio because it meets specifications and does what it says it does every single time. Making something of quality simply means did you define the specifications accurately and I think that we can all agree that that’s a requirement
Identify the decision
A mindset is like a fishing rod, it’s a way to maneuverer our lives to orientate ourselves towards success and good outcomes. The decision making process is making choices by identifying a decision, gathering information, and assessing alternative resolutions. Using a step-by-step decision-making process can help you make more deliberate, thoughtful decisions by organising relevant information and defining alternatives. I think that one of the biggest problems we are having in the world today is that people require simple answers to complicated questions. Therefore, it’s important not to make decisions today that you wouldn’t take again tomorrow.
“An unexamined life is not worth living.”
Perspective is everything
No one person can decide in big companies, there will always be a variety of stakeholders and different groups that must be involved. Our job as a consultant is to present inputs for them to build a business case and then highlight how we add value. I think one of the cornerstones of our success will be the ability to structure our business development process in a way that suits our customers needs. Where we are selling the pain that we are solving for them and then presenting it with numbers and results.
“Imagination is more important than knowledge. For knowledge is limited to all we now know and understand, while imagination embraces the entire world, and all there ever will be to know and understand.”
Everyone has a story
As humans we have been raised to keep a tough appearance, not to share information, be guarded and scrutinise everybody who’s in our life. My education at home revolved around, “the more you know the further you will go” philosophy.
Someone said, “I don’t know how you do it.”
I said, “I wasn’t given a choice.”
I think even if the hero has no choice, it’s still taking courage to be courageous, and we all need role models who model these heroic traits for us.
“If you really think the economy is more important than the environment, try holding your breath while counting your money.”
Rational vs. emotional decision making
The University of Virginia psychologist, Jonathan Haidt introduced me to a compelling elephant-rider analogy for thinking about behaviour change. Haidt argues that we have two sides: an emotional side (the elephant), and an analytical, rational side (its rider). Haidt's analogy has it that the rider is rational and can therefore see a path ahead while underneath him, the elephant provides the power for the journey. If the elephant chooses to go in another direction, is there anything the rider could do to stop it? From a pure physics standpoint, the answer is obviously “no”. The reality is the rider is not in charge, the elephant is and chooses to go where the rider wants to go. I think the big take away from this is in life, the rider is in the head and the elephant is in the heart. And it’s a useful framework for understanding the duality of human decision making.
There is a price to pay
Competence is a function of experience, knowledge and intelligence. The Peter Principle is the satirical theory that employees are generally promoted to their level of incompetence. The reason incompetent is often rewarded is that it's easier than challenging it. In 1974, the author of the Peter a principle, Dr. Laurence J. Peter, explained how he first got the idea and what can be done about it. See video below
Pursuing purpose
Purpose gives you an overriding reason to do and act in certain ways, then using agile practices to respond to changes in the environment, I think you will be able to align quickly to the direction that you set. The commitment to the framework goals that you are trying to pursue, and the purpose driven approach helps you to do that as well. Agile is very people centred, it’s about giving people autonomy so that they can pursue the initiatives that you are trying to put in place. Agile is the ideal approach to execute change because it tends to make more committed employees and give them more of a reason to want to engage and develop the change programmes you are trying to pursue.
Ask sincerely for help
It’s not just about omni-channel, it’s about customisation, community, and content. Individuals with unique personal goals and achievements brought together to form global communities. I think the best way to build a community is to ask for help and only ask when you are ready to listen. For example, my cousin, Rocky released his book, “From Rock to Riches: Using the WEALTH Formula” this week. The book describes his journey from the Jamaican countryside to financial independence in the UK. With the support from family, friends and acquaintances the book is currently number one on the bestseller list in eight categories on Amazon.
Taking the correct path
A dream written down with date for completion becomes a goal.
A goal broken down into steps becomes a plan.
A plan backed by action becomes reality.
“Any idea that is held in the mind, that is emphasised, that is either feared or revered, will begin at once to cloth itself in the most convenient and appropriate form available.”
To nest in the gale
c/o Getty Images
Among the writings of Henry David Thoreau, I came across this statement: “Many an object is not seen, though it falls within the range of our visual ray, because it does not come within the range of our intellectual ray.” In other words, there are many things that exist in our world that we don’t see because we are not looking for them or perhaps not even capable of looking for them. So, in the largest sense, the world we see is only the world we look for. If you show two people, the same picture each will see a different scene. Each will extract from what he sees that which he happens to be predisposed to look for. The world presents to us every day that which we seek. Opportunity is only limited by the viewpoint of the inhabitant, joy and excitement can be found un our daily lives when we learn to look at our world as Thoreau looked at his. Surrounded by miracles and limitless opportunity, whereas some people manage to find only boredom and insecurity.
“Many an object is not seen, though it falls within the range of our visual ray, because it does not come within the range of our intellectual ray, i.e., we are not looking for it. So, in the largest sense, we find only the world we look for.”
The next level
Via Corporate Visions
There are no shortcuts, how do you skip years of learning in sales?
When you are struggling to deal with a problem or a pain point it can be tempting to try and find a quick fix. The bottom line is that there is no such thing as a quick fix, all you are doing is deferring, putting off the inevitable decision or action that needs to be taken. If you want to get better at sales it makes sense to have a curated step-by-step process, that is a written and proven best practice. You must learn from experienced professionals who really want you to win.
Personally, I hate to waste time! Time is all we have, money is nice, and we can always earn more money, but we can’t earn more time. I’m really competitive and love to win. I’m extremely passionate about my profession. I think if you really want to become great at sales, you have to have a system in place which consistently provides you with feedback. Contact me via e-mail for a meeting if you want guidance to find an edge in order to get to the next level.
A full understanding
Today is my father’s 85th birthday and to mark the occasion I would like to recognise some of his good qualities:
Appreciate the people who tell you the truth.
Appreciate the people who expand your mind.
Appreciate the people who forgive you first.
Appreciate the people who open doors for you.
Appreciate the people who make you laugh.
Appreciate the people who inspire you to grow.