Let us face it: customers can be frustrating. They are demanding and wasteful and desire more from you than you already give. With the current economic turmoil many companies and professional services firms focus on one thing: new customers or clients.

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Pump up the volume. That’s what physician practices would like to do, and it has nothing to do with louder music. An increase in patient volume is the goal of virtually every practice. Even though the economy is struggling, there are still things physicians can do to increase the foot traffic passing through the practice’s corridors. And according to Drew Stevens, PhD, a practice management consultant based in St. Louis, it starts by looking at customer service.

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A recent report in a major business periodical suggested that sales closing rates are off by an astonishing 66%. Further, sales closing accuracy is down and more importantly closing times are increasing. I was recently asked if a return to cold calling and perhaps direct mail might reverse these trends, emphatically I stated NO. The rationale is simple, clients and even potential clients desire to conduct business with those that they know and those they trust.Cold calling, direct mail and other traditional selling methods do little to build relationships- they simply anger and frustrate. When was the last time you took a call in the evening after a lengthy day from a cold calling maven? And when was the last time you spoke with a million dollar insurance agent that cold calls?The following monthly podcast will provide you with answers to your business issues during the economic turbulence.     

A recent report in a major business periodical suggested that sales closing rates are off by an astonishing 66%. Further, sales closing accuracy is down and more importantly closing times are increasing. I was recently asked if a return to cold calling and perhaps direct mail might reverse these trends, emphatically I stated NO. This podcast is designed to help you all eradicate the tired old methods of selling and provide you with new tools that illustrate value and provide client allure.

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Everything in life is a compromise; everything in life is a negotiation. We all seem stifled by the word and implications that surround negotiating. Yet what most of us do not realize is that we have been negotiating since we were born. From the time we wanted a bottle or refused napping our education in negotiation began.

http://www.podango.com/podcast_episode/1861/61708/Split_Second_Business_Building/Deal_or_No_Deal__The_Art_of_Negotiation

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Here are 4 of my top 15 rules for optimizing your marketing without much time and resource.

Rule #1: Focus on them.
Forget all the rules of features and benefits. From this point forward all that you do and all that you say must focus on results and outcome. Look at your marketing materials and your voice mail, even your verbal message. Secure success with crucial conversations that exist with a focus on your client. End stereotypes and be different.

Rule #2: Stop your ABC’s and 123’s
Forget about how many telephone calls, brochures and business cards you hand out. The fact remains your success is dependent on who is paying you. Only speak with those that are serious, can write you a check and understand your value; others are just a waste of time! You want to work the business not have it work you.

Rule #3: Network aggressively and remember the 25×30x50 Rule.
Entrepreneurs are horrible at asking for business and they are even worse at asking for referrals. The lifeblood of any business is a satisfied client. Content clients immediately tell others of their happiness. Given the results and your expertise they will be thrilled to offer names, numbers and waist sizes of others that can use you. You must aggressively ask.

One of the best methods for seeking a referral is when a client is completely satisfied and sees the results. Attract a referral when your client is at a high. Do not ask when your service is complete. Ask at the beginning.

Another tool for obtaining a referral is using the 25×30x50 rule. Every 30 days ensure you are with your top 25 clients. You can call or visit directly. If needed spend no more than 50 dollars to thank them for their patronage and previous satisfaction and perhaps referrals. Suggest to them that referrals are the gold bullion of your practice and without them you cannot grow. Satisfied clients will be more then happy to comply.

Rule #4: Bring prospective clients to you
There is a cliché that states for those that follow horoscopes that your moon is in… Marketing your business works similarly. You need to create a gravitation pull to you so that you spend less time calling and handing out brochures. You need to invent magnetism so that clients gravitate to you. My program in Split Second Marketing™ Building a Message that Clients Hear contains over 25 different marketing attraction techniques. Listed here are the top 7.

1. Speaking. One of the best methods to introduce your expertise is to tell others about what you do. Rotary’s, Kiwanis, Chambers of Commerce are constantly in need of experts. Contact these organizations or others to discuss content to enlighten their members. Participants are attracted by new and interesting content.

2. Writing Articles. There are more newspapers in circulation today then ever before. There is a multitude of newsletters, web sites, regional business magazines, and local newspapers starving for decent material. Articles need not be more than 500 to 1000 words. With good content and a solid byline your message can be in the hands of hundreds or thousands.

3. Website. The proliferation of the Internet allows others to discover your content and determine your value. Fees are inconsequential and the business world requires a website to denote your sincerity to clients.

4. Blogs. Similar to articles having a Blog serves two purposes 1) remaining in constant contact with current subscribers 2) enabling you to reach new clients at relatively no cost. The difference from articles is immediacy of availability and frequency of your content.

5. Lunch and Learns. These concise information sessions last no longer than 30 minutes during a corporate luncheon and feature your content. Benefits are a live audience, interested attendees and low cost of acquisition. The intent is not only delivery but possible business from attendees.

6. Booklets. Typically focused on one topic, these small content rich pieces feature your advice on health, fitness and exercise technique. Booklets can be used for potential clients as handouts or products to be sold at special events.

7. Products. When clients become enamored with your content your style and most importantly your results, they want you!!! Products such as CD’s, DVD’s, books, booklets, hooded sweatshirts, etc. make great passive income.

(Additional information on Branding and Marketing is available in Split Second Marketing™ Building a Message that Clients Hear)

©2008 Drew Stevens PhD. All rights Reserved.

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My program Pump Up Your Productivity™ contains a 22- step process for the common abusers of organization and time. Created here is the list of the top ten.

1. Telephone interruptions – Do not reply to calls when you are in meetings or working on other vital projects.
2. Crisis management – What is urgent to you is not necessarily urgent to others and vice versa, ensure you negotiate to have your time interrupted.
3. Lack of priorities, goals, planning – Remember to plan your day and prioritize all.
4. Drop-in visitors – Everyone should make appointments, plan for interruptions and when they occur ensure you can place other things aside.
5. Ineffective meetings – Never attend a meeting without a proper agenda or time frame.
6. Attempting too much – This pertains to prioritizing and ensuring you know that first things are first.
7. Too many meetings – Only attend meetings that inform and educate, avoid others at all costs. People will waste your time because they can.
8. Personal disorganization – Use your planner and keep track of time and appointments. Files help place papers in an orderly fashion. To Do’s enable you to prioritize your list and leave 15 minutes earlier if you typically run late.
9. Inability to say no – Say it and practice in the mirror you will never regret it.
10. Lack of self-discipline – Optimizing your organizational skills requires change. Similar to clients that want to lose wait and gain symmetry, you seek their change now the fitness test is on you!

Finally there are three final points on organization and keeping sane:

1. Create checklists – Do not obfuscate your day, keep things simple and easy with a checklist and memory joggers.
2. Refrain from clutter bugs – keep one list and only one list.
3. Lose trying to control everything – you will never control your life only influence it, however the less interruptions the better.

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Owing a business is an audacious task. There are numerous things that need to be completed in a day. It gets so frustrating that owners and fitness professionals question how all will get accomplished. The crux of the issue lies not in the amount of time or lack of time, but organization.

The successful entrepreneur is well organized. The more organized the professional the easier the day. The best and most successful understand how to move around the hurdles in a structured manner so that they accomplish more- with less.

I recall many years ago living in New Jersey and commuting to Manhattan, one frequently stopped to pay tolls. These necessities are required for road improvements, etc. yet they become any annoyance and add time to your commute. Tolls create agitation because you need to stop and restart, they frustrate you as you fumble for ways to weave through the longest line to ease your commute and finally, distract you as you watch other foppish commuters.

There are three tolls in your life and your business that disrupt your day they are:
1. People
2. Problems
3. Processes

Each of these factors contributes to a waste of time, energy and euphoria and manage to throw your days into pandemonium. For you to gain instant organizational momentum you must embark in three ideologies:
• You must have a healthy selfishness
• You must keep in mind moments do not return
• You must embrace the issue and make an immediate change
If you keep these in mind throughout the day your disarray will lead to order.

When we look at organizational skills we need to first understand what gets in the way of efficiency and organization and the most common cause of disorder. Procrastination detains you. When you steer away from confrontational or imperative issues you back up other issues creating a domino effect.

There are a number of major reasons for procrastination such as is a FEAR. The issue takes too long to complete, is too boring or simply is ridiculous and takes time from something else. Yet, research shows that in 98% of instances when procrastination exists, the excuses for procrastinating actually take more time then the issue itself.

Marcia Wieder states: “It’s how we spend our time here and now, that really matters. If you are fed up with the way you have come to interact with time, change it.” In other words if you find yourself not dealing with things, paperwork is piling up and calls unreturned then you must absolutely begin to change you habits. Paperwork, calls and reports do not disappear because of avoidance they grow LARGER!!!

Self-management is simply the result of developing good habits and letting them control you. or another way to look at it is don’t let bad habits control you —you are in charge…so you make choices

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Recently a myriad of announcements made the news that Starbucks is making changes due to increased competition from of all competitors- McDonalds. This brings to mind the importance of brand and brand equity. Branding is value, the value of your product or service and more importantly the perception clients have of your business. A brand is often worth more than the business. Think of the brands you consume; Coke Cola, FedEx, Kleenex to name a few of many. Branding positions your business and makes consumers desire your offering.

The value of a brand creates an allure to the business. Consumers simply want to conduct business because of its power. Exemplars are Kleenex for its quality, Rolls Royce for its luxury and Harvard for its education. Building a useful, titillating and valuable brand produces a cachet. Prospective customers will find you, hear about your brand and value your offerings based on perception. The value of a brand enables the business to differentiate itself from competition.

So the real question- what happened to Starbucks? Simply put, they diluted their brand. This was not a single-handed choice nor intentional but brands do get diluted. Dilution has happened to a myriad of companies such as Coke Cola, Federal Express and others, even McDonalds suffered from product dilution. In the case of Starbucks there have been several factors but two of the most prevalent concern growth and the customer. Ironically there is a certain reciprocity affecting both. Starbucks desired to increase profits with continual and incredible growth, however in doing so they forgot about their most important asset- the customer. Yet in order to appeal to clients that crave Starbucks, there is a need to grow in markets.

However, in growing Starbucks forgot about core. Similar to fitness, core is the foundation of all business. Core is necessary to remain true to strategic direction and mission. In the case of Starbucks their core is coffee and the pleasant experience of capturing the aroma, excitement and attitude of relaxing in an Italian cafe. Starbucks got lost in commercialization, competition and lust for revenue. This is not to say that greed is bad, but when an organization fails to retain core and operates with only revenue in mind, failing to maintain client allure, then business, revenues and clients will be lost.

Is it possible to regain competitiveness and allure? Certainly, for Starbucks it is a return to basics and a return to customer attention. It will take time and for now time is on their side.

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On a recent sojourn in Cancun Mexico my family and I were requested to visit with current staff relating to timeshares at our visiting resort. The presentation was to last 90 minutes for which my wife and I were receiving FREE massages for our time. The inducement seemed valuable for my time.

Upon meeting with Milt our presentation Host, we consumed breakfast and proceeded to our presentation. Such included a walking tour of a neighboring facility featuring similar accoutrements as our present timeshare. Milt requested for us to maintain an open mind he tried to qualify our need for a new timeshare. We implored that we were only on tour and that there was no need and more importantly no money for investment. He agreed not to push, unfortunately this proved to be an outright lie.

The 90 minutes turned out to be 130. Milt returned us to an expansive room overlooking the Caribbean with over 75 vulture lurking for meat. Over 75 sales professionals sought fresh blood to close new timeshare business. Imagine homeless people looking into your dining room during Thanksgiving; we needed to tiptoe amongst the saliva.

He concluded with asking for an order, we negated. He indicated that he would check us out and return us to our hotel. He abruptly left to introduce us to his manager; this would verify our negation. However, Carlos tried to close us to. We negated him. He sent over Thomas who also tried to sell us on property. This continued for another 90 minutes and five other salesmen!

Sitting there reminded me of such high pressure tactics that continue to exist in industry. Such bogus and high pressure selling is not only bogus but untrustworthy and ridiculous. As I viewed the room of vultures and unanticipating prey, I also took note of the countless individuals and families not signing agreements. No was the predominant word of the day.

The learning lesson is simple; if you are a selling professional ensure you do not succumb to high pressure, lowly methods. Today’s environment requires honesty, sincerity and submission for client value. Milt did not approach this from value but rather the return to his wallet.

As you begin the New Year remember the following:
• Selling is about emotion; emotion makes people move.
• Qualify buyers by seeking need.
• Understand decision criteria and conduct an investment analysis.
• Do not pressure anyone, this frustrates and leads to poor customer service.
• Look to build brand recognition and gain sales by referral and testimonial.
• Have high regard for your prospective buyer.
• Create a high regard for yourself.
• Seek first to understand and then seek to be understood as retold by the famous Dr. Steven Covey.
• Look beyond the sale not merely what’s in front of you.
• Believe in your product.
• Believe in yourself.

Have a blessed New Year and make your 2008 sales year GREAT!

Drew Stevens PhD assists organizations to dramatically accelerate business growth. Drew is the author of six books including Split Second Selling and Split Second Customer Service and is a contributing author to SalesCrossing, CustomerServiceCrossing and the Abundance Network. To discover how Dr. Stevens can assist your organization contact him at 877-391-6821.

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