Do you plan to be lucky?

It’s the “luck of the Irish” and you can’t ignore St Paddy’s day in an office with a Colleen and a Casey!

What does being lucky mean anyway? Do you feel that some people seam more lucky then others? Or maybe more lucky than you? Get over it! It’s not about luck at all. It’s about how well prepared you are, how aware you are, and your attitude. People who appear lucky are really those people who are always on the lookout for great opportunities (show a high level of awareness) they believe that good things come their way (they always have a positive attitude), and they know exactly what to do when something good does come along (they are prepared).

Having good luck is all in your mind. How can you develop this lucky mindset?

(1) Have a very clear picture in your mind about what you want. Before you can attract something into your life, you need to what you want to attract! Write it down, cut out a picture, look at it everyday, and visualize yourself with that goal complete.

(2) Believe that you deserve to achieve your goal, know that you are good enough to achieve your goal, convince yourself that you can achieve your goal. If you truly believe you can accomplish what you want to accomplish, you will succeed. You may not know how you are going to achieve your goal, and that’s OK, just believe you can and open your mind to all possibilities.

(3) Brainstorm situations and responses. Imagine all the situations you could find yourself in that will help you achieve your goal and craft responses to each of those situations. Yes, you are creating a virtual role play. For example, if your goal is to close a $1 million sale, picture yourself closing a $1 million sale and imagine what you would say to the customer as they are signing the contract. Play out the scenario in your head, practice it.

Dedicated to increasing your sales,

Colleen

Say Thanks

and finally.....

5. Send thank-you notes

Send a thank-you note for every referral, and a gift for every referral that turns into business.
Thank-you notes should be handwritten, on a note card or postcard that isn't branded with your company advertising. Keep a supply of traditional, fun, theme and plain note cards handy for all occasions throughout the year. For a real treat, spoil yourself with a great fountain pen to make writing the notes something you really look forward to.

One last thing - I implore you NEVER to send electronic greeting cards, no matter the occasion. E-cards look like you were too lazy or didn't care enough to do the real leg work needed to honor your customer - and let's face it, that's not too far off the mark, is it?

As you can tell, I am very passionate about a personalized, hard copy note.... This is why we developed a new service for all engage customers at: www.sendyourcardnow.com

To try it out, you can log in as a guest and send 2 cards for no charge - my gift to you!

Username: Engage
Password: Selling

After that, depending on the package that suits you, cards can be sent for as little as $0.31 each plus postage!

Selling is relationship building and www.sendyourcardnow.com is the easiest and cheapest way for all sales people to stay in touch, build relationships and say thanks to their clients on a regular basis.

Go the extra mile, and write a personalized note.

Dedicated to increasing your sales,

Colleen

Increase your Referrals!

Here are two more ways to ensure you receive more referral!

3. Write some letters

Regardless of the business you're in, an effective letter writing campaign can bring in a steady stream of new leads that will have an immediate and dramatic impact on your bottom line.

When drafting your letter, the key is to make sure it says four things:

• Thank them for their business
• Remind them how you met - especially if it was through a referral.
• Ask them to send you some names.
• Tell them that you will reward them with lunch or a gift basket if their referral turns into business.

Sound simple? That's because it is! And the real beauty is - it works!

4. Have fun with holidays and celebrations

Most sales people send Christmas cards. But if you want to stand out and be remembered by your customers, why not try something a little different?

• Valentine's Day candy baskets.
• Birthday cakes on their birthday.
• Champagne on their company's anniversary.
• Plants on the first day of spring, or at Easter.
• Orange and black candy at Halloween.
• Gifts for your clients' admin assistants on Secretaries' Day.
• Thanksgiving cards or food baskets.
• If your client has a volunteer day where they help out a local project in the community, see if you can participate with them.
• Send congratulations to your clients when you know they've completed something significant in their personal or professional lives

Dedicated to increasing your sales,

Colleen

Referral Selling

"Colleen - how can I get more referrals?"

This is the most common question I get when conducting prospecting workshops. My most common answer is: "What have you done to deserve more referrals?"
If you want to increase your referral rate, you have to start by asking yourself a number of questions about how you conduct business on a daily basis. The most important question is: "how likeable are you?"

What are you doing every day to be more likeable? Like everything else in sales, there is no magic 'likeability' bullet that works every time, with every customer. Over the next few days I will reveal the best six of the best ways I've found to help you increase your referrals, by putting the other person first - and simply having fun!

1. Start a monthly advocate program

Once a year, do a customer genealogy to see who or what was responsible for all the additions to your customer base. Odds are, you'll find between 5-20 primary referral sources, ranging from current clients to friends, partners and suppliers.
Make an "advocate list" of these active referral sources, and develop a concrete plan to keep in touch with them on a regular basis. Every 4-6 weeks, for example, send them something of value - not a brochure or promotional piece, but something they will actually value and use, like an article or book you think they will enjoy, a phone call, an invitation to lunch or breakfast, or even a referral for their business from you.

2. Develop a culture of referrals

Another approach that can help you develop a steady stream of referrals is to ask questions that benefit your customer first.
One Engage customer doubled her referrals simply by asking the following client-focused question at the end of every client
meeting:

"Now... how can I help you?"

By putting the needs of her customers first, she demonstrates that she truly cares about them. When people sense that you care, they tend to want to return the favor. In fact, you may find that many of your customers are genuinely surprised by a question like this, because no one has ever asked them that before. And that's why your follow-up question is equally indispensable:

"You've helped my business grow by becoming part of our family network. I'd like to help your business grow, too. So let me ask you - what type of people do you want to meet to help increase your revenue?"

That little extra effort is what will get you noticed - and get you more referrals. Let me know how you do - I'd love to hear your success.


Dedicated to increasing your sales,
Colleen Francis

Underwhelming service

AMEX Bank sent my husband a thank you card for his 1 year of loyalty. Nice gesture BUT he has been a member for about 10 years. 1 year ago, he did switch from a regular AMEX to the Gold card to take advantage of collecting more travel points. The card did not mention the gold program just a "thank for being our customer for the last year".

When he switched cards 2 things happened":

1) His credit credit history with AMEX was wiped out! They were not able to provide him credit with the previous 10 years of history with the card therefore our limits were reduced as if we were a new customer. When you spend upwards of $15,000 per month on business travel, this can be a problem

2) His customer history files became irrelevant. Regular AMEX and the Gold program systems don't talk to each other. So we became a brand new customer rather than 1 with 10 years of history averaging $150,000 of charges per year.

The sad reality is we still use the AMEX card because his company insists on it for all corporate travel...not because AMX has done anything to make us feel like they value our business. When he leaves the company, likely the card will go too

What can we learn:

1) All databases and systems that touch the customer, or contribute to the customer experience MUST be integrated. At Engage we have taken steps this way by integrating 3 customer databases we had into 2. You will notice this in the newsletters as we have merged our systems to help us better deliver materials to you. - I am still struggling with fully integrating our scheduling system into our database system and just recently think I have found a solution with infusion software. I will keep you posted.

2) Know who you are talking to before you congratulate the customer on the wrong information. Sure, the gesture was nice but the response they received from us was not intended. We were laughing at their ineptness are were not feeling warm and fuzzy.

3) Make thanks personalized and relevant. I would have been impressed if this card had been signed by a real person. That would show customer commitment. I know the excuses….."but there are 1000's of people getting these per day one person can't possibly sign them". - well then send an email and use the postage and printing savings to reduce my fees. I am sure no one would notice the difference. If you can't take the time to send a signed note, then an email is just as (in?)effective and a paper letter. The reason the hand written thank you note works, is because its hand written.

Dedicated to increasing your sales,

Colleen

A Coincidence?

U.S. WINE SALES with SCREW CAP CLOSURES INCREASED 24.6 PERCENT in 2006IN THE SAME PERIOD WINE CONSUMPTION AMONG NASCAR FANS INCREASED 22 PERCENT. I'm not making this up! - source = www.billysbestbottles.com