Category: PR Trends

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This week’s blog comes from:

Dale Carnegie Training Newsletter

By Anita Zinsmeister, President — anita.zinsmeister@dalecarnegie.com
Dale Carnegie® Training of Central & Southern New Jersey 

1. Explore their latent needs. 

Customers do not always know how to articulate their needs. While they may say that they want to grow their Facebook fan base, their biggest priority may be to improve their organic reach.

Learn how to identify latent needs, and find opportunities to make users more successful at their job. With a deeper understanding of what your customers truly care about, you can spot the items that are real deal breakers and remove them from the conversation.

2. Ease concerns with case studies and testimonials.

Sometimes, clients have a hard time imagining how they may be able to apply a new process or technology to their business. Although the value of your offering seems obvious to you, it may feel obscure to a customer. Consequently, buyers become skeptical.

“If you have doubts and concerns when you make a major purchase, it is safe to assume the same things happen with some of your prospects,” says Nan Hruby of HNH Sales Training. To overcome buyer reservations, share stories or collateral that detail how your other clients have benefited from your product or service. Affirmation that other businesses use and extract value from your offerings make customers more open to change.

Similarly, if your client feels she is among peers, she will feel much more comfortable with agreeing to your proposal. Hruby knows, “Sometimes just showing the prospect a list of the companies or customers you’ve done work for in the past is enough to put the prospect’s mind at ease.”

3. Sell less.

When price is a primary concern, find ways to accommodate your customer’s budget. Many times, a simple solution is reducing the quantity of work proposed to bring down your client’s total cost.

Jim Herst, CEO of Perceptive Selling Initiative, Inc., recommends selling clients on smaller projects first to open up a window of opportunity later. Herst calls this a “foot-in-the-door” approach. By securing a small commitment upfront, you get a “yes” from clients now who will be more likely to sing the same tune when you pitch follow-up engagements.

4. Explain the consequences of inaction. 

To motivate your customers to take a certain action, you must first explain what can happen when they fail to act. Because people are inclined to insure against negative consequences, you can strike an emotional chord by detailing what could happen if a customer does not follow through with your latest recommendation.

Threats companies may face include: competitive forces, lackluster sales, a steeper learning curve later and more. Businesses should know that if they reject your proposition now, they will spend more time and money later, cleaning up their mess.

5. Educate your customers. 

Bring clients back to the middle of the sales funnel. If they are not yet ready to give you a confident “yes,” spend more time educating customers about the value you offer. Avoid pushing a hard sell and use email marketing and retargeting ads to share information and materials customers can review to help them reach a favorable decision about working with you. This approach allows them to progress through the sales funnel at their own pace.

[To comment: larry at larry litwin dot com or anita.zinsmeister@dalecarnegie.com ]

[To comment: larry at larry litwin dot com]

This week’s blog comes from:

Dale Carnegie Training Newsletter

By Anita Zinsmeister, President — anita.zinsmeister@dalecarnegie.com
Dale Carnegie® Training of Central & Southern New Jersey 

When someone creates a conflict at work, don’t always think of it as a problem.  Sometimes conflict leads to good outcomes, such as an improved process or greater efficiency.  Keeping this in mind can help you to look at conflict in a better light.

[To comment: larry at larry litwin dot com]

[To comment: larry at larry litwin dot com]

This is Tip No. 8 in Larry Litwin’s “More ABCs of Strategic Communication: available on www dot larrylitwin dot com.

Writing well is more than just knowing the basics. A well-written letter, proposal or brochure could make or break a sale. If you are not the best writer, the Internet offers many resources for helping create well-crafted materials. These Web sites can help you with business or personal writing.

• www.onelook.com – An online resource where you can search almost 1,000 dictionaries.

• www.bartleby.com/100 – A listing of familiar quotations so youcan find just the right phrase for the “write” occasion.

• www.c2.com/cgi/wiki?Chicago Manual Of Style – The online home of the “Chicago Manual of Style” answers frequently asked questions about style.

• thesaurus.com – The online version of Roget’s New Millennium Thesaurus helps you locate the right word for the idea you’re trying to express.

Source: Andrea C.Carrero – Word Technologies Inc.,Cherry Hill,N.J.- 856-428-0925

[To comment: larry at larry litwin dot com]

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This is Tip No. 9 in Larry Litwin’s “More ABCs of Strategic Communication: available on www dot larrylitwin dot com.

So many people flock to the Web that if your Web site is not user-friendly you may be sending potential clients elsewhere.

Here are some hints to assure your Web site is right for business:

• Can visitors find information easily?

• Is the navigation clear and consistent throughout the site?

• Can visitors easily find your contact information?

• Do the pages load quickly on a standard modem connection?Many users still have dial-up service.

• Are the most important elements of your site visible without scrolling up and down or side to side on computer monitors set to the 600 X 800 resolution size?

• Does the site look good and work with Netscape® and Internet Explorer® browsers?

• Can the visitor identify what your business does or what products you sell? Research is clear, frustrated visitors leave difficult to navigate sites and may not return.

[To comment: larry at larry litwin dot com]

[To comment: larry at larry litwin dot com]

This is Tip No. 6 in Larry Litwin’s “More ABCs of Strategic Communication: available on www dot larrylitwin dot com.

When interviewing for a position,it is always important to talk about the success you’ve achieved with the help of others.This discussion will inevitably lead to how you’ve also helped others achieve their goals.Companies like to hire people they can counton to work well with others.You are trying to fit into an already existing puzzle.You need to prove that you are willing to help others succeed and are willing to take advice and assistance from your new co-workers.

Steven Malloy – Career Counselor – University of Colorado

[To comment: larry at larry litwin dot com]

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This is Tip No. 4 in Larry Litwin’s “More ABCs of Strategic Communication: available on www dot larrylitwin dot com.

Here is a five-step process to help resolve client conflict:
• Anticipate objections.When preparing presentations or proposals, keep in mind any issues the client might raise – anything they may have said or might say now. Have a planned response.

• Listen carefully. Show your value as a problem-solver to the client by listening closely to their concerns.Never interrupt or get defensive – work with them.

• Understand the objection. If you are not 100 percent clear about the client’s objection, ask questions. Always check your understanding by restating the problem in your own words.

• Answer questions fully and honestly. Issues aren’t resolved by being evasive, by manipulating the client or by misrepresenting your intentions. Always preface answers by showing you understand that the concern is legitimate from the client’s viewpoint. After responding, confirm that you’ve dealt with the objection and that the client has no other questions.

• Be flexible.Try to resolve an objection by staying flexible in your proposals. Partner with your client to reach agreement. The more skilled you are in resolving objections, the more satisfied your clients will be.

www.dalecarnegie.com

[To comment: larry at larry litwin dot com]

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This is Tip No. 3 in Larry Litwin’s “More ABCs of Strategic Communication: available on www dot larrylitwin dot com.

According to Dawn Anthony:

Looking for a new job can be stressful, but once you get an interview, landing the job could come down to a few minor details.

• Lack of preparation – this runs the gamut from not knowing anything about the organization or the job you’re interviewing for, to arriving late and not dressing appropriately for the interview. Research the firm on the Web, learn all you can about what it does.Also, get directions ahead of time and arrive at least 15 minutes early.

• Being unprepared for difficult questions – you need to prepare for any type of question, from “Tell me what you know about our firm” to “Describe your most difficult work scenario and how you handled it.”

Think about potential questions and prepare yourself to have a response.

• Not having questions prepared for the interviewer – a good interview should be a conversation between the interviewer and the applicant. A few questions you can ask include: Why is this position open? Where are you in your hiring process? Tell me about your experience here at XYZ company?

Dawn Anthony – Director with OfficeTeam
Division of Robert Half International
800-804-8367

[To comment: larry at larry litwin dot com]

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This is Tip No. 1 in Larry Litwin’s “More ABCs of Strategic Communication: available on www.larrylitwin.com.

According to Robert Rosner:

We’ve all heard this one: If you give a man a fish, he has no reason to learn how to fish, but if you teach him how to fish, he won’t
have to go hungry.

The point? Leaders ought to be the best teachers. For example, if an employee comes to you and gives you a problem, should you:

A. Simply offer the answer, or

B. Ask questions to determine if the employee can arrive at the solution him or herself?

The answer is a resounding “B.”

Helping an employee to solve a problem on their own, when time and circumstances allow, is, by
far, the best choice.

Forget the Golden Rule. Instead, follow The Platinum Rule: “Do unto others as they would have done unto themselves.” In other
words, if you really want to motivate people, ask them what will help them do a better job.

Robert Rosner, California Job Journal
Newstrack Executive Information Service
www.news-track.com • 800-334-5771

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