The key to repeat customers is relationships. Relationships are established and maintained through communication and follow through. In a “one to many” job such as yours, having a good system for customer follow-up is crucial to keeping your relationships healthy. Pursuing these four steps to create and maintain a follow-up system that will contribute to good customer relationships and increased sales: (more…)
5 Ways to Command Higher Pricing without Losing the Deal
Here Are Five Ways to Improve Your Bottom Line and Customer Satisfaction
1) Bundle your products so there are no apple to apple comparisons: “Our 7-year mortgage program happens to come with free checking, free bill pay, free Internet banking, a free debit card AND a line of credit that will cover overdrafts at a reduced rate of $____ if you sign up for this package prior to closing.”
Do-Re-Mi: The 7 Notes of the Sales Question Scale
Anyone who has seen The Sound of Music knows there are seven notes in the musical scale, from ‘do’ (a deer) to ‘ti’ (a drink with jam and bread). But do your salespeople know about the seven notes on the sales question scale? (more…)
Triage for Bankers: Find the Pain and Fix It
Anybody who walks into your bank has got a real problem. People without problems don’t wake up in the morning and say, “Today is a good day to spend talking to a banker,” any more than they would decide to talk to a doctor for kicks. People without problems have better things to do with their time. (more…)
A Penny Saved is STILL a Penny Earned
One of the best side effects of the recession is the long, hard look consumers are taking at their financial habits. Nine credit cards and three mortgages might not have been such a boffo plan after all. (more…)
Hiding the Scars-How to Keep Cuts From Bleeding You Dry
You have to do some cost-cutting. Fine. It’s part of the responsible stewardship of your business. But if you think across-the-board cuts are best simply because it distributes the pain and keeps interdepartmental whining to a minimum—you’d better think again. (more…)
Turn Your Market into a Buzzing Hive of Opportunity
If I owned a tattoo shop for bankers, I’d ink the same thing over and over onto client after client: Life gives to the givers and takes from the takers. (more…)
Removing the Risk Roadblock
We’ve all been there. The car salesman slides the paperwork across the desk at you, pointing at the signature line. Just this one last step, he says, and there’ll be no way out. (more…)
