BE HONEST - Just Say No

I believe that every person's time is valuable.  That is right, not just mine, everyone's.  There are many frustrating things in business, but one of the things that really gets me going is someone that wastes my time.  I try very hard not to waste anyone's time.  There are really easy ways to do that.

The easiest way?

BE HONEST.  

Sounds easy right?  There are so many passive-aggressive, can't stand confrontation, can't say no people out there.  If you can't say no thank you to someone, then you most likely should not be in a decision making position.  Really - how can you engage people in a project and then not give them the courtesy of an answer?  BE HONEST.  I would rather hear no, than no answer.

Let's face it.  Salespeople can take the answer no.  So why are people so afraid to say it to us?  Salespeople deal with different levels of rejection on a daily basis.  It could be as simple as the obvious gate keeper that says, "Oh I'm sorry, he just stepped out.  Would you like his voicemail?"  Or it could be someone yelling at you, "Don't ever call here again, we are not interested in you or your products".

Which one do you think I prefer?  #2 - hands down - all day - every day.  Just say no.  BE HONEST. It is ok.  I can take it.

We are a very service oriented sales organization.  Many consultants would say that we give away too much valuable knowledge and information during the sales cycle.   That we consult and offer things that we should actually be charging for.  Well, that may be true, but we are not going to change that.  If you decide to do business with us, we will offer you a lot of information and a high level of service.

Here is where we get burned.  Someone calls, they are looking for a new display.  Of course they are usually on a really short time frame.  They have a show coming up in just a few weeks.  We jump through every hoop imaginable, get our partners engaged, have production on stand-by because the prospect has said that they really want this booth.  Guess what happens?  They quit returning my calls, they don't answer emails.  Seriously - BE HONEST just tell me you bought something else or you aren't going to do anything.

Let's not forget the perennial tire kickers.  "Lori, we are going to look at updating our booth for the huge industry show this year.  Can you do some N/C product concepts for us and renderings and spend 15 hours with multiple meetings in your showroom, and come to our office to visit further?  Then I will decide (again) to not do anything this year and ask you to call me again next year?"

Ok, I exaggerate slightly.  But not much.

If you are just looking for budget numbers and considering an update, BE HONEST.  If you let me know that, I can gauge my time and responses appropriately.  Most likely I can get you what you need to make a good decision without jumping through all those hoops.  Will I jump through them for you the next time - most likely.  Should I pre-qualify the opportunity more?  Possibly.  But trust me, I do ask the right questions and often get the answers that indicate it is an opportunity that should be pursued.  What is your budget, do you have decision making capabilities, is the decision maker on board, what is your timeline etc. etc. etc.?

If you are not in sales, you need to know that a good sales rep gets really excited about a new opportunity.  What is the magic number where you have burned me with a no decision or a no response before I will quit responding? I honestly don't know.  If I did know, I would BE HONEST.

Will I change how I do things?  Probably not.  I still believe in full service sales and I believe it speaks to our culture.  Should I change how I do things?  There are probably a lot of opinions about that.  If you choose to share your opinions, feel free, be nice but BE HONEST.

========================================================================
Lori Hanken has been in sales and marketing for over 30 years.  She is passionate about service and providing value to her vendors, prospects and clients.  Lori is currently co-owner of Total Displays with her husband David.  They help people look great at events, trade shows, in retail, museums and develop long partnerships with customers and suppliers.  If you would like to learn more, email her at lori@totaldisplays.com.  Connect with her on LinkedIn here.

Read other Total Displays Blog posts at http://totaldisplays.blogspot.com/

Do You Value Partnerships?

Every business has partners.    They could be an advertising firm, a public relations firm, a graphic designer, a payroll service and many more.   If you buy and sell products you probably have a manufacturing partner or a raw materials partner.

How do you view those relationships? Are they integral to your business?  Can you trust them?  Would they go out on a limb for you when you need it?

We take all our relationships very seriously.  Our partnerships include manufacturers and clients.  We pride ourselves on our service and on the relationships we build with our clients.  Are we perfect?  No.  But we work hard to build those relationships and we are very loyal.  Many of our partners have been with us for over 25 years.  I believe that speaks to the way we value and work partnerships.

Sometimes, though, things can really strain those relationships.

So many people underestimate the value of good partnerships.  I will give you two examples.

1.  We have been working on a project and bid on a new 10 x 10 booth for a local company.  We are leading with a product from one of our manufacturing partners.  We have spent hours in meetings, designing and pricing the structure.  We got a call from our partner saying that another of his distributor's was requesting a price on the same project.   This provider is actually on the East coast and not local to the customer.  (That is a story for another post on another day). The customer has also been a customer of ours for many years.  Our manufacturing partner made it very clear that they frowned on bidding wars between their distributors.  He wanted open communication and said, he would be sure that they bid their project and full retail and didn't try to undercut us on price.

I sincerely appreciate this attitude and it shows that they truly value their relationship with their distributors.

2.  On another project we ordered samples, multiple meetings, conference calls and quoted another project for a large trade show booth.

We got the courtesy call from this partner months after we had started working on this deal.  He said that a local competitor of ours was asking for a quote on the exact same project we had been negotiating and working for months.  Our manufacturing partner sent them out a quote for the same project.  If had to guess, it was very little work to change the name on the quote to us to the name of our competitor.

This manufacturing partner was here in our showroom just a few weeks before this, telling us the competitor XYZ (also local here) did very little business with them and that we were a much more active distributor.  As you walk through our showroom there are multiple samples and examples of their products in our showroom.  We bid their products on almost every single deal we quote.  We do not buy similar products from any other competitor.

Our competitor low bid the price (below retail) and got the business.  I expressed my frustration to our mutual manufacturing partner that they did not seem to value our relationship very much, if they just shot the numbers over to a competitor.  I got no response from them.  I know it is just business.  I am not taking it personally, but it think it speaks VOLUMES about their appreciation of our business and our partnership.  I guess it was a win/win for them and a lose/lose for us.


Excellence in customer service?  Is it possible?  Care for your partners and they will stay loyal.  What happens when your bottom line is more important than a long partnership?

What would you do?  What do you think?

I Yell At Phones

Yes, I do, I really do yell at phones.  I am just going to put it out there: I HATE AUTO ATTENDANTS.

Honestly,  I would rather have a phone go to voicemail and leave a message than go into the dreaded directory search black hole or the auto attendant round about.  Personally I believe a real person should answer the phone.  More on that later.

I recently had an experience with Microsoft.  We purchased a $150 annual support plan. I honestly don't even remember what it was called.  When I went to login to use it, it said I didn't have that plan.  I had an email receipt and am getting emails about the great features of the programs.

So... what is a girl to do?  You call Microsoft.  Here is the process.

 5 Auto Attendant Prompts in order to be put on hold for the next representative

• Spell my name to someone that doesn't speak English.  Have them spell it back to me
• Explain to them my problem (most of them didn't even know what the plan was that I purchased)
• Have them put me on hold
• Have them tell me a phone number to dial for assistance on this issue
• Have them put me through to that number
• Wash, rinse, repeat.  

I went through this process 7 times in over 2 hours.  By the time the 7th lady began asking me the questions I said, "You are the 7th person that I have been forwarded to with the same process.  I am not going to give you my name, spell it, have you put me on hold and then put me back to the auto attendant to find someone else to help me.  I will just have American Express cancel my purchase, that you can't find, but charged me for and get my money back."  Yes - I hung up.  Yes American Express refunded our money.  Will I ever buy a product or a service like that from Microsoft again?  No!  

Once when I got an auto attendant for an insurance company I was sent round and round and round.  I just wanted to talk to a person about my bill.  I kept pushing buttons, saying representative and couldn't get through.  I am not proud, but yes, I was yelling at the auto attendant.  There were possibly some inappropriate words used.  Yes, I do realize how ridiculous it is to yell at the phone.

But here is the REALLY funny part.  The voice recognition software forwarded me to their mental health care line.  It is actually pretty genius if it was intentional.  :)

Yes I do realize that it is not feasible for Microsoft to personally answer every call that they receive.  If you must have an auto attendant, have it direct people to the right department and then hire skilled workers and empower them to help the person on the phone!  In my experience, it was clearly, 'I don't know what to do with this woman's problem so I am going to send her back into the queue.'

I have said it before I prefer to do business with small business every day.  We own a small business so of course I would support small business.  Unfortunately it is not always possible.  

When you find a great small business, and there are many, you have the opportunity to get real customer service.  Honestly, customer service is not dead.  Search for it.  Support small business.  Boost the local economy and job force.  When you buy from us, you help us create more jobs in our small business.  You support people, not a company that spends money on more technology to eliminate more skilled workers.  Read - AUTO ATTENDANTS.  

The resolution of my computer problem?  I went to a local business that has real people, a service department you can call or visit and got my computer fixed.  And, I purchased two new computers for the staff we have added to our company this year.  While I was there I met the general manager of the store.  He thanked me for my business.  What a novel concept!

SUPPORT SMALL BUSINESS

~End Rant