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A Girl’s Guide to Living Fearlessly - #26 | Subscribe to this Blog |
October 21, 2008
by Lucy Adams, author of If Mama Don’t Laugh, It Ain’t Funny
” . . . live life as a work of art, rather than as a chaotic response to external events . . .”
–Mihaly Csikszentmehalyi (Bet you can’t say that name 5 times, fast.)
There are days when I wake up overwhelmed by my life; burdened by a daily schedule that allows no time for silently standing still to take a breath and appreciate just where I am in the course of things. No, I’ve got to get four kids out of bed, make sure they’re wearing appropriate school clothes, hustle them downstairs to make lunches and eat breakfast, herd them out the door to school, get them there on time, and get myself to work. Then work, work, work. After that, I run children to soccer practices and games, ballet, the store to get supplies for oh-my-gosh-mama-I-forgot-about-it-and-it’s-due-tomorrow school projects, dentist appointments, orthodontist appointments, youth group, etc. etc. And somewhere in the mix I’ve got to find a minute to cook dinner, help with homework, and have meaningful conversations with the people I love.
My husband and I often look at each other, in that rare instance when we can pull our heads up from the task at hand, and ask, “When did everything get so crazy?” Sometimes I feel like the only thing I can control is the pages of my calendar where I write down all of our obligations. After that, I just bounce from one thing to the next, trying my best to survive the unpredictable chaos that so often defines my existence.
Survival mode, however, tweaks the garden club member in me, who knows that life is more than just responding to turmoil, both inner and external. It’s more than checking off days on the calendar. She makes herself known, rising to the top of my psyche, reminding me, “Lucy, you can lump it or like it, BUT sugah, you chose it. So suck in that bottom lip and learn to enjoy it. No one likes a complainer or a whiner, so make your day the best it can be.”
That’s when the poor, poor, pitiful me, who was ping-ponging through the afternoon gets her come-uppence. It’s no way to live. The business of daily life is only an excuse for not living a beautiful, better existence. And the fearless woman is always living better than anyone else.
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Keeping Business in Tough Times | Subscribe to this Blog |
September 16, 2008
In our present day economy, businesses are constantly looking for ways to cut cost to plump up the bottom line. In these turbulaent economic times, companies are looking for every penny they can find and are putting the squeeze on their vendors. Many of you reading this blog are in a situation where your customers are now price shopping and you are afraid of loosing what once were stable, loyal customers. Unfortunately, many times rash cost cutting decisions will end up costing businesses more in the long run. I am a visual person so I like to create ways to show total program cost impacts to my customers. It is our job to show our customers the difference in “the PRICE” of our products the “total COST” of the program. You must quantify and show these differences to your customer so you can justify the prices you are charging, while arguing that while your price per product may seem slightly higher than your competitor, the TOTAL COST of the program is less, making your products and service more value added for the customer.
Start first with listing the unique benefits of your products and services for this customer. What solutions do they provide, and what financial impact does that make to your customer. Make sure not to miss the impacts of soft costs that might otherwise not be taken into consideration. For example- if you provide an easy to use, closed loop customer service process, this may save your customer time for his associates when they have a problem or a question- Time is money- and should be considered. When you quantify the time savings into dollars your customer starts to see the value in what Great Customer Service does to the bottom line.
Second, gather testimonials, pass satisfaction gathering surveys, customer service logs, pass invoices (to show consistent billing) and build a “proof” tool to show your customer your great track record. Often times the only time decision makers hear about a vendor is when there are problems. If your service has been great, it could be the case that the decision maker hasn’t heard a lot regarding you or your company. You may need to re-enforce with him(her) of the good and faithful business partner you have been.
Last of all, plea your case. After showing the value you bring to their business, and proving your past performance, tell the customer the impact it will make on you personally if he changes to your competition. I am a HUGE believer in letting customers know the impact they make on sales people for the good and the bad. This makes the buying decision personal. It also shows the customer that you care about their business, which most of the time makes it personal for them.
In the end, if you do all this and they still change over price, take solace in the fact that you have certainly made it difficult for the new vendor to live up to the performance record you have highlighted for the customer. Chances are in 3 months, if you take the time to go calling again, your customer will have had time to see that the grass is not always greener on the other side and return more loyal than ever.
Keep your head up- and remember most- “this too shall pass…”
Jodi Bagwell- aka: Salesmom
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