GRATITUDE! show it and mean it

Both of My kids went through a "Barney" phase. Personally, I cant stand the Purple dinosaur but I'll be darned if he doesn't have some great wisdom for us adults from time to time. "Please and thank you are the magic words." Whether talking about sales or networking they are crucial words to increase your productivity.

I recently closed out my month with 5 sales and 4 of them were referrals from my networking efforts. In particular, two of them came from one person in my Wednesday morning group and they both came in on the last day. Those two customers put me over the top for a commission accelerator, So I was grateful for the business. I mentioned this success at one of my other meetings and one of my colleagues was kind enough to mention it at another meeting this week on my behalf. Apparently the mention of this also made the person who referred me feel pretty good because they were able to help me.

In my business transactions I always include a "thank you" line at the bottom of my emails to my customers. Regardless of if they just signed up with my company or they have a question I make a point of including the following at the bottom of my email  "thank you for choosing us to service your company, we appreciate your business." Again, as W Clement Stone used to say  "a little hinge that swings a big door."

So that's the "thank you" part, but what about please. That goes back to a sales fundamental that again also applies to networking ( anybody else noticing a trend here?)

I have read dozens of sales books over the years and they all seem to convey a handful of key messages about successful salespeople. The successful ones follow up, they follow through, they show up and they "ask" for the business. Now that may sound obvious, but you would be surprised how many sales people simply don't "ask for the business. I make a point of asking for he business in every call or email. Now, It's not heavy handed. I'm not saying "sign here, press hard." What I normally do is state "we want you as a client, tell us what it will take to make that an easy decision for you." It's an effective tool for showing the customer they are important to you and not just another sale.

In summary: Please and thank you, they are the magic words. Thank you Barney


Thanks for reading today

Mike S.

BTW follow me on twitter @selflessnetwork