Monday, May 30, 2016
Standing in Service Gives You Competitive Advantage
Paying attention increases sales and profitability.
Paying attention increases customer satisfaction.
Paying attention gives you the attention competitive advantage.
One of the best competitive advantage strategies to grow your business, exceed client or member expectations and increase sales and connections is to pay attention. Sounds easy right?
One of my favorite things about living in the US is the exceptional service everywhere. It could be our local farmers market where the farmers are delighted you are visiting their stand on an early weekend morning, or the hotel reception when checking in after a long flight or maybe it’s my local barre3 studio where they know everyone’s name that comes in to take one of their classes.
Service is all around us … and not all service is equal.
True leaders know their role is to stand in service and this will give you the competitive advantage. If you’d like more ideas on this you can watch our video on YouTube, click here.
A great example of this is Carl Sewell, one of the biggest car dealerships in Dallas. He thought the local council weren’t doing the best job cleaning the streets around his dealerships and he wanted his clients to have the best experience when they stepped on his car lot, so he bought a street cleaner! He knows attention pays. You can read his book here:
One of the best examples of standing in service ever witnessed was at High Point University. I had the privilege of being hosted by the President, Dr. Nido Qubein and I was fascinated as every student approached him he knew their name! Nido is grooming leaders of tomorrow and providing and extraordinary experience for them by role modeling service at school and in their communities. Nido will tell you students come first at High Point University.
If you have ever listened to Sirius radio or watched Jeanne Robertson on YouTube you will know she is one of the funniest women on the planet! She is constantly sharing examples of every day life (including the service she receives) and sharing it in a clean, humorous way we can all relate to.
Each of these leaders has noticed something on the planet and they make a difference by paying attention to what matters. It’s the little things we do that give us a competitive advantage and make a big impact. Taking care of your team members at work, remembering your client’s names and being relatable to all those you serve are a few practical ways you can provide a competitive advantage.
Service is a mindset. I’m not in the ‘speaking’ business; I am in the service business. My role is to stand in service of every audience I meet and provide them with practical, implementable strategies they can apply in their personal and professional lives.
If you want to read a great book with more ideas on customer service check out Shep Hyken, Amaze Customers Every Time (and you can watch our book review here)
What could you do to be more ‘in service’ of your team, your customers (internally and externally) and your community today?
Love to hear your ideas below of how you can apply this and truly pay attention to what matters:
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Monday, May 23, 2016
How I Got Customers’ Attention
This article was first published in Entrepreneur Magazine – February 2016. It’s a great example of how to potentially get a customer’s attention and how to convert that attention to strong relationship and profitable sales.
What could you do to get your potential new customer’s attention?
Doug Baldasare faced the dilemma of every new entrepreneur: How do you get in front of buyers when you don’t have sales to show? His company, Philadelphia-based ChargeItSpot, makes a phone-charging station for retailers, so customers can fuel up while shopping (and there stick around longer). Baldasare asked a professor from his days at Wharton for an introduction to a manager the guy knew at a local Whole Foods. Then Baldasare showed up with an action plan: After his presentation, he said “Why don’t we just leave it here and try it out?” He rolled his charging unit into the café area, left it and drove away before the staff had second thoughts. Six hours later, 50 people had charged their phones. An order followed.
From there, Baldasare got bolder. For the CEO of one client, he used a 3D printer to create a one-tenth scale desktop version of the charger and left it on his desk. “The most important people in the company y are going to see it,” he says, “:and see it as a CEO-supported product.” He also gave the company its own charging unit, so employees would get to know it; the company was persuaded to increase their order. For another large client, Baldasare invested $35,465 in the company’s stock and sent a copy of the stock certificate to the CEO, with a note saying, “I know we will drive financial values and your shares will go up. This represents the total amount of dollars if your company went for our plan.” It worked – but if it hadn’t, Baldasare could have sold the stock back the following week.
Baldasare thought of each new client as a challenge: What personalized, attention-grabbing stunt would win their business? Within a year, 11 retailers were featuring his chargers. Within three years, ChargeItSpot was in major retailers from Rite Aid to Nordstrom in 17 states, and the company has raised $6 million in further investment – all because Baldasare embraced the joy of the sale.
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Monday, May 16, 2016
10 Ways to Get Attention with the Words You Use
Everything begins with attention. Attention is all about connection. Words connect us, and when the right words are used, connections are deepened.
Here are 10 ways to pay attention to the words you use and consider a change to old, cliché, cheap phrases and words that don’t serve you and build a strong personal brand.
- Remove ‘but’ – No one believes what you say before but, only the words you use after it. Don’t change it to ‘however’; simply make your point and stop talking. Eliminate your but.
- Replace ‘problem’ with challenge – if you ever say to someone ‘you know what your problem is?’ … I bet they don’t want to listen! Problem is a negative word, use challenge or opportunity instead for a positive spin on a negative word.
- Replace ‘issue’ with challenge (the same reasoning applies to using the word problem.)
- Stop ‘shoulding’ on people. When someone says ‘you know what you should do?’ … do you listen? I don’t. Replace and change your ‘should’ with ‘would you consider?’
- Remove ‘I can’t’ and change it to ‘I could do this, or I have the capacity to do this’ – look for a positive way to replace this.
- Stop saying ‘they work for me’ change this to ‘they work with me’ – it’s more inclusive language for everyone.
- Stop saying ‘my team’ and start saying ‘our team’. A friend Chad Hymas often says where can you replace the words I, me, my with you, we and ours. Good advice.
- Stop saying ‘take it to the next level’ – I hate that phrase (yep that’s harsh language) because it is an overused cliché, stop it and get more creative with your words i.e. accelerate results, create progress or improve performance.
- I beg you to stop saying ‘push the envelope’ – just when I thought this crazy phrase was eliminated, I heard a senior executive use it in a meeting this week – blew my mind. Don’t use it. Get creative use words like explore boundaries or overcome objections.
- Eliminate ‘outside the box’ – what a silly phrase. I am tiny; I could fit in a box, and this phrase always makes me giggle. Stop it, immediately. Use words like creative, innovative, ground breaking… and please avoid this overused phrase.
What words or phrases drive you crazy? Love to hear them and share them below:
The post 10 Ways to Get Attention with the Words You Use appeared first on Neen James.
Tuesday, May 10, 2016
Steal the Show Interview with Michael Port
It’s no secret I love a great podcast. I listen to them when I get ready in the morning and also driving in my car. Michael Port is a legendary speaker, New York Times Best Selling Author, creator of Heroic Public Speaking and a great guy. Recently I had the pleasure of being interviewed on his latest project, Steal the Show Podcast. So much fun!
Check out this interview where he asks about being a female speaker and I share strategies to stay connected to your clients, leverage your uniqueness and have fun doing what you love, with people you love in places you love! Thank you Michael for including me on this great resource!
In this episode we discussed:
- When and how to address “the elephant” in the room. (3:27)
- Finding the balance between building relationships and nurturing financial goals. (10:50)
- How to determine the right price for your speaking fees. (20:29)
- How to make the most of your uniqueness as a woman speaker. (24:19)
- The best ways to use different social media platforms for your business. (27:41)
- Why you should stay in contact with your clients through “systemized thoughtfulness.” (38:31)
Check out the podcast and listen in here: http://ift.tt/1T7rzpj
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Monday, May 02, 2016
3 Ways to Thrive During Times of Change
Every client I work with is experiencing change right now.
Technology has changed the pace we work. Social media has changed our communication style. Our competitors are not traditional sources and industries are shifting. Change is a part of everyone’s lives.
As a leader you can help people prioritize what’s important so they pay attention to what matters when they are experiencing change.
Here are 3 ways to thrive during times of change:
- Understand emotions –we often don’t talk about ‘feelings’ at work however fear is a common emotion. Fear of not knowing, changing clients, new budgets, different territory and more. People may also be so excited and know where to begin. Acknowledge the emotion and allow others to share it with you and build action plans to pay attention to what matters.
- Communicate expectations – be specific with new responsibilities or roles, clients or territory. Don’t be scared of over communicating during a time of massive change and accelerate your 1:1 meeting with team members – they will appreciate your openness and availability.
- Create environment – create an open conversation and be approachable to answer questions, manage emotions and build trust. Create positive language with the change so that people hear you say words like ‘challenge’ instead of problem or ‘opportunity’ instead of issue. Words are powerful during times of change, be careful with our language palette.
If you want your team to thrive during times of change, pay attention to their emotions and environment and communicate actively. Invest in additional development and training if required, share resources for more information and remember, you don’t have time to do everything, only time to do what matters.
Help your team understand where to give their attention today.
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