“About Feedback”

Client asked: “I have been tasked to come up with “How to encourage constructive feedback” from employees, management, etc.   You know of any groovy cool ways of doing this or do you know of something in all the training / teaching stuff you got over these?”

Response: One thing we discuss is that a great leader knows how to “deliver, ask and accept” feedback.  One way to obtain honest candid feedback is through the use of reciprocity in questioning.  This meaning, “If I give you credit for your intelligence, you will give me an honest answer”. How to invoke the law is through the use of key words that “invoke” this law (psychological phenomenon)… the words are, opinion, expectations, belief, advice, importance or prioritizes, value, and help.  You can use these words verbally or even incorporate them into a survey.  One might ask a “similar” question without the use of the above words and they will not get the same answer.  We also say, “Use the word feel versus think”…i.e.

“In your opinion, do you feel ….”… think makes someone psychologically believe you want some profound answer, so they “think about their answer” versus feel, will be honest and from the gut or heart.

Now, when we encourage open, honest feedback, it is not always what we want to hear. Therefore, we help our managers and sales professional manage their use of the word “but” when reacting or delivering feedback.  Example, “David, you do this, this and this very well… BUT!.. …………..  Or in defending feedback or and objection, it is a natural way one defends themselves (we even use clickers in our training)!  Replace the word “but” with “and” … and accidentally one will accidentally say the right thing most of the time.  Hope this helps.

Hospitality and Service, it “Pays”

Serve the customer in a way that will encourage repeat business, increase the average check and create a loyal customer base.  Here are a few tips to entice their return.

The Telephone

Have you ever heard, “may I please put you on hold, I am with a customer?”  It leaves you thinking “Well what am I?”  Or worse, they hit the hold button before you answered!

Recently, a friend called one of the most expensive restaurants in town.  She was placed on hold for quite sometime, hung up, called the competitor, and dined with the competitor (I was lucky to be the beneficiary of this experience). We found the food, value, and service to be perfect and both plan to return.

n  Make it your policy to answer your phone by the third ring.

n  When asking to hold, wait for their response.

n  Return promptly!

n  When transferring, tell them to whom and why

n  Use “polite” words like “May I” for seeking permission.

n  Keep directions handy, David Knouse of the PALM restaurant knows this as they are tucked away in the middle of the West End.  They keep written directions by the phone to ensure that no form of frustration on their end occurs between the reservation and the dining experience.

The Name

How a customer is recognized and treated by the staff will turn an occasional “visitor” into a loyal customer.  For example, at the Palm, they review the reservation list prior to a shift.  Aside from the personal acknowledgement, they accommodate any known requests, such as preferred seating, prior to the customer asking.  You will see management at P.F. Chang’s recognizing regulars, welcoming first timers, and making them feel special by handing the diner their card in order to open the doors of communication.  It is important for the owners and managers to walk around, meet and greet and most of all solicit feedback before a situation occurs or explodes.

Give them what they want:

Too often wait staff is taught to sell specials, designer drinks, etc… Rick Valley, Managing Partner at P.F. Chang’s China Bistro says, “Our goal is to deliver good food, mixed with value and great service. We don’t care to up sell just to increase our average check. We teach staff to ask questions on their experience with us.”  Modo Mio in Dallas, TX serves High Scale Northern Italian food.  They deliver the specials with sizzle and allow your imagination to select.  According to Jeff Valladarez, “We are able to do this because as a group, we taste and discuss specials with the Chef and that experience allows us to convey the description clearly without seaming like we just memorized something”.  The Mansion Hotel was the first U.S. hotel to be recognized for the best service in the world.  According to the Managing Director, Richard Baker, their guest history reports are detailed, down to what side of the bed the regular customer sleeps on for turn down service. They work with the admin’s of executives to obtain photos of loved ones including pets and have them waiting in the room upon arrival.

Handle problems swiftly and professionally

When handling complaints, P.F. Chang Bistro has a 24-hour rule, where corporate and the local partners get back to the customer and seek a mutual resolution.  David Knouse at the PALM personally calls the customer and if he cannot reach by phone, he sends a letter. These techniques have been very successful. Remember when providing value and showing that you care that they do have a choice!

Summary

• Make customers feel welcome

• Take the attitude that they are your personal guests

• Be attentive when passing by tables
• Make an effort to recognize guests
• Solicit personal candid feedback during a dining or hotel experience
• Ask about past dining experiences or wine tastes versus just selling
• Be courteous even in tense situations
• Have a good attitude even if you are having a bad day
• Watch for early signs of upset customers including body language
• Show empathy and understanding for their situation
• Watch for fighting words in your communication like “but” or “however”
• Be honest and admit mistakes and tell them how you will resolve the problem

This video says it all, “Did you know?”

Year is half way over. You can still make quota!

Be on your A game with every prospect you meet and every client you see. Don’t let your skills slip into the minor league. Be a pro, and plan every call with a purpose and precision.

Customer Service Training

Customer Service is a crucial component to winning business, especially with commodities and highly competitive industries.

Putting the Wow Back in Your Presentation

Have you ever sat through a sales presentation that sounded like “brochure talk”? (blah, blah, blah…)?  What is on your prospects mind when you are presenting? Could they be thinking “so what” as you rattle off your great features and benefits?

Set yourself apart from the competition by putting the “Wow” back in your presentation.  We find most sales representatives are great at capturing attention, making small talk and even comfortable in the presentation stage. The question becomes, are the general conversations and presentations compelling enough to make prospects say things like, “tell me more” or “how can I get involved”. Every good sales person is taught to sell fact or features and benefits.  Yet hands down, in our trainings, most sales people are backing up facts with facts. In other words, they spend little time finding out the clients hot buttons early on, and this causes them to spend more time in the close.  They are rattling off generic benefits, yet if the prospect does not see it as a benefit to them, that day, then it is just another feature, or possibly, more, blah, blah, blah.  The typical objections then become, “let me think about this”, “I have to run it by_____” or “looks great, let me get back to you”.

Here are a few tips to ensure great conversation and an effective, compelling, compliant presentation:

1.  Find out your customers past experiences and/or opinions with your product or service, so you will know if they are hot or cold.  Be careful, not to challenge their ideas and opinions, by telling them how you are better, different, etc…  Example, I was looking at a time-share and the friend who was with me had a property.  When the rep found out he owned one, she knocked his property versus letting him help me buy!  He was a believer in time-sharing. Why not let him help sell me, instead of knocking his intelligence for buying from a competitive vendor?  In short, I did not buy.

2.  Ask questions based on problems and pain versus rattling off your solution
Many sales reps are taught to sell features and benefits.  However, how can you be sure it is a benefit in the prospect’s mind?  Here is another example.
It was the holiday season and I walked into a very exclusive department store.  A lady sitting with a small booth in the isle grabbed my hand.  The way she caught my attention I thought maybe I knew her from somewhere.  She went on to put crème on my hands and tell me how her product was so good.  She said things like,
“look at my hands,” “I was a hand model,” “see this book, these were my hands 20 years ago and look now, you can’t see any difference,”  “Oh, when I was in Beverly Hills last week…”   I thought “…your hands look older now”  “So what!” “Big Deal!” as she made these and many other claims.  She proceeded to tell me how it was waterproof and I would not have to put any on after I wash my hands.  Well, for the price of $45, I thought heck, I can buy my drugstore brand, put on ten layers per day and still come out cheaper. She kept saying how great it smelled.  I thought it smelled like flowers, and I do not like flowery hand crème.  She proceeded to close me with the “alternate choice” close. That is “would you like this combination pack or just the crème today?”  Then I cordially gave her the standard objections that she heard all day…. “Well, I am shopping for the holidays and I am not interested now,” “I have plenty of crème now, but maybe later…” Then as any good sales woman would do…she started answering the objections, like what a great gift this would make… (When most of us in sales should know the first objection is rarely the real one). 

The funny thing is …just recently I had to spend a lot on nail crèmes and hand oils.  Too bad she didn’t ask me any questions, like, “Do your nails and hands get dry in the winter?” “Do you have difficulty getting your nails to grow in the winter?”  “Do you ever get hangnails?”  She did nothing to create a compelling presentation, she sounded like a brochure…tell, tell, tell to sell, sell, sell.   I spent over $100 at a competitive department store just last week on nail and hand crème because the winter dryness and air travel has created the need. 

3.  Insert bridges to be sure you are selling to client needs versus your product talk: Let your prospects talk, help them sell themselves.  When you go into tell mode (your presentation) be certain to tell them what the fact means to them or more so how it will benefit them. Use bridges like, “which means to you,” or “in other words” or, “the real benefit to you is…,” or “let me give you an example”.  This will keep you from accidentally relaying technical jargon and will put them in the picture.  They will buy when they mentally can see the pleasures derived from owning your product or feel the complications, implications and pain of not owning it.