Do you ‘kill’ your chances at a sale? Because a potential client hasn’t responded, YET?

Do you ‘kill’ your chances at a sale? Because a potential client hasn’t responded, YET?

Words words words – sticks and stones will hurt my bones but words will never harm me, was the way I had always heard that expression.

Yet, we all understand that words will harm us indelibly and sometimes forever! And you might be ‘killing’ any chances you had at making a sale or creating a strategic partnership or even just getting a referral if you use the wrong words.

I am a business and speaking coach. I train people on almost everything including how they look which includes body language and facial expression. I recently received an email from someone who was marketing their professional headshots and along with that, facial expression training. I was intrigued! I have met many ‘headshot’ photographers but never one who claimed to be a facial expression coach. How wonderful to connect with and maybe trade secrets, marketing ideas or even referrals?

Then I receive this email -

I was trying to reach you several times, but unfortunately never received a reply from you or anyone from your firm. That's why it seems to me that you are not interested in facial expression coaching or making a professional headshot photo session that would completely change your appearance on the web and in social networks.

So if you are really not interested in talking to me, it will be my last letter to you. But if somehow happened that you haven't seen two of my previous letters and you are opened to discuss the details - just let me know. Otherwise, I won't disturb you anymore.

Thank you!

Wow! Chastising me? Now let’s be honest here. I might have dropped the ball. I might have seen a couple more emails from this person and didn’t reply. Life might have changed dramatically and I picked up and had to travel to Australia to do some corporate training an help other people change their businesses and lives. (Oh wait! That did happen! I am in Australia now and it was a whirlwind event that happened in less than two weeks so I might have gotten a tad busy.)

But this person is writing in a manner that really isn’t conducive to maintaining a long-term relationship where I might use their services in the future. Are they?

I NEVER RECEIVED A REPLY! FROM YOU OR ANYONE IN YOUR FIRM!

THAT’S WHY IT SEEMS YOU ARE NOT INTERESTED.

And, do I really want to change my appearance? Because I am happy with my appearance overall but would like to improve how people perceive me or create different perceptions depending on which audience I am marketing to with my headshot? Stronger for my Leadership and Management clients. Softer for my small business coaching and inviting for my relationship workshops. 

You see, while I teach others all of these things, few ever reach out to try to teach me? When was the last time someone offered to turn your no responses into YES responses simply by training you on your facial expression, body language, timing of your close offer? Maybe just on the inflection, you are using when you start closing? (So many things can go wrong and we have no clue, do we?)

But then this email goes on to chastise me - if you are really not interested in talking to me, it will be my last letter to you.

My gosh! I thought I was reading a note from an old girlfriend when I was a kid! OK! This will be the last time I talk to you, Steve Sapato! (HUMPH! And stomps off)

Am I overreacting here? Because this person does not seem like they want to talk to me again unless I apologize.

Are your words important to future sales? YES! Do you make these types of mistakes in your emails? In your drip campaign? Because this FINAL letter from them is ending all communication –  I won't disturb you anymore

Should you go back now and evaluate some of your emails that are in your drip campaign? Better yet, should you invite me in to do some training for your sales & marketing team? On Verbal Attitude? Facial Attitude? Physical expressions (body language)? Do you need me to help your team create effective messages that are conducive to turning a no into a NOT YET?

And isn’t a NOT YET response much better than a no? How about if the right questions can turn the NOT YET into a ‘maybe’ and then into an ‘ok, Yes’ scenario?

Words are only 17% of our communication with someone when we are in person but they are 100% when it’s a text or an email. 

We don’t have the ability to see their eyes change when we hit the sweet spot or see them smile when we get them to agree or frown when we miss that mark.

Words, in the right order, with the right attitude, are our facial expressions to others. And I think this Headshot & Expressions Coach missed the mark badly on this email.

I am Steve Sapato and I am the most famous unfamous speaker and coach in America. You can reach me at steve@stevesapato.com or qlman49@gmail.com (Q = questioning, L = Listening)

Have an amazing day.

What in the world could you be doing so wrong that it costs you 50% of your business?

The #1 thing your business is not doing that is costing you 50% of your business.

When I started business coaching, one area I knew I could affect was, FOLLOW THROUGH. I knew that whenever I called a small business for a product at least 50% did not call me again. It did not matter if I said straight out, I need to buy XYZ and I am calling you to see if you can help me.

A new "Customer Service Benchmark Report" released by SuperOffice also revealed some interesting and compelling statistics. I would even call their findings scary. As you read this information, you are going to hope you are on the right side of the statistics.

The report starts by citing past research that states 80% of businesses believe they provide excellent customer service, but only 8% of customers agree

• 99% of companies did not follow up after the interaction with the “customer”

Now that seems ABSURD! Doesn’t it? But there were only 500 companies polled so yours probably was not one of them.

Ninety-nine percent of companies did not follow up after the initial interaction with the customer – A follow-up to a conversation is the perfect opportunity to “tie a bow” around the package, the package being how well you handled the customer’s request, question or complaint. Follow-up is an extra touch point that can add value to the relationship. Of the 500 companies surveyed, only 41% responded, and of those, only three followed up after the interaction. Two of the companies sent a survey to ask how they did. Only one company followed up to simply ask if the customer was happy. Once again, the bar is low … very low!

Now tell me, when you started this article and I said you are losing 50% of your business, you thought I was losing my mind. The polling says 99%.

I know, that seems way off. Especially for your company so I will ask you to stay with me and actually reply. What is your process after you receive that initial call that someone is interested in your product?

What I am asking is this, someone calls, someone (go ahead, write down who in your organization takes those calls.) takes the information.

Then what is the next step? Go ahead, write that down right now. Don’t skimp on me.

Write it down. If you are so damned confident that your company does not have this problem why are you afraid to write it down?

OK, so Martha takes the initial call for information. She gives that information to ???

(The number one problem in most small businesses is they do not even have a MARTHA!)

And here is the important part, she gives that information to Bob and she writes it in her log book of calls taken with all of the information, name, product of interest, ph #, address, best time to call back, who she then gave this information to and how she gave it.

Then there is also an area that she MUST fill in and that is when did Bob call the client and actually got in touch with someone and the result. (Bob must report that back to Martha)

Martha then records that information into a separate place for the managers to follow up with Bob to follow this sale. (if it is missing, guess who isn’t making those callbacks?)

But wait, you are not even close to being done with this. Did you think you were?

Now Bob has the info in his book. He calls at the times the prospect offered. How many calls does Bob actually make? Do you have a place for each call? Date, time, result? That Bob completes?

Then when Bob actually makes contact it goes into another book (possibly). What was the conversation? Appointment Date & Time with whom and their phone number.

Actual results.

Then if Bob was able to make the appointment is there a place for Bob to record an appointment confirmation call & email? So he will never be stood up but will always get a confirmation before he heads out to meet them. This could be two days before, the day before or the day of the appointment.

Does your company do this? Go look, right now. I dare you.

Has Bob been trained on this call? Does he have the script ready? Is he personable, asking the right questions, verifying specific information in addition to the name address and phone? Does he ask what kind of week they are having? What expectations will they have when he arrives? Are they prepared to purchase if he offers them the products at a price they have in their heads? What is that price? (Ok it is better scripted than this but you get my point.)

The REASON for the appointment should have been covered in the initial response call. Why they called, what they are looking for, who else have they contacted, have they made appointments with other companies. When is that appointment (But as you should note here, this will probably never be a problem because most of your competitors do not have my system in place and do not return those calls, ever!)

Does your manager/supervisor watching over Bob and all of the other Bob’s have their own log books showing what each and every salesperson is doing with each and every call and is your manager/supervisor following through to make sure every call has been contacted as it shows in the book?

Steve, we do not have time for all of this kind of thing. That would take forever. We are busy. And that my friends, is why most businesses are losing 50% of their business.

Now is the next step in this process. Does Bob call to confirm and they have changed their mind? Is there a place to put the reason into the log book so the manager can call those same people and re-affirm that there indeed was a reason for their cancellation.

If Bob does get an appointment is there a place for him to post what exactly happened at that appointment?

When it is all done there should be a trail of at least 4 phone calls and maybe as many as 20 so you can see and check all of the reasons you are not closing business. What was their choice and why if there was a different choice made for either a sale or a refusal with the reason you lost that business?

When you know, according to this survey 99% of all small businesses do not do this type of reporting you have to ask, why? Because you are losing as much as 99% but let’s just conjecture it’s 25%. Think of making 25% MORE sales than you are making right now. Would that change your business?

If your company was closing 25% more sales you could hire a Martha and a Bob!

Would you like help putting this in place for your business? Along with many more profit building processes and services? Imagine what your company could be making if …

A great business coach makes sure your procedures are reflecting the success you need in order to achieve your goals.

Maybe we should talk.

I am Steve Sapato, the most famous unfamous speaker in America and damn fine business coach.

steve@stevesapato.com   www.profitbuildercoaching.com

P.S. Don't forget to check out Small Business University - the only business training of its kind that teaches you every part of a successful business so you can personally double your income in the next twelve months. https://www.giftsformen.biz/business-education-training-system

E-Learning Business Training Course

Have you tried programs that promised you wealth? Riches? SUPER CLIENTS? But they didn't work? It's because there is no shortcut for great business. It takes work, dedication and training. Did I mention knowledge? Coaching? Well, here is THE COACHING PROGRAM that will teach you how to build your business without a coach but with an educational system that will teach you all of the things you don't already know AND remind you to use the things you do know. Build a great small business with 52-Weeks of audio/video/email/lessons on how to make your business work better than you ever dreamed possible. This is a 14 minutes short video. Listen, let me know what you think and what questions you have after you listen to it. Now is your time.

If you do not know the difference between Tactical and Strategic Marketing? It is costing your business a fortune!

Tactical marketing is what everyone has been doing for decades now. It's like the 'elevator pitch'. Those are both 20th-century caveats. Strategic Marketing is what you need to know and understand to be more successful.

If you go to most websites (TACTICAL) they say - HEY! I DO THIS! if you want this send me an email, or call me! But 99% of your website views (do you know how many views you get?) 99% are lookey-loos. That means they are wanting information. Not ready to buy. So why then do we try so hard to impress them with our expensive websites if they are not ready to buy?

Instead, what do most people come to your website for?

Yes! to see if they should consider you for what they want to buy. Right? But we are so busy selling them that they spend a few seconds looking and then click to the next website on Google.

What I am going to talk about are really FUNNEL PAGES that are acting like websites.

Strategic design says... HEY! I know you are here to see if you should buy. I understand you have questions, some questions you haven't even thought of asking. So...

Here is what you should be doing... Interrupting, engaging, educating and offering.

Interrupt. Does this Interrupt your visual or emotional process? I specialize in troubled children... come read one of my LIBRARIES of articles to see what I offer.

Or does this.. Are Your Sick & Tired of the Yelling, Screaming & Belligerent Attitude of your Child? Learn how you can control your child and instantly restore peace and quiet in my free report. This the strategic... it pinpoints their pain, gives them immediate access to their solution and it's a FREE report to capture their email.

Capturing their email allows you to put them into a drip marketing campaign - not to sell them! but to induce them into buying. A huge difference.

The second example will allow you to double the leads and emails and probably lead to at least a 20% increase in your sales every month - because of the drip campaign you can implement.

One is all about call me for an appointment - the other is all about what problems you can solve.

Along this order then is the more strategic website that that lists your info and maybe an email or ph number but is strategically designed to offer them answers to their questions and questions they do not know they have.

A CPA Example.. you might have these articles - What is the difference between accountants? Or why should you hire a CPA over an accountant? Or, Do CPA's really cost more? What problems can a bad accountant bring to your life? Any article that the people browsing might want to read and GIVE YOU THEIR EMAIL so you know they were here and have the ability to connect.

If you are a business looking for a coach one article might read - If You Don't Know The Difference Between a Strategic Website and a Tactical Website You Are probably Throwing away a Huge Income

or.. How Much Can One Great Idea Change Your Business ... or If Your Coach Has Not Owned Several Of Their Own Businesses How Can They Really Help Yours? Maybe .. If You Are Not Using an E-Learning System Your Business Cannot Truly Grow ...

What would your articles say on your new website to entice people who visit your website to leave their email so you know they stopped by?

But what about the REST of your marketing? Want to get better email response? More opens? More clicks? Want your flyers to actually get results? Want your mailings to produce something? Want your Facebook ads to make you money?

Want to talk more about these things? Buy me coffee!  😉 Steve 

563.370.4938  steve@stevesapato.com

Steve Sapato

The most famous unfamous speaker in America

Training companies to be successful and happy

America's most influential small business coach

Learn how to generate all the leads your business can handle...WITHOUT spending a cent on marketing or advertising

www.profitbuildercoaching.com

Author of the highly acclaimed book "Small Business Riches - the coaching manual that will show you how to become wealthy" 

The #1 reason your company isn’t all that it should be.

#1 reason your company isn’t all that it should be.

Managers are the key to your company being all that it should be and much more!
Every project, every department, every business, every organization can grow exponentially if they have great managers.

Contrary to what seems to be the popular mandate, great managers are made and not born.
People do not automatically become good managers because they are promoted or hired in as a manager.

We have all had those average managers. Many of us have had that terrible manager. 
Have you ever experienced a great manager?

What a profound difference isn’t there? When you have a great manager, you want to produce. You want to excel. You want to be your best. And great managers make you feel great about trying to be better. They make you feel better about working hard and smart and reward you for being part of a great team. 

Most average managers do not think of rewarding their people. They do not know there are dozens of ways to reward employees. They do not know there are dozens of ways to motivate their employees. Do you? Are you?

If you or your organization is not requiring your soon-to-be-managers to attend some management classes, (please note I said some and not ONE!), then you probably have or are experiencing the average or below average manager syndrome.


And your company is suffering. Your people are suffering. Your production is suffering. Your moral is suffering.

Great managers require great training, great challenges, great communication classes to help them get the most out of their people so their people can do the most for your organization. Those classes are called Mental Prosperity because mental prosperity gets the most out of people because they want to give the most and be rewarded for their efforts either by their peers, their leaders or simply because they learn what it means and how important it is to themselves to feel good and be good at their job.
So tell me, what trainings are your managers receiving? What communication skills are they developing? What leadership skills are they learning?

What programs are in place to train your soon-to-be-managers? What books are they reading, sharing, studying? And what is your company doing to make sure your company will succeed simply by training your managers to get the most out of their people?

Many companies have had the displeasure to watch their organization hire people who are probably very good at half of their jobs, the technical side, yet fail miserably on the personality side.

Because of this failure, it doesn’t take long for their teams to become disorganized, fractured and disheartened and they watch their organization simply falter and fail in their tasks or productivity.

People need to be lead. People want to be lead. People want someone who not only understands what needs to happen but puts in place the mechanisms that can produce those results. They love to be on a winning team. They love recognition and results. They enjoy all of the perks that come with winning.
How about you? What do you want from your leadership? From your admins and managers?

Isn’t it about time you passed this article on to your superiors and start making this happen?

Average managers create average results. Great managers produce great results.

I am Steve Sapato, the most famous unfamous speaker in America and damn fine management trainer. You can pass this on to your superiors so they can connect with me at steve@stevesapato.com

Do you hire 'bad' managers? or ...

Mental Prosperity is what makes some managers GREAT!

I recently had an owner share with me that they hire ‘bad’ managers so that those managers can deal out the harsh reality of work and they (the owner) only has to be the ‘good guy’ and enjoy their employees.

I was stunned. First of all, if you know anything about being a manager you should know how to deal with all types of people, all situation, and be great with your employees during difficult times.

Long before an employee becomes a problem a great manager would be having conversations, would be taking actions, would be helping and assisting that employee on getting better. In the end, if that person does not improve it would certainly have been in the conversation that it was the employee that was falling short and not the people around them or the leadership that has offered to help them the entire time. And by then, the employee knows the end is coming and there should be no surprises.

So when this company owner said they understood hiring a ‘bad’ manager I could not believe what I was reading.

But it also came out that we were on different planes for understanding. The question came, ‘what do you mean by bad manager?’

Good question. When I talk about good managers vs great managers vs bad managers I am not talking about being the ‘bad guy’ when it comes to dealing out bad news. I am talking about results. All results. Not just, did the manager get the results for the company but did the manager accomplish their department goals. The difference is that one is measured by statistical data while the other is measured by performance, satisfaction, attitudes and results that not only accomplish the company goal but also the company’s bottom line by accomplishing goals, keeping great employees who have high performance and satisfaction surveys that affect the entire organization.

If what you are looking for are great managers, start with proper training. Training in Skills with People. Training in methods that enhance an organization with questioning and listening like the QLMethod for Success. Training that helps you find the best people to put into management positions and not just promoting the next person in line.

I am Steve Sapato and I teach good managers to be great.

www.mentalprosperityblog.com

What makes you exceptional as a Manager? One thing to make it happen~

When you talk about what makes someone good there are lots of points you can make, but the difference between good and great managers are just a few things. Great managers do a few things that the good managers and lesser managers only think about doing.one else One primary place where Great Managers stand out from every other manager is 'communication'. I know that most managers when you ask them will say that they think they are good at communication. And when I pin them down to specifics, like asking, give me an example of how you communicate with your least important tier of employees they will be aghast and say, all of my employees are important. Of course they are. Now tell me how you just communicated with that tier? They cannot tell me of course because most managers tell their immediate supervisors information and expect that information to be communicated effectively down to all of the employees in their group or organization. The real heart of this is that Great Managers never assume/presume or take for granted what will or won't happen. They check and ask and seek to find out if that information is adequately passed down to all of their people. Great Managers use all avenues of communication, verify that it worked and insure that no one is left out. Great Managers not only use email to send information they also invite response to insure the information was communicated. They will use email, phone calls, text messages and verbal connections to make sure their messages are valued and received openly. Now I ask, what did you last 'send' and how did you make sure the correct info was transmitted and understood by the recipients? Now we are on the right track to being a Great Manager! Steve Sapato is a management trainer and speaker and has trained hundreds of companies and organizations in how to become exceptional. mentalprosperityblog.com