Have you ever been standing in a line, and when it comes to your turn to be waited on, the sales associate yells out “next?”

Just thinking about that scenario makes me cringe. It is hardly a way to build a relationship with your customer.

I have been working in sales for more than fifteen years, and I have literally had customers tell me that the most important thing to them is to be appreciated and not treated as a statistic.

Keep this in mind the next time you wait on a customer, instead of yelling “next,” you can politely say, “may I help you Ms. Jones.”

We all have our daily, weekly, and monthly goals that we must meet. And with this pressure applied to our daily work day, it is easy to lose sight of the fact that it is the customer who is the most important thing when it comes to our company’s existence. They are the backbone. Without customers, we cease to exist.

Here are a few tips to ensure that your customer is appreciated by you and your company, and not viewed as just another number in line.

1. Address Your Customer by Name

When addressing your customer, make sure you call them by name. This will put your relationship with your customer on a personal level, and customers like to know that they are remembered. It gives them a felling of importance with you, and your company.

2. Don’t Hurry Them Out the Door

The last thing the customer wants is to be hurried out the door. Remember. You are running a business, where people are your greatest asset. You are not on an assembly line manufacturing cars, so don’t treat your customer as though you are.

When you are finished with your customer’s transaction, ask if there is anything else you can do for them, or if they have any questions for you. You could even use this opportunity to ask if you could go over some of your companies products with them, which you feel could benefit them.

The last thing you want to do is get them in and get them out.

3. Discuss Non-Business Topics

There is more beneath the surface of your customers than just the business that they do with you. People love to talk about themselves, such as their family, their job’s, their pets, their hobbies, etc.
So ask your customer about one of the topics mentioned above, I guarantee they will be delighted to tell you all about it.

This is also a great way to get to know your customer, and build a strong relationship with them.

A strong business relationship is a great opportunity to obtain all of your customer’s business as well as the business of all of their friends and relatives through referrals.

So remember, don’t treat your customer like a statistic, treat them as you would treat one of your friends.

This article may be reproduced by anyone at any time, as long as the authors name and reference links are kept in tact and active.

Jay Conners has more than fifteen years of experience in the banking and Mortgage Industry, He is the owner of www.jconners.com, a mortgage resource site, he is also the owner of www.callprospect.com, a mortgage lead company.

There are many mortgage lead companies out there to choose from. Each with their own individual way of obtaining leads to sell to loan officers. But remember, you get what you pay for.

Lead companies sell their leads in a variety of ways. Some allow you to cherry pick, some allow you to set up a filter, and some only sell in bulk.

The pricing on leads from company to company varies also, as you’ll see, it depends on what you are buying.

Some lead companies buy their leads from other companies and sell them in bulk, or recycle them at a profit.

Some lead companies sell their leads “fresh” or “real time,” meaning the lead is brand new. Approximately ten minutes old by the time it reaches you.

When you are buying leads that have been recycled, you will most likely get a lot of them. Lets suppose you have one hundred dollars to spend on recycled leads. This will get you about fifty leads at two dollars a piece. This is a lot of leads to work with. However, the quality of the leads will leave a lot to be desired. You will also find that you wasted not only your money but your time as well. Calling fifty people takes a while.

Now, if you decide to buy “real time” leads, that same one hundred dollars will get you any where from five to eight leads, but remember, these leads are fresh, they are hot off the press, so your chances of closing a few loans are much better than if you bought recycled leads.

Remember. You get what you pay for.

Also, when you are buying leads, it is important for you to know where the leads are coming from.

Have you ever had the painful experience of calling someone, and having them say to you; You are the twentieth person to call me this week. Or, I applied for that months ago, I closed the loan last week.

I was a loan officer for a number of years and I know the feeling.

When you hear responses like the ones you heard in the above paragraph, it should be an indication to you that the leads you bought have been recycled.

Most likely they have been passed around from lead company to lead company.

When you are doing your research for a good lead company, make sure you talk to a representative from that company, and find out where the leads are coming from. If the representative can’t give you a clear answer than move on.

The best lead companies to deal with are the ones that own and operate their own sites where prospects can come on and fill out on-line applications. This way you know exactly where the lead is coming from, and you don’t have to worry about being the tenth person to buy the same lead.

If you decide to buy leads from a lead company, make sure you do your research. Research is the key. You have worked hard for your money, so make sure the leads you buy give you a good return on your investment.

This article may be reproduced by anyone at any time, as long as the authors name and reference links are kept in tact and active.

Jay Conners has more than fifteen years of experience in the banking and Mortgage Industry, He is the owner of www.jconners.com, a mortgage resource site, he is also the owner of www.callprospect.com, a mortgage lead company.

All cash registers and point of sale systems track sales and tenders. They all know how much money, checks, gift cards, credit cards and other forms of payment are in each cash drawer/till.

Most cash registers and a few point of sale software companies have the ability to set a limit on how much cash should be in each cash drawer/till. When this limit is reached the cashier is notified and then can notify management to do a cash pull from the drawer. Some systems go as far as sending a message via pager/cell phone alerting management that a cash drawer/till is over the cash limit.

Management can then go to the drawer, pull out an amount of cash, count it and enter the amount removed as a cash pull. This amount is then removed from the cash in drawer amount and lowers the overall cashier responsibility.

Do not forget that every time the cash drawer/till is opened all the cash is exposed to view and to the temptation of everyone. Not only does the money become accessible to your cashier, it is also accessible to long-armed customers who have been known to reach across when the cashier was not looking.

What could be even worse is the fact that when the cash drawer/till is open potential robbers are able to estimate and determine if your operation is worth returning for a full-scale robbery.

Cashiers like this feature in that it reduces the amount of cash they are responsible for as the cash removed is deducted from their overall cash responsibility. Cashiers also like the fact that if there is less cash in the drawer they are less apt to have a gun shoved in their face during a robbery.

Owners like this feature in that it reduces the temptation to remove money from the cash drawer/till through employee theft or through robbery.

If you are an owner, wouldn’t you like keeping more of the money in your cash drawer/till for yourself? Wouldn’t you like to reduce the chance/temptation of an armed robbery? This old-time cash register feature now found in some point of sale systems could be the exact answer to your needs.

Check your current point of sale system to see if the cash in drawer feature is even offered. If you are looking at a new point of sale system you should make sure that the cash in drawer feature is offered.

Don’t let technology dazzle you to the point that you forget about the basics features that you need to stop theft and increase profits. Those features that have been around for decades are still valid today.

Cash in drawer limits were considered an important part of any cash register and point of sale system for many years. The reason for the feature and the need to keep your cash safe never went away. Stopping theft is still a critical aspect of any point of sale system. That being the case, why should you settle for anything less than your business needs? Don’t settle for less. Demand the cash in drawer feature.

Jerry D. Wilson has over 25 years of point of sale experience helping business owners stop employee theft and increase profits. Please visit DirecTouch POS and DirectRetail POS for more information on other features that are important to your point of sale needs.

We used to think of leads as being mostly for real estate agents, insurance agents and stockbrokers, but nowadays, counselors, life coaches, and those marketing any kind of product or service via the internet must generate leads and stay in touch with them in order to sell their products and services.

How do we find these leads? There are many methods. Then what do we do with them? We continue to stay in touch regularly to remind them of our services and products.

Referrals are your best customers. That’s still true, even with the internet. Start with any client base you already have and build it with good websites and some advice from marketing professionals who will help you to get more traffic to your site. You can ask people to enter their name and email address on your site to receive free information about the very thing they are on your site to learn about.

Give free talks at bookstores and to professional organizations. Ask them to give you their email address so you can follow through with more valuable information. Always invite people to forward your emailed letters to anyone they know who has the same interests or needs.

Then you send that free information to them. Sometimes it’s a series of reports you have created. Each report is sent to remind them of you and your services. Give them some good solid content and also show them why they will need your service or product. Most of us will need professional help to create a site that will do this.

Newsletters are great, too. By this I mean a regular email to your list that includes solid information such as articles about your industry and solutions to the problems your customers or clients have. If applicable, include your calendar of events, such as talks and workshops or support groups. Definitely include a good photo of yourself to personalize the newsletter.

With regular contact to your list, following good web marketing advice, and asking your list to send others to your site, you can generate leads and build your business.

About the writer

Wallace Mettarod started in insurance sales. On weekends he helped his neighbors and children learn about their computers. Last year retired to run his own home-based internet marketing business. You can read more on the subject of leads at FSI Leads

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Let me digress for a moment. Upon arrival at the hotel I was immediately impressed. A beautiful setting, first class service, lovely room, and sun, lots of warm sunshine! The next day, regrettably we were indoors for the first of three days in a meeting room, 17 of us, indoors in Scottsdale. On the breaks many of us would rush to stand outside and enjoy the sun. It was on one of these breaks we were standing at a side entrance to the hotel when a large number of very tall men approached. Now I’m not a tall person. I stand 5″7″ first thing in the morning before gravity sets in. Many of my “friends” nick named me Mini. Turns out these “giants” were the San Antonio Spurs basketball team in town to play the Phoenix Suns. They were using a side entrance to avoid fans at the front of the hotel. I don’t think I came up to the belly button of one of them!

But back to the sales workshop. Our facilitator had a captivating Texan drawl, causing me to listen intently to his stories and tips based on years of experience. The content was terrific, the group really bonded, and the three days evaporated. Towards the end of the final day I just had to ask a question of our workshop leader who had so impressed all of us. I was about to have one of those “ah huh” moments in life.

I asked “If you could share only one piece of advice on how to be a top sales person what would that be?” I’ll never forget as he went into a pensive stance, holding his elbow while putting his forefinger to his lips, “What a tough question.” He then paused for maybe a minute or two, it seemed longer.

What he shared was so profound I have added it to my repertoire of sales truisms. It has shaped my philosophy and behavior ever since. He started by cautioning us that in the sales profession we run the risk of developing egos bigger than the moon. Top sales people think of themselves as super stars and want to be in the spotlight. Confidence he said is a good thing, and recognition at the appropriate time and place is important in fact necessary, but an unchecked ego can do damage. And here it came, he paused and with conviction added, “If there is only one piece of advice I’d ask you remember, it is to always shine the spotlight on your prospect or client. They are the most important person, not you!” The room went silent. Our egos on pause, we reflected hard on what we just heard.

For some reason my thoughts turned to the Spurs who, two days earlier had walked past us. They play under the spotlight all the time. Fans pay to enjoy their athletic excellence on the court. We want them to be in the spotlight, we want them to succeed, and we want them to win.

In sales, we’re not playing basketball. It’s a different game, and it’s one of the best games in the world. If the sales arena is where you play and you want to win, remember these words of wisdom.

Always shine the spotlight on your client.

Clayton Shold hangs his hat at SalesDialogue Systems Inc. a company committed to assisting sales professionals better understand how their internal conversations impact sales success. Learn more at http://www.salesdialogue.com.

No matter what type of buyer they are, no matter where they come from, they all use the same tool to find auction ads;

“They use the search bar to type in general terms..!”

Very rarely do buyers check the “Search Title and Description” checkbox and start browsing the more specific results. Heck; the checkbox isn’t even an option on the front page of eBay, you actually have to do an “Advanced Search” to even have that option. This just confirms the importance of your title keywords.

Some do browse categories rather than search, but we’re mainly concerned with general majorities here, not exceptions to the rule.

In case you’re unaware, this means that most searches are ONLY CHECKING YOUR TITLE, not the words in the description area of your ad!!!

Experience tells me that, since you now know this, you are actually way ahead of 70% of the other eBay sellers out there; and that’s a very conservative estimate..!

Now that you have a clear understanding of the importance of your title keywords, here’s a priority list for precisely picking the right ones for each of your ads:

Take these rules literally, but understand that each of these will not apply to every ad that you run. You have a maximum of 55 characters allowed for your title and just try your best to achieve as many of these as possible in this limited space.

1. Obvious keywords that are specific to the product you’re selling and make sure that they are spelled correctly.

2. One or Two misspellings of the obvious keywords from the last rule. (Google says that 33% of all searches are misspelled) …CATCH THAT? One Third! Don’t Forget This Part.

3. One or Two general eBay keywords such as “nr”, “n/r”, “no reserve”, “free shipping”, or “lot”. These are keywords that a lot of pro buyers search for.

4. Other general keywords like “new”, “free”, “excellent”, “pc”, “usb”, “dvd”, “wholesale”, or “supplies”. You can only use ones that are relevant to the product you’re selling, but these are very powerful.

Now, take these rules and create a list on a piece of paper each time you’re about to list an ad. Usually the list is way too big to fit into the title. Once your list is done, start narrowing down the list using the priority structure that I just gave you until they do fit into the 55 character limit.

If you have more than one of the item to sell and intend to list multiple copies of your ad, be certain to take the time to create different titles for each one!!! If you don’t, and you just use the same title for each copy; you’re just wasting money. Multiple versions of the same ad with different titles for each can really increase your traffic.

Respectfully,
Chuck Mullaney

https://secure.iauctionsuccess.com

Chuck Mullaney
-Top Ranked Education Specialist
2004 (out of 583!)
-High Level eBay Powerseller with
100% Positive Feedback
-Founder and CEO of PajamaExecutive

First, make a list of all the information that you would like to gather from your prospect. Then, look at your list and decide what information is crucial and what information can wait for later (either later in the conversation or later at the meeting). Ask the crucial questions first. Then, if your prospect is chatty, you can ask the rest of your questions. If your prospect is brusque or to-the-point, ask the questions you need to ask, set the meeting date and save the rest of your questions till then.

You should, as much as possible, “prequalify” your prospect. Find out as much about the prospect and prospect company as you can. Once you’ve done that, eliminate the questions to which you already have answers.

There is no reason to ask a prospect, “Are you the person who
purchases…?” or “Are you the decision-maker?” If you have done
your homework and prequalified your prospect, you should know the usual title of the decision-maker and/or in which area or
department you will usually find that decision-maker. The rule is always to try to reach the highest level person whom you believe might be the decision-maker. If your decision-maker is usually found in the Human Resources area, ask for the Senior Vice President of Human Resources. When you have a conversation then, there is no need to ask, “Are you the decision-maker?” Of course they are! Or they may have delegated that authority, and if so, they will tell you that and give you the correct name.

Ask questions that solicit relevant information. There is no need to ask a prospect, “Are you familiar with… (your company, your product/service)?” You won’t be getting any useful information with this question. It really doesn’t matter if they are familiar. If they say they are, it does not guarantee that they know everything they need to know to understand the value of what you are offering. If you want to make absolutely certain that your prospect does understand the value of your offer, you must tell them. If they are not familiar with your company, why then, you still have to tell them.

It is far better to simply stay in control of the introductory
calling process by telling your prospect what you would like them to know. Ask your questions on a real “need-to-know” basis. Keep them short and to-the-point, and then ask for what you want.

Wendy Weiss, “The Queen of Cold Calling & Selling Success,” is a sales trainer, author and sales coach. Her recently released program, Cold Calling College, and/or her book, Cold Calling for Women, can be ordered by visiting
http://www.wendyweiss.com. Contact her at wendy@wendyweiss.com. Get Wendy’s free e-zine at http://www.wendyweiss.com.

Here, listen to this:

1. The average US home has the TV on for 7 hours and 40
munites a day.

In case you’re wondering, that means by the time a child is
18 years old, they’ve already been exposed to 50,367.6
hours of television!

Sheesh!

2. The average amount of television the average American
watches, is over 4 hours a day. (that’s 17% of your life,
by-the-way)

Likewise, this means the average American has actually
watched over 26,280 hours of TV by the time they’re already
18 years old.

3. 50% of all US households have 3 or more TV’s in their
house.

4. (And this one was amazing) 45% of all parents say if they
have something important to do, they’ll use the TV to
occupy their children! (Whatever happened to books, or arts
and crafts?)

5. 54% of children between ages 4 and 6 said they’d rather
watch TV than spend time with their fathers! (Gosh, I hope
my daughter wasn’t participating in that survey…)

6. 40% of all Americans watch TV while they’re eating
dinner.

7. And lastly, on average, sadly… parents only spend 38.5
minutes a week having a meaningful conversation with their
children.

No doubt then, television is a HUGE part of American
life. In some cases, it’s even more important than having a
relationship with your children, for goodness sakes.

You’d have to assume from reading through these statistics,
that people are planning meal times around what’s on TV…
they’re spending a good amount of brain-power trying to
make sure “this” show gets taped or recorded at “that” particular
time… and they’re probably spending more energy watching
David Letterman than making love.

Which is very VERY tragic of course.

One thing TV doesn’t do, is… it doesn’t tax your attention
span.

You get entertained a little… and then you get some relief
in the form of commercials.

You hear a little bit about your topic… and then you go
and grab some ice cream.

Because of this, if your sales pitch isn’t giving your
prospect the same sense of “relief” — either in your story
or in your presentation — then your prospect is going
to do the same thing you do, when what you’re watching, no
longer interests you:

They’re going to grab their remote and click to another
channel, which in this case means…

They’re going to toss your sales pitch straight into the
garbage can!

And above all else, you certainly DON’T want them to do
this, now do you?

So next week, to make sure this doesn’t happen to you,
I’m going to tell you “5 Ways To Give Your Prospect A
Much-Needed Break In Your Sales Copy!”

Now go sell something,

Craig Garber

http://www.KingOfCopy.com

P.S. Check out all the prior archives you’ve been
missing, right here at:
http://www.kingofcopy.com/tips/tiparchives.html

P.P.S. If you know someone who could benefit from this
tip, then do the right thing and forward this
tip on to them, right NOW!

If you want to know how to consistently attract a steady stream of fresh new prospects, who are pre-qualified, eager, and excited about buying from you, then Craig Garber — recognized by his peers as America’s Top Direct-Response Copywriter — can show you exactly how to do this, step-by-step. Garber’s written winning promotions across a HUGE variety of industries and you can see them all for yourself on his website at http://www.kingofcopy.com

So what separates successful sales personnel from not so successful? The answer to this question lies in the ability to ask questions that help the potential buyers better understand their needs while demonstrating the value you bring by asking good questions. Remember, being a good salesperson begins by focusing on the needs of the prospect and not your needs.

Good questions don’t need to be hard. Simplicity is sometimes the better route to take. Simple questions allow the prospect better comprehension and provide opportunities for them to share even more information.

For example, the word “and” can be used as a question after a particular experience has been shared to keep your prospect talking. “And?”

Continuing to listen to the prospect will allow you to ask, “What happened next?” As the dialogue continues, you build a relationship through active listening while discovering additional needs or as some say “pain.”

Another question “Could you please tell me more about that?” allows further exploration into the current need. Again, you are demonstrating real concern about your prospect.

As the conversation continues, the prospect may share some other solutions that may or may not have worked. At this time, you may wish to ask “Specifically, how many?” Upon hearing the response, two follow-up questions that achieve great results are “And how did that work for you?” and “How did that make you feel?”

Additional questions might be “What other result or results were you expecting?” and “How can you be sure of that?” Finally, before you end your meeting, a final question of “Is there anything else?” might prove beneficial.

Good salespeople understand that no one likes to be sold, but everyone likes to buy. Your ability to ask questions that create an emotional desire to buy will help you reach that next level of sales success.

Leanne Hoagland-Smith, M.S. President of ADVANCED SYSTEMS, is the Process Specialist. With over 25 years of business and education experience, she builds peace and abundance by connecting the 3P’s of Passion, Purpose and Performance through process improvement. Her ROI driven process solutions affect sustainable change in 4 key areas: financials, leadership, relationships and growth & innovation with a variety of industries. She aligns the strategies, systems and people to develop loyal internal customers that lead to external customers. As co-author of M.A.G.I.C.A.L. Potential:Living an Amazing Life Beyond Purpose to Achievement due for June 2005 release, Leanne speaks nationally to a variety of audiences. Please call Leanne a call at 219.759.5601 or leanne@processspecialist.com if you are seeking amazing results.

Copyright 2005(c) Leanne Hoagland-Smith, http://www.processspecialist.com

Permission to publish this article, electronically or in print, as long as the bylines are included, with a live link, and the article is not changed in any way (grammatical corrections accepted).