3 Keys to Creating Different Perspectives
The expression “Thinking Outside The Box,” has become a catch phrase in our busy world. Innovation and creativity generally comes from taking a different perspective, perhaps even going against the norm. The other end of the spectrum would be finding yourself in a rut, always doing or thinking in the same way. You may have some habits which have served you well, but perhaps they are habits which have created “1 channel” thinking for you. This is where you stay on the same channel to deal with all situations.
In business to be successful you need to establish what works but also be willing to change as internal and external factors evolve. This means moving from only one channel to having many different channels as options.
Here are 3 suggestions for creating different perspectives:
1. Take a Vacation
This may sound rather self-indulgent but the fact is allowing yourself some distance from your normal routine creates a change in perspective. Think back to when you last took a break from your job. Were you able to let go of your work and enjoy your vacation time? Did you find yourself involved in the place that you were visiting, the people you were with, and the activities you engaged in? If so chances are you returned to work rested, re-energized, and probably having some fresh thoughts on challenges you are having.
Now it is true that you can’t necessarily take a vacation every time you want an alternative viewpoint. However, you can create breaks during which you are doing something completely different. It might be going for a walk, gardening, yoga, or taking a dance class. Even these small things allow you the opportunity to clear your mind and then move forward with a new view.
2. Brainstorm
Have you ever watched school children learning the skill of brainstorming? It is wonderful to behold as they are taught that all ideas are welcome and written down. As adults we sometimes tend to censor our ideas, perhaps worried about what others think or believing that there is no chance for the idea to be implemented. This can serve to inhibit creative juices.
Brainstorm with yourself, writing down all your ideas and thoughts. Don’t cross anything off and no editing as you go. Then put the paper away and revisit it in a couple of days or weeks. Notice the wisdom and brilliance in some of your ideas.
Invite your team and/or colleagues to brainstorm options. Encourage them to think big. Don’t censor any ideas and be inclusive. Consider involving support staff as they may have a totally different view point which could be invaluable. Act as if anything is possible. You never know what gems will emerge when you are open to hearing all ideas.
3. Conversations With a Mentor, Consultant or Friend
If you find yourself stuck thinking in the same way, it is time to broaden your context. Take the opportunity to present your challenges and roadblocks to someone who is not close to the situation.
Matt was a manager who was having difficulty dealing with a team member who was quite negative and frequently sabotaged team meetings by criticizing everything. He had tried several different ways to deal with this individual but found himself repeating the same things over and over and getting no results. Matt discussed the situation with a friend who worked in a different industry but also managed a team. He asked Matt questions that got him thinking in a different way. This led to his coming up with new ways to tackle the situation.
It is important to have people you can bounce ideas off of and who can guide you. Encourage them to ask you questions and make suggestions. Being open allows for growth and change to occur.
In order to create a different perspective try:
- Taking a vacation
- Brainstorming
- Discussing the situation with a mentor, consultant, or friend who is outside the system
Copyright 2008, Gail Solish.
Gail Solish, provides Executive/Personal coaching to managers, directors and executives focused on workplace development and relationship management.
Claim your FR-EE e-course “Unleash Your Potential and Increase Productivity and Fulfillment” at http://www.ActualizeYourGoals.com
Social Media Networking- Why Should I?
One of the objections I often hear from people is “I don’t have time to network online!” but do you have time to
* Professionally Network
* Find a new friend
* Share your ideas
* Build your business
* Market yourself
* De-stress?
What about:
* Elevate yourself as an industry expert
* Establish connections in other industries
* Increase the efficiency of your networking
* Offer introductions to your niche-experience on a daily basis?
While online networking is not the “end all, be all” of making personal connections, it has one valuable strengths that very few real world venues have- economy of scale.
If you have the time to introduce yourself to one new person a day, wouldn’t it make sense from a business perspective to take that same amount of time and be introduced to fifty?
When I write this article or post to a forum, my thoughts are communicated to dozens of potential contacts, perhaps even thousands. If I went into a coffee shop with the expectation that I would have to say the same phrase over and over again to a hundred different people as I look for a good connection, it would take me days of effort. I would spend the entire time trying to expand my network with little result. In my best real world opportunity, I would attend a networking event where I may have the chance to meet people in groups and who are willing to listen to my message.
Considering how much time I wasted in the real world trying to connect with a hundred people as I restated my statements and repeatedly asked for permission, the basis of networking online is that readers have given me permission to talk to them and they assemble in groups for me. If I am sharing thoughts of interest, they are actively engaged with what I am saying. I don’t have to approach them and get a cold shoulder, its more like I am talking to a group of people at a cocktail party and they come into the conversation by their own choice.
The beauty is, this cocktail party is happening 24/7, 365 days a year.
That has amazing relevancy. Readers choose to join the conversation. I don’t bend their arm to listen. If they find value, they start talking. If they don’t, they move on. For decades marketing has tried to force the idea of “opt-in mailing lists” for physical and electronic mail, as well as frustrating us with the need of “do not call” lists to maintain our sanity on our personal phones.
Case in point- Right now, I have no control over whether you are reading.
As an industry expert, imagine the power of sharing your ideas and thoughts. People who are interested find little bits and pieces of inspiration and insight, and they either join the conversation or move on. Blogging attracts people as it is one of the only true “opt in” medias. If you don’t like what I’m saying, go Google someone else!
If you are interested, join my conversation.
Take Biznik as an example of “economy of scale”. There are 10,000 members browsing through the site and pondering different ways to connect. If I had to assemble 10,000 people in real life, my first challenge would be to actually listen to all 10,000 people.
30 seconds per introduction X 10k members = 80+ hours of introductions.
When I think about that time, I realize that my elevator pitch needs to be refined to an exact art and that I need to remember to pack a few bottles of water.
Now compare that to writing on the community forum or blogging this article. It took me thirty minutes to write this. Over the next few weeks several hundred people will read it.
Every single person who actually strikes up a conversation with me after reading it is pre-screened and wants to have a more in-depth discussion. On top of that- they can look at my existing social media testimonials to discover even more about me, and when they do contact me they have taken the burden of responsibility to find out who I am, rather than me taking the responsibility to tell them.
By taking the time to put myself out there in the online world, every real life interaction coming from this conversation is pre-qualified and interested in what I do. As time goes on, every introduction I have online becomes a growing archive that adds to who I am. Unlike a conversation I had over dinner last night, this very article will attract interest from readers six months later. Even when I am sleeping peacefully, someone may be introducing themselves to who I am.
Whether or not you find me personally or professionally interesting, I have no control over. Yet I will never know until the introduction has occurred.
My question to you-
Will you take the time to give me the information I need to find an introduction to you?
Barry Hurd is President, author, speaker, and voice of 123 Social Media - Social Media Training. He has a history of over fifteen years working on numerous innovative efforts with online business models: past projects have included NIKE, REI, TMP Worldwide, Monster.com, Verizon Superpages, Intuit, and RIS Media.
Team Building Activities to Bolster Chicago Companies
Chicago is one of the largest and richest cities in the world. The job market is so diverse that the city has earned a reputation for a very balanced economy. In addition to being varied, those companies are also plentiful. In fact, Chicago is home to the second largest central business district in the United States.
With businesses playing such an important role in the city’s economy, it shouldn’t be surprising that many employers are willing to invest in Chicago team building activities for their employees. After all, teams make a company much stronger than it could be when individuals work independently because teams are capable of greater productivity and creativity. This is true for several reasons.
First of all, it is easier to complete large tasks when several people are working on the same project because it can be divided into smaller pieces. This prevents putting too much strain on any one person. Second, teams also have the capacity to capitalize on individual strengths and compensate for weaknesses within the group. And third, teams provide an atmosphere where relationships and trust can form. And all of these things increase employee satisfaction and productivity.
Even though teams can yield these kinds of results, the ground rules for team work need to be established before the work begins. Sometimes those ground rules and channels of communication are difficult to create in an office setting though. That’s why team builders in companies, athletic facilities and schools are starting to incorporate games in their team building efforts.
Professionals have learned that games naturally stimulate competition, conversation and a friendly environment. And, in this kind of setting, friendship and trust begin to form as well. Coincidentally, these are all key ingredients for team work as well. Games don’t need to be complicated or expensive to be effective team building tools, but they should involve everyone in the group and cater to people with different interests and abilities.
Team building activities that are available in or around Chicago include everything from sailing excursions on Lake Michigan to scavenger hunts around local neighborhoods, museums and attractions. Sailing will definitely get the group out of the office environment and teach your employees about the value of team work, but it might take longer than you would like. Scavenger hunts, on the other hand, can usually be completed in an hour or less and they draw on the strengths of the team as a whole. Since many of them take you through the city, the experience will be fresh in their minds every time they come to work.
If you are looking for some exceptional Chicago team building scavenger hunts, visit Watson Adventure’s website (http://www.watsonadventures.com/chicago.html). They showcase all of Chicago’s most popular attractions with creative and challenging clues. The author, Art Gib, is a freelance writer.
Business Simulations: Learning to Run a Better Business by Playing Pretend
Growing up, we’ve all had dreams of being a fighter pilot, astronaut, space explorer, ancient warrior, or any of a million different occupations throughout history. Unfortunately for most of us, we don’t ever get to live out our childhood dream, instead settling for a simulated experience in a video game.
Sometimes the simulations are so real they have a place in real life. Prospective pilots, for example, train on realistic simulators in order to help them improve their skills. The effectiveness of simulations for training hold true in our real-world roles as businessmen and managers as well. Just like a pilot training in a simulator doesn’t have to worry about dying in a fiery crash should he or she make a wrong move, business simulations are a perfect way to practice management skills; you know, for those of us that never made it to our fantasy occupation.
A business simulation is a great method used by manager trainers today to allow managers and business owners to practice different scenarios and discover potential outcomes for their actions. There are two main types of business simulations that are often used. The first is called scenario based and the other numeric based.
Numeric-Based Business Simulations
Numeric simulations have less of an interactive role as the trainee is presented with items such as income sheets, employee counts, cash flow statements, and so forth. The trainee must make decisions that result in the numbers being changed. For example, incoming cash flow is down so the trainee must decide on the best way to decrease expenditures, whether it be through decreasing the number of employees, closing locations, shutting down specific departments, or even increasing expenditures by pouring more money into marketing.
Each decision is run through an algorithm and results for each decision displayed. Numeric based scenarios are designed more to provide how decisions made at a high-level affect a company’s numbers, thereby giving the trainee experience on making high-level decisions.
Scenario-Based Business Simulations
Just as the military uses war games to help officers develop strategic thinking, battlefield analysis, situational awareness and other skills necessary to leading and managing a military operation, business trainers use scenario-based simulations to develop a business owner’s or manager’s financial analysis, market analysis, teamwork, leadership skills, and more.
A scenario-based business simulation is sometimes also called role playing due to the fact that trainees act out situation with the trainers. Throughout the scenario, the role playing may be interrupted to allow the trainers and trainee to discuss the situation, review the actions of the trainee, and talk about the outcome and why it happened that way.
Executive Perspectives (http://www.epsims.com) helps businesses learn and improve by training them through business simulations. The author, Art Gib, is a freelance writer.
Understanding The Value Of Relationship Marketing And How To Do It Successfully
Relationship marketing is an extremely valuable element when it comes to a successful business. This marketing type focuses on the fact that customer retention and the overall satisfaction of those customers as a whole is an essential component to the overall success of a business. There were a number of marketing campaigns conducted in the decade of the sixties and the eighties which implemented the use of direct responses in order to confirm the basis of the relationship marketing practice.
The scope of relationship marketing is to zoom in on a particular audience when it comes the promotion of certain services and various products. This form of marketing takes the interests of the people that it is seeking to appeal to, and uses that information in order to appeal to the senses of these people. Relationship marketing is a key component to creating, and building long term relationships that can be productive, beneficial, and long lasting to all of the individuals, clients, and businesses involved.
Successful Strategies to Relationship Marketing
There are many ways that have proven to be quite successful for individuals and businesses that have implemented them. The following details some strategies that are quite effective when it comes to developing long lasting, productive relationships:
1. The first thing that you should do when implementing this particular strategy is to change your tune with potential customers and clients. Many of us get lost in the whole “I can do this or that” attitude and forget that clients and customers really are not interested in our abilities. They want to know how we can fulfill their needs. If you take the attitude of “what do you ultimately need as my customer?” - you are likely to succeed in relationship marketing.
2. The second way that you can be successful when it comes to relationship marketing is to ensure that you communicate with your clients and customers on a regular basis. Constant and frequent communication are the keys to a successful relationship - regarding of what type it is - but especially in ones that involve business.
3. When dealing with customers and clients in an effort to develop your relationship marketing endeavors, it is essential that you are seen as an expert in your field. The more knowledgeable that you appear, the more your clients and customers will lean towards the many products and services that you offer.
4. It is important for you to understand that when you work with clients and customers that their needs and wants will change. It is important that you take the time to ensure that you grow to meet those wants and needs. If you take the time to do this, then you your relationship marketing campaign is sure to expand and grow profusely!
The Benefits of Relationship Marketing
There are many different benefits of relationship marketing. However, it all boils down to about two major benefits. The first benefit is that the clients and the customers that you work with will see you as a value. The second benefit is that you will experience an increase in the amount of profits that you experience from the sales of the products and services that you specialize in. The relationships that you experience will reduce the marketing costs and other expenses that you would have normally experienced without the solid customer and client base that you have developed!
Discover Kevin Sinclair’s system for making profits regardless of whether anyone joins your network marketing business.
Laughter is the Best Motivation
Companies of all sizes are starting to bring in motivational speakers to help rev up the energy levels and enthusiasm among employees. But motivational speakers can benefit areas way outside increased productivity in the business sector, motivational speakers are good for everything from drawing supporters for political campaigns to inspiring spiritual growth.
Most people don’t particularly like being told what to do and how to do their jobs better. And yet, Motivational speakers make a great deal of money doing just that, and people love them for it. It moves some people to tears. They become lifelong fans and purchase all the motivational speakers’ publications. What is the motivational speaker’s secret to telling people their business and gaining disciples? Having a good laugh. Several motivational speakers have left their mark on society by being not only inspiring, but funny.
Milt Abel has been a motivational speaker, who might aptly be called a standup comic as well, for over twenty years. His venues and clients are as varied as the countless anecdotes he tells, ranging from cruise ships, to university campuses, to corporate events. His motivational approach is subtle and unassuming; Abel focuses on observations and experiences with his wife and children. His jokes aren’t critical, divisive or derisive. Few people want to be motivated by a speaker who is mocking or targeting them. Abel suggests positive change through stories that are inoffensive and hilarious, making people more will to let their guard down and listen to what he says.
Another popular motivational speaker, whose own life is as inspiring as the speeches he gives, is Patch Adams, a man introduced to the world by the film of that name starring Robin Williams. Patch Adams is a physician and founder of The Gesundheit Institute, a free health care facility. He is a physical and emotional healer as well as motivational speaker and funny man who believes that happiness and laughter can do more for a person’s health and wellbeing than anything else. Patch Adams travels the country utilizing his medical knowledge and training as a street clown to make people laugh.
Brad Wilcox is a popular motivational speaker among Christian youth. He attends dozens of Christian youth conferences and conventions inspiring a love for the scriptures and dedication to Christian values through his countless stories that are sometimes hilarious, sometimes poignant, and often both.
All of these motivational speakers have different areas of expertise and hope to motivate people in different aspects of their lives, but the common thread, and the secret to their success, is a good dose of humor. It works like preaching, nagging, bribing, and coercing never has and never will.
Motivational speakers (http://www.nationwidespeakers.com/category/3) are entertaining and inspiring for employees, patients, and youth. The author Art Gib is a freelance writer.
How To Improve Your Presentation Skills
Presentation skills are vital to any company that wants to present a good image of their business or present products or services to potential clients or partners. There are numerous providers that offer courses that are designed to help individuals improve their presentation skills. This can be a very positive method of improving presentation skills and because there are a wide variety of different techniques that can be taught by training providers there is a great deal that the participant can learn. This can include plenty of skills and techniques for even the most successful of speakers so that they can also learn from a course.
Many courses will have a component that aims to advise the participants about the theories behind presentation skills and will be the building blocks upon which a person can transform the way in which they relate to other people. There is also a real distinction between the types of presentation skills that can be taught to participants. These skills are generally related to four main sub sections; personal impact; presentation skills; winning practices and media training.
The skills taught in presentation skills training can help people improve their personal impact. This can be extremely effective for people that are extremely knowledgeable on their area of expertise but for some reason struggle to get their knowledge across to their audience in a dynamic way. Presentation skills help improve the ability of a person to have an impact on their audience. Presentation skills can refer to a number of different practical skills as well as speechmaking skills. This can be the ability to set up a good powerpoint presentation or other visual devices.
It can also deal with the clarity of the message and work to improve the intonation and clarity of the individual’s voice. The range of training includes training on how to create a winning pitch. This will work from the concept of the pitch and the organisation of the pitch all the way to vocal techniques that can help improve the presenter’s ability to seal a deal.
There are also training options available for people that want to improve their media skills. This can include the ability to create video footage and other inspiring techniques that make presentations much more exciting.
Presentation skills training is designed to help people improve the clarity of the message that they get across and the impact with which this method is delivered. This can lead to many companies winning more pitches and as a result increasing the profits of the company.
The ability to influence and persuade people to buy in to the ideas that you have is vital. This is what differentiates successful businesses with less successful businesses. Training can help improve the ability to achieve this. It can also be an effective tool in resolving conflict within your company and also encourage harmony within your organisation. This can be extremely beneficial to your company.
Presentation skills are also useful if your company needs to handle media interest and would like to do so with confidence and with competence. This can means that overall a company that can present a good image and demonstrate great presentation skills is more likely to gain and retain clients that want a lasting business relationship.
Shaun Parker is an excellent communicator. He shares his experience to help people that are looking to improve their presentation skills through training.
Add More Communication Arrows to Your Quiver by Writing Books
Put it before them briefly so they will read it, clearly so they will appreciate it, picturesquely so they will remember it and above all accurately so they will be guided by its light.
-Joseph Pulitzer
All of our communication eggs for the 400 Year Project (demonstrating the feasibility and encouraging people to make improvements 20 times faster from 2015 through 2035) were not in the Web site basket: We also planned to create a series of books and articles that would begin sharing helpful information about our project.
One such source of material already existed, and it’s always a good idea to repackage material in new ways that will appeal to different people. Since 1992, I had been analyzing the behaviors of CEOs whose companies grew their stock prices the fastest during the prior three years through an annual series of articles.
This research was the first (to my knowledge) tracking study of CEO best practices, and I had high hopes for what it would reveal. My idea was to locate practices that other company leaders could use to grow 20 times faster than usual.
The study did indeed become a potent source of information. Carol Coles and I used the insights we gained to write about the importance of continuing business model innovation in a later book.
While the CEO tracking study continued, Carol Coles and I asked Robert Metz to assist us in creating a book that would outline a process that almost anyone could use to accomplish 20 times as much in a given area with the same time, effort, and resources. We correctly saw this book as the first major output of the 400 Year Project.
While most people try to write business books to boost their consulting and coaching businesses, our intention was to boost interest in and activity for finding new solutions through the 400 Year Project.
The good news was that we already had such a process that could be adapted for the purpose: the universal problem-solving process that Peter Drucker had noticed that we always used. He had correctly perceived that we had moved past our clients in creating innovative practices.
The key to our effectiveness was a master process that could quickly resolve most problems with superior solutions that no one had ever employed before. In early 1995, Peter began insisting that we take this process and turn it into a universal resource. Otherwise, he was concerned that a tool of immense practical value would be lost, potentially for centuries.
We were flattered by Peter’s high opinion of our work’s potential. The bad news was that Carol and I had no experience with turning processes we used into books.
We turned to Robert Metz to help us. Robert had written a number of investment-related books and had authored one best seller. Robert had helped new authors before and felt confident he could shepherd us through the process.
Having heard a lot about interfering agents and intractable publishers, we asked Robert to advise us on how to get an agent and a publisher. His advice was to simply write the book and then look for a publisher. In this way, we were likely to be able to write a book that contained the content we intended rather than the direction that a publisher wanted us to take.
Beginning around 1997, we started the conceptual development of that book. We needed to lay out a format that people would enjoy using for learning. Early on, we decided to fill the book with as many examples as possible and to make the information accessible to those with many different learning styles.
That approach was quite a challenge because most people have read or experienced relatively little in the way of advanced practices. We had to take the most solid information available and reduce it to tasty bites that contained the essence of the lesson without cloying our readers’ appetites for more.
In one-on-one conversations about the project, it was obvious that people loved specifics and were confused or bored by general principles. But we needed to express general principles, or people wouldn’t know what to do next. What model could we use to get around this problem?
The story of Scheherazade came to mind. She married a king who had executed a string of brides after each wedding night. To stay alive, every night she told her husband a new story that ended in a cliffhanger. She continued to tell the stories for 1001 nights, gave the king three sons, and so avoided execution.
Could we similarly string together a large number of fascinating stories, stories so rewarding that readers would race forward to find the next one? Well, it was worth a try.
Robert, Carol, and I were all accomplished storytellers and had large repertoires of stories we had accumulated from our reading and contacts. We could draw on those resources and see what we could do.
Have you been working on your stories to illustrate what you want others to learn? You’ll need as many as you can when you are ready to use books to help attract attention.
Donald Mitchell is an author of seven books including Adventures of an Optimist, The 2,000 Percent Squared Solution, The 2,000 Percent Solution, The 2,000 Percent Solution Workbook, The Irresistible Growth Enterprise, and The Ultimate Competitive Advantage. Read about creating breakthroughs through 2,000 percent solutions and receive tips by e-mail by registering for free at
http://www.fastforward400.com .
Do Sales Presentations Make You Nervous? Try Taking A Speech Class
The only way to get better at something is to do it. Taking a speech or business communication class will force you to make presentations to audiences of people you don’t know.
Speaking to groups of people that you don’t know can be an extremely hard thing to do. For some it comes naturally but for most of us it’s about as pleasant as getting a tooth pulled. But it doesn’t have to be that way. With most skills that a person develops the old axiom “practice makes perfect” holds especially true. And eventually you might find that you even enjoy giving a presentation.
I’ve always hated giving presentations. I hated it so much that during high school I’d often be absent the day I had to give a speech or presentation. I hated it with a passion. I was always afraid I’d embarrass myself and in school if you do that you still have to show up the next day. Of course most of my fear was self induced.
But from the many speech’s I’ve been forced to give in my life I did manage to learn a couple of lessons. The biggest lesson I have ever learned about giving a presentation actually came in the seventh grade. Our teacher gave us an assignment for a speech that allowed us to pick what we wanted to talk about. For my topic I picked baseball cards. It was my favorite hobby so much so that I worked part time in a sports card shop and spent all my wages on baseball cards. I believe that they were my first ever true love. And when it came time to make my presentation I aced it. I even went beyond my allotted time without realizing it.
I later wondered what was different about that presentation compared to others I’d had to do. Then it dawned on me, I loved my topic and I knew everything about it.
As a small business owner I also love what I do. I love talking to people about what my company does. And I hope that you as a small business owner love what you do because passion can take you a long way. And loving what you do can make that sales presentation go a lot easier. After all you’re just talking about something you love.
My second important lesson came years later while I was in college. To meet my degree requirements I was forced to take the always dreaded speech class. In it I learned to prepare because if you don’t love the subject then you need to know it even better. It will lessen the potential stumbling that might otherwise occur.
But even more importantly it made me get up in front of a group of people I didn’t know. And I had to do it again and again. Naturally I was able to get more comfortable with what I was doing. Later on in my schooling I took Speech two and business communication so that I could stay in practice even though I could have opted for other courses.
I can’t begin to emphasize how important practice is to becoming good at presentations. And practicing in front of friends doesn’t cut it. You need an audience you don’t know. I know for a lot of us going back to school may be a pain but you only need to take speech, not get a degree.
Another way to get regular practice is to volunteer as a guest speaker. I myself periodically volunteer as a guest speaker for one of my former professors who happens to teach small business. A good place to do this would be your local community or junior college where there’s less pressure on you and the professors are more open to people that approach them with such an idea. All you need to do is contact the business department for information. You might even end up liking it. You might dread giving a speech now but with practice you may embrace them.
Cash Miller is an experienced entrepreneur and speaker who has spent over a decade as a small business owner. His years of experience in small business cover a variety of topics. If you are looking for more small business help please check out http://www.smallbusinessdelivered.com
Sell the Store, Not the Chair
As with all technology, there are positives and negatives. This is evident with the web as a new marketing source. Most products are becoming a fast commodity, even if they were not before. If you are interested in buying a chair, you can quickly search on Google, eBay, or any other major search engine, and you will instantly find all chairs of the kind that you are looking for. You will also know the appropriate price of that style of chair, give or take a few dollars.
This wonderful technology makes it much more difficult for a furniture store to compete in the marketplace. The chair may be selling for much less on the net, because the furniture store has a great deal more overhead to run the business.
In order to overcome the problem of being technologically put out of business, the furniture store will have to start selling the benefits of dealing with the store more than the benefits of buying the individual chair.
Imagine two sales clerks who are approached by a prospect looking for a new chair. Sales clerk number one takes the prospect over to the chair that they are interested in and begins to describe the chair and the price. Armed with information from the web, the prospect knows the prices that are available around the country as well as all the details about the chair. The salesman is in the difficult position of having to either match the online price or lose the sale.
Instead of spending time discussing the chair, salesman two discusses the store. The salesman describes the history of the store, the customer service philosophy of the owners, and how the store stands behind its product. When the prospect and salesman arrive at the demonstration of the chair, the customer now has additional factors to consider when comparing the e-store with the furniture store. For example, the prospect also considers the possibility of effortless returns or exchanges if problems develop after the customer takes the chair home.
The purpose of teaching the salesman to spend extra time with a customer to discuss the store’s long-term relationships with customers is to attempt to educate the buyer and create brand loyalty. Over time, brand loyalty and the desire to work with a store that stands behind their product can overcome many objections, including pricing. Price is always an important element, but in most cases and particularly over time, brand loyalty to a local store is stronger. The key is to make sure that the sale is made based on the store benefits and not the chair.
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