by Tom on January 26, 2009
Giving constructive criticism. It’s what every customer feels like his responsibility towards the greater good of the company. Even between competitors it’s like one company just wants to help the other company. But what happens when criticism turns ugly? There’s a fine line between constructive criticism or just being a bad competitor.
True story: Two companies I really like doing business with are competitors. They operate their businesses close to each other and are among the best in what they do. But they can’t stop being overcritical for one another. At first it started out like something that I thought was constructive criticism with a bit of sarcasm, but in fact it was just downward negative just for the fun of it.
So what did they achieve towards me, the customer?
· I try to avoid as much in depth conversation as I can. I know at some point it’ll turn and end up discussing that topic again. So why bother? As a result, it’s very difficult to build a good relationship because that’s something I find important.
· I hate the fact I have to watch out what I say. It’s basically their problem and they try to suck me in. Why? What are they trying to achieve? Winning me over by bad-mouthing the other?
· I feel like I have to give an equal amount of my attention to both of them. Because sooner or later, it turns back to me and I feel bad.
· If I feel like there’s something I should tell one of them, as in real constructive criticism, I don’t. I shut up, because I know they’ll misinterpret it and feel like I’m favouring one of them. As a result, they miss out on something that might benefit them.
It’s good to remember that companies are bound to their customers, but it doesn’t work the other way around. Trying to force a choice upon him by giving him bad information is eventually driving him away. People don’t like to be involved in negative discussions. If you’d be treated like a friend, wouldn’t you like spending more time? Doing more business with something you don’t have any negative feelings with? Wouldn’t that eventually benefit both?
by Tom on January 25, 2009
For those who feel offended by the title… I’m going to swing it in a good way… no worries. But what’s the number one reason men don’t like to shop together with women? It’s because women can’t make up their mind, or so it seems. In fact most times they already have a good picture of what they want in their head and are determined to find something that fits that description. If they don’t find it, they won’t buy anything.
Women will spend a whole day, just looking for that item on her list. They’ll go to every store in the known galaxy and ask a million questions to the sales rep. They won’t make a problem of waiting in queue for hours or coming back two, three or four times if they want to be sure. Men are different shoppers. They bring it back to basics. If they need new pants, that’s what they’re going to buy… pants. Not pants that go with something they’ve bought half a year ago. Nope, just pants. They’re easy shoppers, they don’t need information and most times, the first shop they go to if they need something is also the last one they visit.
So what can we learn from this?
· Information is key. When women ask information, give them all the usefull information you can. Remember, she probably went to some of your competitors and if she hasn’t, she’s probably going to.
· Know your competition. If that isn’t already the case. Even if you don’t have the best product or even the best price, you can convince women by giving better information than your competitor. Imagine how she would feel about you compared to your competitor when you have all the answers?
· Don’t be needy. Women have a pretty good description of what they want. Because of it, it’s a waste of time trying to convince them, it’s just not what they’re looking for. Don’t try to sell something they don’t need or want, when they come home they’ll regret the purchase for a long time and will always link it with you and the information you gave. While men will blame it on their own stupidity, women will blame you.
· Understand what she asks. Especially men find it hard to read between the lines. When a woman asks if a microwave is ’solid’, she doesn’t want a lengthy description of materials that were used. She wants to know if her kids can destroy it when she’s in the other room for five seconds.
Women have a higher level of empathy, one that men will probably never understand. However it can be a great way to present the information you need to give and in a way create a relationship out of trust, rather than out of convenience.
I’m all for separate training. Give sales reps training in how to handle women and how to handle men. And maybe how to handle men accompanied by women 
by Tom on January 23, 2009
Even if you have to deal with a thousand of customers each day, they all want to be ’special’, wanting to be treated like ‘the’ customer you have been waiting for all day. Going the extra mile to make them feel special is well worth it in the end. But it’s not easy… people who work with customers have the tendancy to say what’s on their mind. And that’s not a bad thing, they’re trained enough NOT to say something bad, but why not try a little bit harder?
True story: Went for a late night business dinner to a grill restaurant in Mechelen, Belgium. Not a famous place, just something we chose at the spot. We sat there, talking for a while when the place started to fill up. Few place downstairs were left. A party of 4 comes in that had a reservation for 7PM. It was almost 8PM, so they were obviously late. The host gives them a (friendly!) speech about how they are late, the table at the window has been taken and that they only have a place at the window left, but upstairs.
Why make them feel bad about themselves?
1. They might have a valid reason for coming late, but the host never gave them a chance to explain.
2. Why make them feel bad in front of all the other customers. Nobody likes to be labeled as being tardy.
3. Say the person who made the reservation made a simple mistake (haven’t we all done that?) Why confront him in front of his guests?
4. Last but not least… they had space upstairs, at the window, just like the customer reserved. Why bother starting a discussion (however small it may be…)
“Yes we’ve reserved a special table upstairs at the window‘, that’s all it would take. You’d have a customer that felt special because he got the ‘VIP’-treatment. No matter it was a white lie. Who cares? Customer happy, his guests happy, you happy.
by Tom on January 22, 2009
Second in the Networking Thursdays series. Last week we discussed the need to define networks you want to be involved in. This week it’s all about expectations. What do you expect from others you meet and what do expect from yourself?
How would you feel when someone you just met calls and asks something? You would probably help him, but you wouldn’t feel too good about it. You had high expectations during some networkingsession, thought you would find some new business, came home disappointed and received an e-mail from someone asking you a favour.
Never go to a networking event expecting to find new business. Networking is about giving rather than receiving. And maybe that’s not entirely right. Maybe people tend to go to networking events expecting too much. They expect to find the million dollar contract because they need it. And there could be the difference… between people who network because they NEED to and those who do because they WANT to. The latter has a better chance of gaining something out of it in the long run than the first one.
In fact, you should be honoured that other people ask you something. People hardly ever recognize the power and respect that comes with a question. It means the person asking the question thinks you can help them, have the answer, have more knowledge about the subject than they do,… it should feed your ego to answer questions. (serious questions, not giving directions to the bathroom ofcourse) And indirectly it means that whenever they (or someone from their network) has a problem they can’t fix, you’re the ‘expert’ they’ll call to fix it! Only than… after all the IF’s, that’s when networking pays off.
by Tom on January 21, 2009
I was just thinking about something today… I’m an incredibly lucky bastard. I work in a place where we deal with a lot of problems (just like at other places I guess), we have tight deadlines and like in every company are understaffed (ever hear someone say they’re overstaffed?)
But I’ve never experienced a company that gave that much freedom to develop my own skills, learn, make mistakes, fail and gain experience. ‘Cause anyway you slice it, PhD or not… experience matters, and that’s what a lot of employers fail to see. Gaining experience means taking risks, even not-calculated ones. If you want to learn, you have to face the fact that you MIGHT fall flat on your face. Your employer knows that risk, should acknowledge it and keep guiding you towards whatever goal it is you want to reach. Because great leaders aren’t people who bend over facts & figures, they’ve got people that do it for them, they’re the ones who educate, who steer in the right direction, who basically make us a better employee.
Great quote from philosopher and management guru Rocky
“But it ain’t about how hard you hit, it is about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward, how much can you take and keep moving forward. That’s how winning is done!”
With all the stuff we have to deal with… with all those people, all the problems we have to fix in a heartbeat. I’m thankfull for everyone who works here. There’s not a person in this building that wouldn’t try to do the impossible to help you. How rare is that? At how much companies can you experience that?
I just hope my boss doesn’t read this post… he’ll be annoying, telling me I have no reason to ask for a raise… But I still want one… damned!
