4 Things You Can Do to Retain Your New Employee

By Alli Hill

It's disappointing (not to mention downright expensive) when the new employee you've invested so much time and money in doesn't work out.

After countless hours of going through resumes and interviewing candidates, you finally extend a job offer, hash out all the details, process all the new hire paperwork - and at long last your newest team member shows up for their first day of work.

And then a few months later, you're back where you started, digging through a pile of resumes looking for the right person to fill the job your brand new employee just vacated.

If you notice most of your new employees voluntarily quit before their 90-day review, it's time to look closely at how you handle new hires and take it upon yourself to ensure they're set up for success:

1. Prepare your staff. You don't want to upset your current ecosystem by catching your employees unaware of a new member joining the pack. Once you've made the hire and decided on a starting date, let your current staff know about it and recruit their help in starting your new hire off on the right foot.
2. Set the job expectations up front. Give a detailed description of what the job will entail, and also what it might entail. This way the candidate will understand exactly what you expect from the start, instead of feeling like they're being asked to do things outside of their job description.
3. Engage them. The sooner you can make your new hire feel like a part of the team, the sooner he or she will take a proactive approach to their work. Make a point to speak to them every day, get them involved in team discussions, or delegate tasks to them - the point is to help your new employee break the ice and start warming up to their new environment.
4. Ask for specific feedback. Asking specific questions can elicit a more honest response from the employee, rather than simply asking "How's everything going?" Instead, ask them how they like a specific aspect of the job, if they need help finding their way around, what could make their training period better, etc. Most importantly, consider the feedback they've given you and see how you can use their input to create a better experience.

Maybe you occasionally have a new employee who just can't make the cut, leaves for a better opportunity, or moves on for other reasons beyond your control. You can't do much about those things, so keep your focus on what you can control, like the the actions listed above. It might make all the difference.

7 Marketing Lessons from the Presidential Election

by Jimmy Harris

As the owner of a small business, I've been watching the presidential race very closely. As an advertising professional, I've also been watching this race and some others to see if I can learn a thing or two from how the candidates are managing their advertising. It's been a lot of fun, and I think I've come away with some interesting observations. I hope they help! 

1 – Advertising Matters

Seem obvious? You might be surprised how many people say they just rely on “word of mouth” to expand their customer base. Can you imagine what would happen if our presidential candidates relied on word of mouth? Just this morning I heard that one of the candidates is spending four times what the other one is in advertising. And we’re talking hundreds of millions of dollars here. Why are they spending so much? Because they know something you and I need to understand. Advertising matters! 

The current race leader is less experienced, has politically problematic ties to unsavory characters in his past, and was named the most liberal member of the senate by a major bipartisan publication. By contrast, his opponent has a long record of service with no questionable ties, and by most measures is regarded to be a true centrist (which is typically what the electorate favors)… yet he is trailing in the polls. Why? There is more than one reason, but none greater than the fact that the younger candidate is outspending his opponent 4 to 1 in advertising! The lesson? If you want to win, you MUST advertise! 

2 – Negative Advertising Hurts the Advertiser

Two years ago here in my hometown, it was revealed that our state representative of 22 years did not pay her taxes for a number of years, and was engaged in some other questionable activities. Still, I advised her challenger to ignore that, and to spend his time speaking positively about what he could accomplish in Atlanta for the people who live here. But he had a consultant who told him to go negative, and he did. 

It was a close race, but in the end, he lost. I was perplexed, so I asked a lot of folks around here why they voted the way they did. To a person, they said they would have voted for him until they started getting mailings and calls talking about the negatives of the incumbent. In other words, people voted for someone who was manifestly corrupt rather than someone who was perceived as “negative”. What’s the business lesson for us? Never, never, never denigrate your competition – it will come back to bite you! 

3 –The Sizzle is just as important as the Steak! 

Been watching the debates? Have you noticed that after each debate, there is always a discussion about who was more poised or at ease? Through the years, it has always been interesting to me that the pundits seem to give the debate to the candidate who appeared more “presidential” over the one who landed more punches on the issues. Our lesson? While image isn’t everything, it is extremely important. Like it or not, image unquestionably affects the choices voters and customers make. We ignore this fact at our own peril. While what we say certainly does matter, how we say it matters every bit as much. 

4 – Emotion trumps Logic  

This is closely related to the Sizzle vs. Steak. This is one I’ve noticed during TV debates between party strategists. While the host may ask perfectly reasonable questions, the audience shouldn’t expect fair-minded replies. Each debater is emotionally invested in his or her party, and will hold their ground regardless of the facts presented. Why? Because they have already decided who they are voting for based on emotional connections... now they just need “logical” arguments to justify their views to their friends. 

Of course, we can see this even closer to home if we want to. Remember your friend who bought a $34,000 sports car because it’s going to help them “save gas”? Of course you could show them mathematically that it will take them 22 years to simply break even based on the cost of their older, perfectly good sedan . . . but you both know instinctively that he bought the car because it makes him feel younger, or more successful, not because it’s saving him gas money. In other words, he bought the car for emotional reasons – the gas thing is just to help him justify his purchase to you, his wife, and his mother-in-law! What’s the lesson? Good advertising appeals to emotion first, and logic second! 

5 – Sell to your Best Customers first

Do you get a lot of political mail? I certainly do. But have you noticed that the mail is pretty lopsided? Almost all of the political mail I get is from the party I’ve been actively voting in for the past 20 years. At first glance, it seems like that wouldn’t make sense, doesn’t it? Why try to preach to the already converted, right? Wrong. My party sends me mail, and I read it, I tell others about it, and I sometimes even send a check to help. The lesson is this: It’s always cheaper to sell more to your current customers than it is to convert people who aren’t already your customers. 

6 –The early bird gets the worm! 

Have you noticed that this year more young people are registering to vote than ever in the history of our nation? Have you noticed that they are almost all of one political party? Is it a coincidence that it’s the same party that’s raising so much money? And how do you think this will affect future elections? Do you think these young voters who have registered under one party will be easily swayed to switch parties 4 or 8 or even 12 years from now? Not likely. By capturing the hearts and minds of young voters early, chances are, they will have most of them for life. 

Our lesson? Make first impressions count! When “Joe the Plumber” calls your store that very first time because he finally decided to start a new business and is now looking for a supplier, will you capture him as a customer? Will you impress him? If you have to place him on hold for any reason, will he wonder whether you’ve hung up on him, or will he be impressed that he has called an established, professional, trustworthy company worthy of being his supplier for life? Don’t waste your opportunity to make a good first impression! 

7 – Focus on your customers needs! 

I keep hearing one of the candidates say to all of us, “Ask yourself this question, are you better off today, than you were 8 years ago”(when the incumbent took office)? The other candidate is asking “Are you better off today than you were 2 years ago, when the congressional power flipped”? Notice that neither of the candidates is just giving you their resume. Why? Because they know most voters don’t care! And truthfully – do you care? Or do you want to vote for the man who seems to have a better plan for your business and your family? This is another lesson that might seem self-evident, but if you listen to the radio, you’ll hear business after business tell you how many years they’ve been around, how much collective experience they have and all about their “friendly, courteous staff”. Those advertisers are wasting their money. No one cares. Like the presidential candidates, we will all do better if we will Focus on the Needs of the Customer! 

Well, I’m sure there are hundreds of lessons we could learn from this election, and the next time you hear from me, we’ll have a new president-elect. Whichever side wins, remember that the backbone of the American economy is small business. And at the head of each small business is a man or woman who is putting in the hours, creating opportunities and providing the true economic infrastructure upon which this nation was founded. 

That, my friend, is true patriotism. And I want you to know that I appreciate you. 

Till next time . . .

7 Things You Can Do This Week to Cement Customer Loyalty

by Kent Covington

We’ve all heard it said that “it costs a lot more to gain new customers than to keep the ones you have”. It’s almost a cliché, but this nugget of business wisdom is repeated so often because it’s true! Here are 7 things you can do to cement customer loyalty in your store (in no particular order): 

1. Turn negatives into positives. You probably don’t get many complaints, but when you do run into an unhappy customer, view it as an opportunity rather than a nuisance. Remember that the most important thing you can do is CARE! Have you ever had a bad experience as a consumer and the staff, or even the management seemed genuinely apathetic and unconcerned by your lousy experience? Make sure your customers know you genuinely care, and then go above and beyond to solve their problem. Nothing does more to cement loyalty than a problem that is resolved, quickly, thoroughly, and with care. 

2. Begin regularly conducting surveys and ask your customers for feedback.No matter how well you know them and understand them, you will almost certainly learn something new when you make a concerted effort to ask them about their needs. Your customers will appreciate the fact that you’re listening and are in tune with their needs. And of course, when you are better equipped to serve the individual needs of your customers, it can serve to enhance loyalty. 

3. Start rewarding and honoring your customers. Why not occasionally surprise your ‘regulars’ with a $10 Starbucks gift card or a gift certificate for dinner at a local restaurant. No of course, what you give away to a particular customer must be commensurate to what they spend with you. All clients will not be on an equal plane, but try to reward all of your regular customers in some way. Your best customers deserve special recognition. Perhaps you could reward certain clients with a “Platinum Customer Card” that represents certain privileges. You could offer Platinum Customer card holders extended delivery hours or discounts on new products. Let your best customers know that they’re part of an exclusive group of highly valued customers. Don’t worry… you can do it without making everyone else feel undervalued. 

4. Develop a game plan to stay in regular contact with your customers. Out of sight = out of mind. Consider developing a monthly newsletter in which you could feature helpful tips to make your customers’ job easier, make them aware of new product releases, and more. Direct mail can also be a helpful tool to stay in touch. Some customers visit your store quite regularly. Others don’t. But don’t let any of them forget about you. 

5. Customer service. Obvious right? Sure it is, but here’s the thing… good service isn’t enough. It has to be BETTER than your competitors’ service! Find out what level of service your competitors provide and then go a mile beyond that! We worked with a business that once drove an hour to deliver a five-dollar part. Was five bucks worth the drive? Of course not, but the client they were delivering to was one of their better customers, so they did it anyway. Sure, they lost a little money on the delivery, but after that simple act of business kindness, they had a customer for life. Remember also that little things can make a big difference. For example: Offering your customers complimentary coffee is nothing out of the ordinary. But offering FRESH complimentary coffee throughout the day IS unusual. Staying on top of the details lets your customers know you care. 

6. Know your customers’ names and identify each of them personally. This has to be done intentionally. Direct your staff to look for unfamiliar faces and ask if they’ve been in your store before. If they have, ask them to remind you of their name. If not, introduce yourself and make sure to remember their name. If necessary, write it down when they leave and say it out loud. Don’t forget it. A personal greeting can go a long way toward developing customer loyalty. 

7. Be Available. You may already offer a 24/7 emergency phone number, but if not, it’s certainly worth considering. The first time one of your clients uses this service (while your competitors are closed and unavailable), you will have earned a great deal of good will with your customer! Additionally, try to keep longer hours than your competitors. If they close at 4pm, consider closing at 5 or 6pm. If they open at 7am, perhaps you should open at 6am.

7 Ways to Win More

by Jimmy Harris

Despite a difficult economy, many WinWholesale companies continue to thrive despite the economic obstacles. From what I have seen, most of them have two things in common: 

First, they maintain a positive outlook, and second, they are staying on offense. 

Now, I can’t help you much with the positive outlook, but I can talk with you about how to stay on offense. 

To grow your company in a slow economy, you have to keep inviting new customers to do business with you, and continually invite your existing customers to do more business with you. We can help you do both. In fact, we’ve designed the WinOnHold marketing system to help you excel and grow your company… even in tough times. 

Here are 7 ways we can help you WIN: 

1. Increase Sales To Existing Customers. 
WinOnHold marketing is one of the most efficient ways to inform and remind your customers of all the products you carry. Not only your main supplies, but your new products, and your ancillary products, like tools and supplies. If you’re not using it, you’re leaving money on the table. 

2. Convert More New Callers Into Customers. 
When you place potential customers on hold there’s something you should know: If they hear silence, 60% of them will hang up within one minute. But when they hear professionally produced on-hold advertising, callers will stay on the line 2-3 times longer. We’ll help you prevent dropped calls and the lost sales that result from them, and convert callers into customers. 

3. Increase Attendance at Special Events. 
“Counter Days” or “Customer Appreciation Days” are a great way to get people in the door, increase customer loyalty, and show off your new product lines. WinOnHold Marketing is a great way to get more people in the door. More people = more money. 

4. Provide Professional Tools to get Your Message Across. 
When you want to let your customers know about a new product you are carrying, or remind them of products you’ve been carrying for years, WinOnHold marketing makes it easy! You can choose from more than two thousand expertly crafted scripts written exclusively for WinWholesale companies. Whatever the model, line, or product you wish to advertise, chances are, there’s a good chance we’ve already written a script - or multiple scripts - for that specific product. And if you don’t find what you’re looking for, one of our certified professional copywriters will write a script for you that will accomplish your goals, at no additional cost. 

5. Save You Time And Make Your Job Easier. 
WinOnHold makes creating and updating your on-hold messages a walk in the park. Simply log in at WinOnHold.com, and use our step-by-step “production builder” to create an on-hold message that suits the image of your company, and accomplishes your marketing goals. It’s straight forward and easy to use, so you can create your on-hold message quickly, and save a little time in your busy day. 

6. Help You Pay For It. 
We’ve developed a co-op advertising documentation tool exclusively for Winwholesale companies. This free tool tracks exactly how much you’re spending on each vendor you’re advertising through winonhold. You can access this information any time you want. This one part of our service could make an already affordable on-hold marketing service virtually free. And since we created it, you can’t get it anywhere else. 

7. Earn Your Trust And Work Hard to Keep It. 
We began serving our first WinWholesale customer in 1996, and now have the privilege of serving more than 270 WinWholesale companies across the US. And we’re WinWholesale’s only “Official Preferred Provider” of on-hold marketing services, so we work hard to protect our reputation. You can count on us to be respectful and grateful for you business. 

And I’ve just added one more thing. Since we’re from Georgia, we try to keep things simple, so I’m calling this the

“If you ain’t happy, we ain’t happy guarantee” 

Here’s how the guarantee works: If you decide within 30 days of beginning your WinOnHold marketing service that it’s not worth every penny, you just call me. If I can’t make you happy, you can cancel your service, and we will mail you a check equal to 110% of your investment! 

I know what you’re asking ”how much is it”? That’s the good news. We’ve designed three very affordable levels of service depending on the size of your store, and your marketing goals. Even the most expensive level will cost you less per month than a daily trip to Starbucks (for one)! 

Ready to get started? Just give me a call at the number below, and we’ll have you playing on offense in just a few days!

(888) 465-3661

10 Things Lowes and Home Depot can’t offer…BUT YOU CAN!

by Kent Covington

1. KNOW THEIR NAME: With rare exception, customers will not be remembered and greeted by name at the megastores. As the old Cheers theme song reminded us “You want to go where everybody knows your name”. Make a point to learn and remember your customers’ names. Your customer will be delighted the first time he’s greeted with a friendly “Hey Rodger!”(unless of course his name is John)!

2. FAST, ACCESSIBLE SERVICE: You can spend an eternity trying to find someone to help you in the aisles of the local home improvement megastore. You can get a leg up on the big boys by making sure you always staff enough counter help to ensure fast, personal service.

3. GO THE EXTRA YARD: Forget the extra MILE, you would be lucky at a megastore to find anyone willing to go a few extra feet to serve you better. What can you do to serve your customers beyond what they expect? Sometimes, one act of kindness will change everything. Driving across town to deliver a single part may cost you more than the profit you made on the part, but it’s just that sort of action that will generate a loyalty worth thousands! And you can be sure they won’t get that kind of service at the megastores.

4. PROMPT TELEPHONE CUSTOMER SERVICE: As I type this, I am on hold with a local Home Depot store. I called just to see how long I would have to wait to talk to a person. Let me just say… it’s not pretty. Don’t keep your customers holding any longer than you have to, and DO keep your on-hold marketing fresh, and you’ll easily outshine the megastores on the telephone.

5. 24 HOUR EMERGENCY SERVICE: If you don’t offer this benefit, consider doing so. Even if you don’t see a great deal of direct profit in this service, just knowing that you would come out after hours will make all the difference and set you apart from the competition. Use your On-Hold marketing program to help get the word out.

6. CERTIFICATION SEMINARS: Lowe’s and Home Depot have do-it-yourself seminars, but they don’t offer service certification training. There’s a good chance you’re already offering this. If not, why not?

7. CUSTOMER APPRECIATION DAYS: Make the very most of these events. Try different things and don’t be afraid to experiment. Keep working to improve these events, because it’s one more personal touch the megastores don’t offer.

8. ADVICE: Hire knowledgeable people and train them well, but don’t stop there. Make sure they enjoy sharing it. If your staff has a great deal of knowledge, but they don’t share it or customers have to pry it out of them, it won’t do much good. A person your customer can turn to for answers is worth a lot. Good luck finding expert advice at the megastores.

9. FREE DELIVERY: Home Depot and Lowe’s charge for delivery. So if there’s any way you can possibly afford to offer free delivery to your customers… you should. Of course there must be limits. You can’t drive across the state to deliver a $5 part every day. But be as generous in your delivery policies as you can afford to be, because free delivery will go a long way toward setting your store apart from the big-box guys.

10. LOCAL REWARDS: What other types of businesses do your clients patronize? Can you work together with any of those businesses to offer discounts to one another’s clients? Or how about an arrangement with a locally owned steakhouse? You could solidify loyalty with your most valuable clients by surprising them with a gift certificate for a steak dinner. The Megastores don’t have your local connections. Make the most of them.

13 Tips to Keep Your Christmas Tree Fresh

By Johnny Gailer

Thanksgiving has passed, which means you can officially start decorating for Christmas without every Grinch and Scrooge telling you "It's too early to start getting ready for Christmas!" (By the way, Christmas trees and light displays sprang up overnight here in downtown Toccoa, Georgia, well before the smell of roasted turkey invaded every home in America.) If you haven't already done so, you may soon start your search for your Christmas tree.

I got mine the week of Thanksgiving. This is the first real tree I've had in my house since I got married two years ago. As I was getting the space ready to bring the tree inside, besides keeping water on it I had no idea what I was supposed to do to keep this thing alive.

So I went to Google.

If you opt for a real tree this year and want to make sure it lasts through Christmas, check out these 13 Tips for Caring for your Tree, brought to you from the National Christmas Tree Association.

Beliefs That Limit a Salesperson's Performance

by Dave Kahle

"I have great relationships with my customers." That is one of the most debilitating myths around - one that cripples the performance of the average corporate salesperson. And, yet, it is endemic within the population of salespeople. I am not sure there is a salesperson anywhere who doesn't, to some extent, believe it.

For example, I have never yet had a salesperson come to me at the break of one of my seminars and sheepishly confess that his customers really don't like him. It's never happened and probably never will. 

I have, on the other hand, heard senior sales executives, when discussing their sales force with me, allude to someone(s) whom they hired from a competitor because "they had such great relationships with their customers that they were going to bring their business with them." And, almost universally, it didn't quite happen that way. The salespeople, and their prospective employers, thought, erroneously, that the salesperson had great relationships with their customers. They subscribed to the myth. 

In recent years, I have come to see the belief that a salesperson has "great relationships" as something of a smoke-screen. It's used by the salesperson to obscure a deeper issue - their lack of sales expertise. As long as they believe they have great relationships, they don't need to be competent salespeople, because after all, their customers like them and will buy from them no matter how poorly executed are their sales competencies. 

Here's another problem. Salespeople who profess to have great relationships with their customers all too often limit the preponderance of their sales calls to those with whom they have these relationships. In other words, the existence of the perceived relationship dictates their strategic decisions - they go where it is easiest, and spend time with those whom they perceive like them. 

That, by itself, is OK, as far as it goes. The performance-hindering aspect comes in when they do that instead of going where it is smart, where there is greater potential. Thus, they allow their perception of the relationship to influence their strategic decisions. It ought to work the other way around. The potential of the customer should dictate where the salesperson builds relationships. 

The myth that they have great relationships with their customers, then, produces two major obstacles to sales success: it covers up the salesperson's lack of sales competencies, and it prevents them from working smart. 

The best salespeople make sound strategic decisions, prioritizing and targeting their accounts based on the potential, and then work at building positive business relationships with those important people. The best salespeople understand that just as important as the quality of the relationship is their ability to uncover the customer's needs and wants at deeper levels, to position their products and services as perfect matches to the customer's needs, to manage the project by gaining agreement at every step of the way, and to leverage those positive transactions to identify further opportunities. In other words, the best salespeople are good at selling, whereas the relationship-reliant salespeople are only good at getting along with those people who get along with them. 

There is a huge qualitative disparity here. The best salespeople also understand that a positive business relationship is, particularly in today's world of unrelenting change, a necessary piece of the entire sales puzzle. However, it is only a piece, necessary but not sufficient. It provides access to the key people, and perhaps the preference of the customer. It oils the gears of the transaction, and makes every step in the sales process work smoother. But only rarely does a customer buy solely because of the relationship with the salesperson. 

The product has to be adequate, the service reliable, the pricing acceptable. The company has to be able to stand up to its promises; the other employees of the company must be people of competence and integrity. There must be an infrastructure and organization behind the salesperson that supports his presentations, and completes his promises. It is because these other issues are, in sum, more important to the customer than the relationship with the salesperson that only the small minority of customers will follow a salesperson from one company to another. 

A positive business relationship, then, is a necessary but not sufficient means to an end. When complemented with effective sales competencies and implemented strategically, it can be a powerful asset to the salesperson. 

However, when salespeople use the belief that they have great relationships with their customers to excuse their lack of sales competencies and to derail them from strategically focusing on the highest potential customers, it becomes one of the most debilitating beliefs. 

About Dave Kahle, The Growth Coach: Dave Kahle is a consultant and trainer who helps his clients increase their sales and improve their sales productivity. Dave has trained thousands of salespeople to be more successful in the Information Age economy. He is the author of over 500 articles, a monthly e-zine, and six books. You can join Dave's "Thinking About Sales Ezine" on-line at www.davekahle.com.

Can You Afford to LOSE $67,500?

On-Hold Marketing. Sounds like pretty boring stuff, doesn't it?  But did you know that in a study conducted by AT&T some years ago, some 16% of people said they had purchased something they learned about when they were waiting on hold?

Still not excited?  What if I told you that using conservative numbers a well-produced On-Hold Marketing program could make your income go up by $67,500? Hard to believe? Let's follow the numbers.

From our conversations, we have determined that the average WinWholesale company fields about 400 calls per week, and that at least half of those calls will be placed on hold. So chances are, you place 200 calls on hold per week.

Remember the 16% number above?  Ok, let's cut it in half, to 8%, just too hedge our bets.  So, if you place 200 calls on hold per week, an average of 16 people (8% of 200) will decide to buy something from you as a result of your on-hold marketing. 

If your average ticket increase is just $50, with a 20% target margin, you have a $12.50 increase per sale.  You can do the math - that's $10,000 per year in extra volume.  And as you can see we're using very, very conservative numbers.

Of course if you just have silence - or even worse some radio station advertising your competitor - that's $10,000 of lost sales! 

But let’s take it a step further. 

Let’s say that once a month you get a call from someone who is looking for a supplier to take care of their needs on a regular basis.  Just once per month.  Let’s assume that some of those potential customers decide to go with your company because when they are on hold they hear about something that really impresses them.  Maybe it’s your store hours.  Maybe it’s your free delivery services.  Maybe it’s a product that you carry that means a lot to them. Whatever your message, it has a positive impact, and (again using conservative figures) you end up with 2 of the 12.  What would that be worth to you?  

Assuming an average customer worth $25k in annual sales and a 25% margin, you just made an extra $12,500 on just two new average sized customers!   Add that to the extra 10k you made in add-on sales, and you’ve got an additional $22,500 just this year.  

Then of course, if you do things well at your store, you’ll keep those customers, and you can add that same number year after year!  In just three years, that comes up to $67,500!  

But even if my numbers are wrong by half, you’re still looking at an increase of over $32,225. Even if I’ve overshot my numbers by a factor of 4, you’ll still make over $16,000 more by simply installing a WinOnHold on-hold marketing system.
 
The real question is, can you afford to LOSE $67,500 - or possibly many times that amount - over the next few years? 

It’s inexpensive.  It’s easy to use, and over 270 WinWholesale stores like yours are using it right now! 

So if you’re ready to stop losing money to your competitors, Click here to find out more or just call us today to get started!   We can have you signed up in 5 minutes and you could be enjoying the benefits of this great money-making service in just one week or less from today! 

Why not call now?  

1.888.465.3661