Lawrence Fine

Some people tend to not care about how they place or show what they have for sale. They make the assumption that their customers can make a decision without regard for the order. If they have a store, they figure if they show their products, people will either like them or not, regardless of what they see first, or what is next to what. Others realize that placement, order and location are extremely important.

WalMart spends millions of dollars on software to keep them informed of buying patterns. They know what products people buy together (for example, which salsa people buy when they also purchase a certain brand of chips). They realize that placement is VITAL to increasing sales.

While most of us aren’t WalMarts, we do have things available to purchase (products, services, time etc). Knowing when to offer the product, where and how will frequently make a big difference in whether you make the sale or not.

As an example, if a Realtor is going to show 3 houses to a prospective buyer, if they show the most expensive house first, it might scare the buyer off plus the other houses might be disappointments. On the other hand, showing the least expensive house first might open the buyers eyes as to what things cost for that price, and then showing a higher priced house next would allow the potential buyer to see options. If the third house shown is the most expensive of the houses (and hopefully the nicest) the potential buyer will have seen the whole range without getting sticker shock.

For lower priced items (there are a lot of other factors for high end purchases such as houses) people will tend to purchase the middle priced item. They don’t want to be perceived as buying the “cheap” one and the most expensive one is “too much”. Good salespeople can “manipulate” buyers by making sure the product they want purchased is the middle one, even if it means putting in a higher priced option they know wont be of interest.

Whether the placement in your case is with pricing, on the shelves or location on a website, placement is vital to the success of your business. Make sure you take it very seriously.

Have a great day!

Lawrence

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Many people want to dabble in various things and think they will be successful dabbling. The problem is, the areas they are dabbling in, others are specializing in.

It’s not that it’s impossible to become successful at something you are just dabbling in but rather, you are much more likely to be successful actually specializing in an area and becoming an expert.

If you are suffering from a serious heart condition, do you go to a general practitioner who might have a little bit of training in that field or do you go to a cardiologist who specializes in the field and is a true expert?

Specialize in something, become a true expert and then if you want to dabble in other areas, dabble away!

Have a great day!

Lawrence

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When going into any type of negotiations (and realize we deal in negotiations every day) it’s important to know what we are willing to compromise on and what we are not.

If, in the middle of the negotiations we need to keep determining if we are willing to compromise on that part or not, it will negatively affect our negotiations. There are some things in life we are willing to compromise upon and others we are not. Knowing what these are ahead of time will make a big difference in our negotiations.

One thing to realize though is even once we decide what we are and aren’t willing to compromise on, we must keep an open mind. If you are in an employment contract negotiation and you determine that having great health benefits is something you wont compromise on, if they make an offer where the monetary compensation is so much more than you expected but there are no health benefits, you might be able to take the compensation and use the excess to pay for the health benefits on your own. In other words, if something is so important you have determined you will not compromise, still go in with an open mind to see if there is a way to get what you want in a convention or unconventional way.

Know what you will compromise on and the decisions become much easier for all

Have a great day!

Lawrence

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If you were to die tomorrow, have you made a positive impact on at least one persons life? Are they a better person because of you? Have you actually made a difference?

If the answer is no, you better make a difference today!

Have a great day!

Lawrence

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It might seem obvious that you should sell people what they want. However, the problem arises when they might want one thing yet need something else. If you sell them what they want but not what they need, they will end up dissatisfied and telling them afterward “it’s not my fault, that is what you wanted” wont do you much good when it comes to repeat customers/sales

Instead, sell them what they want but also give them what they need. Think of it as a bonus. They leave happy short term because they got what they wanted and long term they will be happy because they also received what they needed.

Sometimes you have to be sneaky (think of it as providing a bonus) but long term, it will be best for all concerned

Have a great day!

Lawrence

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Rather than trying to find clients or customers who want what your offering, why not try to anticipate what they want/need and provide that instead?

Yesterday I was trying out a new piece of software and had a question so called the developer. Not only was he helpful in answering my question but based on my question, he anticipated a piece of software I might also be interested in (not yet developed) and wanted feedback regarding what I thought the demand would be. This company isn’t sitting back hoping people buy their software, they are being proactive in trying to give their customers what they want to keep them as customers.

Admittedly, the difficult thing about this is it does require listening to what your customers are saying. Too often, we want to talk to people rather than talk with people. If you truly listen to people, they will make it very easy to anticipate their future needs.

The alternative is to do what you have always been doing and if that is working for you, great. However, realize it might not continue working in the future

Have a great day!

Lawrence

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Once an event is done, you can’t change it so take some time to learn from it and then move on.

Too often, we spend too much time celebrating or commiserating about things that have happened in the past and because of this, we miss great opportunities in the future.

It’s important to learn from the past but then let it go and celebrate the future!

Have a great day!

Lawrence

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Recently, I have had a couple of clients want to start projects that could have been done years ago but they decided against it.

When they said “no” in the past what they really meant was “not now”. While the offer didn’t change, the thing that did change was the timing. For whatever reason, they (or their business) are in a different situation then they were previously. If you give up on them upon hearing “no” you will most likely lose the opportunity when the situation changes and they are ready.

This does NOT mean to keep harassing people even after they say no. Rather, let it go, do occasional follow up and when they are ready, they will let you know.

Remember, sometimes no means not now

Have a great day!

Lawrence

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Things have changed so much in recent years. Security issues have changed. Communication methods have changed. The work place has changed.

With all of these changes, the obvious question is, have you changed as well?

If not, should you?

Just something to think about

Have a great day!

Lawrence

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When you get asked if you can provide a product or service outside of what you currently offer, be careful about saying no too quickly.

Just because you don’t currently offer the product or service doesn’t mean it’s not something you might consider if the price is right. This ties in closely with some recent posts I have written about looking for new opportunities.

An easy example might be if a regular customer of a bar asks for a high end drink and the bar doesn’t carry the liquor requested. It’s easy to say “sorry, we don’t carry that” but isn’t it worth exploring the possibility of carrying that liquor in the future if they could count on this being ordered regularly in the future.

Another example might be a Realtor receiving a request for a rental when they specialize in house sales. It’s easy to say “no, we don’t do that” but what if you were to say “let me see what I can do” and contact some buyers you represent who have had their home on the market for a long time and offer to get it rented until the market changes? You might find a way to keep a client happy (the homeowner receives some income instead of having a home sitting empty for a long time accumulating expenses, the renter gets what they are looking for and you might receive a small fee for finding the renter and get a lot more goodwill from both parties).

Even if you can’t provide the good or service being requested, rather than saying no, look to see if you can recommend someone or somewhere else they can get what they want. Even though you are not going to get anything for this recommendation, you will be developing more goodwill and sometimes, that can be worth more than any financial compensation in the long run

Sometimes you do have to say no but first, look for opportunities when available

Have a great day!

Lawrence

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