A simple phone call with a friendly voice asking for feedback or making a special offer could be your biggest secret to success. Most likely your competition hasn’t taken that extra step. It’s the little things that could make the most impact toward future sales.
A couple of weeks ago I received a phone call from the local Lane Bryant store. It was quite surprising. I just was at their store a few days earlier and thought they called to let me know that there was something wrong with the item I purchased or that I forgot something. I was mistaken…
Here is how the conversation went: “Mrs. Loskot, this is Stephanie from Lane Bryant store, may I take a moment of your time?”
“Sure.”
“You signed up to receive information about our special sales. Did you visit our store recently?”
“Yes, I did.” I said. “Just a couple of days ago.”
“Oh great! Did you see something you liked but for some reason you didn’t buy?”
“In the matter of fact I was considering a dress, but it is a bit pricey and I need to think about it for a while.”
“Mrs. Loskot, I have something that you might like”, she said. I could hear a smile in her voice and I liked it.
“I am calling to let you know about our upcoming special next week. For every 50 dollars you spend at Lane Bryant we will give you a 25 dollar gift certificate toward your next purchase. So, you might want to wait with the purchase of this dress until next week …”
“Thanks a lot!” I said. “This is very nice news!”
“Is there anything I could do for you today?” Stephanie asked.
“No, everything is fine — thanks for asking”.
“Thank you for your time Mrs. Loskot, we are looking forward to seeing you at the store.”
This phone conversation left me smiling and made me think. Years ago I trained sales crew of the large department stores chain and part of my agenda was teaching them to do the same kind of calls. I don’t think many of them really did it, once they left my training room….
I bet you didn’t get too many calls like that, did you? It’s precisely because calls like that are very rare – they are so effective!
One of the biggest secrets of success in business is doing consistently a few little things that your competition is not doing. For example calls like these.
About the Author
Wanda Loskot is an international business coach/writer/speaker author of referral system for small business owners and self employed professionals. You can reach her by e-mail mailto:wanda@loska.com or visit her at http://loska.com.
