Friday, May 29, 2009

Attitude

I try to include a message here and there that may help someone out there that needs to hear this. How many times do we talk about Attitude and the importance of carrying yourself with respect for others and for yourself. I have learned the hard way that in order to have a better respect for those that are around you, you need to first respect yourself. How you treat everyone that you come in contact with has some sort of effect whether it be negative or positive. To ask the obvious question, which kind of taste would you want to leave in the mouth of whom you come in contact with? In a sales role there are going to be rejections, it comes with the job description. It's how you handle those rejections that is going to set you apart from the competition. Do we take no for an answer? The answer is YES. What!!! Yeah I know let me explain. So when you have come across someone that has no use for you product do you think that by pushing your way in and saying you NEED this product, that will make them say, Oh ok! Absolutley not! Obviouse right? We can't get them all but it is how we react to the No's that will define who you are as a "salesman."

If they don't see the value or benefit of what we have to offer why would they say yes.

Imagine you walk into an icecream shop and you ask the person at the counter what is good. They procede to tell you all of their personal favorite flavors. So you tell him that you want the oreo cookie ice cream, which is one that they did not mention. He or she is sitting there thinking, "what's the point in asking me what's good if you don't take my recommendations?"

Now enters that same person to ask the same person the same question. Imagine that the person behind the counter first asks, have you ever been here before. Customer-"no I haven't." Employee- "ok, well it depends on what you like, do you like fruit in your icecream or are you more of a cookie lover." "Yeah I do like cookies, what about this oreo cookie icecream?" Alot of the customers love the oreo cookies icecream." "Ok, I'll try the oreo cookie icecream." So what's the difference? The worker added value to his product, so instead of telling the customer what his personal interests are he/she added value by asking the customer likes. Customers buy this flavor for a reason, they're good!!! But you know that. :) This is a very simple example, but it hopefully illustrates my next point.

When someone see's value in a product they will more likely buy it. It seems simple but there are alot of people out there that do the "telling" kind of selling rather then the "asking" kind of selling. Ask qualifying questions, make it sound like they are coming up with all the ideas and you are just facilitating the conversation.

Thursday, May 7, 2009

NRA Conference in Chicago

In the next few weeks our Business Solutions team from Corvirtus will be attending the NRA Conference in Chicago, IL. This is the daddy of all conferences for the restaurant and hospitality industry. It is an opportunity for thousands of companies to showcase their products and services. Corvirtus will be there at booth 3212. It is on the 3rd level, near the main entrance. If you are going to be there feel free to stop in and say hi.

This past week I had the pleasure of attending a new partners franchisee and strategic partners conference in Napa Valley, CA. They sure know how to throw a party. It was a great opportunity for me to rub elbows with some of their franchisee's. This restaurant chain is one of the newest partners to the Corvirtus family. They are implementing a customized hiring system. It is cool to see how people get excited about this stuff. I am excited about it every day so to see others get pumped about the benefits and results, it is really cool. They understand the importance of the Customer Experience. By implementing the system they are going to see remarkable results in the employees that they hire. They are going to find people that are going to believe in their restaurant, that want to make feel people feel good, and deliver a memorable customer experience. These are all key components of a successful restaurant that wants to be different and stick out from the competition.

At Corvirtus we help organizations passionate about delivering great customer experiences.