Archive for the ‘Customer Service’ Category

Every week as SmallBizLady, I conduct interviews with experts on my Twitter talk show #SmallBizChat. The show takes place every Wednesday on Twitter from 8-9pm ET. This is excerpted from my recent interview with David Allen @gtdguy who is widely recognized as the world’s leading expert on personal and organizational productivity.  David is the international bestselling author of Getting Things Done: the Art of Stress-Free Productivity, and Ready for Anything: 52 Productivity Principles for Work and Life. He is also the engineer of GTD, the ground-breaking Getting Things Done methodology that has shown millions how to transform a fast-paced, overwhelming business environments to facilitate the implementation of the best practices of productive work.

Find out more about David Allen and GTD at www.DavidCo.com.

Smallbizlady: If you are a habitually unorganized person, How do you get started organizing yourself?

David Allen: Get an IN-basket (or box), and put everything that’s not “in” its permanent place, in it.  Then make simple but important distinctions: To do something about, To give away, To store, etc. And get a tool for managing lists that you need to track.

Smallbizlady: How can you master your work flow?

David Allen: You must capture what has your attention, decide the actions and projects that they represent for you, organize the results of that thinking in appropriate places you will review regularly.

Smallbizlady: How do you create a vision for an organized small business?

David Allen: Simply ask and answer: if we were being wildly successful in fulfilling our purpose, what would it look, sound, and feel like?

Smallbizlady: What are natural planning techniques?

David Allen: To plan the way we naturally think. First, have an intention, envision success, brainstorm what has your attention about achieving it, organize the results of the brainstorming, and come up with next actions on the moving parts.

Smallbizlady: What things should a small business owner do to make being organized stress-free?

David Allen: Identify what’s distracting, or what has your attention; make the appropriate decisions about outcomes and actions required; park the results in appropriate categories, and build in trusted habits of keeping the inventory of commitments current and reviewed.

Smallbizlady: Many small businesses start out working from home, how do you set up an effect home work space or professional office space?

David Allen: The same as you would anywhere. Have all the tools you need, easily at hand, lots of filing space, an in-basket, and good work space.

Smallbizlady: How should a small business owner (who’s doing 10-13 jobs on average) deal with managing commitments?

David Allen: Keep track of all commitments and keep them reviewable in a format that allows you to overview the whole and their relationships.

Smallbizlady: How do you define stuff and how should we all deal with it?

David Allen: Stuff is whatever shows up that has potential meaning for you, but for which you haven’t decided what, exactly, it means and what you’re going to do about it.

Smallbizlady: How can you make appropriate choices about how to spend your time?

David Allen: Keep a current inventory of all the options about actions you could or should be taking; review all your longer-horizon commitments and values regularly; and trust your intuitive judgments about what to do, moment to moment.

Smallbizlady: Can you talk about your threefold model for evaluating daily work?

David Allen: You either do something you’ve already determined needs doing, or something the moment it shows up, or you are taking the necessary time and energy to determine what your work is (i.e. processing your new incoming stuff).

Smallbizlady: What are the top 3 best practices every small business own can use to get more of their work day?

David Allen: Keep your head as clear as possible by capturing, processing, and organizing all meaningful inputs. At least once a week step back and do a review of all your projects, commitments, and actions. Avoid being driven by the latest and loudest things.

If you found this interview helpful, join us on Wednesdays 8-9pm ET follow @SmallBizChat on Twitter.

How to participate in #SmallBizChat: http://bit.ly/S797e

Melinda F. Emerson, also known as Twitter’s SmallBizLady is a seasoned entrepreneur, professional speaker, and small business coach whose areas of expertise include small business start-up, business development and social media marketing. She hosts #SmallBizChat weekly on Twitter for emerging entrepreneurs.  Her book Become Your Own Boss in 12 months; A Month-by-Month Guide to a Business That Works was released in March 2010 by Adams Media.

I have recently been exposed to too many instances of sales calls that are inappropriate and ineffective to actually make a sale.  Social media networks such as LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook are great for making the initial connection, but if you do not take the time to interact and actually build a relationship with your new connection, you are still a stranger.

My nickname is SmallBizLady and @smallbizlady is my handle on Twitter.  I am considered a power Twitter user, with more than 10,000 followers between two accounts. That is great and all, but my favorite thing to do is reach someone outside of Twitter – on the telephone.  That’s where the real relationship is made.  Once that connection is made, there’s a right and a wrong way to approach a sale.

SmallBizlady’s 10 Rules For Small Business Sales Calls

1. Do not make sales calls on Monday! Mondays are tough enough for people; do not bother them when they are just getting their week started — if you want to be successful.
2. Make sales calls on Tues. Wed. Thurs. and never make sales calls before 10am or after 3pm.The prime calling hours for sales calls are 10-noon and 1-3pm. People do not like sales calls generally. Do not be a bother to a potential client before they get their morning coffee. After 3pm people on deadline do not have time for your call. Give yourself the best possible path to success by respecting your prospect’s time.
3. Always ask if your contact has time to speak with you. And if they are busy, ask when would be a best time to give them a call back.  Then you’ll have a scheduled appointment which is even better.
4. Make sure you can remind your contact how you know them.
5. Research whether or not the contact is really a potential customer. It’s always best to know what products and services your customer purchases – and when they make these decisions to do so. If you really know your target market, you’ll know this information.
6. Make sure you have the correct name of the person you want to speak with on the call. When you do get a potential customer on the phone, be ready. You only have 7 seconds to make an impression.  Stammering over someone’s name is not the way to make a good first impression.
7. Do not leave a voicemail if you do not reach your sales target. Connections are only made with real people. Your message will be deleted anyway.
8. Use contact management software. You need to track your calls and when it’s time to make follow-up calls.
9. Never make a sales call on a Friday! No one wants someone selling them something when they are trying to wrap up their week and get out the door to start their weekend.
10. Use a target list for potential customers.  Make sure you contact you target list at least once a month by phone, email or direct mail.

Your sales pipeline is the life’s blood of your business, so you must make sales calls. Just remember these rules so that you can build on your social networks instead of instantly turning them off with no chance of a sale.

Do you have any more rules to add to my list of sales calls dos and don’ts for a small business owner?  Please leave me a comment below.

WANT TO USE THIS ARTICLE IN YOUR EZINE, E-NEWSLETTER OR WEB SITE? You may, as long as you include this complete blurb with it:

Melinda Emerson “SmallBizLady” is a Veteran Entrepreneur, Small Business Expert and Social Media Coach who hosts #Smallbizchat on Twitter.  #Smallbizchat is the trusted resource on Twitter to discuss everything entrepreneurs need to know about launching and running a profitable small business.  Melinda’s first book, Become Your Own Boss in 12 months; A Month-By-Month Guide to a Business That Works will be released by Adams Media in March 2010.