Friday, December 17, 2010

Christmas Cross Selling Made Easy

This is the perfect time of the year to pick up the pace for cross selling.  Everyone is busy, has gift giving on their mind and appreciates someone that shows interest in them.  

Sometimes we avoid cross selling because we just don't know what to say.  Try some of these scripting ideas:

            “Mrs. Reed, any special plans for the holidays?”
Their answer could lead you to exploring the gift of a savings account for grandchildren or a line of credit to manage holiday expenses.

“Good to see you, John, I've been meaning to ask you about activating the rewards benefit on your account.  It’s a great way to build up points you can use on purchasing tools or gifts, are you ready to start earning those points?”

Anytime you have an offer that saves the customer money or provides additional benefits engage them by asking or offering benefits related to the offer.

“Mrs. Wilson, I noticed on your commercial checking account you don’t have our online, easy, and affordable payroll service.  I want you to have this information; others like you tell me this service has saved them time, stress and bookkeeping services.  May I have a payroll specialist call you about automating your payroll?

“Mr. Leland, are you aware I can waive your small business checking account fee each month when you open a commercial savings account with an automatic transfer of at least $100 each month?  It’s a great deal, saves you money every month meanwhile you’re stashing away extra cash for the unexpected!  Can I sign you up?

Convenience is everything to the customer.  Like you they like fast, easy, convenience products and services.  Turn the customer on to the products you have to offer that are of maximum convenience.

Happy Holidays!

Still learning, 

Honey

Wednesday, December 1, 2010

Thoughts on Coaching Others

I think of all the training engagements I have had the good fortune of presenting the management/supervisory training is the most rewarding.  My training with the William Glasser Institute was life altering for me and I have stay committed to teaching and sharing what I learned.  Here is a page from one of my manuals on coaching others that is founded on Glasser's Choice Theory:

Rules of the management road:

  • You can't make anyone do anything
  • No one changes anything until they see the good in it for them
  • Everyone wants to be highly regarded
  • All behaving is the person's best attempt in the moment to feel good

The Manager’s Job
As much transparency as possible and kind truth telling are key to gaining the respect and trust of your staff.

Tell them who you are, what you stand for, what you will ask them to do, what you will not ask them to do, what you will do for them or with them and what you will not do for them.  You act as a mirror observing performance and providing feedback.  You spark self evaluation with your staff to encourage them to clearly see what is working, what isn't, what they want and what's involved in accomplishing goals.

Coaching and counseling is a powerful approach to developing employees.  Coaching focuses on improving job skills, knowledge and encouragement.  Coach employees on new techniques to make their job performance improve or when regulations change, for instance.  Counseling centers primarily on issues of attitude, motivation, or people skills.  Use counseling to show an employee how different approaches can make him/her more effective in dealing with customers and coworkers.

Coaching and counseling are focused on bringing out the best in others.   Because frequent coaching provides open communication and ensures ongoing feedback, employees generally value the approach.  Ongoing coaching takes all the surprise out of performance evaluation and provides a vehicle for the employee to clearly understand expectations.. 

Coaching and counseling are useful tools in building cohesive relationships and teaching empowering behaviors that improve overall satisfaction with all the stakeholders; customers, coworkers, employees and management. 


Still learning,

Honey Shelton
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