by Mike Brunel | May 1, 2019 | Sales
Do you know the life-time value of your clients?
What does it mean to the long-term survival of your business?
I was visited recently by my mother in law. We do get on most of the time, after she forgave me for snatching her daughter, nearly 25 years ago.
Each week she goes to her hairdresser and gets her hair tended to with the usual treatment and blow wave.
I know this because of a recent episode that she has repeated to her daughter, every time she sees her.
She is angry.
She is angry over a small thing for sure, but for someone who has been doing that activity for over 30 years, one might begin to understand why.
Vouchers.
She received some vouchers in the mail from this hairdresser, with the offer of a discount when she next visits. It appears that this might have been a generic promotion that was sent out to this entire businesses’ database.
As it was scheduled to be used by a certain time, my mother in law-perhaps being a little absent-minded- decided on her last visit to this hairdresser, to produce these vouchers and ask for a discount on her just completed treatment and blow wave.
Sorry that voucher has expired.
Once the daughter of the owner looked at these vouchers, she explained that they had expired and ‘sorry, but the discount no longer applies.’ (a week over).
Well, you can imagine what the reaction was… not good; and as a result, the relationship has now ended, even after a couple of phone calls between the two parties.
Value.
After asking my mother in law a few questions, we discovered some interesting maths. This woman had been going to the hairdresser once a week for over 30 years, with an average price of $30 per visit. Give or take a few weeks away here and there, I calculated that at 48 weeks a year for 30 years, she has spent $43,200.00 or thereabouts at this particular salon. (1440 x $30 = $43,200.00(48x30x $30))
The lifetime value of that client was a whopping $43,200.00
The hairdresser had lost a lifetime client over $3.00. (The voucher was for 10% off the visit.)
It makes you think. It might sound a little trivial to fight over $3.00, but sometimes that is all it takes.
It can be argued that it was really a silly reaction on both parties and in the end, it could have been resolved.
However, these are the little things that can trip many of us up.
Do you know what the lifetime value of your client is?
Worth finding out.
Good selling.
Whatever career you decide to take in sales, it’s always good to get some help.
That’s why you can get FREE in your inbox every morning for 7 days; the 7 Day Sale Challenge.
Hop on over here and subscribe.
For more content like this, please make sure to subscribe to my YouTube channel.
Mike Brunel started mikebrunel.com after being a successful entrepreneur and founder of NRS Media. He co-founded NRS Media in Wellington, New Zealand, expanded it into a global powerhouse in media sales and training, and was eventually responsible for opening offices in London, Atlanta, Toronto, Sydney, Capetown, and Bogota. He has hired hundreds of salespeople around the world.
He made a lot of mistakes when it came to hiring his superstars. Check out his How to Hire A Super Salesperson Each and Every time – It’s packed with tips and ideas on how to hire great salespeople. Don’t ever Hire Bad Salespeople Ever Again. Promise!
by Mike Brunel | Apr 24, 2019 | Sales
- Talk to them. I know this sounds simple, but everyone is focused on what is happening in the world economy right now. Your clients are not.
They might have one eye on the news, but they also have to open their doors and get on with business. If you are talking to them about how you can help, you become part of the solution and not the problem.
- Be personal. If you have clients who are finding the economy a little tight, get into their place of business with good news. Get some case studies together; go to them with success stories. Keep them informed about what the market is doing.
- Be friendly: Cheer them up. What is wrong with you going in with morning coffee or tea, or picking out a resource (see our resources) that you can send them a lin k to?
- Be the expert. If you want to add value, take your client some information on Facebook, Twitter or other social media information.
This exercise sets you up as the expert, and gets past the strategy of just selling your stuff.
- Any good financial advisor will tell you that in good and bad times, there are always stocks that do well. The same is true in business. Are there businesses that are doing really well at this time? What categories are doing well? What clients are suited to this environment? Chase them; learn where they are, add value and reach out to them.
Most importantly, stay positive and focused on serving your clients.
Whatever career you decide to take in sales, it’s always good to get some help.
That’s why you can get FREE in your inbox every morning for 7 days; the 7 Day Sale Challenge.
Hop on over here and subscribe.
For more content like this, please make sure to subscribe to my YouTube channel.
Mike Brunel started mikebrunel.com after being a successful entrepreneur and founder of NRS Media. He co-founded NRS Media in Wellington, New Zealand, expanded it into a global powerhouse in media sales and training, and was eventually responsible for opening offices in London, Atlanta, Toronto, Sydney, Capetown, and Bogota. He has hired hundreds of salespeople around the world.
He made a lot of mistakes when it came to hiring his superstars. Check out his How to Hire A Super Salesperson Each and Every time – It’s packed with tips and ideas on how to hire great salespeople. Don’t ever Hire Bad Salespeople Ever Again. Promise!
by Mike Brunel | Apr 17, 2019 | Sales
This is not original, but I thought it might be useful for all those sales managers out there that get interruptions every minute of the day.
It’s called “got a minute” meetings, I learned it from Chet Holmes’ book, The Ultimate Sales Machine. I was reminded the other day, by a time management coach as we discussed the importance of taking control of your time.
You know those meetings I am talking about.
“Hi Mike, got a minute?”
“Hi Mike, can I see you for a minute?”
“Hi Mike, in a minute can I see you, for a minute?”
Chet thinks there is a simple way around it… here are the steps:
1: You schedule your own time for a meeting… in other words; on your daily calendar you schedule them as appointments.
2: You let your staff know that from “10am- 11am today” I will be doing “got a minute meetings.”
- Post that calendar on your front door and they can make an appointment anywhere in that hour on that calender.
- They are in 10-minute blocks so you can see six people ONLY in that hour.
- They come in with the issue, a possible solution, and they have 10 minutes with you to work through it.
That’s it. You control the time. You might want to run these twice a day, or once every other day.
Whatever career you decide to take in sales, it’s always good to get some help.
That’s why you can get FREE in your inbox every morning for 7 days; the 7 Day Sale Challenge.
Hop on over here and subscribe.
For more content like this, please make sure to subscribe to my YouTube channel.
Mike Brunel started mikebrunel.com after being a successful entrepreneur and founder of NRS Media. He co-founded NRS Media in Wellington, New Zealand, expanded it into a global powerhouse in media sales and training, and was eventually responsible for opening offices in London, Atlanta, Toronto, Sydney, Capetown, and Bogota. He has hired hundreds of salespeople around the world.
He made a lot of mistakes when it came to hiring his superstars. Check out his How to Hire A Super Salesperson Each and Every time – It’s packed with tips and ideas on how to hire great salespeople. Don’t ever Hire Bad Salespeople Ever Again. Promise!
by Mike Brunel | Apr 10, 2019 | Sales
I have a sales system that looks at building five key processes in a business.
I call it the ADA programme- Anchor- Decision-Action.
One of the key elements to this process is to build strong sales plans.
When talking to clients, I relate the story where I was on a senior management team of a radio station and we decided that we would create a hit list of all the clients that we did not have on the radio station. We called it the ‘Wall of Clients’.
Monitor your competition
The first part of the plan was to monitor our competition. We listened, watched, and read about the advertisers who were not on our media company.
We then selected 30-40 clients who did not advertise with us, decided if they were a good fit for us, and then went after them.
Visualise your goal.
Any goal-setting program you read or hear about will tell you that if you have a goal you are committed to, then you need to write it down and visualise it.
We created a huge board in our sales office and wrote every advertiser from that list of 40 that we wanted to have on our media company.
Our goal was to have those clients advertising with us within 12 months; they would be either a long-term client or using us consistently to fit in with their advertising needs.
The truth is that it took us 15 months to get them all, but that one idea turned our business around.
How can this help you?
- Create a top 40-50 clients who fit your profile of an ideal client
- Write them up on board
- Allocate them to members in your team
- Build sales strategies around the acquisition of those clients
- Set a time frame
- Celebrate every new success
Whatever career you decide to take in sales, it’s always good to get some help.
That’s why you can get FREE in your inbox every morning for 7 days; the 7 Day Sale Challenge.
Hop on over here and subscribe.
For more content like this, please make sure to subscribe to my YouTube channel.
Mike Brunel started mikebrunel.com after being a successful entrepreneur and founder of NRS Media. He co-founded NRS Media in Wellington, New Zealand, expanded it into a global powerhouse in media sales and training, and was eventually responsible for opening offices in London, Atlanta, Toronto, Sydney, Capetown, and Bogota. He has hired hundreds of salespeople around the world.
He made a lot of mistakes when it came to hiring his superstars. Check out his How to Hire A Super Salesperson Each and Every time – It’s packed with tips and ideas on how to hire great salespeople. Don’t ever Hire Bad Salespeople Ever Again. Promise!
by Mike Brunel | Apr 3, 2019 | Sales
Don’t put off your sales goals. A week is all it takes to get serious about improving your sales. Here’s how:
Sunday
Set aside half an hour on Sunday night to plan your week. Establish the six most important things you want to achieve and write them down. That one simple act will do wonders for your sales. Your week is planned and you have some clear goals to achieve. Planning to prospect, make more appointments to see more people, talk about their issues and problems is the best way to fast track your sales.
Action = Results
Monday
Are you making sure you have your first appointment this morning at 9am- 9.30am? It’s great sometimes to get straight out of the block and get talking to your clients first thing. Do that right now.
Tuesday
When you’re trapped at your desk or even having call reluctance, write five thank you cards to your clients. If you do that first thing, you actually feel great and grateful at the same time. The simple art of thinking about how grateful you are for your clients gets you motivated to go out and get some more. Plan a thank-you day once a week.
Wednesday
Go to the gym – yes, even if it is once a week, go to the gym and think about nothing else. All of a sudden, you might just get that idea that you have been struggling with, or a solution to a client’s problem. The thing about getting “away” is that it distracts you and allows your mind to discover solutions.
Thursday
Do four service calls today with one goal in mind: Testimonials. Last week, through one of my private clients, I got four testimonials and one LinkedIn recommendation, just by sending my feedback form. It works, and should always be asked for, after a successful call. At Mikebrunel.com we have a simple testimonial form you can use for free. Just email me (email at bottom of article).
Friday
Plan down. In sports it’s known as cool down. Spend some time to reflect on what you have achieved this week. Tick off the goals, the time you have spent building your direct media sales business.
The key here is to reflect. Use some time on a Friday to do that. Also, think about the next week. This is also the time to plan Monday.
Do you have any appointments? If you are a manager, have you planned your sales meeting? Is the agenda in the hands of the sales people yet? Do they know what is going to be discussed?
Have you spent some time today to prospect, and set up a few new clients to visit next week?
Saturday
Walk your dog, spend time with your family, do your favourite things. This is your time, the moments you can reflect on your work. Balance is a very important trait that I both notice and admire, with great direct media sales people. They are either in the community in some sort of way, or family orientated. They are always trying to find the balance in this crazy shifting landscape that is sales.
Email Mike@mikebrunel.com for a free testimonial form.
Whatever career you decide to take in sales, it’s always good to get some help.
That’s why you can get FREE in your inbox every morning for 7 days; the 7 Day Sale Challenge.
Hop on over here and subscribe.
For more content like this, please make sure to subscribe to my YouTube channel.
Mike Brunel started mikebrunel.com after being a successful entrepreneur and founder of NRS Media. He co-founded NRS Media in Wellington, New Zealand, expanded it into a global powerhouse in media sales and training, and was eventually responsible for opening offices in London, Atlanta, Toronto, Sydney, Capetown, and Bogota. He has hired hundreds of salespeople around the world.
He made a lot of mistakes when it came to hiring his superstars. Check out his How to Hire A Super Salesperson Each and Every time – It’s packed with tips and ideas on how to hire great salespeople. Don’t ever Hire Bad Salespeople Ever Again. Promise!
by Mike Brunel | Mar 27, 2019 | Sales
Several years ago, when attending one of Robert Kiyosaki’s courses, he told the group the story of the Black Door.
It was about a young man and a Persian general.
The young man, it is said, was a prisoner of war, and the general was a very fair man. When the day arrived to decide the fate of the prisoner, the general had the prisoner brought before him.
The young man was certain of death, but the general generously gave him two choices.
On the young man’s left was a firing squad, guns poised ready.
On the right was a plain white wall with a large black door in the middle of it.
The young man was given a few moments to determine his fate…the firing squad or the black door.
The young man made his choice and in a short while a volley of shots rang out and the prisoner crumpled to the ground.
The general shook his head and commented to his aide that in all his years he had seen only a few men choose the black door.
“May I ask, sir,” the aide queried- “what lies beyond the black door?” “Freedom.” The general replied.
“The black door leads to freedom, but I have seen only a few men choose it because they are afraid of what horrors may lie beyond.
Most would rather choose a fate that they know, even if it means death, than experience the unknown. The man brave enough to choose the black door deserves to be free.”
Today, in the world of sales we know that change is upon us all the time.
The sad thing is that many salespeople would rather stick with what they know, than what they don’t know.
We experience change in our lives every day, it’s a part of life.
Sales is no different, there will always be an underlying principle to selling, but there is also the unknown.
What does that look like? – It comes in many forms, the approach to selling, discovery, understanding your client’s needs.
These are often driven by them, not you.
The most successful sales people I know are constantly learning; loading up on new information.
Dan Sullivan, at Strategic Coach has a great saying. “Our eyes only see and our ears only hear what our brain is looking for”
Are you ready to choose The Black Door?
For more content like this, please make sure to subscribe to my YouTube channel.
Mike Brunel started mikebrunel.com after being a successful entrepreneur and founder of NRS Media. He co-founded NRS Media in Wellington, New Zealand, expanded it into a global powerhouse in media sales and training, and was eventually responsible for opening offices in London, Atlanta, Toronto, Sydney, Capetown, and Bogota. He has hired hundreds of salespeople around the world.
He made a lot of mistakes when it came to hiring his superstars. Check out his How to Hire A Super Salesperson Each and Every time – It’s packed with tips and ideas on how to hire great salespeople. Don’t ever Hire Bad Salespeople Ever Again. Promise!
