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Article Title:
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When Being Pushy Is The Best Thing To Do
Article Description:
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Have you avoided being pushy, and abandoned your customers when
they need you most? It takes a lot more effort and energy to gain
a new customer, than it does to continue to serve a customer that
already loves and trusts you.
Additional Article Information:
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1072 Words; formatted to 65 Characters per Line
Distribution Date and Time: 2006-10-03 10:24:00
Written By: Mark Silver
Copyright: 2006
Contact Email: mailto:mail2@heartofbusine
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When Being Pushy Is The Best Thing To Do
Copyright (c) 2006 Mark Silver
Heart Of Business
http://www.heartofb
A couple of weeks ago I was furiously dumping baking soda into
our oven, as a red hot spark travelled from the middle of the
heating element towards the back wall. Luckily, between the
baking soda, and just cooling down time after turning the oven
off, it all stopped before disaster struck.
Once my wife and I caught our breath, and gave a little prayer of
gratitude that we were there to see it, rather than suddenly
finding the kitchen on fire, we realized: we need to get the oven
fixed. So, I go digging through our "home appliances" file, and
find the instruction manual for the oven. Yes, we had it in a
file- there are some advantages to being a Virgo. ;-)
Five minutes later I was furious and defeated... we had bought
the house with the oven already installed, new, and it was some
obscure brand The manual had no phone number, no website, and no
part numbers for how to replace the heating element. Grrr....
And, Googling didn't reveal the company's identity either. Your
business is here to serve people as much as you can.
And, incidentally, that's where profit comes from as well. If
you've ever gone through feast and famine in your business, then
you know that it takes a lot more effort and energy to gain a new
customer, than it does to continue to serve a customer that
already loves and trusts you. Have you avoided being pushy, and
abandoned your customers when they need you most?
It's easy to get caught in your head and worry about being
"pushy" or too "sales-y." Well, in the wrong moment, you can
seem pushy. But, in the right moment, what I could use as a
customer is for you to be a little more forward, willing to
extend a hand and make it easier on me to get what I need.
When you sell a product or a service to someone, you've created
a sacred trust of a relationship. They have trusted you to help
them, and you are being humble enough to receive financial
provision from them as well. You know your area of expertise
better than your customer- that's why they're buying from you,
and not vice-versa.
This means that you can better anticipate what other needs,
problems, or issues might show up in the future. You do your
customers a service by alerting them to these possibilities, and
letting them know where they can get what they need next.
If you sell ovens, you hope that a customer isn't going to have
a dangerous problem, but, realistically you know it happens.
Things break. How hard would it have been for them to put some
kind of a service number on the oven somewhere. Or, better yet,
if whoever installed the oven had put a heat-resistant metal tag
inside, engraved with a phone number or website, it would have
made it much easier on me.
Whatever nameless company that was responsible for our oven lost
an effortless sale that could have been very profitable- what do
I know about heating elements? How much time would I have spent
trying to comparison shop? Besides, I need an element that fits
my oven, not just the cheapest one. It has to work. (Not to
mention the safety issue.)
And, they would have saved me time and effort that I'm spending
now trying to track down an element, and figure out how to get it
installed, safely. Meanwhile, we're using our toaster oven...
But, there is a line between 'pushy' and 'helpful.' Where is
it? And, how can you stay on the right side of it?
Keys to the Helpful Kind of Pushy
* Understand the true scope of what you are helping your
customers with.
If you're in the service industry, it probably took years for
you to master what you do. If you're honest with yourself,
immediate and complete transformation of your clients is probably
not possible- and may be overwhelming for them. By truly getting
how much work you've done to get where you are, you can begin to
appreciate how much support your clients might need over the long
term to truly be successful with what you want to help them
with.
If you are primarily a product business- same thing. Even if
you're selling oatmeal (to replace the junk many people eat for
breakfast), it's not just about changing one person's morning
experience, it's about supporting a lifestyle and eating habit
change that will benefit them mentally and physically.
* Where is the edge of the cliff?
There is a natural conclusion for every particular service or
product offer. The last bag of oatmeal is gone, the client feels
as if they've reached a "completion" point with one issue.
But, that doesn't mean they're done. Look for those cliff-edges
and make sure you build a bridge.
For instance, one class participant wrote an excellent little
guidebook on decluttering. She put her contact information in the
front, but not at the end of the book. But where is the edge of
the cliff? At the end. Building a bridge would be having an extra
page letting her reader know:
"If you are on fire to continue decluttering, but don't want to
spend weeks attacking one little pile at a time on your own, give
me a call. I love this work. Imagine, just a few days from now we
could have your entire life completely decluttered! Phone number.
Web site link here."
* Make sure it's about what they would naturally be needing.
You drift from 'helpful' into 'pushy' when you lose sight of
where the cliff edge is, and what your customer's needs are. If
you're thinking, "I need to make an offer here because I need
the money," chances are it will feel pushy.
But, as long as your heart is truly seeing what your customer's
next natural step could be, and your intention is not to leave
them hanging, then your offer is going to come across as helpful,
whether or not they take you up on it immediately. And, if you
offer enough help, consistently enough, your bridges will start
to get crowded.
Trust your heart and give more help. Because, personally, I'd
much rather see your bridge than a cliff-edge any day of the
week.
Wish me luck with our stove.
My very best to you and your business,
Mark Silver
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Mark Silver is the author of Unveiling the Heart of Your
Business: How Money, Marketing and Sales can Deepen Your
Heart, Heal the World, and Still Add to Your Bottom Line.
He has helped hundreds of small business owners around
the globe succeed in business without losing their
hearts. Get three free chapters of the book online:
http://www.heartofb
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