First of all, there are no rules for blogging. I have written 300 blogs over the last two years about marketing, sales, and negotiation—the truth is that I am still learning how to blog. My blog has been read by thousands of readers across the globe. This is pretty cool when you think about it.…
DetailsFaceBook, LinkedIn, and MySpace —–The opportunities to join the wave of social networks are seemingly endless. Not wanting to be left behind, I jumped in feet first and joined all the popular social networks and posted all sorts of information about my likes and dislikes. Like many people I joined Facebook as a way to…
DetailsWhile at the NXTcomm tradeshow in Las Vegas this week, I had the opportunity to shake hands with dozens of people. The first person I shook hands with offered me a weak and clammy hand, which repulsed me. It got me thinking about this simple greeting and its importance in building and maintaining relationships. Here…
DetailsFor many of us in sales, it is an everyday occurrence to conduct sales meetings on a conference call with participants from multiple locations. While this can be a terrific way to communicate to multiple people in different locations, the call can be ruined by music on hold, shuffling papers, dogs barking, and background conversations.…
DetailsMy spam filter let an e-mail from am “unknown sender” named Jesus get through to my mail box today. My first reaction was to immediately delete it or hit the spam key, but instead I opened it. I thought to myself, “What if…?” What if the “big guy” had something to tell me? Would he…
DetailsBody language helps us communicate whether or not we are aware of it. A recent university study on how people receive information had the following results: – 55% of what we learn from others comes from their body language (mostly from the eyes) – 38% of what we learn from others comes from their tone…
DetailsE-mail communication with customers can be efficient and easy, but it is easy to fall into a bad habit of only using e-mail to handle customer inquiries. If your goal is to build better relationships with your customers, the telephone may be a better tool. While talking on the phone can be can be stressful…
DetailsCustomer service reps need to maintain their cool even when customers push all their buttons. Keeping cool is a matter of keeping your self control while helping customers get through their rants. Here are a few ideas on how to maintain your composure when the heat is on. Be sure to breath. Silly as it…
DetailsGift giving practices vary from industry to industry, but an appropriate gift is a great way to say thank you and can help solidify a relationship between customer and provider. The operative word is “appropriate”. Appropriate gift giving has these key elements: 1. The gift is well timed. 2. The gift is meaningful or relevant…
DetailsGreen marketing. What is it really? The best definition that I have found reads as follows—green marketing is the marketing of products and services described as being “environmentally safe”. Still this is a pretty vague definition. To be green denotes that the offering is good for the environment or at least does not harm it.…
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