Posts Tagged ‘dean lindsay’

Free Customer Service Article

The Upside of Customer Complaints

By Dean Lindsay - Author of The Progress Challenge

 “A customer who complains is my best friend.” — Stew Leonard

It’s interesting to consider that when someone chooses to become our customer, they WANT to be loyal.  They want us to rock their world.  They want the relationship to last.  They see us as Progress.  They don’t want to change.  They choose us. 

 So, why do they sometimes leave or choose to work with others? 

How do they decide that moving to some other supplier is Progress?

 The above question is tough to answer since research shows that, on average, 24 out of 25 customers will make their switch without telling the business of their dissatisfaction.  No news is NOT good news.  It is dangerous to think that customer silence is a good thing when it is overwhelmingly the quiet customers – clients, guests – who just leave.

 Consider:

What are some reasons you stopped doing business with a particular company? 

Did you tell the company about your dissatisfaction?  If so, how was it received?

Complaining is tough on everyone, including the complainer.  There is an element of risk to relaying dissatisfaction as a customer. We don’t want to come off as a complainer. 

Instead of coming out and sharing a concern, it is quite common as customers to let our concerns and dislikes build up to the point that we feel it would be easier to leave than attempt to fix all that’s wrong. 

Often customers choose not to complain when there is a problem because they – often rightly – feel that it won’t do any good to complain.  They don’t trust how the complaint will be received.  “No one is going to do anything about it anyway.”  Maybe, they think the company is too big to care or believe their concerns will fall on deaf, uncaring, possibly even rude ears. 

Ponder & Progress

If a customer shares a ‘complaint,’ what should they expect in return? 

As a customer, what would you expect?

 So again, why do customers leave?

 As the research suggests, most of the time we don’t know.  Only one 1 in 25 is willing to inform a business about their dissatisfaction and enlighten the business about possible needed modifications.

 And most often, how is  this 1 in 25 treated? 

How much attention and respect do their concerns get?

How are you treated as a customer when you ‘complain’? 

 We know customer complaints are to be minimized.  We also know that rarely are they totally eliminated.  We also know they are no fun to listen to.  In fact – and it may be embarrassing to admit – but sometimes we wish the complaining customer would just go away.  I did say “sometimes.”

 There is a powerful upside to customer complaints however.  Customer complaints are one of the most inexpensive, available, useful and yet ignored forms of customer market data.  Truly proactive and insightful companies see a customer ‘complaint’ as a proven way to gain valuable insight into possible needed improvements (not just as a demand to repair damage).

 “Mistakes are the portals of discovery.” 

– James Joyce

That complaining difficult customer that we sometimes wish would just go away is extremely valuable.  Often customers know our weaknesses better than we do because they feel the effects of our weaknesses. 

 Wouldn’t we rather have our customers tell us what they need instead of telling our competitor?

 We should be careful what we sometimes wish for:  That complaining customer will eventually go away — along with their business, their buzz, four to five positive referrals and their valuable insight into how to make our companies better.  View a complaint as an opportunity for improvement, an opportunity to progress.

“Your best teacher is your last mistake.”  -Ralph Nader

Ponder & Progress

What are some examples of how your organization has benefited from customer feedback?

 Be Progress.

Dean Lindsay is the author of The Progress Challenge: Working and Winning in a World of Change.  You can get more info on Dean and sign up for his free monthly newsletter at: www.DeanLindsay.com. (You are welcome to repost this article as long as links and this brief bio are included.  Thank you.)

Free Customer Service Article – The Upside of Customer Complaints

New Business Networking Book Review for the CODE

Gotta LOVE Google Alert.  Look what popped up in my In Box.  Thank you Beth!!

How to Compliment Others (4.5 Ways)

by Dean Lindsay (Author of The Progress Challenge and Cracking the Networking CODE)

“Everybody likes a compliment.”
– Abraham Lincoln

A sincere compliment is a great way to offer the promise of prestige.  Sincere compliments cost us nothing yet can become priceless for both the giver and receiver.  As Mark Twain wrote, “I can live for two months on a good compliment.”   Also consider that compliments can be used as conversation starters when we add progress based open-ended questions that relate to the compliment.

It takes some confidence to notice good things about others and to tell them about it. Giving people a lift has the power of raising our confidence even further because when we start noticing good things about people, we often start noticing more good things about ourselves also.  But be careful, compliments that are ill-timed or thought to be insincere are likely to have the opposite effect than intended.  Here are four and a half quick tips: 

1.  Practice sincerely complimenting others. 

Start by finding something, however small, to genuinely praise others for.  The more specific the better because it shows the person we truly noticed them. 

2.  Personalize the compliment.

Take the person’s interests into account.  When communicating with someone, be on the alert for traits they value in themselves.  Personalized compliments can go a long way in offering prestige but it’s best not to use them to often on the same person for they might be considered fake.

3.  Share Others’ compliments.

No, I don’t mean bragging about good stuff people have said about you.  I mean share the good stuff you have heard about others.  A weird thing about us humans is that often when we hear bad things we are quick to tell others, but when hear anything nice about somebody else, we often keep it to ourselves.  Bad form humans.  When we hear something nice about someone, we need to share it with the person being complimented.  They are likely to feel prestige from hearing it, and a bit of that Progress lands right on us.

4.  Imply the compliment.

Often, we assume more truth from things we figure out for ourselves, than from facts handed to us.  Try letting the intended recipient use their inner ‘Sherlock Holmes’ by allowing them to deduce the compliment from your comments.  By indirectly complimenting we offer the promise of prestige, while avoiding sounding like a flatterer.  “Wow, you finished college in three years, it took me four and a half” might carry more weight than “You’re smarter and more focused than me”. 

4 ½.  Explain the compliment.

Instead of implying, try the opposite.  Compliments can also become stronger when we share the why behind the compliment. “That color looks good on you because it matches your eyes.”

“If people did not compliment one another there would be little society.”  — Marquis De Vauvenargues

Offer the Promise of Prestige.

Be Progress.

Motivational Sales Training Tip – Respect Time and Structure.

(an excerpt from The Progress Challenge by Dean Lindsay)

Structure is vital for becoming a Business Attraction Magnet.  Solid self-management (formerly known as time management) leads to higher productivity and reduced stress.  Our desks need to be workstations, not storage space.  We must be able to quickly locate important information.  Being well organized shows a respect for time (ours and our customers’).

Looking sharp is also part of solid organization.  If we can’t get ourselves together well enough to look presentable, how are we going to be able to help someone else see us as together enough to handle their challenges?  Plus, how we present ourselves shouts volumes about how we feel about ourselves and our work.  Becoming a Business Attraction Magnet takes preparation.  Unfortunately, far too many of us invest more energy in planning our weekends, or even what we’ll have for dinner, than we do our opportunities to be progress for prospects and customers.

Don’t believe anyone who says sales is “just a numbers game.”  Sales is a Progress-based Impressions Game – a Proof-of-Progress Game – The Ultimate Game of Trust.

Sure, the more contacts you make the better your odds – but you may also be blowing your chances for many potential relationships, not to mention time (yours and the prospect’s), by rushing through the process half-cocked with an indifferent attitude.  The worst time to think of what you’re going to say is as it’s coming out of your mouth.

Be Progress.

Motivational Sales Training Tip – Respect Time and Structure is an excerpt from The Progress Challenge by Dean Lindsay

Business Networking is the Way Around the “Do Not Call” List!

(excerpt from Cracking the Networking CODE  by Dean Lindsay)

Wow.  Cold-calling over the phone is tough.  Most sales professionals find it taxing and most consumers don’t like it much either.  Think about it.  Do you like to be cold-called?  Does it work on you? 

Cold Caller: Mr. Jun..dson? 

 Mr. Johnson: That’s Johnson.

 Cold Caller: Oh… (giggle) sorry.  Is Mr. Johnson there?

 Mr. Johnson: No.  (Click.)

Consumers dislike being solicited by phone so much that a law was passed enabling them to get their names on a “Do Not Call” list.  A whole bunch of people – 62 million, and counting! – got themselves on that list as soon as they could.  Maybe even you.  I know I did.  These consumers invested the time to get on this list to say a big, fat “NO thank you!  Please do not call me.” 

Now corporations are trying to find legal ways to keep phoning them up, sometimes even eating up consumers’ cell phone minutes. What is up with that?  Why call someone who has already told you they do NOT want you to call?  The Do Not Call list is a HUGE hint that these people do not like cold calls. 

They do not like them in the morning. 

They do not like them while they’re snoring. 

They do not like them while watching TV.

Not even ‘courtesy calls’ from AT&T. 

They do not like them about how to invest,

Or how to save more than all the rest.

They would not like them with a special rate.

They would not like them with an expiration date. 

Not with a special offer,

Not from a hacking cougher.

They do not like this telephone Spam.

They do not like it, Spam I am.               –   Thank you, Dr. Seuss.

 A solid and gracious way around the Do Not Call list is to get out and meet people.  You can earn a fortune – and have some fun in the process – building relationships with quality business professionals through networking.  Networking sets you apart from the ‘smile and dial’ boiler-room sales types who interrupt people’s dinner hour with their pitches.  Think of networking as using shared interests to create and cultivate mutually beneficial relationships.  It is the back-scratch boogie.

Don’t have the time? 

Make the time.  In today’s competitive environment, networking is an invaluable tool that no person in business can live without.

Be Progress.

Business Networking is the Way Around the “Do Not Call” List! is a excerpt from Cracking the Networking CODE  by Dean Lindsay.

We Don’t Have to Do Anything, But We Can’t Do Nothing. 

(an excerpt from The Progress Challenge by Dean Lindsay)

Ever call up a buddy and ask, “What are you doing?” and they said, “Nothing.”   You can’t do “nothing.”  Doing nothing requires taking heavy medication.  Actually, taking heavy medication is still doing something.  Sleeping is doing something. So is staring into space; so is flossing your teeth; so is scratching your arm; so is eating a plate of lima beans; so is waiting in the dentist’s waiting room.  We are always investing our time somewhere for some reason.  We might not connect with the reasons consciously, but we are always doing something. 

“Doing nothing is not as easy as it looks.  You have to be careful, because the idea of doing anything could easily lead to doing something, which would cut into your nothing and force you to have to drop everything.”    — Jerry Seinfeld

We have each said to ourselves at some point, “Why am I doing this?”  Consciously or unconsciously, we choose to do what we believe to be the best option at the time.  We may even know consciously that the activity is not good for us but still we do it.  There are reasons.  They are our reasons.  We may not be able to vocalize them, or even wrap our minds around them, but we have reasons for the actions we take. 

The action may not be what we wished we would have wanted to take. Still, we chose to act (based on the circumstances and anticipated consequences).  That is what personal regret is: wishing we’d have wanted to do something differently.  

When we look back upon actions we have regretted, we find that, at the time, we thought that taking the action would help us attain some mixture of pleasure, peace of mind, profit, prestige, pain avoidance, and power.  We regret the action because we did not receive the Ps that we expected, and/or because our actions deprived someone else of those good outcomes.

Have you ever heard someone say, “I don’t have a choice”?  Not true.  We always have a choice, usually several.  The choices may not be enjoyable, safe, or even legal, but there are always choices.  Every choice has consequences.  Maybe we view the consequences as unpalatably negative for us, but we do have choices.  The choices might not be choice choices, but there are always choices from which to choose (that was a fun sentence to write).

 We don’t have many have to’s. 

We don’t have to kiss our spouse. 

We don’t have to exercise; we don’t have to pray.

We don’t have to smile, or even brush our teeth. 

We don’t have to sleep or pay our mortgage. 

We don’t have to feed our pets or hug our kids. 

We don’t have to pay for our kids’ higher education (or for our pet’s higher education, for that matter). 

We don’t have to eat. 

You say, “Wait a minute, Deano. We have to eat.” 

Are there people who chose not to eat?  Yes. 

What has happened to them?  They died (painfully).  It’s still a choice. (If you know me, you know I choose to eat, and hug my kids, and to pray, for that matter.) 

We do not have to pay our income tax.  The consequences may include us going to jail but that is our choice. 

We do not have to stop at stop lights.  The consequences may include injuring ourselves and others – again, our choice.  We do not have to work.   We’ve sold ourselves (most would say rightfully) on the idea that the benefits of working outweigh the benefits of not working. 

I asked a group I was working with once:

“Do you have to work?” 

Somebody yelled out, “You do if you don’t want to live in a tent.”   

I said, “Are there people who choose to live in tents?” 

They responded, “Yeah.  But I don’t want to live in a tent.”   

I said, “Exactly.”

These are choices that we are making.  There is power in that.  At each moment, we make decisions based on what we believe will help us feel the Six Ps of Progress – in the short term or long term.  As an example, let’s take an activity that most people would say they wish they didn’t have to do – mowing the lawn. 

Why mow the lawn?

-         Maybe we want to have a good-looking yard like the neighbors do, and don’t want to look like dirtbags. (Prestige; Pain avoidance)

-         Maybe it gives us a sense of accomplishment and a chance to think.  (Peace of Mind, Pleasure)

-         Maybe we believe lawn mowing offers exercise.  (Pleasure, Pain Avoidance)

-         Maybe we don’t want to get fined by the city.  (Pain avoidance)

-         Maybe a significant other “told” us to.  (Pain avoidance of not doing what significant other wants; Pleasure from pleasing significant other)

-         Maybe we would rather keep our money than pay someone else to mow it.  (Profit, Pain Avoidance)

How we judge the results is subjective.  Having a well-groomed lawn offers progress for some.  For others, amassing a noteworthy collection of vintage lipstick holders offers progress.  There is always a result, an outcome. 

We cannot not accomplish something.  Some shift in feeling attends everything that we do.  There is a new normal.  It may be only ever so slightly new, but it’s new. 

            There is some profit in having a garage sale.

            There is some power in punching someone.

            There is some pleasure in eating a bag of Pringles. 

(I know it is not a bag of Pringles but what is it — a cardboard sphere of Pringles? What?  A tube of Pringles, I guess.)

We may not like or care for what is achieved, but there are outcomes and consequences – and these outcomes affect our next action. 

Did the action (eating that sandwich, working for that company, using that wireless company, reading that book, wearing those shoes, buying that house) result in us feeling enough pleasure, peace of mind, profit, prestige, and power? 

Did the action help us avoid enough pain? 

There are outcomes for both parties when someone chooses to utilize our products and services.  There are outcomes when someone decides not to utilize our products and services.  This is also extremely subjective.  We value achievements, as well as gauge success, based on whether the time and effort invested in the activity help us feel enough of the Six Ps of Progress. 

 We can’t choose nothing.  Choose Progress. 

(an excerpt from The Progress Challenge by Dean Lindsay)

Dean Lindsay Video Clips

Business Networking Book Advice – Get an Introduction!

(excerpt from Cracking the Networking CODE  by Dean Lindsay)

“When the character of a man is not clear to you, look at his friends.”   – Japanese Proverb

An introduction is an implied endorsement.  Try to get introduced by the most respected person at the event with whom you have a relationship.  Solid CODE crackers are always happy to play a part in your success and you look like a winner by association.

Who are the people who have established a good reputation?

Who loves to network and knows a lot of people?

These people have a large circle of influence and understand the power of networking.  They are quick to bond and make the most of relationships.  (Be sure to ask them if there is someone you can introduce them to.) 

Who are the solid networkers inside your network? 

Find out what they do.  Study the techniques of a successful networker.  Try to tag along with a well-connected person in your network to some of their normal networking functions and ask them to introduce you to a few of their contacts.  Give them some insight and direction by letting them know the kind of person you want to meet – the more specific the better.

A slight modification on the same strategy — Look for someone you know who is chatting with a couple of people you do not know. Approach the group and stand to the side within view of the person you know.  This serves as a subtle cue for your contact to introduce you to the group and bring you into the conversation.  Try it.  It works.  If someone invites you to join the group but forgets to introduce you, take the initiative and introduce yourself. 

Be Progress.

Business Networking Book Advice – Get an Introduction! is excerpt from Cracking the Networking CODE  by Dean Lindsay)

Practical Sales Training Tip:  Practice Empathy!

(an excerpt from The Progress Challenge by Dean Lindsay)

Sales Speaker Video Clips

Empathy is knowing and feeling where the other person is coming from, walking a mile in their shoes, seeing things from their point of view.  Empathy involves understanding that people make decisions for their own reasons, not ours.  There are always reasons.  Customers have reasons, prospects have reasons, employees have reasons, coworkers have reasons.  They might not be our reasons. 

To enhance our level of empathy, it is paramount to focus on understanding others’ parameters for progress.  We may never fully uncover where another person’s motivation, their “motives for actions,” are coming from, but those motives, along with their parameters for progress, are uniquely theirs. 

To be a Business Attraction Magnet, always think, and say: “What that means to you, Mrs./Mr. Prospect, is…”  Commit to doing what is best for the customer, ever striving to help provide the right product or service to meet their needs.  Sure, we want to profit, but the customer’s profit is key to ours.  Practicing empathy includes understanding that customers do not want our products and services – they want what they think our products and services can do for them. 

One of my client companies is among the largest trade show booth manufacturers in the USA.  They design, build, and transport the huge trade show booths you see at the big conferences around the country and world.  At the very beginning of a program I was conducting for their sales teams, I stated bluntly, “No one wants a trade booth.”

The room went silent.  The reps looked at the Vice President of Sales and each other as if to say, “What?”

Finally, one of the sales managers in the back raised his hand and said, “No, Dean.  They actually call us up and order trade show booths.”

I said, “You bet.  They order trade show booths, but a trade show booth is not really what they want.”

Again more silence.  Then the Vice President of Sales spoke. “You’re right, Dean.  Our customers don’t want trade show booths – they want profit.  We must be able to show them how investing in our trade show booths will help them to profit.” 

Business Attraction Magnets know it is not the goal of having the product or service itself that creates the momentum.  It is the perceived benefits (feelings realized) behind having or utilizing the product or service that creates the momentum.

Be a BAM (Business Attraction Magnet)!

Be Progress.

(Practical Sales Training Tip:  Practice Empathy! – is an excerpt from The Progress Challenge by Dean Lindsay)

Sales Speaker Video Clips

2010′s BEST Stress Management Tip! – Say Yes to NO.

(an excerpt from The Progress Challenge by Dean Lindsay)

In 2010, most of us take on too many responsibilities, try to do too much, and even own too much.  Being too busy is a big source of stress in today’s get, get, get and go, go, go world.  Often, we are so chronically over-scheduled that we never give ourselves a chance to offer our best or to enjoy the moment. 

 Are your days fulfilling, or are they merely full?

It is possible that we could get more out of life by doing less. When we internalize the difference between full and fulfilling, we realize it’s not how many events we attend, activities we get involved in, or how much stuff we have that’s important.  We do not have to say “yes” to every demand on OUR time.  And we shouldn’t feel bad, since we are saying “no” to the event or project, not the person.

 Being busy can wear us out.  If we are committed to working and winning in this world of change, we must know our limits and not limit our NOs.

-  Consider your well-crafted goals and your schedule before agreeing to additional work.

-  Simplify – get rid of the clutter and baggage in your life and in your house.  Say NO to clutter.

-   Start your own Just Say NO campaign to regain quality time.  Review priorities and see if a request fits.  When you see things that waste time or hinder your progress, speak up.

-   Stop trying to make everyone happy. (We can’t do it anyway.) 

A polite way to say NO to a request for YOUR time:  “I’m quite committed.  I can be your backup, but please keep searching.”

Be Progress (not busy).

(2010′s BEST Stress Management Tip! – Say Yes to NO is an excerpt from The Progress Challenge by Dean Lindsay)

 Customer Loyalty Speaker Video – Humorous Customer Loyalty insight

Dean Lindsay, Customer Loyalty Speaker

Professional Speaker and Author of The Progress Challenge: Working and Winning in a World of Change and Cracking the Networking CODE: 4 Steps to Priceless Business Relationships 

An authority on harnessing human potential and creating authentic business growth, Dean Lindsay is an engaging and highly sought-after business consultant and speaker. He is an active member of the Viktor Frankl Institute of Logotherapy and the American Society of Training and Development.

Dean Lindsay sees an important connection between sales, motivation, solid customer care and leadership. All are achieved by effectively positioning ideas, recommendations, solutions, products, services – even ourselves – as PROGRESS in minds of those we wish to inspire to action. All must be positioned as Progress and NOT Change. It is natural to resist change but we embrace PROGRESS. All progress is change but not all change is PROGRESS.

Dean is a featured contributor to Executive Travel, Sales and Service Excellence and the American Management Association’s Moving Ahead magazine as well as the nationally distributed audio publication Selling Power Live. He has been spotlighted as an Outstanding Speaker by the International Association of Speakers Bureaus and recognized as a ‘Sales-and-Networking Guru’ by the Dallas Business Journal.

“Dean Lindsay is an outstanding thought leader on the subject of developing priceless business relationships.” — Willis Turner, President of Sales and Marketing Executives International

Dean has served as Guest Lecturer to International Customer Management Institute as well as both the UCLA and University of Dallas MBA programs. He is a Cum laude graduate of the University of North Texas and serves on the Executive Advisory Board for UNT’s Department of Marketing and Logistics and the Board of Directors of the UNT Alumni Association. Dean’s first book, Cracking the Networking CODE: 4 Steps to Priceless Business Relationships is Recommended Reading by United Professional Sales Association and Profit magazine.

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