Customer Care and Service Made Simple

Hi, I was the guy wearing a name tag at the entrance to the shoe store when you walked in, the manager.  I probably greeted you within 10 seconds, made eye contact, smiled and invited you to browse the store in comfort until you were ready to be helped. That was the way it was done from 1930 through 1990 or so, professional, courteous, friendly and on the box it said "The Great American Shoe Store".  On the side it said, "a great quality product, friendly service and at a fair price".  
We observed you from a distance and when it looked like you were ready we re-approached and got the sales process started.  We measured not one but both feet, placed your shoes carefully under the chair and brought you out the selected shoe in your size and a couple of other options that may come in handy down the road. We practised product placement at the seat! We then put the shoes on for you, tied them and invited you to take a stroll while we took a moment to help other customers.
We then attempted to close the sale by using the assume, which or summary close. 
After we had successfully closed the sale and during the transaction we may suggest other items that may compliment your selection.  Socks, cleaners, water proofing, a handbag, nylons etc.  If worked into conversation naturally the sales process flowed along very easily and successfully.  No pressure, just easy natural conversation.  At the register, we rang you up, hopefully without a wait, bagged your purchase carefully and gave you a sincere thank you, maybe even calling you by name if you used a credit card or if we picked it up along the way.  Sometimes we shook your hand but always invited you to come back and shop again.

Simple....I still use these exact methods when selling homes today.  

PRIDE was taken in every sale!  I loved the business of selling shoes and because of what I learned I am able to make a tidy living selling homes in Tucson.  To me, it's just common sense.

NOTE...I will always keep my blogs short because in the year 2011 we are inudated with emails, ads and just a ton of clutter, so if you are like me, I like to get in and out of my readings within a few minutes tops.

I will be writing about some of the ways that I have come up with to organize my time in 2011, process email and correspondence etc.  I call my method "time blocks" and it has been very effective for me in running my business.

C2

My Mentors

I am not famous but if I were I would want to be asked the question...Who has been the greatest influences in your life!

Easy...

#1 My Dad
#2 Dale Carnegie
#3 Og Mandino
#4 Gary Williams
#5 Randy Snyder

Some might say that I left out God but that would be an entirely different and lengthy discussion.

As I continue to blog on this site, I will continually be resiting all of these main influences and more...

Stay tuned.

"Don't criticize condemn or complain"  Dale Carnegie

Why "Life Of A Shoe Salesman"?

My first post on the new blog will be brief as this is a trial while I learn a little more about how this works. My intention/purpose for creating this blog is to take much of the material...yours included and include it in my book of the same title as the blog. "Life Of A Shoe Salesman", this may seem like a weird title to many of you since I have not sold shoes in over 10 years. The reason for the title is actually very obvious and came as a natural to me because most people would probably look down on the average shoe salesperson as being uneducated, not very ambitious and so on. The truth is, being a shoe salesman was the most educational job I have ever had and I think that everyone should have to be a shoe salesman for at least a year before they are allowed to proceed with life. Call it "Boot Camp" towards any career.

C2

November 26, 2011