June 2009 Fundamentals E-Newsletter from Sullivision

7 Quick Ideas to Improve Service, Training and Marketing

Read 'em and Reap!

By Jim Sullivan Copyright 2009 Sullivision.com

USE FLIP CHARTS MORE EFFECTIVELY
Stop wrestling with that easel when you use flipcharts during training sessions or presentations. Write out all your pages first, then tape them to the walls at different locations around the room, with the bottom of the page taped up to keep the material on the chart hidden. This allows you to walk around the room, revealing each page, as you make your presentation.

THREE IS THE MAGIC NUMBER
Persuasive people have always known the power of a trio of ideas. Consider these three-beat advertising slogans: The few, the proud, the Marines; or reduce, reuse, recycle. There are also three-type commands: Lights! Camera! Action!; Ready! Aim! Fire!; On your Mark! Get Set! Go! Smart managers and trainers know that complex goals are more accessible if reduced to easy-to-remember sets of three. At See's Candies, a store known for its fine chocolates, workers operate by the three S's of smiles, service, and samples. Employees of Domino's Pizza know that their jobs revolve around FFF: fast, friendly, free delivery.

LOWER COSTS WITH THIS GAME Want to teach your team how to think like an owner? Play the "Price is Right" at employee meetings . At your next meeting (pre-shift or all-employee), display everyday workplace items that employees use or abuse (i.e. sugar packets, butter, crackers, silverware, napkins, plates, glasses, ramekins, table tents, menus, an extra ounce of cheese or meat, a handful of fries, etc.). Put these on a table in the front of the team with a card face down featuring the price of each item or portion. Employees in teams of two try to guess the right answers. For a color POSTER that will help your team understand how low the profit on the dollar is, click here.

THE RIGHT WAY TO GET MORE CALLS RETURNED
When leaving voice mail messages for customers, always leave your phone number twice; once at the beginning of the call and again at the end. Make sure to leave your number even if the people you're calling already have it. Reason: They may call in to hear their messages sometime when they're not carrying your number with them. And speak s-l-o-w-l-y.

AMERICAN'S FAVORITE MONTH TO MARRY

Since the restaurant/hotel industries are affected by the wedding industry (bachelor/ette parties, rehearsal dinners, catering, hotel, room rentals, etc.), this may be important news for you: June doesn't seem to be the most popular month for weddings anymore. Of the 2.4 million weddings performed in 2008, most occurred in August. With five Saturdays, one of them falling on Labor Day Weekend, some 252,000 couples tied the matrimonial knot that month. Next came October, with 235,000 ceremonies, followed by June (233,000) and then September (232,000). P.S. The number one diet month of the year in the US? March, not January.

HOW GRANDMA CAN HELP YOU SERVE BETTER

Consider the phrases you most commonly use with customers. Run through them in your head. Now run through them again, only this time, put the word "Grandma" at the end. Does it sound like something you'd want to say to your grandmother, or something she'd want to hear? Examples:
�  Look, I'll be right with you, Grandma.
�  That's not my section, Grandma.
�  What's this in reference to, Grandma?
�  It's not our policy, Grandma.
�  Let me transfer you to the people who handle that, Grandma.
If you wouldn't say it to your grandmother, or any other person you care about, why would you say it to your customers? Use the grandma test to help you eliminate the words and phrases you use to unknowingly alienate customers and prospects.

SAVE TIME BY RIPPING & READING

Managers today are overwhelmed with information. It's impossible to keep up with all the trade magazines, tweets, newspapers, books, and e-mail that we're deluged with. Here's one way to stay on top of important PRINT material: Create a "Must Read" file. Every time you get a trade publication, scan it for articles you consider a "must read." Ignore everything else. Then, tear it out, and stick it in your "Must Read" file. Carry this file everywhere. Any "down" time you have, a flight, a train ride, a meeting that gets started late, traffic delays etc. - pull out an article and read it. Commit yourself to emptying your "Must Read" file every week. -from the "The Motivational Manager"

Jim Sullivan is the founder and CEO of Sullivision.com