Make it easy to buy

If you want one secret to selling more stuff, no matter whether you're a dealer or a manufacturer or a salesperson, here it is:

Make it easy to buy

One Saturday morning I finished a workout, showered, put on my warm-ups, tee shirt and baseball cap and drove to an electronics store to buy some high-end audio speakers for my home. I quickly spotted the audio department and stationed myself in front of the best (and most expensive) speakers they had. Within minutes a salesperson who had been eyeing me interrupted and said, "Sir, I can tell you really love music. Let me take you to listen to speakers that YOU can afford." He then shuffled me to the low-end district of the department where he spent fifteen minutes telling me how good the $30 speakers sounded. I told him thanks and left. I went down the street and bought some tremendous (and somewhat expensive) speakers from his competitor.

Obviously, he profiled me--I was dressed down and evidently looked "low-rent." That salesperson committed a cardinal sin. He made it too tough for me to buy. I was ready to take my wallet out, but he wouldn't let me until he finished his spiel and by then, I was finished with him.

We can make it too hard for customers to buy--whether it's employing the wrong salespeople or having too few people to wait on customers or if maybe we don't stock the product itself. The list goes on and on. Want to increase sales?

Make it easy to buy

Barry LaBov
LaBov & Beyond
www.labov.com
LaBov Sales Channel
PB&J Newsletter

Surround yourself with "you"

My agency, LaBov & Beyond, was preparing for a visit from a prospective client. As we were preparing, it became clear that we needed to step back and review our facility. Sure, it was in good shape, but what did it say about us? Did it contribute to the experience and enhance it - or was it merely neutral? After careful review, we determined it was the latter. I'll share what we did.

We looked at the upcoming client visit as more than a one-time deal. We viewed this as an opportunity to reshape our physical environment not only for prospects, but for clients, employees (new and old) and even for the public (including prospective employees).

We created an experience. We determined the mantras that we live by on our best days - the days that we are brave and impassioned - needed to be on our walls along with real examples that correspond. A dozen mantras that we live by were stenciled on walls and dozens of examples adorned them. We made "fatheads" - large images that stick to the walls - of some of favorite accomplishments and clients, ranging from a character in our Umbrella Story book series to a Ferrari vehicle. We removed all generic images on the walls. Unless it was created by us or had a meaning to us, it was taken down. We reviewed everything in the building - including the bathrooms - after all, the client sees the bathrooms. We removed many of the awards we had displayed - unless they were relevant, they were vanquished.

The result was inspirational, educational, and it serves as a primer on who LaBov & Beyond is. More than a wacky interior design, far better than generic art work on a wall, it was "us" and it designed to inspire us to continue to be "us." Better yet, take this idea to your personal workspace: Does it inspire and reflect "you"?

Review your surroundings, ask a friend to walk in and give his/her impressions. Is your office a collection of artifacts, generic messages and mediocrity or are your surroundings a reflection of your culture?




Barry LaBov
LaBov and Beyond marketing Communications
www.labov.com

Doing what doesn't come easy

I had dinner many, many years ago with a client and two of our employees. We were on the road producing an event and were recovering from a day in the hot sun herding hundreds of sales people around a training session. We needed a chance to relax. I loved being with the three people - they were smart, funny and engaging.

The topic of high school and college came up, and I was astounded. The client said, "You know, I never had to study, never took a book home, and I was an honors student." One employee piped in, "Me, too. School was easy." The other employee added, "I never studied in high school, but finally in college I had to pick up a book once in a while."

I was dumbfounded (good word for this) and I felt like the stupid guy at the table (which I probably was). I had to study during elementary, junior high (that's what it was called then), high school AND college- or I would have been in big academic trouble.

At first, I felt almost sorry for myself, but then I realized it was an advantage. I was so used to tackling uncomfortable things, having to figure out something and having to study that I inadvertently took that into my business life. It made running a business easier - I expected to face challenges, to feel the stress of performing and never assume anything was going to be easy. I also felt the thrill of succeeding through the hard work- my smarter friends didn't get that bonus, either.

I think we face this issue in the workplace. All too often, the reason an employee doesn't perform well is that the assignment didn't come easy and he/she gave up. When the economy is booming, we can get away with this because we "specialize" - we give that unique or special or even weird assignment to someone else that may be more comfortable with it.

But in today's economy, that position may not exist at your company - we have to tackle the tough stuff and find a way to succeed. It'll be tough, but we'll learn and we'll feel good about it.


Barry LaBov
LaBov and Beyond
www.labov.com

The difference between simple and easy...

In business, and in life, we want things simple and easy. Well, choose one, because you can't always have both.

Running a business can be simple: do the right things, be smart with finances, hire and keep good people, avoid doing the wrong things. Simple.

But that stuff isn't necessarily easy. It isn't easy be fiscally responsible (it's not fun, it's not good for the ego). It isn't easy saying no to clients that might want "favors" or inappropriate treatment. It isn't easy to hire the right person and reject the wrong one (even if the wrong one has more experience or claims to have an "in" with a prospective client).

Perhaps this is the answer: If your focus is on what's easy, life will be complicated. If you focus on what is simple and right, life and business will be pretty easy.


Barry LaBov, CEO
LaBov and Beyond
www.labov.com