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A television news director once gave me a valuable piece of advice. He said, “Viewers are like cats. You have to dangle something in front of them to keep them focused.” What he meant was, you always need to work to keep your audience ’s attention. Unfortunately you can’t dangle shiny keys in front of clients to get them to focus. Instead, you can do this one crucial trick: Jolt so they don’t bolt. That means as attention starts to wane, you “ jolt ” the audience, in regular intervals, as you speak. A jolt can mean:  Telling a story  Ask a question  Change the tone of your voice  Remind the audience why what you’re saying should matter to them  Switch Speakers Imagine audience attention is like a balloon you want to keep up in the air. If you leave the balloon alone it will silently fall to the ground. But if you focus on keeping the balloon in the air, as it starts to fall you can bump it back up again. Don’t wait until you see that your audience has figuratively fallen to the ground …

Budgeting for sales and marketing is always a dicey situation. You want to spend appropriately, and in directions that result in the best returns. But you should never skimp on the attention and resources spent on current customers. The fact is it costs five times as much to attract a new customer than to keep the ones you already have. If you’re able to boost your customer retention rate by just 5 percent, your profits can enjoy a big boost . Managing and budgeting for customer experience (CX) is so important simply because it’s your main differentiator from your competitors. According to consultancy firm Gartner , 89 percent of businesses compete mainly on customer experience — greater than product excellence, price, or any of the many other elements of the business process. So, how do you budget for managing customer experience? You could start by multiplying by two the amount you currently spend on acquiring new customers. Those monies could go toward assigning a certain employee …

I was just wondering, if maybe you’d like to learn a simple way that, in my opinion, could possibly help you come across a tad more confident when you communicate? Did that sound confident? Trustworthy? How about this instead: I know a way that you can come across as more confident when you communicate. Even better: There’s a simple trick you need to know to communicate with confidence. See the difference? The first paragraph is full of weasel words. Words that sound hesitant, less forthright, less confident. Weasel words soften our sentences and make us appear less confident about what we’re saying. In sales, you’re already fighting an up-hill battle to gain trust. So don’t undermine your own credibility with words that aren’t even necessary. Words like: “Just” “Possibly” “In my opinion” “Hopefully” “Perhaps” “I’d like to” The list goes on. In order to sound more confident, you need to wipe out weasel words. Here’s how: Delete….Delete….Delete :  Practice first on e-mails. Write what …

Your customers want to do business with brands that have positive reputations. Advancing your own brand credibility and reputation is critical not only in acquiring new customers but also in solidifying your relationship with current customers, assuring that they remain loyal and continue to be your customers well into the future. Of course, nothing can substitute for outstanding customer service and advice. As I’ve mentioned in previous blogs, your company doesn’t just provide printing services, but rather joins in partnership with customers in offering expertise in printing technologies, industry knowledge, marketing insights, mailing, fulfillment, and many other areas. But reinforcing your brand throughout the industry and beyond is critical. It’s called brand management, and you should have a plan in place to do just that.   Managing your reputation One key metric you’ll want to keep track of is your Net Promoter Score (NPS), which gauges the proportion your company has of …

Do you read the Wall Street Journal every day? If not, you should. Why? What if you read an article talking about how difficult it is for automobile dealers to adjust in this COVID-19 selling environment? Specifically, they are struggling to keep it personal. People buy from people, after all and car dealers are getting their lunch eaten by startup companies who deliver cars right to your door. They need help. Your help. It’s profitable to pay attention and connect the dots between opportunity and print. Banks are in trouble. Airlines, too. Hotels, restaurants, gyms, movie theaters… the list goes on and on. Virtually every sector of business is struggling right now. Imagine calling on one of them and saying, “I want to talk you about how I can help.” If ever you had a chance to get a voicemail message returned, this is it. But, you need to be informed. Good salespeople know their industry. They understand the equipment, capabilities, and limitations. They are good communicators. They …