Customer care is set to become one of the most important issues facing businesses in every market – fact! Customer care programs come under a number of titles – customer services; customer satisfaction; customer focus; customer orientated etc. Their common theme is meeting the customer’s requirements and ensuring that all aspects of the business contribute to customer satisfaction. The intention is to build repeat business. If customers are satisfied with the product and the standards of service they receive, they will return again and again. Inconsistent Customer Care. Staff. Teamwork. MORE >>

Here are 7 secrets you can use right now to improve your negotiating skills. Sell first, negotiate second. Never go into a sales call expecting to negotiate, rather go in committed to sell and close the deal without making any concessions.  It’s during the selling phase when you have the best opportunity to learn the most about what it is the customer needs and wants. Never negotiate until you know at least 3 needs the customer has or 3 benefits the customer is looking for. You can’t negotiate until you know what it is they want. Time is a powerful negotiating tool. MORE >>

Starting out is always an amazing opportunity. Everything is fresh. It’s all new. Your ideas haven’t been proven wrong yet, you are still at the peak of your health, and you’ve got money and time and motivation. Heck, there’s nothing that can stop you. At least that’s how you feel. But a lot of the time it is only a matter of a short time until you’re left wondering what happened and why it all had to happen to you. Your perspective on life starts to change. Dramatically. Even helpful friends and family look suspicious to you. Life seems really unfair. MORE >>

Is it just me or are others finding that they’re getting more and more brazen sales solicitations of various kinds from their new “friends,” “followers,” and “connections” than in the past? It seems that when I friend or follow or connect with someone I’m far more likely now than in the past to get a direct message or inmail or email thanking me for following and “as a special gift” they offer me a super duper deal on their services or books or whatever. . Other times it is an outright blatant solicitation to sell me something without even the guise of a special offer. . Communication Sales 2.0 MORE >>

Track Your Sales Opportunities! Are you a sales data naysayer? Think that metrics and measurement are “too confining” (that was a National Safety Council ad campaign back in the ‘70s about  wearing seat belts – because that’s how they were viewed, even though wearing them saved lives in most cases). Metrics and measurement save the lives of your sales opportunities. Tracking your sales opportunities and updating their progress is critical for the success of anyone involved in complex selling, and for anyone who has more than a few opportunities being worked. What are the trends? MORE >>