Passing the test of time

Forty-four years ago I married my husband.   It was a small wedding in Wimbledon, England.  We were young, but that’s what you did back then.  I was twenty-one and my husband was three years older.

Three years later we were off on a big, exciting adventure – we emigrated to Canada.  We didn’t have jobs, but with the confidence of youth, we were sure that would not be a problem. And it wasn’t.

This past weekend we hosted a wedding reunion – as by chance our best man and his wife were here on vacation from England, and our bridesmaid and her family were visiting Canada from Scotland. 

We’d known both since we were young children, so our friendship spanned over sixty years.  On the Saturday night, there were twelve of us gathered around to celebrate – not just our anniversary but being together once again.

It was incredible.  It was like slipping back in time as we shared stories, jokes and updated each other on what was happening in our lives.  They say that laughter burns calories and if this is true, I lost pounds this past weekend.  I haven’t laughed continuously like that in a long, long time.  Not only that, our adult children all got on well too. 

You may be wondering where I am going with this blog and what it has to do with business, but it has everything to do with business.  It’s about relationships, trust and staying connected.

When did you last connect with your top customers or ones who have been with you for years?  Have those relationships stood the test of time?  Sometimes we spend so much time looking for new clients that we forget the ones who’ve stayed with us; who have been loyal and with whom we have a trusting relationship. 

Don’t take them for granted.  Like any relationships, you have to stay connected and take an interest to keep the two-way communication working.

We have wonderful memories from this reunion and this gathering marks the highlight of my year. 

Pushy sales tactics can backfire

When you are shopping for clothes, how do you like to shop?  Have someone help you select what might work or potter around on your own?   Personally I prefer to wander around on my own and check stuff out.  

To me there is nothing worse than an assistant hovering at my every move, maybe throwing in a comment or two at an item I am showing some interest in.

I was reminded of this recently when shopping with a friend who was looking for something to wear for an upcoming wedding.  We had no luck at the first store but then moved on to another where there was a wider choice available.

Now my friend likes to be helped and there the assistant, Renata, was most attentive, selecting clothing she thought might work and really listening to my friend’s likes and dislikes.  Now we were there for some time, as my friend tried on numerous outfits, narrowing it down to a few choices.

However, then the manager came over and started to apply pressure – both on Renata and my friend, and started to argue with us about items already rejected.   I could see this was not going down well, but clearly the manager felt it was time to close the deal.  Wrong move.

That’s the challenge with sales – it is a fine line between being helpful and being pushy.  The manager was being pushy and her interference was not appreciated. Fortunately a phone call came in for her, and she left the scene.

Just as well, as if she’d kept up the barrage of comments meant to “force” my friend to make the purchase, we would likely have walked out the store empty-handed.

It actually reminded me of a time when, as a teenager, I worked in a shoe store.  Their rule was that if, after a certain amount of time, the person had not made a purchase, you were to call in the manager as back up to close the deal.  It was my first taste of the world of commerce.

The key I think is to respect the customer. Usually they know what they like and want, what they have at home and what their budget is around the purchase.  When you just see the customer as a sale, as money in your pocket then you’ve crossed that line.  It is the respect for the individual that matters, not your sales figures for the week.

My sense is when you do your job well, when you listen to your customer, no matter what you are selling, then you are more likely to make the sale. 

It’s like when we have speakers come to talk at a Company of Women meeting, we ask for no sales pitches.  Sadly not everyone remembers that, but my premise is that if you’ve impressed your audience, they will seek you out if they need your services, so the hard sell is not necessary, nor frankly professional. 

Pushy sales tactics can backfire on you as this manager might have found out, plus who would rush back for a repeat experience?

Renata on the other hand, earned her salary that day and we left the store mission accomplished. 

What are the ABC's of your business?

Do you have any rules of engagement with your clients – guidelines of how you will work together?  Well maybe you need one.

At our Kitchener breakfast during introductions, Jennifer Roggemann, a local lawyer who had switched to focus on immigration law, shared what she tells clients at the outset.  It was so good, that several of us asked her to repeat it, so we could write it down. 

So here are the ABCs that she’s developed:

A         Admit you need help.  Reach out and ask for it

B         Be engaged.  This is your life, not mine

C         Come clean.  I need to know all the pertinent facts if I am going to represent you. 

And you can see how relevant these particular conditions are – not just for a legal practice, but a counseling one or any other business where you are helping someone. 

So it started me thinking about what the ABCs would be for Company of Women – and of course, I came up with many.  Here’s my first attempt at it.

A         Attend.  Be an active member, get involved.  Ask how you can help someone else.

B         Be authentic.  Forget the aggressive sales pitch, it just doesn’t work in this group. Build relationships instead.

C         Connect with one another – personally and professionally. People do business with people they know and trust.  We are a community of women who care about each other.

What would your ABCs stand for?  It’s actually quite a useful exercise to go through as it

makes you focus and narrow in on what is important.

My thanks to Jennifer for sharing her story and creating an opportunity for us to think

beyond our usual definition of our business.

Collaboration vs. Competition

When I worked as a community developer, much of my job was to bring agencies and organizations together to look at combined efforts to resolve community issues.

Much of the time it worked, because while there were sometimes funding or territorial issues, most non-profit organizations shared the same values and tended to look at what was best for the client, rather than getting into who “owned” the client.  Our focus was to take a holistic approach to the family and their problems.

It isn’t quite that simple in the private sector as business owners are always looking at the bottom line and there is an element of WIFM (what is in it for me).  Certainly it needs to be a win-win situation for all the parties involved, but when you take an abundance approach and try to work together, the end result is far-reaching.

I’ve always believed in the value of collaboration because when you pool efforts and talents, you can both be successful, and more to the point, the client benefits.

But it is not always that easy, and sometimes I have leapt into partnerships that have backfired down the road because we hadn’t clarified our end goals or how we would achieve them.  Much of the time, in hindsight, we also didn’t share the same values which is crucial to any business relationship.

That’s why I am so excited about Company of Women’s new partnership with Women in Biz Network.  Not only do Leigh Mitchell, Founder of Women in Biz Network and I share the same values, but we are both driven to helping our members succeed.  And while Leigh and I could get a tad carried away in our altruistic efforts, her partner Fay Chappele keeps us grounded and focused on the bottom line. 

By combining our efforts, we will provide even more services and benefits to our now 400+ members but there is also an opportunity for young entrepreneurs to network and meet up with more seasoned business owners.  We can all learn from each other.   

We also bring different skill sets to the partnership, meaning that between the three of us, we can reach further and potentially achieve success much faster, than if we slogged away on our own.  The key is we respect each other and recognize the expertise that each brings to the table.

Now admittedly we are in the “honeymoon” stage but I have a good vibe about this one and with all the lessons I have learned (the hard way) in the past, I am confident it is going to work, and if it works for us, it most definitely will benefit and work for you.

And talking of you, who could you partner up with?  Is there someone in your sector with whom you could cross-promote? Is there the potential of working together?  Perhaps there is a joint project you could work on as you build trust and become comfortable with each other. When you are both targeting the same client group, it can be more fruitful to combine your efforts.

As Helen Keller said “Alone we can do so little, but together we can do so much.”