Greg's Right FIT Newsletter #153

Quick notes to help you get more done in less time. . . next week. 

In this issue: 

- Techniques for FIT
- Being Human
- Random Stuff

Techniques for FIT

• Peerless customer service requires input from the customer. Just like value lies in the eye of the beholder, customer service depends on client expectations, so ask them.

• Assuming that self-service requires a lot of follow up, full service should require little follow up. Meeting deadlines and being on time saves your client's time. 

• Now and then, excellent customer service isn't removing obstacles as much as it's simply not adding to them. Try not to make additional work for your customers. 

• Idea sharing is the easiest way to be proactive with a client next week. Non-salesy ideas on topics that interest them.

Being Human - Tempering enthusiasm

A lead scoring system for the rest of us 

The call comes in out of nowhere. Finally! Someone interested in talking to us! The conversation goes well, there's a promise to follow up, and hopes are high. 

"I think I got one!" says the rep. The manager asks for a forecast, the opportunity goes on the board, and everyone's excited. 

All new clients are good, right? Especially the bluebirds that show up every now and then? I mean, what makes for a good prospect? How do you define a good client? Since they called you, that's a bonus, isn't it?

A lead scoring system will help you manage expectations, and there is an easy way to do it. Easy and effective.

Let me describe it to you. Long before you have that hot call coming in, long before you spend a lot of mental energy and expend a lot of resources trying to create a proposal, you need a ranking system. A way to score the opportunity outside of the conversation, the big name, or the dollar amount. Why? It helps everyone temper their enthusiasm. It keeps emotions in check. 

I won't go into heavy detail here, but the scoring system I suggest has four basic parts to it. 

1. The top 6 or 7 traits of your best customers. 
2. Ranking each trait's importance to your business on a scale of 1-10. 
3. Inside each trait, defining what qualifies as low, medium low, medium, medium high, and high. At least 3 of those five. 
4. Figure the highest score (the perfect prospect), then rank your A, B, C and D prospects on that scale. Like 90% and above is an A, 80% and above is a B, etc. 

Now, when your rep gets the call from a hot lead, you can have them score it while they forecast it. I just did this exercise with a client and we discovered something interesting, the inbound calls were consistently scoring C and D, shedding some light on a molasses like pipeline which led to some great discussions with the marketing team. 

Take the time to set up a lead scoring system. If you need help, send me a note, I know someone who does this kind of thing. 

Random Stuff

"You got a little something right there."

Part of delivering a successful workshop depends on my having the ability to scribble on a white board or flip chart. I like to keep things low-tech to avoid communication challenges. It works well. 

This workshop, as I listen to the participants banter, I look down and see black Sharpie marker is leaking all over my fingers. So as not to draw attention to myself, I go back to the marker box and pick another color. Same result. This means it's probably not the marker, it's a use error and the way I'm holding the marker is a bad fit.

I switch back to black, but now when I'm talking with my hands, my eye starts tracking to my increasingly blackened right hand. This is a mess, but it doesn't seem to be smudging my clothes or other hand, so I put it out of my head and concentrate. C'mon Greg, focus.

Post workshop, I am dining with a prospect and he points at the corner of his mouth and says, "you have a little something right there." I wipe but he shakes his head, no, so I head to the restroom. 

Yep, you guessed it. Lesson #2385, keep my hands away from my mouth because flip-chart Sharpie isn't easy to scrub off. 

Good stuff. 

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