What is it that is getting in the way of that follow-up call to a potential or existing customer? As homeowner, like many of you, I often find my ‘project list’ to be seemingly endless. It occurred to me today that I have no less than four calls in to local contractors that have never been returned. For those of us who spend countless hours working to “make the phone ring”, it is hard to comprehend a business that does not return phone calls, yet it happens countless times every day at businesses across America! As I was thinking about the phone calls never returned, two questions came to mind:

1. Is business SO GOOD that they don’t need MY BUSINESS?

2. Do I have any customers or potential customers who have experienced a failed follow-up from on my part?

I would rather not answer the second question on the grounds that it may incriminate me!!

For me, thankfully BUSINESS IS GREAT! Perhaps for some of the contractors mentioned above, BUSINESS IS GOOD OR GREAT. This brings up an interesting complication. When business is GOOD or GREAT, we have less time to spend building more business. Very few businesses experience even volumes throughout their sales calendar. What goes up must eventually or at least temporarily at some point come down. If we do not build business in the good times, the bad times will be even worse!

Take a moment today to take stock of your business building activities. Are you over-promising and under-delivering or under-promising and over-delivering. The first can ruin a businesses reputation, while the latter can line the profit coffers. Schedule time in your slow months or weeks to make a customer contact and customer follow-up plan for the hectic weeks or months. Take advantage of the slow months or weeks and realize that they are an excellent time to reconnect with past customers and determine future needs.

If business is good, you may have to SCHEDULE time to make sure it becomes and stays GREAT!

Anyone who has ever taught a child to drive knows that it can give you grey hair before your time. Trying to smile while holding on for dear life requires nerves of steel. One day while accompanying my daughter on a drive into town, I gasped as she changed lanes without looking. “Amanda,” I said, “did you know you just changed lanes?” She replied with a confused look on her face… “But I kept going straight?!” “Yes,” I countered, “but the road DIDN”T!.” A slight curve in the two lanes had allowed her to completely change lanes without turning the wheel.

How many of us unconsciously continue on a straight path while the road of life twists and turns? What have we missed by failing to turn our wheel and follow the road of opportunity to destinations far more interesting than the road directly ahead of us? Just as with my young driver, the greatest danger is not being alert and practiced enough to see a possibility to turn in a different direction.

Just as individuals must be willing to change, so must any successful business. The blockbuster product of today can quickly become the lackluster product of tomorrow. If we listen to our customers, they will tell us where the road is going. In order to listen, we must somehow learn how to ask the right questions. In a nanosecond, the mind of a customer can change direction. We must be tapped into their wants and desires or we may miss quickly changing preferences.

Siezing opportunity does not happen by accident. It is a skill that we must practice daily in both our work life and our private life. Being open to turning in a new direction keeps our perspectives fresh and ready for new avenues and ideas to change the destiny of our lives!

Teresa Allen works with businesses who want build profits through enhanced employee performance. A nationally recognized speaker, author and business consultant, Allen presents customized keynotes and training programs across the country. For further information, please call 800-797-1580 or send an email to tallen@AllenSpeaks.com.

Welcome to our new blog: www.GetCommonSense.com!

This blog is for YOU to share about your customer service experiences from both sides of the counter.  Have you recently had a close encounter on the front lines of business that left you frustrated?  Tell us about it!

OR… are you a service provider that just encountered a really difficult situation and wish that you had handled it differently or wished for a different outcome?  Post it here and let’s see how we can help YOU!

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