These suggestions fall into 3 parts:

Part A. Finding New Customers (See November issue)

1. Selling by the Numbers

2. Network, Network, and Network Some More

Part B. Close More Estimates & Increase Your Avg. Sale (This Issue)

1. Win More of the Jobs You Quote
2. Make Sure that You Get Your Customer Everything They Need the First Time, And that You Get Paid For It

Part C. Increasing sales from existing customers ( January Newsletter)

1. Stay on the Top of Your Customer's Mind
2. Give Your Customer New and Creative Ideas on How to Solve His/Her Problems
3. Deepen Your Relationships with Your Key Customers
4. Sell for the Season that is Coming
5. Customer Referrals

Part B. Closing More Estimates and Increasing your Average Sale Price

1. Win More of the Jobs You Quote
When thinking about how to win more of the jobs you estimate, there are several questions that you'll want to ask, such as:
 

• What's your close rate for estimates?
• What is the total dollar value of the estimates you have quoted this year?
• How much of these have you won?
• Are the jobs you are winning profitable?
• For the jobs that you lost, do you know why?
• Do you have a system in place to make it easy to follow-up on the quotes you've given?

What's your "close rate" for the estimates that your team has provided to customers and prospects? The close rate tells you what percentage of jobs that you've won out of all the jobs you've quoted. For example, you might have quoted 160 jobs this month and won 120 of them, which is a close rate of 75%. You ought to watch the close rate for the year as well, and the trend that the numbers show over the last few months. This will enable you to see if your rate is improving. If you can't find this out in a few minutes, you may want to think about upgrading your methods (see below for ideas on how to track this easily). If you don't know how many you're winning and losing, and why, then you're poorly positioned to improve. This is extremely valuable information.

Just to be clear, I am not advocating that you just strive to win more of the business that you quote. It is critical that the extra jobs you win are profitable. Whether it's a $357 vinyl or digital print job, or a $20,000 illuminated sign, or a $50,000 interior and ADA sign job, it is critical that you be able to accurately estimate your costs on that job. This let's you know how much room you have if you need to bargain. But if you cannot win the job at a price that allows you to make some profit, you are better off not winning the job. We'll have a much more detailed discussion on understanding the dollars and cents when it comes to quoting and negotiating jobs in the February Newsletter.

How does your team follow-up after an estimate has been given to a customer or prospect? When the quote is sent or given to a customer, does the salesperson or estimator automatically schedule a follow-up call 2 business days later to follow-up, if the customer hasn't gone ahead? And is the person that will make that follow-up call trained in being customer service oriented, listening to the customer, dealing with customer objections, and asking for the business? In short, do they have a polite, creative, and persistent approach?

If the customer hasn't made the decision to buy the sign or graphic after the first follow-up call, what does your person do next? Do they ask the customer what is affecting their timeframe and when they'll be ready to make a decision? And does your teammate schedule another follow-up call?

One easy way to do this is to have a list of outstanding estimates that need to be called each day. When the person that makes these calls arrives in the morning, they review the list and make the follow-up calls for the day. They might ask questions like these:

• Good morning Mr./Ms. customer, did you have any questions about the quote we gave you 2 days ago?
• Are you ready to move ahead with that?
• (If you've lost the order) Mr./Ms., we're always looking for ways to serve our customers better. What did you like about the other shop's quote? Listen for a chance to win the business, to learn who the other shop was, and the reason why they went with the other shop.
• Is there anything else that we can help you with? Since you know the business that the customer is in, be specific. For example, if the customer is a landlord, ask if they have projects that need replacement signage or if they have any new tenants coming in soon. Other examples will apply for screen printing and digital printers.
• When the customer indicates that they're ready to buy, the person calling should know to get a deposit if appropriate, and finish the call. It's important to be careful about talking too much.

Here are 3 methods for tracking your estimates, scheduling the calls, and collecting the information that you learn when following up:

2. Increasing Your Average Sale Price (Make Sure that You Get Your Customer Everything They Need the First Time, And that You Get Paid For It)

Most customers are very busy. They don't have the time or the interest in dealing with delays, errors, incomplete work, or having to babysit/check-up on their sign/graphics provider. Additionally, often customers will wait until the last minute to place an order. These types of customers need a sign/graphics company that:

• Can understand what they are trying to do. What is the problem they are solving or the objective they're trying to achieve?
• Is reliable, both in quality and in meeting deadlines; and,
• Can bring expertise (design, etc.) to help them more effectively meet their objective.

This is an opportunity for you to build loyalty in a market where customers too often seem to be focused only on price. Take a few minutes to understand what the customer is trying to accomplish. What does he want the sign/graphic to do? In most situations, with your expertise, you'll see ways to make their original idea better. By making suggestions, you begin to become more than just another sign/graphics company in the yellow pages. You become a trusted resource for this customer. And when you get off the phone with this customer, make a note or two in their file about what was important to them. Then when you speak with the customer later, you can refer back to this order to hear how successful it was for them. This level of service will begin to set you apart from the competition and build loyalty with this customer.

Suggestions:

• Have a list of extras, or options, close to the phone where you or other people speak with customers about estimates and new jobs.
• Put prices on these extras. You are providing an extra service, and deserve to be paid for it. And besides, the customer is beginning to look at you as a problem solver, and is not solely focused on price.

Variations On Murphy's Law

• The Law of Reality: Never get into fights with ugly people,
  they have nothing to lose.
• The Law of Motivation: Creativity is great, but plagiarism is
  faster.
• Boob's Law: You always find something in the last place you
  look.
• Law of Volunteer Labor: People are always available for work
  in the past tense.
• Conway's Law: In any organization there is one person who
  knows what is going on. That person must be fired.
• Law of Drunkenness: You can't fall off the floor.
• Heeler's Law: The first myth of management is that it exists.
• Weinberg's Second Law: If builders built buildings the way
  programmers wrote programs, then the first woodpecker that came
  along would have destroyed civilization.
   

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Your business keeps you hopping from one priority to the next---every single day. You put out one fire only to find another one starting up while over your shoulder you catch a glimpse of yet another one rekindling. With all of the busy-ness of running your business, who has time to focus on marketing?

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So, how often should you work out? Although the schedule of your everyday life will help decide this for you, you should also consider a few other factors in determining your frequency of training. These factors include muscle soreness, the ability of your body to recuperate, and the integration of new activities into your workout.

First, muscle soreness is a sign that you need rest. Pushing your body to exertion every day could result in injury and fatigue. Also, the amount of time it takes your body to recuperate varies from person to person. Recuperation can be influenced by factors including genetics, training history, exercise selection, training duration, diet and rest.

It is important to mention, only you will know how long your body takes to recuperate, and only you know how you feel. Many people try to do too much their first week. They go into the gym and workout every part of their body in the first day, then find it hard to do any other exercises the next few days. This is because atotal-body exercise program does not allow your body enough recovery time. So if you are currently training with a total-body program, but you want to train more often, simply split up of the number of exercises you do each day. For example, train upper body on day one, lower body on day two and cardio only on day three. A more highly focused workout could include: back and biceps on day 1, chest and triceps on day 2, legs and back on day 3, and rest or light cardio on day 4. This allows 4 to 5 days to pass before an exercise is repeated and allows your body more time to recover.

Days off from workouts are essential. They allow for full recuperation, as well as mental relaxation. As a general rule of thumb, you should workout 3 to 5 days a week (depending on how you feel), and either rest or do light cardio the remaining 2 to 3 days per week. One helpful tool to help supplement your workout regimen is to schedule a weekly activity that you really enjoy. This could be a weekly basketball game with friends, or bike ride around your neighborhood. These activities provide a mental break from your workout, while building your endurance and stength at the same time.

The number one key to any workout is consistency. The number one reason most workouts fail is because people simply do not stick with them. The results will come in time. Be patient and find a schedule and workout that suits your lifestyle. This will be more important in the long-run than any other aspect of your routine. Develop great workout habits and great results will soon follow.
 

-William Shakespeare, 1602

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Online Seminars

Cyrious Software will be holding online seminars on the following dates and topics: (all times noted are Eastern Standard Time)