Slow down. Stop. Slow down. Pretend you’re talking to a kid, one that just learned how to answer the phone AND write.
I got a voicemail today from a company that said if I had questions to call them. She spoke so quickly, then repeated, that I couldn’t have gotten the number if I wanted it.
If you want a chance at people replying to your voicemail, slow down. Tell me why you’re calling, tell me WHY you want me to call you back, and SLOWLY leave your phone number. Then leave your number again, and your name.
I won’t lie- my biggest obstacle to calling someone back is if the phone number they called from isn’t the number they want me to call them back at. I am VERY lazy. If I can hit “return call” I just might do that. But if I have to write down a number and then dial it? I’ll have to really like you and want to talk to you for that to happen…

I just finished a great chat session with someone at Google. I needed something swapped out on an account and couldn’t figure out how to do it. So I clicked the chat button in the help page and a few minutes later I was chatting with a great customer service rep. What a thankless job. People come to you because they need something fixed. They probably weren’t expecting the inconvenience and so they’re often cranky. Having been the person with a stick up their rear more than once, I need to apologize for it. A cheery and helpful customer service rep can make a world of difference!

Yesterday I heard a great podcast interview with Mario Batali. Yeah, sales lessons from Molto Mario- who saw that coming? He said something that I really liked. He empowers his team members to make sure the customer has the best experience. “We don’t put parmesan cheese on this dish, but you asked for it, so here it is!” He wants his customers happy. I’ve been to a couple of his restaurants, and Eataly, his amazing food emporium in New York City. It’s amazing – who isn’t happier grocery shopping with a glass of wine in their hand?

Give your team the tools they need to help your customers. Empower your team to do what’s right, don’t hold them back. There’s a ton of things we do each day that can make or break our day, or someone else’s.

I still can’t find nice things to say about Comcast, and it’s because it always seems they can’t do something I asked. A few years ago I was having so many issues with Comcast, I would call and ask directly for the supervisor, it was just easier than wasting my time. I hate that. Don’t be Comcast. Be Google.

Give your team the tools they need. Don’t waste your customers time. They’ll leave you.

This weekend I got an email from the CEO of an organization that said “We’re sorry you can’t join us today.” A couple of years ago a client invited me to their fundraiser and so it seems I get their emails now. But what was genius is that they reminded me- today’s the day of the fundraiser. I remembered that I received an invite in the mail and I’m sure there was an option to donate and not attend. But they made it simple for me to donate online since I couldn’t make it, and even shared a video they’d be sharing at the event.

So simple, and so smart!

When I worked at PSBJ I always sent an email to the no-shows at workshops I taught. “we missed you, here’s a special price, and here’s our upcoming schedule.” It didn’t give me a huge response, but it only took 5 minutes and for the occasional sale or lead I got from it, it was worth it.

Just because someone doesn’t show up or can’t attend your event doesn’t mean they aren’t interested. What can you do to follow up and capture those “lost” sales?