It’s fall, which always means a lot of travel for me, and this year is no exception.
We threw in a vacation for good measure, and as I’m writing this post I am sitting in my first ever southern hemisphere destination, Sao Paulo.
As always, travel is a great way to observe the buying and selling behaviors of the global community.
Here are 4 lessons I have learned in the last 12 weeks:
- Consistency matters. My vacation this year was down the Danube on a Viking River cruise. We have sailed with them before and I was instantly relaxed when boarded this ship and found the quality, the crew, and the amenities familiar from our last ship. My vacation started with a sense of ease as I was familiar with the surroundings and the culture. In speaking with many repeat passengers they all said that the consistency of the product and experience is one of the major factors that drive them back to Viking. What are you doing to ensure your clients receive a consistent experience with each interaction?
- Always have a backup plan. Know how you will get to your destination if a flight is late or gets canceled. Likewise, know where your sales will come from if the opportunity in front of you fails to close.
- If you book yourself in the worst seat, on a terrible routing, with no connection time, you will arrive at your destination stressed and unable to perform well. Be good to yourself so that you stand a chance to win the business.
- The best salespeople have great memories. The best hospitality people are the same. They remember your name each time you walk in the hotel door, they greet you by name during the service on a flight. It’s this memory that helps to personalize the experience and ensure your customers want to come back from more
The big picture from this post: customer experience is the king of sales.
Master it, and repeat business and referrals will flood your pipeline.
P.S. Are you a speaker, trainer, consultant or small business owner? Don’t miss my upcoming limited-attendance event on creating never-ending value client relationships, presented along with Alan Weiss in Miami Beach! Learn more at: www.EngageSelling.com/grow