Click to Client

“Most businesses could be doubling their revenues with ease… but they just don’t know how to leverage the internet to get more clients and grow their business! They waste time and money doing it the wrong way, or they just don’t understand the landscape. Either way, they are losing out.” Shama Kabani, Owner of Click-To-Client, an online marketing consulting firm, issues this wake-up call to window treatment professionals still relying on mail-outs, yellow page ads, and even television spots. Her message: the business environment has changed, and those who hope to thrive (or even just survive) in the competitive window treatments industry must adapt to meet current conditions.

Sewell Shutters, Dallas’ premier plantation shutter manufacturer, has embraced this message full-heartedly, utilizing resources such as LinkedIn (check out our plantation shutter group!), Facebook, Twitter (@sewellshutters), and Search Engine Optimization to take advantage of the inbound marketing philosophy. With more and more consumers turning to online search and internet discussion groups to make purchasing decisions, retail success will go to the companies who have a healthy web presence.

Of course, the challenge we all face is that we are not necessarily experts in online marketing and social media.  Our days are spent meeting customers and quoting blinds, draperies, and plantation shutters.  We are professionals in design and window treatment innovation.  We can discuss fabric patterns and debate wood quality.  We know how to maximize our production facilities to quickly deliver our products to our loyal customers.

What we are not gurus in is new media marketing, and if we try and tackle mastering this art on our own we’re likely to spend inordinate amounts of time in this area and our core focus will begin to slip.  There are only so many hours in a day – we need to maximize ours toward maintaining and improving our products and service.  After all, having a dominant web presence is irrelevant if our products and services are sub-par.

Therefore, if social media marketing is a foreign concept to you, seek a coach.  Without one, you will a) spend too much time figuring it out and lose your core focus and/or b) become frustrated with it and quit altogether – thereby losing out on potential sales and future growth.  A coach will guide you in the right direction.  My personal recommendation is to talk with Shama Kabani and Stephanie Cross, leading members of Click-To-Client.

Click-To-Client exists to partner with companies in expanding their web presence and generating sales. Check them out!

As I waited for my plane I struck up a conversation with a young guy travelling with me.  As our discussion progressed, it became evident to me that this man was obsessed with finding a wife.  I had previously suspected something to this degree as I’d observed an unhealthy habit in him of trying to develop romantic relationships with women way too quickly.  It had often led to awkward social experiences, particulary because he would “fish with a net,” meaning he wasn’t aiming at finding a specific individual as much as he was concerned with finding A person.

He asked my advice on how to better get a date and build a healthy romantic relationship.

Now, I could have given him all sort of social interaction tips and talked about how to listen more and talk less and therefore satisfy what he THOUGHT he wanted.  However, I quickly recognized that the desire for a wife was not what he ultimately desired.  The conscious want was being motivated by an unconscious hunger. What he thought he was missing in life was a wife; what he was really missing was deep, meaningful friendship.  His inner struggle was a canniblistic sense of loneliness, and he figured if he just had a wife, then he would be happy.

Again, I could have addressed what he thought he wanted, but it would simply be like putting a band-aid on CANCER.  It might have made him feel good for a while, but it wouldn’t have helped him in the long run.

Many window treatment companies are selling to what consumers think they want, cutting quality to cut costs so they can sell lower price.  They ignore what I believe consumers really want deep down, lasting quality.  How then are we to sell somebody something they need but don’t know they want?  The secret is NeuroPersuasion.

In Part I of this series I introduced you to Jim Fortin,

founder of Mind Authority, a company that teaches the art of unlocking the brain and motivating people to action.  This art is known as NeuroPersuasion, and it’s one that I believe will benefit many struggling window treatment companies today.

Last post I introduced the concept of Listening to the Music, Not Just the Lyrics, e.g. finding out what the customer really wants, and not simply settling for what they tell you they want.  Effective use of NeuroPersuasion is founded on this concept and (in my opinion) worthless without it.

Step One: Listen to the Music, not Just the Lyrics

Step Two: Offer What the Customer Really Wants

On the surface this may seem a bit a obvious and exceptionally simple, but it really isn’t.  Offering what the customer really wants is rooted in what we believe businesses exist for.  If the purpose of engaging in business is purely to make profit and to financially sustain ourselves as individuals, then who truly cares what the customer wants?  As long as we convince them to purchase our product or service, then who cares if that’s what they really wanted?  Our goal to profit has been met, and we can move forward.

I believe business is a much more than simply an economic engine that moves money between parties.  I believe it is an integral part of our community. Therefore, it is subservient to the needs of the community, and it’s practices and end goals must support those needs of the community as a whole.

At Sewell Shutters, the company I work for, this belief is evident in our value statements.  The first value begins with the following declaration:

“A business exists primarily to provide the maximum number of people with jobs and thus provide sustenance for their families.”

Sewell’s operations are guided by deductions from this statement, including the boiled down question: “how can we be best help people provide sustenance for their families?”

One way we can help consumers provide sustenance is by encouraging our dealers to properly qualify their leads.  Qualifying leads goes beyond determining whether they have the disposable income available to make this purchase; it requires the question: is this what the customer really wants? If it isn’t, selling them our product will hurt them in the long run as they will be forced to spend more money sometime in the future to satisfy the need they originally had when they came to us.  The more money people waste, the less they have to care for their families and the community at large.

Questions need to be asked.  “What are your long term goals for this property?”  “Are you more interested in aesthetic appeal or financial investment?”  “What factors were critical in selecting window treatments previously?”  “What convinced you to go with your last contractor or designer?”

Observations need to be made.  “What stage of life is the customer in right now?”  “Are they financially committed elsewhere?”  “What is their personality?  What window treatment options best reflect this personality?”

Asking the right questions helps determine what they really want.  Again, customers may not be able to articulate what they inwardly desire, and it’s our responsibility as window treatment professionals to determine whether what we offer will best fit the customer.

Sometimes, the problem is in our core product lineup.  This is where it can be most painful.  What if people just don’t want what I sell?  Do I continue attempting to convince people that they want something they truly do not or do I feel the winds of change and adjust my product strategy accordingly?

Will a day come when plantation shutters no longer meet the needs of Sewell’s customers?  Will a day come when the best investment for customers will be another window treatment?  If it does, will Sewell Shutters hold to it’s core value and offer a product that people truly want?  Or will they try to sell typewriters in a computer generation?

This is the test of every great business. Offer what consumers truly want, even if that means sacrificing sacred corporate cows.

Knowing what consumers want and offering it via their language is what NeuroPersuasion is all about.  Persuade them to purchase from you by appealing to what they truly desire.  Help them see this purchase in light of their long term goals and qualify them appropriately.  And if you notice that consumers’ priorities are shifting in a direction that makes your product a less and less viable option, be ready to shift to meet their needs.

Business is just one part of global and local community.  Remember your obligation to make this world a better place, and handle each transaction with that perspective!

The Sun is Rising

Jim Fortin, Founder, Mind Authority

So for the next hour I contemplated whether Jim’s talk on persuasive selling could persuade me not to drive while drinking coffee, typing on my laptop, and listening to my ipod in a middle of a traffic meltdown.  I thought about trying to change shirts also so I would have a pressed one on when I arrived, but I decided it would be unsafe.  So poor Jim had to present the whole morning looking at a guy with a wrinkled shirt.

For those of you unfamiliar with Jim, he’s a professional sales & leadership coach who teaches the art of NeuroPersuasion (insert registered trademark symbol here).  In one line, NeuroPersuasion is the art of skillfully appealing to the imagination in a way that inpsires an individual to make favorable decisions.  In two lines, it’s a way to “bypass the conscious mind and engage the unpconscious part of the mind that makes all the decisions and determines whether people buy, hire, or follow — or not.” (taken from Jim Fortin’s website www.mindauthority.com).  In other words, since most people buy on emotion, NeuroPersuasion teaches how to best invoke an emotional response that will lead to a purchase.  I’m going to be disecting this concept over the next few weeks.

In the cut-throat industry that is window coverings, every sale counts.  The question of how to improve lead conversion is forefront in the minds of many shutter and blind retailers across the country.  Current economic conditions have motivated consumers to padlock their wallets – and when they do choose to purchase, they are more likely to shop around for “best price.”  Many Sewell Shutters dealers are today are facing the price wall. We hear it all the time: “We were underbid.”  “Customers want a less expensive product.”  “You’re product is just too expensive.”

During these next few posts, I’ll unpack NeuroPersuasion, and how it should be applied in multiple areas of building a successful window treatments operation – sales, leadership, customer service, etc.  Obviously, I am not an expert in this area and to learn these techniques quickly and easily you should consider attending Jim’s next event.

A NOTE: NeuroPersuasion is a set of TOOLS that have proper uses.  Like all tools, they can be applied incorrectly to the harm of others.  Whether you are capable of responsibly using these tools is a decision you must make yourself. Remember, people are eternal, and our interactions with them have an everlasting impact.

Let’s get started.

The foundation of NeuroPersuasion is the art of listening to the music, not just the lyrics (taken from Ken Blanchard & Sheldon Bowles customer service masterpiece Raving Fans).  Let’s pick up the Raving Fans story at the point where the student (the Area Manager) is learning from an advisor (Bill).

“So what’s your secret of success?” asked the Area Manager.

“It’s a matter of training your ear,” answered Bill.  “First, you have to listen to the music as well as the lyrics. Often what people really want doesn’t show up directly in what they say.  Thay may even say one thing and mean quite another.”

“Like what?” asked the Area Manager.

“Like the purchasing agent who tells you the only thing they look at is price and so you had best sharpen your pencil, but actually the real priorities are quality and on-time delivery.  Like the owner of the computer company who says he wants a case with a unique look, but what he really wants is something as close as he can get to the encasement of the best-selling computer — without being taken to court.  That’s what I mean by listening to the music as well as to the lyrics.”

NeuroPersuasion starts with an understanding that people may not always tell you what they truly want.  What’s more, people may not even realize what they truly want (or need).  There’s an old civil war poem that demonstrates God’s grace despite our own personal confusion.

I asked God for strength,
that I might achieve;

I was made weak,
that I might humbly learn to obey.

I asked for health,
that I might do greater things;

I was given infirmity,
that I might do better things.

I asked for riches,
that I might be happy;

I was given poverty,
that I might be wise.

I asked for power,
that I might have the praise of men;

I was given weakness,
that I might feel the need of God.

I asked for all things,
that I might enjoy life;

I was given life,
that I might enjoy all things.

I received nothing that I asked for –
but everything that I had hoped for;

Almost despite myself,
my unspoken prayers were answered.

I am, among all men, most richly blessed.

NeuroPersuasion recognizes that people themselves may have deceived themselves into believing they want one thing, when they truly hope for another.  This is the first lesson of NeuroPersuasion and Raving Fans: LISTEN TO THE MUSIC, NOT JUST THE LYRICS.  Determine what the customer truly wants, and then you will be in a better position to present a solution that best fits their situation.

The problem with being deceived is that you don’t know you are deceived. (You laugh, but a pastor friend of mine told me a lady asked him one day if it was possible to be deceived and not know it).  If people really think that price is the most important thing to them, it’s going to be very difficult to convince them otherwise because their conscious mind is convinced of it. NeuroPersuasion says it’s necessary to bypass that conscious part to appeal to the subconscious (where what people truly want resides) to help them make a decision that they will end up being happy with long term.  The biggest marketing challenge is whether we design and sell products and services that appeal to what people think they want / need OR if we design for what they DO really want /need.  If we do the latter, we will have a more difficult time convinciple skepticle prospects to purchase what we offer – even though we know it’s what they ultimately want.  It is here that NeuroPersuasion begins to help.

Ask yourself this week: do I really know what I want?  What do I truly value?  What has pop culture trained me to think I want or value?  Then ask the question: “What do my customers really want?  Am I serving what they DO want, or just what pop culture has trained them to THINK they want?”

This is the start.  Join the journey of discovery and let’s see if NeuroPersuasion can really help us sell plantation shutters!

The Sun is Rising.

“People don’t really know why they buy what they do, which is why traditional selling often falls short.  Actually, people will tell you why they think they buy, hire or follow, but are almost always wrong.  the analytical conscious mind has to rationalize actions, and it assigns reasons to actions through a myriad of mind filters.” ~ from NeuroPersuasion: 10 Tips to Unlock the Brain and Move People to Action! (available for download here)

When you are responsible for the manufacturing or distribution of consumer goods, your business model probably falls between two extremes: Production Orientation and Custom Orientation. Acutely to the left, a strict production orientation places the emphasis on high volume, low cost. Efficiency is king. The product/service scope is slim; those whose needs fall outside narrow-defined boundaries simply won’t be served. Because very few options are available, material is able to be purchased in large quantities and craftsman become adept at the three or four variations that are permitted. This leads to lower costs and faster production, which ultimately leads to a lower price overall.

At the right end of the spectrum is a focus on unique, customized goods. A custom orientation emphasizes individual taste over generic preference. Personalization is the highest priority. With this mindset, an infinite number of possibilities are welcomed. Customized manufacturing tends to cost significantly more, as it takes increased time to meet distinctive consumer specifications, and the materials used are so diverse in nature they cannot be purchased at volume savings. Ultimately, the consumer receives a product that is unique to them – however they’ve spent significantly more money to receive it.

Typically, business models are not one extreme or the other; they fall somewhere in between. For example, at Sewell Shutters, we aim at being midway between the two and then a little to the left (just slightly more production aimed). We are production oriented by using limited wood options (Damar / Bayer for painted shutters and Basswood for stained shutters) which allow for larger component purchases and faster production; we are custom oriented by painting or staining each shutter to match virtually any sample provided by the customer. We are production oriented by only offering a dozen frame profiles; we are custom oriented by allowing consumers to pick which profile best suits them. We are production oriented by scheduling installations according to our factory’s needs; we are custom oriented by consulting with the consumer on which date and time would be best for them. We are production oriented through our panel program by selling generic raw or primed panels to shutter manufacturers nationwide; we are custom oriented by offering local companies many more features, all the way up to a delivered product that is finished and ready to be installed.

A little to the left. That’s the Sewell Shutters model. Maintaining this position on the line is a balancing act requiring constant attention and discussion. When faced with any major decision regarding a product or service change, we ask several questions of it. “Will this increase efficiency and/or lower costs without sacrificing customer focus?” is one example. “By pleasing this specific customer with a service change, will we damage the service we provide to others?” is another.

Where is your business on the production-custom orientation line? Are you trying to be both extremes at once? If you are, you will wear yourself out. Is your current niche already saturated by too many other companies? If so, you may have a difficult time converting customers who don’t see the difference between you and your competitors.

Query the market. Discover the niche you can successfully fill. And make decisions that align with your market focus.