Strategies for Success
December 2009 Number 48

Thoughts from the Office

10 Quick Tips to Build Relationships and Trust

  1. Change your outgoing voice mail message daily and date it. 
  2. Write a personal, handwritten and stamped thank you note to new and renewing clients.
  3. Be aware of recent policyholder claims and make a personal call to show you care.
  4. Use a proper and complete e-mail signature on all outgoing messages.
  5. At the end of all calls, ask “Is there anything else I can help you with?”
  6. Follow up on all lost business.
  7. Offer to do account reviews annually.
  8. Communicate with customers using the method they prefer.
  9. Even when you don’t have the answer, let your customer know the status.
  10. Personally connect when delivering bad or radically changing news. Don’t e-mail it.

 
In this Issue

Thoughts from the Office
Thoughts from Home
Thoughts from Others
On the Road in 2010

The Energizer Minute

This month, tune in to hear Responsibility and Pride – The Ultimate Energizers to learn how one mother helped her teenager during a difficult time.

Go to the www.sellingstrategies.com  home page and click on the Energizer Minute. 

Quote of the Month

"To earn trust, demonstrate respect and appreciation."   EH

Thoughts from Home

What are you working toward?

My friend Tom is a great husband, involved father of four, and a successful physician. As busy as his life is, when I’m with Tom, I always feel the sense of calm he conveys. When I recently saw Tom he told me he has entered an upcoming sprint distance triathlon. It’s a .6 mile swim, 12.4 mile bike ride, and a 3.1 mile run. In reply to my astonished look, he said that he’s found that having a single-minded personal goal supports his well-being and adds to the quality of his life. He believes that when your heart is in what you love and you’re working toward a goal, finding time and energy is not a problem.

 We all know people who live full lives and yet accomplish do-it-yourself household projects, earn college degrees or career designations, volunteer for causes they are passionate about, or like my friend Tom, realize physical achievement goals. When I think of the people I know who fit that description, I’m struck that they are among the happiest and most grounded people I know.

 Setting educational, physical, and social goals keeps one purposefully focused on something bigger than day-to-day routine. The discipline required to accomplish difficult tasks and the sense of triumph on having achieved your goal bring rewards of confidence and satisfaction.

 What are you working toward? 

Coming Soon! 

My new book and audio - Great Service Sells – How CSRs Turn Service into Sales.

Thoughts from Others

“Forgiveness is not an occasional act; it is a permanent attitude. Forgiveness does not mean ignoring what has been done or putting a false label on an evil act. It means, rather, that the evil act no longer remains as a barrier to the relationship.”  Martin Luther King, Jr.

 Anthropologist Angeles Arrien’s Four Rules for Living: 

  • Show up.
  • Pay attention.
  • Tell the truth.
  • Don’t be attached to the results.

 
 

Products and programs to grow your business

  • Strategy planning consulting and facilitation

Professional facilitation enables owners and managers to agree on goals, strategy, and implementation. Establishing priorities, creating action plans, timelines, accountability and follow through generate results.

  • New producer development and sales coaching

Customized personal guidance for new producers. Includes sales plan creation, structured curriculum and phone coaching,

  • Workshops – Turning Service to Sales for CSRs and Client Based Selling for producers

In-house workshops for agency sales and service staff. These sessions fast forward individual skill building resulting in improved customer retention and new business growth.

  • Presentations

Topics include Lean and Mean Management, Selling from the Inside, and Kick Your “But” to name a few. Learn more on the website information page.

  • Great Service Sells – How Great CSRs Turn Service into Sales

Coming soon!  Designed for group learning using both a print book and audio book. CSRs learn 21 strategies that great CSRs apply to gain referrals, retain business, and earn customer trust.

  • December special – add to your learning library!  All books and audio programs purchased from our online store are 20% off this month. Use Coupon Code NEWS11 at checkout.

For more information, www.sellingstrategies.com or emily@sellingstrategies.com or 888-309-8802.
 

On the road

 Early 2010 business travel is taking to me these places. Please give me a call if you’d like to connect when I’m in your area.

  • James K. Ruble Graduate Seminar, Concord, NC January 13-15, 2010 (attending)
  • Speaking engagement in Scottsdale, AZ – private client – February 23-24, 2010
  • Speaking engagement in Denver, CO – private client – February 25, 2010
  • NAPSLO Mid-Year Conference, Scottsdale, AZ March 3-6, 2010
  • Independent Agents and Brokers of SC spring conference, Columbia, SC March 17, 2010
  • Agency Management CIC, Louisville, KY  March 18-19, 2010
  • AMS User’s Group Annual Conference, Nashville, TN  March 25-27, 2010
  • Speaking engagement in Des Moines, IA – private client – April 11-13, 2010
  • Speaking engagement in Appleton, WI – private client – April 14, 2010

 

Strategies for Success Newsletter is published by Emily uling Selling Strategies. www.sellingstrategies.com

For further information E-mail: emily@sellingstrategies.com

© 2009 Emily Huling. All rights reserved. Feel free to share our newsletter if copyright and credit are always included.