1. Ask
2. Ask
3. Ask

No matter how powerful your computer is, what the range of your cell phone is, or how clever your tracking system is, you still have just one way to get the order or close the deal: Ask whether your counterpart will agree to the current terms. If you have trouble asking for commitments, address that issue.  Being able to clearly state your need helps in every negotiation and in every other phase of life.

-Michael C. Donaldson, Negotiating for Dummies

You have heard it all before - to provide good customer service and make a sale, you need to understand needs, have good product knowledge, find the "fit," and so on.  All true, but it's no longer popular to be stiff and calculated in how you serve and sell.  You need to be MEMORABLE.  So what happens when you take those skills and throw in personality, fun, and genuine rapport and care when connecting with your customers?  I will tell you what you get- better relationships, increased loyalty, and more sales.  

Let me prove this to you. My family and I are getting ready to move, and one super fun task I have (insert sarcasm here) is getting quotes from movers.  So I am going to share two moving company experiences from the last couple of days, and I want you to pick which one you would choose to do business with. 

Don't assume anything.  Just because something worked before doesn't mean it's working now.  You can't rely on what once was.  You have to deal with the here and now.

- Tabatha Coffey, Own It!

We all know what everyone says about assumptions (or, at least, I assume we do). And yet we still find ourselves in disbelief when a common procedure suddenly fails on us.  Even worse, we often don't realize it has failed because we are assuming that something that has worked that long will surely follow its own inertia and work forever.  How very wrong we are.

I personally don't think that the Customer Experience can be explored enough. One of the main reasons that ProSolutions re-branded in 2001 was because I could see that we were leaving important needs on the table. Companies saw us as one dimensional. In order for us to re-communicate our message of what we could do for our customers, we built new operational models that showed how we could influence all aspects of the Total Customer Experience. So often we would hear from our customers that they need us to "fix" their broken service and delivery. Ten out of ten times, based on our analysis, we would quickly determine that the broken service and delivery (customer experience) was a byproduct of the whole organization being fragmented. Meaning, in many organizations, the "whole" runs as individual department silos. 

If everybody is thinking alike, then somebody isn't thinking.

- General George S. Patton, Jr.

Whenever you find yourself on the side of the majority, it is time to pause and reflect.

- Mark Twain

A commercial product, technology or service should never be sold on price alone. The seller who touts a cheaper price alone as a reason to buy will not last long. There is always someone willing or able to sell more cheaply.

- Geoff Ficke