Archive for the ‘Sales’ Category

I’m ready to buy. Are you ready to sell?

April 30, 2021

So the time was right.

We had engaged with this particular service provider before, but the time wasn’t quite right then for us to get value for the service provided so we didn’t engage.

However, they recently reached out and this time the time was right, it was actually spot on and we were ready to do business, so I accepted the offer of a Zoom call to discuss.

On the Zoom call they presented their service and explained how it had developed since before, and I carefully explained why we were ready to engage with them and I further explained precisely how their service could assist us.

The meeting went great, they seemed to understand what we needed and they said they would get back to me with a proposal that would outline precisely how they could assist us and with costings.

It was the hot lead ready to be brought through the door, so very nearly there.

We received a generic proposal, similar to what they had presented on the Zoom call and with quite confusing modular pricing and no reference to the actual solution that we needed and what we had discussed.

This was followed up with a generic follow up message from sort of an automated CRM system, that made no reference to our meeting or the follow up proposal.

I responded to their proposal asking for some clarification and quite honestly I am none the wiser as it gave me a bunch of modules and options that were difficult to navigate with no attempt to create the bespoke package of services that I know will meet my needs.

A simple “further to our meeting and based on your requirements you outlined, what would work best for you is a combination of module 1 and module 3 and some extra consultancy hours and this will cost €xxxx“

Unfortunately, they want me to try to figure out the part that I need them to figure out!

I’m not sure if they know it, but we were nearly over the line.

I was ready to buy, but I’m not sure if they are ready to sell.

Greg

Greg Canty 

Greg Canty is a Partner of Fuzion Communications who offer Marketing, PR, Graphic Design and Digital Marketing services from our offices in Dublin and Cork, Ireland

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Posted in Customer Care, Marketing, Presentation Skills, Sales | Leave a Comment »

Jumping to the wrong conclusion!

February 4, 2015

Man in overalls

My brother-in-law tells me a great story about a day that he was off work to do some painting in the house. He was wearing old clothes as he went about his chores.

Later that day he had to pop over to Douglas on an errand and while over there he popped into a show house in a new housing development that they had been interested in.

He was looking at the new ‘top of the range‘ four bedroom  detached show house. The salesman for the development took one look at him in his scruffy painting gear and without giving him a chance to speak he politely led him out the door and pointed down the street and told him the where the three bedroom semi-detached show house was.

My brother-in-law hopped in his car and headed home to finish his painting..

We should never judge our customer on the first impression..

Greg Canty 

Greg Canty is a Partner of Fuzion who offer Marketing, PR and Graphic Design services from our offices in Dublin and Cork, Ireland

 

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Posted in Customer Care, Personal development, Sales, Staff training, Training | 2 Comments »

Uncle Neilly and the importance of telling stories

December 15, 2013

David Gray - Cork Opera House

Recently we were lucky enough to see the fabulous David Gray performing at the Cork Opera House – while I have always loved his music it was the first time seeing him in concert and he didn’t disappoint.

He has an incredible voice, fabulous songs and he delivered a very special performance with the help of a gifted band. He showcased some tracks from his new album, which were really strong.

Lisa O'Neill - singerBefore David Gray we had a support act, singer song writer Lisa O’Neill from Cavan who entertained the crowd with her unique style. I hadn’t heard of her before, which seemed to be the case with pretty much most of the audience who had taken their seats early.

It must be difficult entertaining the crowd when your songs aren’t familiar to them and when in truth they are not there to see you at all.

Lisa did something very clever to endear herself to the crowd – she told us stories.

She told us about the honour of being on tour with David Gray and how stunned she was when he asked her to tour the United States with him. While she wanted to grab this opportunity she was apprehensive as an uncle she was very close to, Neilly was suffering badly with cancer.

When her uncle heard this he insisted that she went and gave her €500 to make sure she “always bought a round when it was her turn“.

When she was on tour she kept Uncle Neilly up to date with her experiences and the one thing that fascinated her were fireflies. She had never seen these before and at night on the tour bus she saw many of them who politely decorated the windscreen on a regular basis.

“This song is for Neilly who isn’t with us anymore”. Lisa had our attention and had won us over.

After a really great night and a memorable performance by an artist I really like the thing I remember most is the story about Uncle Neilly.

Whenever you are pitching or selling your wares try to tell a story to bring it to life and most importantly one that makes them remember you.

Greg Canty is a partner of Fuzion

Fuzion are a Marketing, PR and Graphic Design agency in Ireland with offices in Cork and Dublin

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Posted in Entertainment, Marketing, Music, Sales | 6 Comments »

Tipping the Customer

September 28, 2013

Hostaria La Cross, Garda

It was bucketing out of the heavens as we stared out the window of our hotel in Garda in Italy during our summer holidays. It hadn’t let up for over an hour and it showed no signs of stopping anytime soon.

We had planned a leisurely stroll into the lakeside town and a nice meal on the waterfront but that was impossible – the tummies were groaning at this stage and the hotel restaurant was shut.

The restaurant that was directly across from the hotel (we were about a mile away from the lakeside strip) didn’t have the views that were on the lake but it didn’t seem to stop the steady stream of locals using the place since we had arrived.

Day and night there was a constant stream of Italian cars in and out of the place – it must be good if the locals were going there we reckoned. I checked on Four Square (a phone APP where you can leave tips about places) on my phone and the restaurant had some quite good reviews left by previous diners.

We decided to make a dash for it and despite it being just across the street we did get fairly wet.

Hostaria La Cross, GardaHostoria La Cross gave us a warm greeting as we entered but after doing so the waitress left us standing there – two minutes later she came back to us with two glasses of prosecco .. “welcome!“.

Wow – we were given a gift on the house before we had sat down or ordered anything.

It put us in great form and we had a fabulous meal (despite every second dish being laced in truffle oil..can’t stand that smell!)

Of course we left a big tip after our special night but really appreciated the “tip” the restaurant gave us at the start of the meal.

The last few times I have taken taxis in Dublin and in Cork I have noticed that each time the driver has “rounded down” when it has comes to the fare “€10 is fine” when the fare clocked €10.70.

The simple gesture is a big change to how it used be and it shows the appreciation of the business and invariably you end up leaving a good tip.

Last night after our meal in Bacco in Ballincollig we were offered a Limoncello on the house as we were settling the bill. They showed their appreciation for the business …”Thank you, we’ll be back”

Giving the customer something they are not expecting is a clever way of saying thank you and building customer loyalty.

Are you tipping your customer?

Greg Canty is a partner of Fuzion

Fuzion are a Marketing, PR and Graphic Design firm in Ireland with offices in Cork and Dublin

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Posted in Customer Care, Holidays, Hospitality, Marketing, Sales, Tourism, Travel | 9 Comments »

Mushy Peas!

September 24, 2013

fish and chips with mushy peas

“I’ll have the fish and chips please” .. yum yum!

It was our first time eating at this busy restaurant that we had heard a lot about including the multiple awards it had received in recent years.

The Fish and hand cut Chips with mushy peas caught my attention – I fancied that with a pint of Murphy’s.

In the meantime we ordered some starters and chatted.

The fish and chips arrived, nicely presented with a slice of lemon, tartar sauce and a mini bowl of frozen peas.

Had I read the menu wrong? …I didn’t think so, it was mushy peas – for me fish and chips just isn’t the same without mushy peas

I tucked into the meal and it just wasn’t quite the same with the frozen peas – I took one mouthful and just left them behind. Not the same ..

“Is everything ok with everyone’s meal?” the waitress asked.

“Yes thanks” I didn’t want to be a crank about the peas so I said nothing and besides on a night out when you want to relax the last thing I wanted to do was complain.

At the end of the meal our plates were cleared and in my case a mini bowl full of frozen peas were returned, pretty much the way they had arrived – I wondered had anyone wondered why.

At some point someone in the restaurant decided it was easier or ok not to serve mushy peas  – after all, it’s not really too big a deal and the chances are no one complains so why not do it again the next night and the next night and so on?

And besides, if people weren’t happy wouldn’t they complain..wouldn’t they?

For me instead of being the award winning restaurant it’s the place that tells me I am getting mushy peas but serves me something else – I won’t complain but I probably won’t be back.

At times do we all serve something that’s not quite what we described on our menu? 

Greg Canty is a partner of Fuzion

Fuzion are a Marketing, PR and Graphic Design agency in Ireland with offices in Cork and Dublin

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Posted in Customer Care, Hospitality, Marketing, Sales | 10 Comments »

Are you throwing away the Wow?

February 18, 2013

Fitting Carpets

We were excited as we pulled into the drive after a long day – after work we had to attend an event and eventually we were on the way home ..after midnight!

That day we knew the new carpets that we had ordered were laid and we were nervously looking forward to seeing our home transformed – the old carpets had been there for over 12 years and it was time for a change ..

After picking the carpets in the showroom you can never be quite sure if what you picked out actually does in fact work with the colours in the house – we were nervous but we were hoping that the little investment would be worth it and our home would be transformed for the better.

We opened the front door and switched on the hall lights ….

A wall of upset hit both of us as we saw the mess everywhere – the carpets were installed but the fitters had left the place like a bomb hit it. There were carpet cuttings everywhere, loose pieces of carpet, nails, broken grips. The fitters had stormed through the house moving furniture from one room to the other and returning them randomly, there was a pile of rubbish in the corner of the bedroom and the bedside lockers were stacked in the bathroom.

We couldn’t close the bedroom door because the carpet was a deeper pile – who would leave it without being able to close the door? We felt like the place had been violated, people had been in our home who didn’t give a damn how they left the place – nearly as if robbers had been through the place.

We were raging and really very upset. I wanted to just return all of the carpets  – Dee just wanted to go to bed but I knew I couldn’t face the mess in the morning and carry this horrible feeling into another day.

I started tidying, gathering up the nails, the loose pieces of carpet and I hoovered the whole place with Dee’s help. Miraculously after about 40 minutes the place transformed and we were able to see that the carpet was in fact gorgeous and despite our initial feelings it looked like the carpets were fitted really well!

We didn’t want this crew back in our home so we agreed to ask a friend in the morning to sort the door problem.

With just a little bit of extra care and attention and a quick tidy up, the carpet fitters could have easily delivered us a huge “Wow” but instead they carelessly threw this away and destroyed a great customer experience.

Sometimes when we are operating to tight budgets do we end up throwing away the valuable “wow” that ends up costing us a lot more in real terms?

The “wow” is the most important part of the whole transaction – don’t throw it away? 

Greg Canty is a partner of Fuzion

Fuzion are a Marketing & PR firm with offices in Cork and Dublin

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Posted in Customer Care, Marketing, Retailing, Sales | 24 Comments »

Nothing like that here

January 18, 2013

London CallingI was 14, it was the summer of 1979 and my dad took me to London for the day to shop for records!

We took the ferry from Cork to Wales and a coach to London. We were supposed to arrive late at night, book into a hotel and then get up early for a days’ shopping – the poor coach driver took a wrong turn as a result of road works so we ended up pulling into London at 5 am

…there was no point booking into a hotel so we just grabbed a breakfast and wandered the streets until the shops opened.

We went to London quite simply because the music stores there were incredible – there was “nothing like that here“, just a few limited shops (Eason’s, Lee Records and Woolworths) with a tiny selection of records.

I’ll never forget that scorching summer’s day with my poor dad standing  patiently at the door of HMV and Virgin as I spent hour after hour browsing these mega-stores, shelf by shelf.   I can still remember the excitement in those stores – packed with possibility, undiscovered gems, fabulous artwork ..it was theatre.

HMVI eventually purchased over 20 records, rare items, bargains and basically music that I just couldn’t buy in Ireland.

Another memory of that day was the huge amount of women walking around London wearing no bras!! It must have been fashionable but I had never seen the likes of it before and I can promise you it made a big impression on this impressionable 14 year old … between the lack of sleep, the intense heat and the “scenery”, I remember feeling quite dizzy!

As we know Ireland gradually caught up with London and even in Cork we ended up with Golden Discs, HMV and Virgin. My own love for music resulted in me opening my own stores …the dream of a 14 year old!

Despite all of our progress and advances in technology we are very close to a situation where there will be “nothing like that here” and even worse “nothing like that there” – HMV are nearly gone and the others are not far behind (I sold my stores a number of years back and the crew that bought them have since gone out of business).

Browsing for recordsWe can thank unsustainable rents, record companies who handed their Top sellers at big discounts to supermarkets, record companies who switched to digital technology that it couldn’t manage and music stores who lost their passion for music, for where we have ended up today.

That incredible feeling of browsing for magic in the shelves of music stores was one of the special things in my life that has brought me so much pleasure..

Progress?

Greg Canty is a partner of Fuzion

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Posted in Customer Care, Holidays, Irish Economy, Marketing, Retailing, Sales | 14 Comments »

Undoing the good …. the over sell.

October 31, 2012

Pushy salesman

How about it?

Another phone call ..

Last week I attended a really good seminar that was hosted by a company from Dublin that we had never had dealings with before – I’m not really sure how I ended up on their invitation list but somehow I did.

They were obviously touting for business in the Cork area and looking for new leads.

The seminar was “free” for all attendees and I must admit that it was very useful and it was run in a very professional manner. It was well attended and judging by the level of interaction during the session the topic was of huge interest.

The two speakers on the day represented the company well and went a long way to convincing the attendees that they had considerable expertise on the subject matter – it turned out to be a really strong “showcase” for their talents and sitting there I reckoned they would definitely pick up business as a result.

I left the enjoyable session with some promotional literature and a really strong impression of the company who presented.

When people registered for the event we were asked for various contact details, which I guess is fair enough if they want to send out further literature or even add me to a newsletter. I was interested in the topic after all.

Since the event I have received a few emails and a few phone calls from the company. The calls have come directly to my mobile and also through to the office phone. After one of the calls I received an email and I politely responded thanking them for the useful session and explaining clearly that if we needed their services I would definitely consider them.

A few days later I am still getting calls and emails ….enough!

Do the seminar, showcase your talents, leave me with an information pack and maybe a polite follow up call/email a week later.

Instead you’ve turned me off and now all I want to do is avoid you!!

We all need to be careful not to undo the good by pushing too hard for the sale ..

Greg Canty is a partner of Fuzion

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Posted in Direct Marketing, Marketing, Sales | 28 Comments »