Category: Reck, Ross; Dr.

  • Ross Reck – When Your Window Of Opportunity Opens–Go For It!

    Coke and Coca ColaI sat next to an account manager for Coca Cola on a plane ride to Phoenix who shared an interesting story with me.  She had been trying for many years to get the soft drink syrup account for one of the larger convenience store chains in Phoenix.  The problem, however, was that the competition had a “lock” on the business.  Rather than give up, this woman continued to call on the convenience store chain. But every year, the competition continued to be awarded the business.

    One day her window of opportunity opened.  On the Saturday of Memorial Day weekend, the competition’s dispensing machine broke down in one of the chain’s larger stores.  One of the managers of this chain phoned her competition and asked them to come out and fix their machine.  The competition’s response was, “We’ll have someone out there on Tuesday” which was the next business day.  This store stood to lose a lot of sales if this machine wasn’t fixed.  And since both Coca Cola and its competition used the same machine, this manager decided to call this woman at her home and ask if she would come in and fix her competition’s dispensing machine.

    Seizing the opportunity, this woman was on the scene in very quick order to fix the competition’s machine.  When finished, she told everyone in the store to have a nice day.  Several months later, when the current contract expired, she was awarded the business and was not the lowest price.  The reason she got the business was that the local management of the convenience store chain knew they could count on her.

    So, when a particular situation looks hopeless, don’t give up.  Be patient and wait for your window of opportunity to open–knowing full well that sooner or later it will.  And, when it does, don’t hesitate; go for it![1]

    References:

    1. RossReck.com

  • Getting Customers To Sell For You by Ross Reck

    MechanicsGetting Customers To Sell For You

    I have my cars fixed by an establishment called Don’s Repair.  Although this place was a little out of the way for me, Don’s prices were good and when Don fixed something, it stayed fixed.  So I started referring some of my friends to Don.  They were also impressed with the quality of Don’s service and began referring their friends.  As a result, Don’s business began to grow rather nicely.

    One day, I was driving around town when my car started making a chugging sound and began to lose power.  Gently, I nursed my car over to Don’s Repair.  It was a very busy day and I could see when I arrived that he had a lot of work backed up.  However, when Don saw me get out of my car, he immediately dropped what he was doing and came over to see what I needed.  I raised the hood and started the car so Don could hear the chugging noise.  After listening for about fifteen seconds, Don informed me that I had a disconnected hose and that my carburetor was sucking air.  He reached down and reconnected the hose to the carburetor.  Sure enough, the chugging noise went away.  Don, however, burned his hand slightly on my hot engine during the process.  Then he put a clamp on the hose so it wouldn’t pull off again in the future.

    The whole process took about ten minutes of Don’s time.  As he slammed down my hood, I pulled out my checkbook and asked Don what the charge was.  Don told me that as I was a regular customer, and it really hadn’t taken him very long, there would be no charge.  I argued that his time and inconvenience had to be worth something and reminded him that he did put one of his clamps m my hose.  At this point Don looked up at me and said, “You don’t understand, do you?” Being somewhat puzzled, I said, “Understand what?” Don answered, “You are the cheapest advertising I can buy.  I know what you are going to do when you leave here—you’re going to tell your friends, and that’s what makes my business grow!”

    Don was right.  To this day, I carry around a stack of Don’s business cards in my briefcase.  And when anyone asks me if I know a good place where they can get their car repaired, the first thing I do is hand them one of Don’s business cards.  Then I spend a few minutes telling them how great it is to do business with Don.  I am one of Don’s best salespeople and I don’t cost him one cent!

    I get the feeling that I’m not the only unpaid salesperson working for Don.  During the last three years, Don’s business has grown 600 percent and he has never advertised.  It’s strictly word of mouth on the part of excited and satisfied customers.  – Ross Reck

    References:

    1. rossreck.com

  • Maintaining Relationships: High-Touch, Not High-Tech by Ross Reck

    Computer WomanWhile electronic communication makes it possible for us to exchange information rapidly, it falls short when it comes to the caring and feeding of personal relationships. Relationships occur between two people and people need periodic personal touches from the other person if the relationship to remain vibrant. So get out from behind your computer screen and visit some of these people in person just to say hi and ask how they’re doing. If you can’t visit them in person, at least phone them. Spend fifteen minutes a day doing this and watch how your personal productivity takes off. Today’s Example of the Week will illustrate this point. – Ross Reck[1]

    References:

    1. RossReck.com

  • Capitalize On Your Moments Of Truth by Ross Reck

    LuggageStanding Ovation

    A moment of truth is an opportunity to come through when the people around you don’t expect you to. I was on a Hertz Rental Car bus in Chicago one time when a pregnant woman traveling with three kids and six suitcases was about to get off. Instead of merely unloading her suitcases onto the street, the driver carried them several hundred feet and loaded them onto a Smarte Carte, which he paid for with his own money. Everyone on the bus was so impressed that when the driver returned, they gave him a rousing standing ovation. During the remainder of the ride, that’s all everyone talked about. So, the next time you’re presented with a moment of truth, make the most of it. You’ll earn the respect of those around you and the next time you ask one of these people for a favor, you can bet their answer will be an enthusiastic yes. – Ross Reck

    References:

    1. RossReck.com

  • Customers Prefer Special Treatment Over Low Price

    A story about a hardware store

    Some relatives of mine, Dick and Lucille, own and manage a hardware store in a small town in Michigan.  The hardware store they own is part of a chain of hardware stores that specializes in serving small communities.  When Dick and Lucille moved to this community twenty years ago, they became part of it.  They lived there, their kids went to school there, and they went to church there.  When they opened their store, as people came in, they welcomed them warmly, eventually got to know them, and each time they came back, treated them as friends.  Dick and Lucille never tried to sell them anything.  As a result of this honest, sincere, and friendly treatment, these customers came back time and again, and Dick and Lucille’s business blossomed.

    About eight years ago, a competing hardware store chain built a new and much larger hardware store about a half-mile south of town by the freeway.   Needless to say, Dick and Lucille were very concerned that they would lose many of their customers to this new and much larger store.

    As it turned out, many of their regular customers did go to that new store—but all they did was look.  Yes, the store was larger and much more modern than Dick and Lucille’s store and the prices on some items were a little lower.  But there was no warm and friendly greeting as these customers walked into this new store.  There was no old friend to chew the fat with while he was custom-cutting a piece of plastic pipe for you.  And there was no resident expert whom you could ask what the fish were biting on that week.  In other words, this new store may have had any piece of hardware or appliance you could possibly want, but it didn’t have Dick and Lucille.

    None of Dick and Lucille’s regular customers switched their allegiance to this new store and several years later it closed.  On the other hand, Dick and Lucille’s business is better than ever.  What killed this new store is that the people who ran it assumed that people went to a hardware store to buy hardware, and that they would go where they could get the best possible deal, even if it were a matter of only a few cents in price.  At Dick and Lucille’s store, however, customers came in to visit with Dick and Lucille; and while they were there, they picked up any hardware items they happened to need.  What this proves is that if you make your customers to feel special, you literally lock out the competition!

    References:

    1. RossReck.com