You know the power of third party credibility. It’s the word-of-mouth marketing that keeps talking about your incredible value and brings you new customers on a regular basis. The engine that runs that marketing machine is testimonials. You can call it referrals or even goodwill, the reality is it is clients talking about how great your service or product is to other prospective clients. Now, it’s awesome when you’ve got this engine humming along, but the reality is you most often need to kick start the process. Better yet, when you put into place a regular process for getting testimonials, you’ll have a continual pipeline of fresh rave reviews.

Testimonial Power

3 Simple Ways to Request Great Testimonials
Getting testimonials can feel kind of uncomfortable. You did an outstanding job and your customer has commented but you’ve got to capture their comments in written form and get their permission to use that. There are three simple ways to make that happen:

1. When you use a letter of agreement, simply include a clause that states that they’ll be requested to provide a letter of recommendation regarding your services upon satisfactory (better yet, exemplary) performance.
2. When you hear them compliment your service or product, mention to them how much you appreciate that and would love to get their review in written format.
3. Be prepared with an outside resource to collect your testimonials as part of every project’s or contract’s follow up. It can be a lot easier to have a third party do this for you, often customers will share far more with a third party than they might with you.

4 Step Formula to Getting Great Testimonials
The real key to outrageous testimonials is a four step formula:

1. What problem did your client face when they hired you?
2. What specific solution did you provide (product or service included)?
3. What was their experience in working with you?
4. What would they say to someone else considering hiring you?

When you aren’t specific with your customer, you’ll get a very generic testimonial like “Joe was great to work with, I recommend him.” There is no real impact in that statement as it doesn’t cover the challenge they faced when they met Joe, what Joe’s specific solution was, what their experience working with Joe was, and why they would recommend Joe. The more specific the better, if they can include metrics like “our sales increased 50% in just 90 days after working with Susan” so much the better.

Shortcut to a Great Testimonial
To shortcut your testimonial process consider using automated testimonial software. Better yet, go with the human touch and explore providers who can do this for you. Often you can use your marketing specialist, provide them with a bit of background and the formula here and have them make appointments for 10 minute conversations with key clients, eliciting rave reviews.

It works best if you collect your testimonials either right before the close of a project or contract, or shortly following. Get your testimonial process into place so you don’t find yourself going back months later when memory can miss some specific details of your outrageous service. My favorite resource for collecting testimonials is my colleague and marketing expert Tricia Molloy. She not only has the formula down, but gets incredible description and sound bites from my clients that I use on my website, in marketing copy, and even in powerpoint and on sales pages. Check her out and explore your other options for testimonials to take your business to the top.

Comments welcome always and love to hear your testimonial tidbits. Connect with me on facebook, linkedin, and twitter, of course!

I know sometimes my alliterative tendencies go to far, but I couldn’t resist this title. I couldn’t resist because I actually dated a guy a couple of years ago who repeatedly referred to himself as a meathead. Really? This was mismarketing to me. Mismarketing is exactly what it sounds like, you are missing the mark of your marketing and may not even be aware of it.

You see, the lesson here is you have to be very aware of what moniker you apply to yourself in front of clients and customers. This is a lot like dating and what continually occurred to me (and still does) is why did I want to date a “meathead.” I didn’t and broke it off. Were there other reasons, of course, but it was all too easy to lump them under the headline of “meathead.” He made it easy for me to accept his marketing and not accept him.

#1 Honor Yourself and Your Clients Will Honor You
When you call yourself by some self deprecating title, it isn’t going to serve your business well. By the same token, don’t go all egotistical either and name yourself the King or Queen of something unless you truly are! (This is kind of like being #1 at anything, there are always 500 more of you claiming the same status.)

It isn’t just about what you call yourself, but how you show up. That is your behavior that makes a real difference. I’ve interviewed service providers (is that a title you wear?) who focused on running down their competition and telling me how the other guy did it all wrong. Even if he did, this didn’t build the provider being interviewed up.

# Honor Your Competitors and Focus on What You Do Best
This is particularly relevant when we go through elections every four years and witness the smear campaigns the candidates degrade themselves into. It doesn’t make them look better, just petty and without enough qualifications to focus on to win without mud slinging. Stop focusing on your competition and instead keep the focus tightly on YOU and what you do best. Leave the decision up to your market, mudslinging muddies you as well.

I have to tell you I got a wry grin when I read an email from a contractor’s business manager recently. The contractor was expected on a site to quote and his manager emailed me the morning of with “he’ll be on time and he’ll behave.” Hilarious!

He always ran on time that was never an issue, but he was often so full of himself that it was hard to get him to focus on the task at hand. The reason I put up with it, is he is incredibly fast and top notch quality at his work. It is still trying and all too tempting to find another with less attitude.

#3 Honor Your Clients and Keep Your Ego Out of the Way
There is nothing more “meathead” like than going all Big-Man-On-Campus with your clients. They hired you because they considered you qualified for the job or project at hand. You already have their initial vote of confidence. Avoid negative marketing at all costs.

Put your head down, focus on the doing the work to the best of your ability and let them make the rave reviews. When you run around touting your talent, beating your chest like George of the Jungle, you are inevitably going to run into that tree of humility!

Love to hear your experiences always, comment and share on facebook, linkedin, twitter.

In this day and age of multimedia channels, social networks, email inundation and smart phones, it can be darned near impossible to stay in front of your customer. They are as overwhelmed as you are. So how can you ensure that you stay top of mind and claim the “mindshare” that will make a difference?

I’ve always thought of it as being a “GoTo Guru” but learned the term “mindshare” from a colleague and with permission I co-opted it!  You see to succeed today, you really do have to be top of mind for your customers even when they aren’t ready to buy from you. (They will be and you need to be first on their list to call, better yet, you’ll be calling them.)

There are five simple ways you can ensure “mindshare” with your customers:

1) Keep in Touch with Gratitude~ I know it sounds basic yet it is very rarely acted on. When I began in business almost twenty years ago I sent a hand written thank you note (not an email and not a Send-Out-Card) to each and every client I met with. It didn’t matter if it was my first visit or my fifteenth, you got a note. I had clients commenting on my notes. MINDSHARE.

Claim MINDSHARE Today by sending a hand written note. Yes, you can use a Send Out Card, but it won’t have near the impact.  (Oh and I’m not giving you a hyperlink as I don’t rep SOC! )And email is likely to be buried under the avalanche that is their inbox. Instead visit the ghost town of their postal mail box. Use attractive stationary or a fun card. People love to open fun mail!

Unforgettable Travels to Share

2) Let Them Live Vicariously ~ Let’s face it, some people lead more adventurous lives than others by virtue of the travel  they do. I love travel! Many of my clients don’t get the chance to travel or don’t want to but love to hear about it. So every trip I used to take,  I’d get a collection of postcards. (Today I do Facebook updates, it isn’t as personal and I will likely return to postcards.) I carried stamps and mailing labels with me unless in a foreign country (then I bought them on site.) My first night, I’d hand write short notes to each person. I did cards for as many as fifty people.  When I returned, I’d often see my postcards up on their refrigerator or on their desk as a reminder. MINDSHARE.

Claim MINDSHARE Today by sending old fashioned postcards or creating a cool and clever email postcard with pictures of your trip. See my friend and video guru Lou Bortone for how to make this happen.

3) Sharing Value Content ~ I grew up with a mom who always sent me newspaper clippings and articles. Old fashioned yes, and a powerful way to stay in contact. I do the same thing with clients, even today. While, of course, I send virtual articles. Because I still love to read real magazines and tear out articles,  I still mail them to clients to review, comment, and even save. MINDSHARE.

Claim MINDSHARE Today by sharing articles regularly with your customers both online and in real time by mail.  They are likely to bookmark what you send or save the real deal in a file with your name attached. Be sure to tell them WHY you thought the article would be of interest. Random sharing isn’t relevant.

4) Congratulate on Successes ~ I remember  having a doctor visit a few years ago (keep reading, I’m not going into medical detail!) And in the consultation, this doctor pulled a file on me that had clippings of local press I’d been featured in. I was wowed that he’d gone to that trouble. MINDSHARE.

Claim MINDSHARE Today by setting up Google Alerts on your client’s names and tracking any press they get. Send a note of congratulations either by email, or better yet get a copy and send it with a personal note by snail mail. People love to be recognized, this will garner you points.

5) Learn About Them ~ Nothing is more powerful than remembering children’s names, ages, where they are in school or your client’s favorite sport, team, or hobby. When you get to know the person behind the profession, you claim real MINDSHARE. In this day and age, that is one of the reasons to use social media and social networking. So much information is now at our fingertips without even having to ask. It is about getting to know them as a 360 degree person and allowing them to know as much about you. This fosters their KLT (know, like, and trust) factor. MINDSHARE to the next degree.

Claim MINDSHARE Today by searching your clients online and on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIN and more. If they have a blog, you may want to bookmark it so you can check it out from time to time, or you may decide to subscribe to the RSS. Don’t necessarily friend them on Facebook, but definitely like their fan page if they have one. Before sending a friend request make sure they invite non-family and friends. You can easily follow on Twitter and certainly connect on LinkedIn.

Please comment on what methods YOU USE to garner MINDSHARE with your market. And always you are welcome to connect with me on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn!

Do you remember the classic crooner Frank Sinatra? I ask only because in today’s high tech, warp speed world, classics come and go almost as quickly as a new trend or fad. Sinatra had, among his many hits, a song title “I Did It My Way.” And I realized the other day that has been the key not just to my business success but to that of my clients as well. I’ve simply facilitated their ability to find “their” way.

I lost my way recently. I fell into that place of listening to too many other people and trying to please all of them while forgetting that the person I need to please the most is ME!  Now, lest that sound selfish or inappropriate, let me explain and suggest that if you fall into the category of being a People Pleaser too, you read extra closely. This could save you a lot of time, frustration, anxiety, and even money.

You see when I embarked on that path of technology transition, while it occurred to me to get another PC, I’d had a number of creative colleagues and even non-creative friends rave about Apple and how superior it was. Except they didn’t just rave (fanatics rarely d0), they demanded that I make a change. At least that is what it sounded like to me. And, being the People Pleaser that I am, I acquiesced.

I wanted so badly to make all those rabid Apple fans happy that I just assumed (and we all know what happens when you do that “ass u me”) that I’d be happy with the change. So, I failed to do my due diligence. I didn’t check out what the transition would look like, I didn’t explore the nuances of each system and what they would mean to me personally. I just dove in with both feet and promptly hit the bottom. OUCH!

In the process of surfacing this last week with the help of a new, young, wildly talented tech (best thing to come out of this mess so far), I had the big wake up call. (Think head slap here!) I needed to do what was right for me and let all those Apple users be damned. Oh, they are still friends, colleagues, people I enjoy and both inspire and am inspired by, but they aren’t me and what works for them, may not and in this case, definitely doesn’t work for me.

I’m ditching the new Macbook Pro and the new Imac and returning to my happy place with a new HP laptop and bright new monitor. Get over it Apple maniacs!  The gap has closed the last few years in operation systems, yes I will have to run antivirus software, I’m cool with that. More importantly, I will get a screen I like, searching that works and I’m used to it (Mac was not friendly on this front and required customization), and a fully functioning Outlook with my daily calendar on the same screen (out of site, out of mind). I will even enjoy my weather icon and calendar widget on my home screen, not a separate screen as Mac insisted (in their clearly less than infinite wisdom.)

So, I’m going to say something here that few have ever said and you may not hear from many others. I like Windows. It works for me. The majority of what I do is email, word, powerpoint, and very limited fooling about with pictures. I don’t photoshop. I may produce a video, but I leave the editing to an expert.  I write books, I don’t illustrate them beyond clipart. I design but have staff who handle CADD (though I learned it before it was even taught in schools, lol.) In other words, as creative as I am, I don’t need an Apple. What I need is a system that I know, like, and trust. I understand the weaknesses in Windows and can live with those.

I’m finally getting brave enough to please myself! I’m going to stop chasing what everyone else thinks I should have and go with what I want. I suggest you do the same thing. Like the not yet classic singer Nikka Costa says “Can’t Please Everybody.”

Tell me here about your latest sacrifice to pleasing everyone else and what you are going to do to take your POWER back!! Oh and remember to follow me online at facebook, twitter, and linkedin.

With my recent extensive and intensive experience with Apple, I am more qualified than usual to share with you three BASICS you must have to create and sustain a happy customer experience.  Face facts, it isn’t enough to sell your product or services, you have to ensure that your sale is satisfying and leaves your customer or client feeling good (even great) about you and your business. Customer service isn’t rocket science and it is the cornerstone of every successful business, yet I am amazed at how easily it can be botched and leave a permanent scar. That scar by the way manifests itself in stories retold countless times of how bad an experience was . . . I have already managed to scare a handful of colleagues about switching to MAC and I’m not even fully there yet.

So, let’s cut to the chase and look at these three MUST HAVES:

1) Get Your Customer’s Name Right, Spelled and Pronounced.

Now I realize that this may sound no-brainer to you, it did to me too. But having purchased both an IMAC and a Macbook Pro (hey when I make a move, I jump in with both feet) only to find that on every screen, inside every program and license, my name was misspelled it became a big hairy deal.

Today, there is little more precious to each of us than our name. It is what every website asks for along with our email and it has to be spelled correctly. Now I’ve had Galt misspelled plenty of times with a change to Gault, it makes me cringe but I deal with it. Apple tortured my first name in every single location and then some with Milissa instead of Melissa. And to add insult to injury, correcting it would entail reloading all software programs where this appears, YIKES.

2) Don’t Promise What You Don’t Deliver

I will do another post soon on setting customer expectations because it is vital to your business success. Right now, I’ll just hit the tip of this enormous iceberg.

In the case of Apple, even their phone message that you get at every call, clearly states “set up your device just the way you like it.”  And when I went to purchase I invested three hours on a Saturday night to ensure they were crystal clear on my expectations based on what they’d promised in their advertising and their scripts that the sales people used. (Can we please skip the Genius monikers, these guys and gals clearly weren’t or I’d have had a much better experience.) And yet, I had a mess on my hands when I went to turn on and use the IMAC (haven’t touched the laptop yet, but it is a copy so betting the same.)

They had ensured me they’d move all files over and it would be set up as I requested. That included files being in the same order as on my PC. NOT! Instead the alleged geniuses (I have a much better name, but am too PC to share it) took every file I had on my PC and put it in a virtual blender at high speed on disorganize. The files on the IMAC bear no resemblance to those on my PC and it is going to take considerable time to sort it out. It is  more likely I’ll have them dumped and reinstalled in an orderly fashion by an outside tech, more monies out of pocket when they’d promised “just the way you like it.”

3) Be Easy to Reach

We’ve all learned to master those annoying multi push button phone systems that the giants like American Express, Verizon, and more use. You just keep hitting zero until the system delivers a human being (or you use a dialtone phone, yeah right!) But what to do when you’ve made a major purchase and each time you call you have to go through a system that doesn’t have a zero option or worse, it cues you behind all other calls giving no preference as a new customer. This is how Apple works if you have to reach the store, and leaving a message for a specific person because you don’t want to repeat your story six million times is fruitless as messages are never relayed despite promises from any Nick, Marcus, Tom, Dick, Harry, or Jessica answering the phone. YIKES, really?????

Every sale I’ve ever made, I give my client my cell phone and easy access for questions, challenges or praise (yes, it does happen!) I bet you do to, and if you don’t you will now. Here’s the trick, if you have a staff working for you, you must train them to get messages to you post haste. A new customer is at that precarious place where they can either teeter into total satisfaction or fall into the abyss of buyer’s remorse and once in the abyss it is very hard to fish them out.  I’m in the abyss. Yes, I can still return the product, but that means I’ve been beat, and I’m no quitter!

There is a lot more I can share on these three and I’m betting you can too, so I’d like to hear your favorite BAD or GOOD CUSTOMER SERVICE story, c’mon now, dish it here.

Oh and if you aren’t already following me, find me  on Facebook, Linkedin, or Twitter all.

This is slick. Maybe you’ve seen it before, but I hadn’t. Now we are being sent awards of complete irrelevance. I’m a professional speaker on social media, relationship marketing, and strategic business growth. I also speak on life design and success architecture.  While I do coach and consult with business owners on marketing, customer service, and branding, I am not a life coach, never have been, and don’t plan to be. Yet, I’m being allegedly recognized for my “life coaching.” Huh?

REally, last week an email arrived in my inbox with the subject line . . . Melissa Galt, Inc Receives 2011 Best of Atlanta Award. I was dumb founded. I wasn’t aware of having submitted for any award, nor was I aware of anyone else submitting me. I had to open it and found out that for a fee, I could have my very own irrelevant award. This is hilarious on some level. You no longer have to win recognition, instead you can buy your own trophies!

Of course, I’m familiar with the services that call you up after you’ve gotten some nice press and they offer to put it onto a plaque for you, for the Very Special Price of ONLY $197 or something like that. I actually fell for it a time or two until I realized my money was way better invested in reprints of that same press that I then sent out to both existing clients and to prospects.

Yes, your press isn’t as well used when stroking your ego from the wall. It is much better leveraged when you create reprints and use it as strategic marketing material and credibility builders.

This latest scam is closer to the Who’s Who books that they market. I am embarrassed to admit I fell for one of those some ten years ago. They like to impress you with all their fancy numbers and tell you how you can use it to network and usually the charge is anywhere from $500 to $1500, pretty outrageous really but then ego-driven marketing usually is. (Did I just admit that?)

This is personal branding run amok. Buying credibility does exactly the opposite of what you intend, don’t do it. In fact, I’ll let you in on another little secret that I fell for a few years ago. A local association I belonged to honored me with an award. I admit, it seemed out of the blue and I graciously accepted. Shortly thereafter the head of the association (founder) approached me about doing PR for me. This was clever, I felt somewhat beholden for the award and did hire her. Ironically (or perhaps not) despite a poor reference from a colleague.

What was I thinking?

Wow, (insert head slap here), it took me only three months to realize this was a marketing ploy she used and I’d been had. She wasn’t any good at PR, at least not for me nor for the colleague who’d shared the poor reference. Each year, I see this same person sucking in new clients by awarding them, tricky business to say the least. (By the way, this is a local association only, no national affiliation or I might have shared my experience with top management.)

Recognition only builds your credibility when it is real and bonafide and not some ego driven form of personal branding gone awry. Particularly in today’s age of social networking and relationship marketing, there is no need for this form of expensive and ineffective brand boost. Invest your dollars more wisely in forming real connections that count and contributing genuine value to your market as well as your peers. Being a guest blogger on a hot blog in your market, may require effort and focus but the payoff is far greater than anything you could pay your way into.

Be honest, what have you blown money on that stroked your ego instead of built your bottom line. Some of us have to make a few of these mistakes before we have our AHA! moment. Oh and for more on the mistakes I’ve made, lessons I’ve learned so you don’t have to, and in the trenches business growth and social marketing strategies find me online . . . twitter, linkedin, facebook.

A couple of week’s ago I got a long awaited invitation to pinterest. (Oh and if you’ve no clue what that is, it is a social media network devoted solely to sharing images, sans text.) I say long awaited because when I first discovered the site through creative colleagues, it informed me I needed an invitation to join. When I spoke recently to some 600 floorcovering dealers, I mentioned pinterest and was tickled when an attendee kindly sent me an invitation.

So I climbed up and took five minutes to poke about. Clearly not enough time to make any kind of footprint, barely enough time to even follow more than one or two others. And yet, the last week particularly, I’ve noticed that I’m getting notices saying so and so is following me on pinterest. I have created nothing worthy of following. I haven’t build a profile, curated a series of photos or even bulletin boards . . . heck I’m not even entirely clear on how to do that! Yes, I’m being followed.

(Of course, I intend to, when I have time! But sheesh with all of the other million and one things we each are responsible for keeping up with today, I don’t know exactly when this will be. While I love pictures, I love the words that form pictures even more . . .it’s that writer in me.)

This is the irrelevance of social media, the idea that anyone would follow someone else for absolutely no real reason is nuts. Now you may be thinking that these are folks that know me through other channels like Twitter, Facebook, or LinkedIn, and they may be. Even still is it just my name that attracts, is there no discrimination as to the quality of the profile created, the information curated, the opinions served up??

This is tantamount to the drive-by friendings I get on Facebook. Total strangers that see my face show up because we both know the same person, click the friend button. They haven’t visited my profile, gotten to learn anything about me, care about what I stand for, or taken 30 seconds to send me a personal note.  Most often I bounce them with an invitation to join me on my business page.  And it is only about one out of every twenty (5% if you want the math) that will come back with a note about how they found me and why they want to connect. Why didn’t you tell me that to begin with?

I have no interest in being chased, followed, trailed, friended, or even liked for no reason. If you get some charge out of building your numbers, knock yourself out. I have learned through extensive experience that while numbers may impress others they really don’t mean a thing. In fact, social media is a breeding ground for the put-on-your-best-facers with vast hordes of empty nothing followings. People who fan, friend, follow, and trail because they suffer the illusion that they will derive some benefit by association instead of by real relationship (that would require work.)

Stop the madness this year, don’t wait until next. Before you friend, follow, chase, connect, like, or fan someone for goodness sake and your own sake find out about them? Who are they? What do they stand for or against? What is important to them and why do you want to follow them? Be discriminatory and put the relevance back into social media. Chasing something gives purpose to the hunt, chasing nothing is simply a waste of your time.

As always, I genuinely want your thoughts, opinions, experiences and more here. Most of all I want to know WHY you are following me and make it relevant!

In just about any kind of business, you start first by telling your friends about it, asking them to spread the word. You reach out to fellow business owners and share the news of your launch. This is all called word-of-mouth. What you might not realize is that this is exactly what social marketing is all about. It actually puts your word-of-mouth on steroids allowing you a much larger reach and leveraging the power of one on many instead of strictly one on one.

When People Click, Profits Happen

You are doing the very same activities that you’ve done for years, except now you are doing them online. Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIN, and other networks don’t require some newfangled strategy, fancy tools, or unfamiliar techniques. Instead it is all about taking what you know about relationships from offline to online so you can bring new customers and clients back offline into your business.

Let’s take a quick peek at some of the tenets of a good relationship:
#1 Listen more than you speak.
#2 It’s better to be kind than right (aka diplomacy is rewarded.)
#3 Stay in touch.
#4 Be consistent and persistent.
#5 Go the extra mile.

These are the very same “rules” that apply to good old fashioned Main Street marketing. And it is likely by these “rules” that you built your business in the first place. Now, it’s time to reinvigorate your business with new marketing tools and apply the same “rules” online.

So what does that mean you are going to leave behind:
#1 Broadcasting (you know that one way conversation or rather shouting about your services and products!)
#2 Being right at the expense of being kind (get over it.)
#3 Staying in touch only sporadically or randomly.
#4 Using non-human avatars (logos, brands, cars, pets, storefronts) and being different on each network.
#5 Doing the bare minimum because you are stretched thin and tired of doing more with less.

Main Street marketing, as relationship marketing is often termed, has been around for years. It isn’t new and I’m betting that if you really just slow down a bit, clear your busy brain of the excuses you’ve been making, you’ll find that you really do know how to build profitable relationships well and right.

Recently I was scouting for furniture and checked out two big box retailers. Both have great looking furniture, both are well crafted. One was clearly higher priced than the other, though not necessarily a better value, they did give a better experience. Here’s why . . . they touched all of my senses.

You read that right. This company found a way to effectively tap all five of my senses and completely immerse me, their customer (or potential customer), in an inviting sensory experience. While I was in their showroom, there was no room in my mind to consider anyone else, they were that thorough. And I’d go back in a heartbeat just to experience them again. Allow me to detail and you can start of dreaming of ways you can create this in your business.

SIGHT . . . generally easy to do but not always done well. Their showroom was welcoming visually, it flowed well without big contrasts from space to space. You definitely felt like you could sit in any piece there and try it out like you would at home instead of being all proper like you would in a store!

They had located their sales desk in the center of the store, not the back. This way I could look over at any time and eyeball or call to someone if I needed assistance. No one had to chase me around or lurk behind me.

Oh and a great way to leverage sight is also to show your customer the inside workings of something, how something is made. The mattress retailers perhaps do this best with the cutaways they have to show you the spring construction and more.

SOUND . . . so often missed and so simple to do today. Really I’m not fond of hearing some non-stop talk radio or continual sports broadcast but music when tasteful and background and suits the style of the store, works beautifully.

(So that means if you sell hip-hop goods, you’d play hip-hop. I wouldn’t visit you but that isn’t my style or my clients.) At a minimum consider a Sirius XM or you can do a full on sound system. Sound matters and is best when it matches the mood you are going for. This retailer had muted contemporary jazz playing.

SCENT . . . subtle is best and fresh is always. You may need to step outside for a bit and come back in to replicate what smell your customers get when they enter. Sometimes it is stale or musty, not very inviting. Other times it may be something indistiguishable. Make it a conscious choice. And I’m not advocating you potpourri your place or smother it in Glade fresheners.

Think in terms of subtle, fresh, and fits the mood you’ve created. Experiment with a variety of scents. I know you’ve heard that to sell a house fast, keeping a pot of vanilla and brown sugar on the stove replicates fresh baked cookies. That may not be what you are after, but you do get the idea. This retailers showroom smelled mysterious yet friendly. I know, I know how on earth do you find that, well go out and get shopping and see what you like, close your eyes and “see” what it makes you think.

How Will You Engage Your Customers 5 Senses to Sell More

TASTE . . . this may spark some debate but be creative, I know you can add it. Smaller retailers have a leg up here as the volume of traffic is more manageable and affordable. I’m talking some kind of edible. Use your imagination, could be hard wrapped candies, could be Hershey’s kisses, could be Werther’s Originals, could be chocolate chip cookies. And include a mini-bottle of water or tiny soda can.

Will it make a mess? The maintenance depends on your clientele and if you realize that something small like this is long remembered. Ironically, this big box retailer didn’t do this, but I was so busy salivating over the rest of what I experienced, I didn’t notice!

TOUCH . . . even if it means putting signs up to invite touching, do it. As kids we are taught “don’t touch.” So as adults it can be hard to remember that it is such an important part of most buying decisions. Think about cars and how you run your hand over all parts interior and exterior. Furnishings are decidedly touchable. Floorcoverings, building products even are all something we tend to want to touch test.

If you can’t touch it, it is highly unlikely you will buy it. (I know the internet disproves this, but I’m not alone when I order multiples of something because I need the visceral experience of touching it before choosing. That’s why they do free shipping!) Look at what some of the bedding retailers have done by putting a pillow case out so you can “touch” the sheet sets that are sealed in packaging with security tags. This is the least of what is possible.

I’d love to hear about your sensory shopping experiences, share them in comments here.

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What is the sweetest sound you can hear? Your name. That’s right, it’s personal and real and in today’s age of communication overload, used far too little.

Think about it, you don’t often use someone’s name in a text message, almost never in a Tweet, only if you are tagging them in a Facebook update, and often salutations are left off in email today. Now think about face to face interaction. How often do you hear your name used when you are in conversation with a friend, a colleague, family, or a vendor. Really not very often. And yet, it is the most powerful tool to grab your attention.

Let me illustrate this. About five years ago I had moved into a new home in a new neighborhood and was finding convenient services nearby, including a local dry cleaner. Fast forward to today and I’ve moved twice since then, once to the mountains a full two and a half hours a way, and another time to about 7 miles aways, not far, but this dry cleaner used to be within a mile of my home. I still use the same dry cleaner.

It's All in A Name

Why? It’s not because they are such great dry cleaners, there are lots of others who would do a comparable job. It’s not because they have a great price, actually I think I probably pay a bit more because of their location. It’s not convenience since I have the option of having my dry cleaning picked up literally outside my front door and delivered the same way at no additional charge. It is singularly because they know me by name and call me by name every visit.

They have hundreds and likely even thousands of customers and yet have taken the time to learn my name and quite likely the names of hundreds of other clients. I actually look forward to going through their drive through and getting a warm hello.  You don’t get that at the self serve station, you won’t likely get it at the grocery store, and even in most department stores while they may ask your name and use it for that visit, they won’t remember your name when you return.

Being recognized by my name in a world that is so high tech and so low touch, makes me feel special. The other day I tweeted to a friend and used her name, she commented on it, it is so rare. I used a friend’s name in a recent text asking for a favor, he came back very graciously and agreed to the request. Was it because I used his name? I don’t know, but I do know that I felt better, warmer, more thoughtful using his name.

If you have a hard time remembering names like I do. There are a couple of nifty tricks that can really help:

Repeat the person’s name back to them when you’ve been introduced. “John, it’s a pleasure to meet you.” Then use their name at least three times in the following conversation, each time you’ll notice their attention will spark when they hear their name.

If this is a business connection, look them up online, Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIN. Reach out to them, take a minute (really this isn’t time consuming) and connect with them. Seeing their face (another reason you want to have a CURRENT photo) and name together can cement it for you.

Sometimes you can associate their name with a characteristic of theirs or with a feature like Betty the Blonde or Bob with Blue Eyes.

Make It Personal

If you forget their name, don’t try to fake it (that never works), instead simply say something like “Oops, I’m having mental pause, your name again please?”

Your name is precious, notice when someone else has the same name as you that you’ll turn around when someone calls them. Use your customer and client’s name in conversation by phone and face to face. Use their name always in email, try it in text, and even find a warm way to use it on the networks. It will make your business more personal and create a vital bond with your clients and customers that will drive loyalty.

Knowing and using your customers name is a giant leap toward getting them to know, like, and trust you, and that’s just good business.

On a personal note, I’ve never been fond of pet names, you know the one’s  . . . baby, sweetheart, honey, babydoll (blech), honeybunch (ich). Honestly I kind of figured that if someone needed to use those it meant they didn’t care enough to use my name or didn’t remember it. (YIKES!)

Tell me of an instance when you’ve had your name used or you’ve remembered someone’s name and it led to more in your life or business.

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