Trusted Advisor Tips

Trusted Advisor Tips

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Tips on How to Make a Positive First Impression
Tips on How to Improve Customer Service
Tips on How to Handle Customers on the Telephone
Tips on How to Manage Waiting Lines, Line-Ups, and Multiple Customers
Tips on How to Break Bad News Gently
Tips on How to Deal with Dissatisfied Customers and Handle Complaints
Tips on Customer Service Systems and Trends
Tips on How to Sell
Tips on How to Identify Customer Needs
Tips on How to Up-sell , Cross-sell and Gain Referrals
Tips on How to Handle Buying Objections
Tips on How to Qualify Prospects
Tips on How to Cold Call
Tips on How to Negotiate
Tips on How to Become a Better Leader
Tips on How to Influence Others

Tips on How to Make a Positive First Impression

Get in-sync with customers
‘Hi, Have you been here before’
Avoid telling the world your troubles
Avoiding Wardrobe Malfunctions
Learn the Local Language
What Neatness Really Means
Is Your Public Behavior Remarkable?
Casual Elegance or Casual Sloppy
When Does a Sale Begin?
What’s in a Name?
Business Etiquette – Are you On Time?
It’s OK to Fake it Now and Then
Great Service despite Bad Days
Looking for love in the Wrong Places
I’m not your Buddy
The Most Powerful Words in Customer Service
How to lose customer confidence without saying a word
Customer Cellphone Etiquette
Smile through your Eyes
Three words to calm customers and boost your business
Unshaven doesn’t mean unkempt
How do you set yourself apart with emails?

How Extreme Expressions Affect Trust
With customers, are you using The Humility Advantage?
What are your emails trying to hide?

Tips on How to Improve Customer Service

Two words to boost your Business
I’ll be “Happy To”
“No Problem”
“Sir and Madam” (Politeness that’s Considered Rude)
Answer the Question,  then  Elaborate
Ask if it Would be  Useful
My  Pleasure”
“Anything Else I Can Do For You?”
Power of Touch
What do you think We can do to Improve?
“I’ll Take Care of It”
The Reciprocity Response
Make Your “Thank You” Memorable
It’s In The Bag
Ensure That Customers get Your Message
Take Ten Before & Ten After
How do you Rate Your Status
Do you “Have to” or “Get to”?
Stop Checking your Blackberry
What Are You Like to Work With?
Overall Context Over Immediate Concern
“That’s A Great Question…”
Problems Solved within 24 Hours
Creating Clarity for Distracted Customers
It’s OK – I Trust You
Pass The Candy Dish
Tell them  Why  they’re a Good Customer
Are You a Friend or a Professional?
Just Say No to the Nightly News
Are you an Informer or Interpreter
When You Forget Their Name
The ‘Secret’ of Customer Service Motivation
I am Not an Action!
Happiness and the Roto-Rooter Guy
Those darned customers!
When Customers are Clumsy
Does your expertise insult customers?
It’s on the house
That’s not my job!
How to Get Faster Replies to Your Emails
You can’t – really?
Why did you leave us?
When to Take Credit for Someone Else
Who’s  Your  Customer?
How to Stand-out Without Shouting
Anticipate and satisfy the NEXT need
Customers feeling processed rather than served
Small Statement to Create Large Loyalty
Talk about Customer’s Context over Content
How Not to End your Emails

Tips on How to Handle Customers on the Telephone

“Thank You for Calling…”
How May I Rush You?
Nix “…speaking” from your Telephone Greeting
How to Lose a Customer in Under Five Seconds
“Returning your call”
Transferring a call, “Certainly”
Receiving a Transferred Call
Interrupt Caller – Call Their Name
Common Blunders with ‘Please-hold’ Messages
Avoiding the Run-around
When You’re being Pushed
Is your Voice hurting your Career?
Can I Speak to the Manager?
Easy way to reduce customer stress
How to get your Customer’s Attention
What CAN you do?

Tips on How to Manage Waiting Lines, Line-Ups, and Multiple Customers

Are you Breaking  Assumed  Promises
Do you ‘Accidentally’ Offend Customers?
Instant Acknowledgment
Are you Visible and Available?
Eye on the Prize
Service isn’t Servitude
The easiest way to save email time

Tips on How to Break Bad News Gently

Tone Down Bad News
Catastophize and Take Responsibility
Give the Positive Side of Info “Walk Please”
“Do you Want the Good News…?”
“We can’t Overlook…
Reveal Similar Circumstances
Three Words that Annoy Customers
Softening a Blunt Message
When Cheerfulness Backfires
How to lose friends and disinterest people
Whatever happened to bravery?
The worst way to break bad news
The Most Common Over-Sharing Blunders
Be Discreet about Seeing Other Customers
Saying No and Still Building Trust

Tips on How to Deal with Dissatisfied Customers and Handle Complaints

Bad Day? Try this…
Give something for inconvenience
Upset customers – don’t ask “Why?”
Discuss customer  concerns, not complaints
What will work best for you?
The Power of Empathy
Take Ownership of Complaints
Lighten the Load for Upset Customers
Take Recovery Skills to a Higher Level
How to Disarm a Bank Robber
What  Can  You Do?
Dissatisfied Customers – What’s  Really  At Stake
What NOT to say to upset Customers
How Bad News Creates Loyal Customers
One word that makes bad things worse
What’s mood got to do with it?
What others are saying about you
3 Keys to Recovering from Customer Service Foul-ups
When Motivation Slides
Connecting with Frustrated Customers
Avoiding Round One
Recovering Trust When Things Go Wrong
One word other than sorry, to calm unhappy customers
Complex leads to conflict
Two Words to Keep you Out of the Doghouse
Dismiss a Customer – Gain a Lawsuit
Inform without Arguing
How to Renew Your Patience
Concerned customer? Say this.
How to avoid a $255 million foul-up

Experience Skills
Are you Predictable?
Service is a popularity contest
Are your repeat customers Loyal?
To whom do you give preference?
Closing the Customer Feedback Loop
Students for Customer Surveys
Fair isn’t Equal
What’s your First Priority?
The most Profitable Customers
Creating a Customer Focused Culture
How to Compete when Value is Assumed
The Misnomer of Customer ‘Loyalty’ Programs
The Soft Sounds of Spending
Don’t be Better, be Different
A Lesson from King Arthur
The joy of ‘Hassle Free’
What are You Like to Work With?
Hiring Motivated Employees
What your customers are  Really  Saying
When Nature Calls
Good News about the Recession
Serve the Whales
The Next Big Thing in Customer Service
Good News Fridays
Insider Information
Motivating your Millennials
Why Customer Service Rumours are Spreading
The Downside of Good Service
No big deal losing a few customers?
$180 Million Customer Service Foul-up
Are you Hiding Behind your Website?
Your Job is in Jeopardy if you just Provide Information
Cultivating Service Attitude
Decision Fatigue
How to compete with a Screen
A Common Website Error that Frustrates Customers
The Biggest Avoidable Risk in Business

Tips on How to Sell

“Really, believe me”
Ask permission to present
The Rule of Three
Share your Grand Intention
Ask a Question as a Statement
Ask question, then stop
“What that means to you is…
Quoting package Savings
Replace ‘if’ with ‘when’
Honesty – Point out Your Product’s Weaknesses
Could you Give me Some Advice?
Point out that you’re not on Commission
Offer a “Unique Selling Proposition”
The Power of Demonstration
Personal Stories Sell
Use “Linking Phrases”
Your Thoughts?
Selling Smarter
Creating the Right Selling Mindset
Sell More by Taking it Away
Conveying Professional Pride without Bragging
Offer Less and Sell More
The Value of the Slight Edge
Ask  What if…?
The Myth of Requesting Referrals
I’m Probably Overselling This
Selling to Skeptical Customers
The Myth of Low Prices
The “Number One” way to Lose a Sale
What’s Your Customer’s Budget?
No referrals for good service
What makes you different?
Use a PUP to Grow your Business
A Tiny change to boost business by 8%
Thanks for Not Buying
The Truth about Generating Customer Referrals
Small Steps to Bigger Business

Tips on How to Identify Customer Needs

Ask About the Budget
Give Positive Intentions before asking Questions
Summarize your Understanding
“…see if there’s a fit”
“It sounds like…”
Echo Technique
Getting Faster results by Slowing Down
Crucial Questions to Superior Sales
Six words to become a Trusted Advisor
When to ignore customer wants and likes
Listen Louder
It’s NOT about what the customer asks for
Listen as a friend vs trusted advisor
If you Deal with Businesses
The #1 Way to be Valued as a Trusted Advisor
Shift your Service from Processed to Personalized
Two Questions you Shouldn’t ask Customers or Co-Workers

Tips on How to Up-sell, Cross-sell and Gain Referrals

Upselling – timing is crucial
The  Professional  Upselling Difference
Convert “Up-selling” into “Value-adding”
Make-the-Day of your Best Customers
How do I Cross Sell?
Ask for Competitor Compliments
A Simple Sentence to Increase Referrals

Tips on How to Handle Buying Objections

Embracing Your Critics
Do you talk  price  or  value?
Put Pricing in Perspective

Tips on How to Qualify Prospects

Sell to the Top
Quality Prospects “Have a Family Meeting”
How is the Decision Made…?
A Truth that may Shock You

Tips on How to Cold Call

Cold calling, “How are you?”
Getting Face-to-Face
You’re not in a Meeting are You?
Warming up Cold-Calls
One Call Worth Making
Are you Bothering Customers?

Tips on How to Negotiate

“I had in mind”
Replace  ‘but’  with  ‘and’
Focus on interests vs position
“I see your point”
The Gasp Reaction
Negotiate Trade-offs
Setting the Stage for Win/Win
Stop Wasting Time and Profits on Bottom Feeders
Negotiating with Nay-Sayers
How to Not Sell Yourself Short

Tips on How to Become a Better Leader

My Dad’s Annoying Advice
Leadership Lessons From Peter Rabbit
Leaders Speak Last in Meetings
Wishy-Washy or In-Command?
Are You For or Against This?
Group Presentations – Eye Contact
Do You Confront or Attack?
The Hundred Dollar Handshake
One sentence to inspire an employee
Zen in the Art of Customer Service
When your co-worker is a pain
Why Customers Shouldn’t be Number One
The Real Secret of Employee Motivation
How to Create More Consistent Service
Know this one tip about motivating young employees

Tips on How to Influence Others

Challenge the Conventional Wisdom
Complain to the Top
Weekly Update
“I Wonder if You Might Help Me”
No one Likes a Know-it-all
Express Anger but Don’t Demonstrate
If I Asked you Politely
Speak Lower Than Previous Person
Ensuring That You’ve Been Listened-to
Itemize  Your Points and Questions
“Good Time to Talk?”
Make the Most of Compliments
“You’ll like this…”
The Myth of Self-Promotion
Two Words that Gain Commitment
A Lesson from Grandma
Release the Hot Air from Puffery Statements
Enough with the, “Happy Holidays”
You Bring… I Bring
Show-up Like a Grown-up
Agree to Disagree
The Myth of Self Expression
Voicing Opinions or Spouting Platitudes?
Take Some Calendar Comfort
What I DO Know is…
One Word that Enhances Cooperation by 57%
The Real Secret to Winning Customers and Getting Promoted
The Language of Trust
Ask without Accusing
Tear up your Relationship Scoresheet

REDUCE CUSTOMER CONFLICTS

Register today for our 30 – second Trusted Advisor tips and receive as a bonus 15 Phrases that Pay for dealing with stressed and rushed customers.