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Sales

May 31 2017

The Problem Lies Between the Keyboard and the Chair

By Blog, Uncategorized

I’m a happily married man. So, when something goes wrong, it’s always my fault. That may sound like a joke, but accepting responsibility when there’s a problem is a major step towards getting past it. Rather than trying to find blame, we try to find solutions. Chapter 15 of my new sales book is even titled “Do you want to be happy, or right?” I’ve often said that I’d rather be happy, and successful, than right. Proving to my wife (or a customer) that they’re wrong, never works out well. Read More

Jun 15 2016

I’m a hypocrite, are you?

By Blog, Uncategorized
Every so often, I’m guilty of buying based upon price. hypocriteThere, I said it. But, that makes me a hypocrite. I want my customers choosing me as their speaker, mastermind leader, consultant, or for a website review, not because I’m the cheapest price; rather, I want you choosing me because you feel, for that particular need, that the value you’ll get exceeds the cost. If the return on your investment, exceeds the cost of the investment, then it’s probably a good choice; however, not all ‘returns’ are the same, and not all investments are the same.

I recently shopped around for home and auto insurance. The thing is, I like my current company. They have great customer service, and, in the times we’ve had to make claims, the service has been wonderful. So, why did I shop around? I got another increase in rate, and when I looked back, I had been increased every 6 months (on the auto) and every year (on the home). I wasn’t looking to make a change. I was looking for verification that my rate was still fair. I don’t need them to have the lowest rate, when their service is so good; but, I do need them to be somewhere in the same ballpark as other, high-quality companies. Read More

Dec 07 2015

You Win Some, You Lose Some – 5 WAYS TO HANDLE LOSING A SALE

By Uncategorized

This article was published in the November/December 2015 edition of Wedding Planner Magazine entitled You Win Some, You Lose Some – 5 WAYS TO HANDLE LOSING A SALE.   If you would like to use this on your site or blog, email Alan to receive the .pdf and Word versions, along with the attribution to include.

You Win Some, You Lose Some – 5 WAYS TO HANDLE LOSING A SALE
By Alan Berg, CSP, WWW.ALANBERG.COM, Kendall Park, NJ

In a perfect world, we’d get every sale we want, for the dollars we want. But we don’t live in a perfect world, do we? There are no trophies for second place when it comes to winning a sale. You either get the sale, or you don’t, so what’s a wedding planner to do? Here are five ways to handle losing a sale:

1) Rejection is in the eyes of the beholder. When you don’t get a sale, you might feel like you’ve been rejected, but that’s not usually the case. They just liked/trusted/believed in someone else more. Is that semantics? I prefer to call it optimism. When it comes to choosing a wedding planner, there can be only one winner—that doesn’t make everyone else losers. Prospective clients may like you enough to hire you, but they have to choose one pro among the many available. How many weddings do you do each year? That’s how many times clients chose you and not another planner. Are you the winner? Yes, but you may not have been their only choice. Had you not been available, they would have chosen someone else, someone very capable, nice, and likely at a similar price point. This isn’t like second grade, where everyone gets a trophy these days, there’s a winner and then there’s everyone else.

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Jun 02 2014
Referrals

Referrals revisited

By Blog, Uncategorized

ReferralsI was recently asked by an industry connection about my thoughts on referral business. Many people assert that they’re getting most, or all of their business from referrals. If you don’t do any advertising, marketing or promotion, then there’s not many other sources for you except referral. However, most businesses I know are doing other things to get the word out, they just can’t connect the dots from those things to their bottom line.

One is the loneliest number
When someone gets engaged, they’ve likely already been exposed to many wedding service providers. Whether as a guest or part of a wedding party, or through their many friends, relatives, co-workers and acquaintances (at the gym, at church, etc.) there are countless people who are ready and willing to put in their 2 cents on whom you should use. The thing with referrals is that they’re not created or given equally. Read More