Diva Sales Tips

I bought this FABULOUS jacket the other day - something really cool to wear with jeans and stilettos (my favorite biz attire).

As I was hanging the jacket up, all of a sudden I noticed writing in the pink lining of the coat.  It was embroidered in large gold  letters but I had absolutely missed seeing it when I was trying the jacket on in the store.

The words read:

” Where there is love, there is life!”

I actually had a grin on my face from ear to ear.

Well, as a very good friend of mine loves to say:

” Who Knew??”

Who Knew You Could Learn A Sales Tip From Jacket Lining??

I think  the individual who had the idea of sewing a message into the coat was brilliant.  How cool is it to see such a positive message as you are putting on something..and then knowing you’re wearing a message that no one else can see?

I know it cost them more time, money and energy to include the message.

But I am soooooo glad they did it! (in fact - I’m sending an e-mail to their company) I am a lover of words…and this jacket ended up making my day and is now EVEN MORE SPECIAL to me.

This absolutely reminds me of selling…why it is so important to go the extra mile.  A quote that I love says this ” You will never find a traffic jam on the extra mile.”

No kidding.

Of course this reminds me of a book.  “Free Prize Inside” by Seth Godin. http://www.sethgodin.com/freeprize/

Seth talks about the importance of offering that “something extra to your customer” that is tough to measure but at the same time is priceless.

What are YOU doing to offer “something EXTRA in the silver lining of your business?”

I’m curious! (write a comment and tell me what you’re doing!)

In the past month I have been The Travel Diva.

I was in Barbados presenting at a conference, then off to Montreal to be trained about Global Warming from Al Gore (a volunteer project I’m doing), off to Chicago and then back to Edmonton to emcee a local 2-day conference.

I had many fabulous experiences but I  also had 1 noteworthy brutal customer service experience as well.

This is a company who definitely does not read anything from www.sethgodin.com or your very own www.salesdivas.com!

Which company am I referring to??

Air Canada. 

They take the cake for conducting their business in complete denial. (never, ever use this airline by the way!) The ways they screwed up were too long to identify here - however - when I contacted their Customer Service and Complaint Department - they said they would get back to me in approx. 5-6 weeks.

Wow - how is that for a speedy resolution?

As a Canadian - I would love to be able to brag about our wonderful national airline. But I can’t. Their staff are rude, condescending, lacking in responsibility and they have given me enough fodder for a million seminars in the future.

However, I CAN brag about another Canadian airline that is doing EVERYTHING RIGHT.

  www.westjet.com is the “little airline that could” and has been growing leaps and bounds in Canada over the past decade. 

They get it.

 If you want friendly customer agents who treat their customers as guests,  positive problem-solvers who are given flexibility to make decisions and who CONSISTENTLY provide exceptional service on every level…then www.westjet.com is the airline to use.

 Have a look within your own market and your industry.  I would bet there are 2 companies who represent both sides of the scale.  One is doing amazing things for its customers and the other….well - they are big but they are dying a slow, “monopolizing” death.

 Make sure you know which side your company represents.

 So there.