Frosch Learning

How to Keep Your Customers on Your Side

One of the key things to maintain a profitable business is to maintain a steady client base. A company usually gains 80% of its business from 20% of its customers, so it is important to be aware of the factors that keep customers returning.

Communicate with clients regularly

Whether your company provides a monthly newsletter or email, it is always a good idea to keep your customers up to date with improvements that you've made or offers that are available to them. Create a database of the client information that will be relevant to keep in touch, such as email addresses, and communicate as often as you can. This may seem time-consuming in the short term, but in the long term it will pay off. This does not need to be one-sided, however. You should also make sure that there is a way for customers to contact you if they need to whether that is to express their gratitude or concerns.

Personalise your customer service

Tailoring your customer service will prove that you care about the customer’s wants and needs. By giving your customers the opportunity to provide feedback, whether good or bad, you can learn more about your customer’s preferences and therefore personalise the engagement you have with them. Encourage your sales team to get to know the names of regular customers. This makes people feel important and respected, and connection such as this will make them want to return.

Develop a sense of community for customers

In today’s competitive market, peer influence plays a huge role. If you turn a business transaction into a customer community those who use your service will be more likely to recommend it to friends, family and those who they engage with online. This works in two ways; maintaining the loyalty of your current customers and increasing the number of prospective clients and can be done via things such as social media or a forum on your company's website that allows customers to share thoughts and experiences on your products and services.

Be effective when dealing with complaints

Most key account management and customer service training programs train you on how to address customer complaints in an effective and co-operative manner. This is a hugely important skill for both employers and employees as customers who believe they have received a bad service account for the majority of those who choose to go elsewhere. Sometimes, it may be necessary to be flexible when it comes to solving a customer issue, but doing this will prove that you can be reliable in the future.

Provide incentives

Incentives are important for both customers and staff. Providing your sales team with job incentives will encourage them to perform better when it comes to listening and engaging with their clients. Incentives for customers can include anything from loyalty points to free gifts and have been proven to keep customers loyal. In order to remain profitable, make sure that your customer incentives are coordinated with your marketing efforts and appropriate for your target audience.

by Frosch Learning

5 Tips for Becoming A Better Leader

Being a leader can be a difficult feat, but once you know how to be effective in your role, the rest should come naturally to you. To gain the best results you possibly can from your team, it's important to know the dos and don’ts when it comes to leadership.

1. Be effective with your communication

To be successful in any relationship, whether at work or otherwise, it is important to maintain an effective level of communication. When talking to staff, express your own ideas and issues clearly as well as giving them the opportunity to do the same. A conversation-friendly environment in the workplace will lead to a feeling of mutual trust between employer and employee, and this will allow any problems to be smoothed over in an appropriate manner.

2. Engage and challenge your team

Sometimes employees can feel disengaged and dissatisfied if they are expected to perform the same tasks every day. A leader who can engage and challenge their staff will be one that they believe shows confidence in their skills and value them as part of the company. Encourage creativity by letting members of your team know that you are open to their ideas and give positive feedback or constructive advice as appropriate. Giving your employees a chance to put forward their own ideas can lead to higher levels of commitment and performance.

3. Show passion for what you know and love

If you aren't passionate about your own role, then how can you expect your employees to be passionate about theirs? A good leader demonstrates commitment to the company, and this is done through the amount of passion that they show to their team. Showing enthusiasm is particularly important in a work environment that often brings about obstacles and challenges. As a leader, by showing your belief in the organisational skills of the company you’ll directly influence your employees to feel the same. A professional leadership training course can help you learn all of the skills you need to become a better leader.

4. Be positive

Express a positive vision for the future of both the company and its employees. A leader who acts in a positive manner will demonstrate confidence and come across as knowledgeable. When things go wrong, it is easy to have doubts, but a good leader will embrace failures and learn from them by considering ways to better future performance. A positive vibe will create a more upbeat and harmonious work environment overall, making it somewhere that your employees want to continue to work.

5. Don’t be afraid to admit mistakes

Humility is an essential trait of any good leader. If you make a mistake, don’t be afraid to admit it and apologise even if you don't have a solution to overcome the issue. As a leader, there is no harm in showing that you are willing to seek advice from others; it indicates that you are only human and will gain respect from your colleagues, employees and even customers. Accepting that individuals can make mistakes will promote more trust with your staff who may be struggling with an issue of their own, too.

There you have it - five ways to become a better leader. Whether you're new to management or you're trying to improve the way you deal with your employees, these tips should provide support.

by Frosch Learning

How to Convince Customers That Your Products Are Right for Them

For any business to grow and develop, a successful sales strategy needs to be implemented. Indeed, businesses need to persuade potential customers that their products and services are so good that they have to buy them immediately.

However, today's consumers are becoming increasingly reluctant to spend their hard-earned cash, and cut-throat competition in a global digital marketplace is making it harder than ever to generate new business. Below, we've rounded up some of the best ways to convince your customers that your products are right for them.

Promote your products more effectively

If you’re struggling to make sales, then it could be down to your promotion. In 2016, UK advertising spend hit a whopping £20 billion as more businesses vied for the attentions of potential customers, so it’s important that you compete and stand out from the crowd.

Digital marketing is the most effective form of promoting your brand in most industries, so make sure you spend your budget on social media and high-quality content to help your brand rank highly on search engine result pages (SERPs).

Improve your sales training

In both business-to-business (B2B) and business-to-consumer (B2C) markets, salespeople remain as relevant as ever. Ensuring that your sales team are highly motivated and up for the role is essential, so consider investing in one of the corporate sales training programmes offered right here on Frosch Learning. Not only will training equip your team with the skills and confidence they need to convince customers to part with their cash, but it will also increase job satisfaction and motivation levels, allowing you to save money in the process.

Put the product in the hands of your customers

If you can physically place your product in the hands of your potential customers, they’ll be much more likely to buy it. Sales expert Doug Fleener argues that "the more of your customer's senses you can engage", the more likely they are to recall that moment and invest in your product. For service related industries, consider offering a free trial or demo run, where you physically visit their premises or discuss your service face-to-face on an online platform such as Skype or Google Hangouts. By doing so, and putting time and energy into each and every potential customer, you’re more likely to secure a sale.

Offer comparisons to your competitors

Comparisons can be powerful – especially if your product or service provides more value than that of your competition. Reach out to potential customers and explain why your service is better value for money, offers more convenient features or is made with quality and sustainable materials. Giving customers a reason to switch from their preferred brand to yours could be the hook to bringing in more customers, but it may take time and patience.

There you have it – four of the best ways to convince potential customers that your products and services are right for them. By defining the value of your product, improving the efficiency of your sales team and making strategic marketing decisions, you’ll be able to increase your sales figures and help your business outshine the competition.

by Frosch Learning

4 Things You Should Know If You Want to Start Doing Sales in London

Since last year's Brexit vote, several big name companies have revealed plans to greatly expand in London, as noted by Business Insider. Apple intends to open new UK headquarters in Battersea Power Station, while Facebook will make 500 new jobs as it opens a fresh London office.

If you are inspired by their example and have decided to expand your company's operations in London, here are some factors to keep in mind if you are particularly eager to get a sales team up and running in the UK capital.

You can reach a staggeringly high number of potential customers

One of the biggest advantages of having a sales base in London is the ready access it gives you to a huge number of potential customers - and not just in London itself.

While you certainly shouldn't overlook the over 8 million people who live in the capital, a London base will enable access to 500 million people across Europe, "the world's biggest single market", as London & Partners declares. From London, low-cost air and rail links can be used to reach global territories - making London the most accessible city in Europe.

It can be easier to make good additions to your sales team

London & Partners, London's official promotional company, also claims the city to have "Europe's best and most diverse workforce". 230 languages are represented among the workers numbering more than 4 million.

Therefore, once you have laid down roots in London, those roots could help you to benefit from a reliable stream of new and highly-skilled sales professionals for many years to come. Furthermore, regularly arranging new training for those professionals will be easy; here at Frosch Learning, we offer open sales courses, including in retail selling and exhibition selling, in the capital.

You need to be careful about your message in London

Before you get started with marketing in London, you need to carefully consider what to say and who those words should be directed to. You could find that a message which has served you well elsewhere in the UK or, indeed, the world won't be so suitable for wooing Londoners.

It's worth looking over your brand, as London & Partners advises, to assess how it should be tweaked to effectively connect with a fresh audience and counter the very different competitors that you could face in London.

Don't wait before investing in brand PR

If your company has never previously operated in London, then many people in the city might never have even heard of it before your entry. Naturally, however, when people first learn about your company, you want them to hear or read positive sentiments. You can better ensure that by spending on favourable PR for your company as soon as you have decided to expand into London.

This is vital because, given how strong the presence of social media could be in many of your target customers' lives, these people could too easily read something negative about your firm before your sales efforts even reach them.

by Frosch Learning

Is Customer Service Training Still Relevant Nowadays?

The world has clearly changed rapidly in many ways during the last decade. However, you mustn't be led into reckoning that customer service training has faded in relevance during that time. In fact, it could be more vital than ever - especially for the SMEs that, as realbusiness reports, made up 99.9% of the UK's private sector businesses in 2016. Here are good reasons why investing in this training now, especially if your competitors overlook its worth, could help give you a crucial edge.

Start-ups have soared in number despite economic woes

There has been a lot of economic uncertainty since the credit crunch took hold about a decade ago. However, in this time, SMEs have developed a previously unmatched level of importance - in 2016, they were collectively responsible for £1.8 trillion in turnover, the FSB has indicated. And, while we can all easily reel off lists of global brands from which we regularly buy, these companies' influence has started to wane as more organic companies have eaten away at their power.

This has been cited as a reason why every year sees an increased number of fresh start-ups. However, this situation means that, for many aspiring entrepreneurs, the marketplace is becoming fairly crowded. This, in turn, means that SMEs should work to gain an edge wherever they can. One of these areas could be that of customer service... but why should this, in particular, be highlighted?

It's about the application, not just the principles

You might think that you already know the vital ingredients of good customer service. However, while the principles of this service - including efficiency, helpfulness, politeness and honesty - have remained constant, they aren't always applied as reliably as they should be. Too often, businesses can make high profile blunders in their customer service due to their use of archaic systems.

If you run an SME, you can learn from this by ensuring that your company stays customer-centric and recognises the potential to grow and improve from taking account of feedback. Plus, while big companies often need to feed their beleaguered customers inane and clearly scripted advice, your SME is more likely to have the luxury of being able to attend to customers case-by-case. In-house training delivered by our company can help you to capitalise on this advantage.

The need to look after your Millennial employees

Also worth heeding are the implications of Millennials, many of which could grow to become the lifeblood of your company. Here, we emphasise the word "could". Inc. contributor Ryan Jenkins notes that 60% of Millennials want training that develops their leadership skills. By providing that training, you could improve your staff retention; 71% of Millennials likely to leave a company in two years are unhappy with the development of their leadership skills.

Jenkins has wisely observed the irony that, while customer service itself has evolved to better cater for Millennials, companies are falling behind with how they train them in customer service. Our customer service training can help you to catch up again.

by Frosch Learning

The 3 Most Used Sales Methods

Some decades ago, sales methodology was all about the ‘the pitch’ – i.e. how the salesperson could get their product across as persuasively as possible. These days, however, reputable training companies like Frosch Learning recognise the need for more varied approaches, tailoring the methodology to fit different sales environments. Below are three of today’s most popular approaches to selling.

Consultative selling

With this selling technique, the salesperson conveys expertise as they act as a consultant for the prospect. In doing so, they put several questions to the prospect about their needs. Then, they will recommend the most suitable product - hopefully, the salesperson's own - for meeting those needs.

The term 'consultative selling' originated in Mack Hanan's 1970s book Consultative Selling, as reported by The Balance. This approach has many advantages; it can, for example, bring up abundant information about what the prospect wants and needs. The salesperson can then match those needs with the ideal benefits of the product that he is offering.

The biggest merit of consultative selling is the ability to quickly build rapport as the seller provides helpful information to the prospect. Therefore, the seller can show their expertise and so encourage the prospect to turn to them when they have concerns or questions in the seller's area of speciality.

However, before getting in contact with a prospect, the seller needs to acquire expertise and, through techniques like writing regular blog posts or getting relevant certification, credentials as an expert. They should also make sure that their product will genuinely suit the prospect.

Conceptual Selling

This methodology is founded upon the notion that salespeople are not selling a product or a service, but rather the prospect’s concept of what that product or service is. Conceptual selling, fully explained by Robert B. Miller and Stephen E. Heiman in their 1989 book of the same name, also places a heavy emphasis on listening to the prospect and breaks down the sales process into three stages: getting information, giving information and getting commitment. In the first stage, it is the task of the seller to gain an understanding of how the prospect conceptualises the product in question. From there, the seller can move to the second stage where they are now in a position to ask tailor-made questions and give information on a much more personalised level. Indeed, this latter element of the methodology is its keys strength as it allows for a more results-based focus going into the final stage and separates you and your company from the competition.

Challenger Selling

In their 2011 book, The Challenger Sale, Matthew Dixon and Brent Adamson identify five different types of salesperson. At the high end of performance charts, the type most likely to appear is what they term ‘The Challenger’, and they are characterised by their willingness to push and debate with their prospect. It is this salesperson ‘type’ which Dixon and Adamson hold up as the model for all salespeople to aspire to be like. In order to be able to ‘challenge’ though, one must first be very knowledgeable, not just about the product they are selling but also the market at large. With a sound understanding of the playing field, ‘The Challenger’ gains confidence by acting as an educator and then forces the prospect to look at the situation from new angles, eventually suggesting his product as the solution.

So there we have it; three of the most preferred approaches to selling, each with its own merits and a wealth of theory behind it.

by Frosch Learning

5 Things You Need to Become A Leader

What makes a great leader? It's tempting to look at various examples of great leaders from history, like Winston Churchill and Steve Jobs, in search of the "secret sauce". However, in doing so, you might realise that the ingredients for excellent leadership aren't always clear-cut. Still, here are five elements that we would consider essential for anyone about to take up a leadership mantle.

Self-awareness

In an article for The Huffington Post, University of San Francisco professor Dr. Jim Taylor says that learning how to inspire respect, trust and loyalty in your followers calls for awareness of "the kind of person you are and the relationships you build with your team." Whether you are calm and supportive or critical and demanding, being aware of your personality can help you to discern tactics for leading your followers in the best manner.

Humility

Writing for Lifehack, Laura Randell cites the example of Mahatma Gandhi. A major architect of the independence movement in British-ruled India, "he sat with his fellow man and led people by example" and "pushed for real change, without violence, and successfully brought in sweeping changes." How can you learn from this? Randell explains: "The ability to serve others and learn things from people you might not otherwise come into contact with is important."

Empathy

By understanding what skills and talents each of your team's members have and what challenges they face, you are better positioned to plan an effective strategy for your workforce. Furthermore, you can inspire abundant loyalty by knowing when members of your team need support and then providing it. This, in turn, can help you to add to that workforce, should your loyal employees refer people they know. However, Randell emphasises: "You can't fake empathy, it has to be genuine."

The ability to listen

Have you ever heard someone tell you that "you have two ears and one mouth, so listen more than you speak"? It's an amusing way of putting forward a serious point - that, sometimes, we can become so preoccupied with conveying our own opinion that other people can give up sharing their own. This is understandable if they grow to feel that you are more interested in your own views than theirs. You can build a stronger relationship with your employees by spending more time listening.

Patience

While most leaders are under pressure to bring results quickly, you should resist the temptation to make knee-jerk reactions. Instead, you should approach matters more thoughtfully, thinking through the implications of a major decision before you make it. Applying blue sky thinking to a strong, practical strategy will ultimately pay off against competitors who continue going for snap decisions.

If you are prone to impatience, you could start reversing that bad habit by thinking long and carefully about what leadership training to undertake or, indeed, put employees through. Here at Frosch Learning, we offer both in-house and open courses in leadership and management - and these can help you to build upon what you have learnt by reading this article.

by Frosch Learning

6 Key Skills You Need to Become a Great Salesperson

All businesses rely on successful salespeople in their mission to send products or services in the direction of customers. However, particular skills are necessary for excelling in sales. If you are considering becoming a salesperson, look over the following list of skills to assess which of them you currently have and which of them you could benefit from developing.

Unfaltering self-confidence

With over a decade of sales experience, small business owner Wendy Connick has insisted for The Balance: "This is the absolutely most important skill a salesperson can cultivate." There's a good reason for that: persistence can underpin your success with all of the other skills mentioned in this article. Should you have those skills but abandon your efforts the first time a potential customer says "no", you won't even get the opportunity to use those skills.

Good listening

It's common for a salesperson to be a natural talker - and you can build upon your communicative abilities when you take up presentation skills training available from Frosch Learning. We offer open and in-house courses.

However, you shouldn't overlook the need to occasionally stop and listen to what your prospect has to say. By remembering to, from time to time, question this person and listen to their answers, you will show them respect and also get a better idea of what they want from you.

Persuasiveness

Take heed of the old mantra that "features tell, benefits sell". In other words, don't just tell people that your food delivery company offers a smartphone app; also explain how that app can be used to quickly order food in a pinch. Persuasiveness can help you to communicate all of this to the customer and make them feel how much the product or service would enhance their life.

Building strong relationships

This is obviously a crucial skill for a salesperson's personal life, but it's just as vital for their business life. By building and maintaining good relationships, you can develop a strong network that can help you reach many more people than would have been possible had you remained on your own.

So, if you want to reach an influential figure at a particular firm but don't know any of its employees, you could turn to your network. That network could include someone who, through several degrees of separation, can reach someone else who knows the contact details you need.

Self-motivating

No matter how good a salesperson you are, you can still find ways to improve. If you have an inner drive to better yourself, that can lead you to take up opportunities to further refine already sophisticated skills that you have. And, in doing this, you can keep your sales performance from plummeting like it might do were you to resist regularly utilising such opportunities.

Multitasking

In a Business News Daily article, Coco Quillen, Davinci Virtual Office Solutions vice president of operations, says that, for closing sales, nurturing and following up on leads and taking calls and emails from potential leads, "a great multitasker can keep everything sorted."

by Frosch Learning

7 Ways Sales Can Improve Your Business

When it comes to growing and developing a business, generating sales may be your primary focus. Whether you employ a sales force to drive new customers to your company, focus on digital marketing to spread the word about your new products, or go the old fashioned way and network your way to success, sales are important. Below, we've put together seven of the biggest benefits of securing sales.

1. Introduces your business to new customers

Most businesses rely on new customers to grow their businesses, and a sales team can be used to introduce your products and services to potential clients. Sales are not only good for growing your business and allowing you to make more money, but they also give you the flexibility of expanding, taking on new staff and letting go of unprofitable clients.

2. Makes you competitive

In an ever-competitive world, a strong sales team is essential. The more sales you can make for your company, and the more aggressive you can be with your marketing, the more likely you are to compete against other businesses that want to take customers away from you.

3. Motivates employees

Setting and achieving goals is one of the best ways of motivating your employees, and hitting sales targets is no exception. The more sales your team can make, the more likely they are to be invested in your organisation and motivated to succeed.

4. Generates profit

Perhaps the most obvious benefit of increased sales is higher profit margins. The more clients you have on your books, the more likely you are to make more money. Whether plans include taking on more staff, spending more on marketing or relocating to a more desirable premises, making money through sales is the best way to achieve growth.

5. Develops skills

Securing sales on a regular basis can be challenging – especially without prior experience. Allowing your employees to embark on sales training not only allows them to develop their skills but also introduces them to new techniques and increased job satisfaction in the process.

6. Expands professional networks

Business is about much more than making a profit and keeping your employees happy – it’s about building a professional network. Sales allow you to encounter people from all different walks of life – from CEOs and product developers to suppliers and customer service representatives. Interacting with such a variety of people allows you to learn new skills and build contacts which can be leveraged in future business ventures.

7. Offers growth

While some business owners are happy to stagnate and ‘just get by’, the majority of shareholders are looking for continual growth. Securing sales and having a dedicated sales team is one of the best ways of growing your business.

There you have it – seven of the biggest benefits of sales. At Frosch Learning, we offer a range of sales training courses designed to improve your effectiveness and secure more business. Don’t hesitate to get in touch with a member of the team if you’d like to find out more about how we can help you.

by Frosch Learning