Asking for feedback

Ed Koch was the mayor of New York City from 1978 to 1989. He was famous for walking the streets of the big apple and asking citizens "How am I doing?" He wanted to voters to share their opinion of the job he was doing as their mayor. This is good practice for a politician and an even better one for sales people. You should constantly solicit feedback from your prospects. Failing to do this could lead to a nasty surprise when an advertiser leaves your publication for a competitor. You need to proactively pursue this information. Most people try to be "Nice" and to avoid confrontation. Saying something like "Mr/Ms Customer, I want to give you the best possible service, please let me know where I can improve what I do for you." can draw out their feelings. Make sure the customer knows you are looking for genuine feedback and not just a pat on the back. This will demonstrate your dedication and maturity to the customer and will help you give better service to all your customers. In sales what you don't know can hurt you. Consistently asking for feedback will uncover problems early on, so you can fix them before they cost you an account.

Since we're on the subject of feedback. Please let me know what you think of my blog. I am always interested in ideas to improve it.

Keep Smiling, Keep Selling!

Thanks Jim Busch