The front door was open to the almost always gorgeous San Diego weather and her welcome was as sunny as the sky. The first thing she asked my sister when she picked up the perforated leather mule was “What size can I get you in those?” She brought back more than just that single pair, offering the sensible reason that these were similar…. just in case. She was masterful – she paid close attention and listened to our discussion of what to wear with these, she asked appropriate questions – interjecting only information about the shoes that was helpful. Jill selected 2 styles for herself, and the shoes I found were out of stock, but available in another store. I didn’t want to wait for them but I did request arch supports for my boots. Bessie brought 2 pair – beige and black and I took both. She straddled the space among the three of us and waited on our sister in law, finding shoes for her that were sexier than usual and more expensive than ever… and Connie said yes, with a caveat. One of the pair was slightly faded and could a perfect match be found? Yes, in another store. The challenge was that Connie was leaving for a trip up the coast the next day and her shoes would need to be shipped to her home across the country, a savings of state sales tax but a shipping fee of $12. Jill asked if that fee could be waived given that the error was the stores, and the response was the (un)expected ‘it’s our policy.’ The tipping point arrived and the sale teetered, briefly but palpably. Total – 3 pairs of savory shoes. Until now the experience was extraordinary – engaging, knowledgeable, adding more to the sale than requested. And now, at the culmination, for a slice of a second and less than 3% the total purchase, the seller stood firm. They got the $12 and the 3 pair sale, because of the generosity of the buyers and not because their way of managing the concern was skillful or as caring as their selling had been. And what might have ended on a sweet note had a vaguely sour finish…. leaving the experience of the experience not where it was magical, but where it ended.

Until next time!

Love,
Jody @jodyseivert

I was battling a cold with cold medicine and when I looked at my speaking venue at the RRC (as compared to larger event rooms on the LVMC campus) I thought it was going to be a smaller gathering, especially since the speaker before me had about 20 people, and I was looking forward to the intimacy and pace of a just a few in the audience.

I was wrong. In addition to the 100 seats, we had 20 more standing in the back of the room…..all to hear about “The Skill of Asking Questions”. I was amazed. We rocked the hour and the participants were generous and engaged – it was fabulous.

But the kicker was the irony of it. Here we are talking about questions, and one of the participants, Debbie Holden from Regal House Furniture in my home town of New Bedford (who I also went to grammar school with) came up to me and asked me “Why have you never come to visit me?” And I thought and stumbled for an answer and said “Well, because I don’t need furniture…” or something lame like that. And then I said  “But that’s not the answer to the question you are asking me, is it?” and I went on to say, “Because you’re a family owned business and I didn’t think you needed the help” and she said “Well, we do.” And we’re meeting next week for lunch and undoubtedly, more questions.

It never ends, this development of connection through questions….of being open to learn something about and from someone else and about yourself. And the more courageous the questions, the more valuable the information. The key is staying out of ‘make wrong’ with whatever the answers are and keeping ego at bay in order to keep the connection, exploration, and discovery going. It’s what it’s all about.

I am so blessed. I love my life.

Jody

This was a chocolatier – notice the chocolate tins on the back wall….

and the adorable clerk.

Large, blue and white, and blue and white, and white….  : )

4 dancing women body painted the same as the stone finishes. Wild.

Several textile spaces had samples on spools for the cutting. Very cool.

Using seasonal buds and blossoms again and again.

HUGE floral arrangements, repeated.

High contrast and repletion.

Sweet lighting and ceramic vignette – defying gravity.

Including art and lighting AS a space.

See if you can find the people in this shot – they blended in sooo much with the merchandise!

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And, not surprisingly, the spaces with the greatest amount of color and light had the greatest number of people in them. Food for thought.

Jody

Trends…. and repetitions

Perforated lighting fixtures in metallic and glass finishes.

And metallic, mirrored finishes.

The Restoration Hardware look with formal crystal lighting and bright metallics.

That same look…except the wood has been really sanded down.

Skins and natural, organic materials.

BRIGHT colors!!!  Stripes and suzani patterns mixed with other styles and silhouettes.

Orange and Tango Tangerine – color of the year, used as primary and accent color .

Large, knitted cables of blankets and pillows.

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This was a gorgeous show and I only captured a fraction of it. Tune in tomorrow for more!

Love,
Jody

Please take a moment to watch this video and browse the new programs I created for you this year. These were specifically designed to help improve your revenue and business, as well as build stronger relationships between managers, sales teams, and your customers.

Check In

• No term agreement, hourly rate with the greatest amount of flexibility
• Either conference call or Skype video call for ease and convenience
• Use individually or as a group
• No travel expenses!
• Intended to boost motivation and performance – can be used as needed.

Tune Up

• Quarterly sales meeting with a yearly agreement
• Half day on site
• Review goals and actions for past period and establish goals and actions for upcoming quarter.

Critical Care Coaching (Watch the video for C3 here)

• 3 month agreement
• 2, 30 minute Skype video calls per week
• Daily email communications between sales team and Jody Seivert
• Weekly email updates to leadership of how team is performing and support / practice needed to cement new skills and habits.
• No on site meetings, no travel expenses!

Committed to Raising Revenues!

Revenues

• How much do you need to make to cover your expenses, including putting money into savings and paying off debt?
• How much will you invest in your retirement this year?
• Is there a holiday you’ve been dreaming and want to do in 2012?
• And what does your company need you to write to keep your seat and to contribute to the company growth?
• Given those and any other needs and wants, what do you need to generate in sales to do those? BE SPECIFIC.

Relationships

• Who do you want to continue doing business with – and how will you deepen the relationship in ways that are meaningful to both of you?
• Who do you not work with now but would like to work with in 2012?
• Who will you release – and let someone else work with them or let them find another way to satisfy their heart’s desire – and fill that space with someone new?
• Who do you need to forgive, ask for forgiveness from, or accept just as they are and as they are not?

Resources

• To do the above, what are the skills you need to develop?
• What systems have you been avoiding putting in place, but really need to incorporate to move onward and upward?
• Where can you be a resource to others as your contribution to their future and the industry you serve?

Simple? Yes.  Time consuming? Maybe.  Worth it? For sure.

Thank you for taking your time to read my blog, for sharing with me what you find valuable, for asking me to address topics that are challenging to you, and for passing it along to others who may find something for themselves.

Here’s to a kind and gentle holiday with your loved ones. I hope your year closes softly with few regrets and a sense of completion upon which to begin the New Year.

And may 2012 be your best year yet.

With Love,
Jody

To effectively manage this you will need a strategy that includes LOTS of questions to determine where you might have missed something earlier in the process AND to determine what it is they want you to do.

Ask yourself:

1. What do they want? What are they asking for? When they tell you that the project is now over budget and EVERYONE has to cut their pricing – breathe. Just breathe. Then ask them:

“Tell me more about this……” Be in the inquiry about what happened with this project such that it’s in this place now. YOU didn’t create the over budget and you aren’t the one (or the only one) to solve it.

2. Where did the over-runs occur? Are there other vendors and contractors on the project who presented a budget, got the project, and are now presenting a new and higher price? Ask your contact these questions…and then ask them – “How are the other vendors reducing their pricing?”
3. Ask “What are you doing personally to address this issue?”
4. Ask “How much to you need to reduce the project to come in on budget?” GET SPECIFICS.
5. Ask “When is the deadline for resubmission?”
6. Ask “If I can reduce my pricing on this, and I don’t know that I can on line items but I might be able to reduce service costs, when will I get the order?” If you are reducing your price and are STILL in competition with others, you want more of a commitment from them that is commensurate with the commitment you are making to get their business. Otherwise, this can go on indefinitely in a race to the lowest price.

It’s likely that the questions asked above were not part of your qualifying process. That’s nothing that needs defending, but it’s likely the case. If you really want to play this game, and it is indeed a game, you may need to be willing to reduce your commission to get the project. Are you willing to do that – and by how much? When you are working with advisory committees and purchasing agents it’s not the same process as working solely with a designer or an end user. The money is bigger and the stakes are higher, so the game is different. AND you have invested your time and talent in the project and want the business, right? If so, how much are you willing to invest to get it? And remember, when you do the math and it doesn’t make you a profit, you can (and probably should) walk away.

Love,
Jody

As a designer, you are the crafter of events. In addition to your aesthetic gifts, you’re the one to keep things moving along.  And while you are at the center of things, you are not doing this alone. Your vendors and showroom salespeople support your efforts and results. No one is good at every aspect of the business, and they can help you with things you don’t like to do or are just plain bad at. For starters, here’s how you can participate in partnership with your showroom salespeople that will have you meet the promises you made to your clients:

• Create timelines for installation (and if you don’t have them, your client surely does) and stay in communication with the showroom salespeople. When they call you to tell you that if you don’t place the order by 5:00 on Thursday you will not make the installation date you promised your clients, call them back. This dance of partnership will have everyone win.
• Don’t make them chase you for the deposit check that is needed to process the order, and then ask them for a special timeline when you miss the one you established with them. This doesn’t forward the action. Poor planning on your part does not constitute an emergency on their part.
• The consequence of not taking action is that everything stops. If you follow the timeline plan, you will deliver happiness to your clients and be a joy to work with as a showroom customer. All good.

 As a showroom salesperson, sharpen your own selling skills so that you have professional sales abilities to offer the designer in their time of need with their clients. 

• Are you executing your sales process with mastery and asking the designer all the qualifying questions that they also need to be asking their client?
• Do you organize yourself by appointment to continue to move the sale forward?
• Do you establish end dates with the designer so that you both have something to move toward and push back from? 
• Do you know how each of your designers (especially you VIP’s) operates their business so that you can work within their existing business model?
• Do you have ‘go to’ responses for the completely predictable objections that they will give you? 
• How have you adjusted your business in response to the designers who are now hourly only and in no rush to process the product sale? 

While the designer is the hub in the wheel, you are the outer edge that keeps it all together. And you are the only one in the partnership whose business card says salesperson, making you responsible for the sale – each and every one. How great is that?

Love,
Jody

I thought I’d share this with you as it’s so germane to how we talk about end users and the discount conversation. I recently received this from one of my favorite designer clients…..

Jody,

I was reading a “thread” posed as a question by a manufacturer about designer commissions. It was on LinkedIn. This is what one reader had to say. It is great and full of JodySpeak. Especially the last line.

I’d like to hear how everyone handles the client’s who ask “Do you get a discount?” in anticipation of you sharing it with them.

My answer to them is “Any proceeds I receive from trade discounts are what enable me to offer superior service to my clients without increasing my hourly design fees and project management fees. The funds are also used to support the growth of my business and the development of my employees. Does this sound acceptable to you?”

And here was my response……

“Do you get a discount?” is one question. “Do you get different pricing from what I get?” is another question, and may be what they are really asking, but it’s not the question that they DID ask.

The answer to the first question is No. You don’t get a discount. You have a different pricing structure that is to the trade and not retail. The answer to the second question is… “What has you ask?”

If you struggle with challenges like this, I can help you. Call me, email me, whatever. Just don’t keep repeating what you’re doing that doesn’t work.

Love,
Jody

Hearing means that the buyer heard the seller: “This sofa is $6500 as shown” says the seller – and the buyer nods. Since silence often implies consent the seller keeps moving forward, thinking that the buyer just agreed to a $6500 sofa and the sale is imminent.

Agreement means that the buyer agrees with the seller: “This sofa is $6500 as shown…which works within the budget you have for this item, correct?” And the buyer says yes, agreeing that the budget and the sofa price are in the same ballpark. And that’s all that they agreed to, but the seller may think it’s more than that.

Commitment means that the buyer agrees to take action that the seller offers: “This sofa is $6500 as shown, which means it works within the budget for this item. Can we order this today?” And the buyer either says yes or stalls or says no. Make no mistake – here and only here is where the seller asked the buyer to buy.

Take a look at your sales process and execution. Have you collapsed one for the other and thought you were further along the road than you actually were? Have you thought you had commitment when you only had agreement, and were left wondering why the sale didn’t close?

The power is being real about your selling actions so that you can make the subtle differences work for you. To get a commitment you have to ask for it, which is easier to do if there is already agreement – but know they are not the same.

With thanks and love,
Jody