It was a 2-day event, a Friday and Saturday if I remember correctly, and open for about 8 hours each day.  I had accepted the assignment for both days.

This was one of those clearance events where they were selling hand bags, shoes for next to nothing.  Designer-like stuff, for something like $20.00 or $30.00 per item, depending on which table you selected the items from.  Cheap knock-off stuff was mostly what the products were, nothing of major importance or value.  The items probably cost the host a couple of bucks a piece, and he was going to turn a nice profit marking them up several hundred percent.  My job was to make sure as best I could that no one stole anything, especially the watches.

To set the scene a little, let me start with we were in a large conference room.  there were tables lining a couple of walls, and an enclosed (by tables) center area.  Sort of a circle made by tables in the center of the room.  I was positioned inside of the circle of tables since that’s where all the watched were and it gave me a good close angle to monitor people as they were choosing and trying on watches.

So on Friday morning, around 10:00am, people began coming in the door and shopping.  I watched the same routine for hours.  People milling around, picking things up to judge quality and price, try things on, ask if other sizes were available, etc.  All things you’d pretty much expect at a sale like this.

Time after time, the event host and main salesperson went through the same process with all the customers.  He greeted them individually and enthusiastically.  He formed an instant bond with people from the moment they walked in the door.  And it worked.  People felt comfortable and like they had this guy’s full attention right from the start.  Needless to say, sales began occurring almost immediately and stayed constant throughout the day.  There is a lesson in that part of the story too, most of you got it I’m sure, but that’s not the cool part of the story.  Here’s where it gets good

As I said earlier, most of this stuff was cheap, and as expected from a cheap watch, occasionally one would be selected that had a dead battery or the links were broken in the band or something.  So, the next day, Saturday, people began to roll back in, and the returns and exchanges began to start happening.  This guy had a way of knowing when someone walked in the door if they were there to shop for the first time, if they were returning to buy more, or if they had some kind of complaint or issue with a previous purchase from him.  That also was pretty cool, the way he could read people.  I chalk that up to experience.  He’d been doing this for so long, and it just comes with the territory.

In each case, he was on it before anyone else even had an idea there was a problem, and the first thing he’d do when he noticed someone with “that look”, was make a very simple and direct statement.  “There is no problem!”  That’s it, plain and simple, and this is what happened from there;

The customer was immediately put at ease.  The salesman would go on to say, before the customer could utter anything at all, some variation of the following.  “There is no problem.  If it’s broke, I’ll fix it.  If it doesn’t fit, please choose a size that does.  If the battery is dead, I have a hundred more right here and I replace it for you.”  The looks on peoples faces can only be described as surprise and relief, both at the same time.

“It doesn’t work anymore.” the customer would say.  “Let me take a look, probably a dead battery.  Take a look around and see if there is another watch you’d like instead, and in the meantime I will check it out and fix this one if I can.  If you don’t find another watch, and I can’t fix this one, we’ll refund your purchase.”

OK, so that in itself isn’t very exciting, basic customer service, right?  Definitely, but it was the way ion which this routine was so well executed, and hassle free.  The customer always wins, even if it means ultimately not making any money on the item.  But guess what, 99% of the time, the issue was resolved in minutes, even if it meant exchanging the original item for a more expensive item.  Kind of an “upsell” without the customer actually having to pay anymore.  It was brilliant.

So how did I, and eventually you, use this happening to our benefit?  Well, I myself then (and now) realize that I am in business, and the number one rule is to make sure the customer or client is happy, and feels they received value from the transaction.  At the time I was employed full-time, but at my core I was still the CEO and Manager of “me”.  From that moment on, and still today, when a situation with an issue comes up from a client or for that matter anyone, the first thing I always say (often out loud) is, “That’s no problem!”  I then immediately begin to formulate and suggest solutions to the issue.  Every time I have used this method, the situation was resolved almost immediately, and everyone left the interaction happy and feeling like they came out on top of it!

In closing, here’s my little bit of advice for you;  Next time you have an angry or confused customer or client, approach the situation with the ‘that’s no problem!’ attitude.  Admit that things sometimes happen, and anything can be resolved.  In fact, the issue can be resolved right here and right now, and here are some options.  I guarantee you’ll begin to see a huge difference in the way situations workout, and gain the benefit of a happy, repeat customer or client right then and there.

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NOTE: This article is not 100% complete, and is a little outdated.  The information that IS here will certainly get you started, but to get all the way through the process you should see the other 4 articles in this series.  I am about a week away from launching my new portfolio site – http://billrust.com.  The entire series (and much much more!) will be on my new/updated site

Hello Miami Valley!  First let me say thanks for visiting, and taking the time to read this article!  This is the first of a series of 5 articles I will be releasing over the next few days in my “5 Ways in 5 Days” series of marketing tips for your Miami Valley business or venue website.  This series contains 5 (or maybe more!) ways you can increase your search ranking, get more Internet traffic, and possibly increase both your online and off-line sales.  Each of these article will cover a tip you can do within a few minutes to an hour each day.  Some will produce quick results, and some may take some time, but if you employ these tips, and stick with it, I can guarantee you’ll see better, more targeted traffic to your website or business, and begin to really “cash-in” on your advertising efforts.

Everyday my passion for helping Miami Valley businesses online grow.  And as I stumble on or perfect methods of local advertising, I feel like the best way for me to give back to this beautiful region is to share some of the things I have learned and successfully utilized to grow your Miami Valley business on the Internet.  This article is for business owners and/or local website operators who are looking for some simple tips and techniques to increase traffic to their properties.  It’s free, proven advice.  These tips and articles are also intended to be used by you in a matter of minutes, not hours or days, without extensive search egine optimization knowledge.  There are literally hundreds of things you can do to increase your search engine rankings to get a better return on your Internet sales approach investment, these are just a few simple little things you can do quickly to get a good start.  If you enjoy this article and the overall series, please feel free to leave a comment for us below!

Today I want to talk about “Localization”, and offer a couple of tips that will increase your search rankings and bring your more local internet traffic.  Localization (in the sense I am using it here) is the process of attributing your website or business to a specific geographical area or region.  As search engines are being used more and more by people, and web-savvy shoppers are using specific to their region search terms, it’s becoming more and more important for websites to focus on “long-tail” search terms and localization.

I’ll break this article down in to two parts.

1. Think like your potential customer, and develop or optimize relevant, localized content.

2. Localize your website using search engine back-links.

The first thing we’ll discuss is creating or optimizing your content to grab targeted search traffic, by thinking like your customer.    The easiest way to do this is to step outside your position as the business owner, and make a list of all the terms and sentences your customer could search for, including you local regional terms.  For example, if you were selling blue widgets, and your store location was in Miamisburg, Ohio, you’d develop a list similar to this;

• blue widgets miamisburg ohio
• miamisburg blue widgets

Now let’s talk about using search engines and their local search results to include your business.

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