The Law of Reflection is the key to instantly changing and enhancing any relationship.  The Law of Reflection states that what we give out is what we tend to get back.  We have all heard this law, of course, in various versions, “what goes around, comes around,” The Golden Rule, “we reap what we sow.” In fact, it is amazing how prevalent this basic lesson—what you put out, you tend to get back—exists in various religions, philosophies, and cultures.  Despite how common this is, we often forget these lessons in life when dealing with others.  

When I work with intact groups, I can usually predict the attitude of the leader by interviewing the people who report directly to him or her.  When they blame, I usually find that the boss is a blamer.  On the other hand, when the employees have an attitude of taking full responsibility, I usually find that the boss possesses an “ownership attitude” as well.  The attitude of the executive, manager or supervisor seems to be reflected by their employees’ attitudes.  This is often why an organization makes a change in leadership.  A change in leadership will directly affect the morale and productivity of a group, even when its members remain the same.

The Law of Reflection holds true only downward in an organization, but in all different directions, including laterally across a team or group.  Have you ever been part of a team when someone on your level is hired who is particularly negative? Although the new employee is not even the boss, you may witness the entire morale and productivity of the team fall if this is not taken care of. This is true in the positive direction as well. When someone particularly enthusiastic or humorous is hired as part of the team, what happens?   Right…. things start to lighten up.

That’s pretty exciting, because it reemphasizes the power of the individual. Contrary to how people often think, one person can and really does make a difference by focusing on him or herself. The excuse, “Well, I am just one person, what difference can I make,” is just that, an excuse.

 
Think a moment about our work lives.  If you have been just sitting around hoping for things to happen, how is that working for you? In truth, we affect people in all directions—up, down, sideways.  How we affect those people helps create the world we live and work in.  

Applying the Law of Reflection is also the key to compelling people to be more honest with us.  The more honest we are, the more likely it is that others will be honest with us.  I frequently hear people complain that someone in their lives is not being completely honest with them. When I hear that, I respond, “How honest are you with that person?” Again, even if the other person started it, the situation will only worsen if we also withhold our feelings and are not honest. The result is a standoff in which everyone loses.

This reminds me of a seminar participant who complained to me that her elderly father, with whom she has tried to develop a close relationship, wouldn’t ever truly open up to her.  I asked her what it was that she was holding back.  In other words, what was at the heart of this lack of openness?  What was she trying to say, but was avoiding saying by burying it in a lot of words?  Suddenly, her face changed and sadly she said, “I know what it is.  I am not sharing with him that I wonder if he approves of the way I am living my life.  I have been talking around the issue, hoping that he would voice his approval.”  She also shared that she had avoided confronting her father, because she was embarrassed to admit that she still needed his approval.  She left the seminar that day with a plan to tell her father the truth. 

If we want to change the dynamics of a relationship, it is important for us to take the first step. Concentrating on the one person we can control — ourselves—and responding differently often starts us down a new path to the relationships and true results we desire.

An Article from the Co-Author of “Honesty Sells” and one of our associates, Colleen Francis

The year 2009 is now officially half over. Is your sales team performing at their maximum potential?

Are you looking for new ways to increase their team’s (or company’s) revenues – and improve their profit margins – as we head into the second half of the year?

The following four tips can help you to help your team improve their sales results, increase their revenues and exceed their sales targets

Tip #1: Love the one you’re with.
Many companies invest far too much time chasing new customers, and far too little making sure their existing customers are happy.

Research tells us that selling to an existing customer is between five to fifteen times less expensive (and takes far less time) than acquiring a new customer. Why risk losing something you worked so hard to secure in the first place?

One sure-fire way to increase your customer retention rate is to create a monthly newsletter or other program that lets you stay in touch with them on a regular basis. Newsletters can be easy to create, inexpensive to produce and can even be distributed instantly by email. Most importantly, a newsletter can help keep you in your customers’ top of mind, so whenever they need to buy again, they think of you first.

Tip #2: Get some feedback.
A satisfied customer is predisposed to purchase more, purchase more often and even purchase something different than a customer who is less than satisfied with your product or service. So what are you doing to ensure your customers are satisfied customers?

The most successful companies poll their clients immediately following a purchase in order to gauge their level of satisfaction and make any necessary changes to their sales and service programs. If you haven’t gotten any feedback from your customers in a while, pick a day this month for you and your team to sit down, call your customers and find out how they really feel about you.

Ask them specific questions like how they would like to be served by you, what their experience has been like with the various departments in your company and what they would like to see you do differently. You can then use this information to craft a sales and service strategy that puts what the customer wants, first.

Sound scary? If so, then you probably need to do this exercise even more. If you receive any negative feedback, take action to fix it right away and call the customer back as soon as you have a solution. You may be surprised to see how many customers will be inclined to buy from you again once the problem is resolved.
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Let us take a quick break from our tip:   
Now available, our newest book, “Honesty Sells, How To Make More Money and Increase Business Profits.”  For more information, visit www.honestysells.com
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Tip #3: Get connected.
According to a recent Gallup study, emotionally connected customers spend 46% more than customers who are simply satisfied.

How do you create emotional connectedness? Start by being personal.

Have your sales reps send handwritten thank-you cards after each first-time sale. Keep track of and contact your customers on important dates such as the anniversary of the day they started doing business with you, their own company anniversary, family birthdays or anything else you can use to build a personal relationship. Plus, make a point of connecting with customers on holidays throughout the year.

And always, always be on the lookout for any opportunity to refer someone to your customers. If you can help your customers grow their business, believe me, they’ll be only too happy to take you with them.

Tip #4: Make a direct link.
The number one mistake I see many business-to-business companies make is allowing all of their contact with their customers to go through a single sales representative. This can leave you vulnerable whenever one of your employees jumps ship to join one of your competitors. It also leaves too much room for negligence on the part of your reps.

Establish a direct link with each of your customers, regardless of how many layers of distribution lie between you. A restaurant owner can do this by coming around and chatting personally with diners. A CEO of a large company can do it with a newsletter or maybe a hotline phone number.

To reinforce this direct link, get in the habit of contacting your customers at various times throughout the year. For example, send them en email to:

Introduce new products or services;
Give advance notice (and an explanation) of an upcoming price or fee increase;
Offer special discounts or premiums;
Provide useful and valuable industry information;
Give special recognition to top customers; or
Announce seasonal sales.

Remember the cardinal rule!

Just remember this one critical rule: tell your entire sales story every time you communicate with established customers.

Don’t take shortcuts or feel that you may be boring them by telling the same story over and over. Don’t assume any specific knowledge on the part of the customer. And as my first sales mentor once said to me, don’t ever make the mistake of thinking that your customers have an active imagination.

Customers have so many things going on today that they simply can’t be counted on to remember all the great things about you from one sale to the next without at least a little prompting. So if you have a unique quality, service, price guarantee or other advantage that sets you apart from the competition, take a moment to point it out each and every time you deliver a written or verbal sales presentation, and in every newsletter you send out.

As sales professionals, we desperately need to place a higher value on the customer. That’s the message behind Tom Peters’ incredibly successful “In Search of Excellence” movement. It’s the message behind Blockbuster’s “No Late Fees” policy. And it’s one of the reasons why, in Canada, cell phone companies have finally allowed their customers to “take their number with them.”

Make sure it’s the message behind your company, your team and your customer service, too. Communicate with your customers often and with emotion, and you’ll find your business will really begin to soar.