Dave Tester - March 2021

Dave Tester - March 2021

March 2021

IF YOUR DENTIST IS DOING IT, SO SHOULD YOU

I thought of you recently, when I was sitting in a dentist chair at Dr. Pilling’s office (yes, his name rhymes with “filling,” and I highly recommend my teeth guru). I wasn’t wishing you were sitting there in my place. You came to mind for something far more pleasant than another routine trip to the dentist. You see, Dr. Pilling’s assistant not only booked my next appointment six months down the road, but I actually filled out the reminder card that will show up in my mailbox in August. You heard me correctly: I filled it out with my very own hand. This is a simple reminder that a client should never leave your office or business without a second appointment. It takes far more energy and money to prospect (to find and create a new client) than it does to have your existing client come back in for their next appointment. I have titled this technique Putting the Future Into the Present. Just as the dental assistant asked me if a Wednesday in the middle of August would work six months from now, you should be doing a similar kind of follow-up. When I’m asked about this by the dental assistant, I think about what a convenient service this is as the appointment goes into my day planner. Your staff should be trained to upsell (“Would you like to supersize that?”), cross-sell (“Would it make sense to flush your water heater while we are tuning up your air conditioning unit?”), and next-sell (“After your check- up, would you like to schedule your six-month dental visit?”). I call this the Creation of Predictable Future Revenue. A visit to my dentist is not my favorite thing to do. However, the industry has created a standout follow-up appointment system that truly sticks like glue. Twice a year, without fail, we are invited into the dentist office, and they have us trained to book our next appointment every time.

If your dentist is doing it, so should you.

-Dave Tester

Dr. Wade Pilling, Aesthetic Smiles, and Dave

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A s if 2020 was not already hard enough, its lasting impacts are going to make sales evaluation a lot harder this year. Brick-and-mortar sales fell 14% last year — a number that even the big increase in online sales just couldn’t make up — leaving us with a 10.5% drop in sales overall. What does that big picture mean for your sales team? Should you measure 2021 against 2019? Focus on pre-pandemic projections for the current year? Throw your arms in the air and let the sales crew do whatever they want? First things first: Make sure your sales have stabilized. If you’re not starting to see sales climb again, you need an attack plan to meet your weekly numbers where they’re at. Evaluation is important, but you have to stop the ship from sinking first. Once you’re stable, you can take the next step and run the numbers. What kind of year did your business have in 2020? For many, it was worse than previous years, but some industries saw increased business. If you’re one of those lucky few, your plan is going to look a lot different. Remember, sales numbers are just part of the puzzle. You also need to look at productivity, profits, losses, and more to put together your own big picture. This is when you’ll see if your old metrics are still relevant or if you need a different way to look at 2021. Then, set up your sales targets for the year. Your first leads should be those who canceled or stopped participating with your business last year. Past clients cost less to reactivate than new ones. It often just comes down to how you incentivize them. This is also a good time to question whether your traditional “ideal client” still looks the same as before the pandemic. Economic downturns are rough, but every time, some businesses bounce back stronger. They often attribute this success to changing tactics on a number of key issues and freeing up resources (especially sales personnel) to tackle new areas of interest. Finally, examine your sales team. It can be unpleasant, but is there anybody you wish wasn’t there? Low performers make everyone look like amateurs. The second half of this process is asking yourself, “How can I incentivize the right sales people?” Make them happy, and you’ll be happy.

BOOST YOUR PROFITS IN 2021 BY RATING YOUR SALES TEAM

TESTER-

MONIAL

Are you ready to better yourself and your business? Have Dave secret-shop your front desk today! Call 208-707-9807 or visit GoDaveTester.com for more details.

“I’ve never had such phenomenal training or have met anyone with as much personal interest in my success. I feel very secure in my skills because of Dave’s expertise.” Jesse Denny, Sales Professional Right Now Heating and Air Conditioning

Check out Dave’s new book, “Fearless Communication: How to Energize Your Team for Success on the Phone”

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WHAT CAN A NETFLIX CEO TEACH YOU ABOUT BUSINESS?

If you ask Marc Randolph about his favorite place, he’ll mention an office building in Dallas, where Blockbuster had its corporate headquarters on the 27th floor. Randolph, one of the founders of Netflix and its first CEO, has no illusions about what happened to the former retail giant. In his new book, “That Will Never Work: The Birth of Netflix and the Amazing Life of an Idea,” Randolph shares how Netflix disrupted an industry and took the world by storm, an example every business leader can learn from. Randolph himself is fascinated by the nuts and bolts of business and entrepreneurship: “How does your business test new ideas? Can it happen faster? What’s the cost of having sloppy content hit the internet if it gets you out there sooner?” He examines how quickly you can put an idea in front of a customer where “you

If you’re looking for more salacious details, he spends much of the first chapter debunking the stories about who had the idea for Netflix and whether or not it was an epiphany. “That story is beautiful,” Randolph writes. “It’s useful. It is, as we say in marketing, emotionally true. But as you’ll see in this book, that’s not the whole story.” The whole story is one we’ll let you read for yourself, and there is plenty more where that came from. Anybody can research Netflix online, but “That Will Never Work” is a rare glimpse into the inner workings of one of the 21st century’s most lucrative and secretive companies. Juicy stories pair well with marketing lessons, and the writing style is easy to get lost in — it really is a page-turner.

will learn more than you could in five months of R&D.” Randolph addresses these issues and more in “That Will Never Work,” all the while explaining their relevance to entrepreneurs.

Take a

Party Perfect Lemon Bars GG Gretchen’s Kitchen (My mom’s secret recipe)

BREAK

Ingredients

Filling •

Crust •

1/4 cup flour 2 cups sugar 4 eggs, beaten

1 cup butter, melted

• • •

•

1/2 cup powdered sugar, plus extra for sprinkling

• •

2 cups flour Dash of salt

6 tbsp lemon juice

Directions 1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. 2. In a medium bowl combine all crust ingredients, then press into a 9x13-inch pan. 3. Bake for 15 minutes, then cool slightly before adding the filling. 4. In a medium bowl combine the flour and sugar to make the filling. Stir in beaten eggs and lemon juice until well combined. 5. Pour the mixture onto the slightly cooled crust and bake for 25 minutes or until set. 6. Cool, then sprinkle with powdered sugar before serving.

Corner Post MINISTRY

If you would like to listen to Dave’s spiritual podcast, visit CornerPostMinistry.com.

“No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.”

– Hebrews 12:11

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6700 N. Linder Rd., Ste. 156 #297 Meridian, ID 83646 208-707-9807 GoDaveTester.com

If Your Dentist Is Doing It, So Should You

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Boost Your Profits in 2021

Tester-monial

Netflix’s CEO on Pursuing Your Ideas

Take the 2021 Challenge

A FREE SECRET SHOP!

2021 is a great year to master an old friend: The telephone. Let me help you by making this the month and year that you secret shop your business! Here’s how to do it: • Email me at [email protected] • I’ll need your company name and website • The best times to have me call • The “ask” or what you want me to call about. In other words, what is an ideal prospect going to be

calling your business about? • Your cell number and email

I’ll give these calls to you free of charge if you’ll meet up with me on a 20-minute Zoom meeting to share the details of the call and the grade I gave it.

When was the last time that your business was secret shopped on the phone by a seasoned professional?

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