I hope you don’t mind me sharing  a short story with you about what happened on July 5th, 1998.

While on a family vacation, my wife Amy and I with our four kids straggling behind made our way to see Mount Rushmore for the first time.

We had to park about a mile away because there were a ton of cars and couldn’t get any closer.

Now, picture this, we had already been on the road for about 3 weeks, a bit tired, had seen many American treasures and were very excited to be at Mount Rushmore.

As we approached, all of a sudden, we rounded a curve and there was George’s nose. The biggest nose we’d ever seen. Of course, I took a quick snap shoot (Took about an hour of serach the box with all the old photos and finally found it. Showed up in the second from last enveope).

We kept walking and walking, seeing more and more of the great presidents, getting bigger and bigger as we got closer and closer.

Finally we made it to the entrance, went in and the place was packed. People everywhere.

Turns out that the official Fourth of July Celebration was rained out the day before and we walked into the rescheduled Fourth of July Celebration.

So we walked in further, made our way to the seating area, not a seat in sight except a roped off row or two about 10 rows up.

Being one to rarely follows the rules, we made our way and sat in that row. Other’s followed and in moments, the row was filled.

Within ten minutes, the master of ceremonies started making announcements about the program that was about to start.

I gotta tell you, it was amazing, the presentation and program took about an hour and a half. There was music, dancing and celebration.

All along, the sun was going down, getting darker and darker.

Mt Rushmore July 5th, 1998 W0W!

Then suddenly, from behind the presidents, a loud boom, fireworks starting. And they got bigger and bigger. Exploding behind and shining on the rocks. Illuminating the Presidents. The fire works went on for a very ling time. Booming. Cracking. Showering us with magicial colors. It was amazing.

After the grand finally when the fireworks faded away and the smoke hovered low, my wife looked at me, my kids looked at me, tears running down my cheeks, my shirt wet, they asked why I was crying.

I was too choked up to explain my feelings to them at the time.

Anyway, that moment I’ll never forget the patriotic feelings I had.

How proud, lucky, and appreciative I was to be an American living in America. And, to be there, with my family, of all places on Earth or in America we could have been on that early July day. Wow.

You see, I just had to share this with you because every 4th of July this fond memory comes flooding back. Once again bringing tears of gratitude, appreciation for all who have been kind enough to let me be part of their life.

Thanks for allowing me to be part of your life.

Now, what fond memories do you recall of your past 4th of July’s?

What will you have gratitude and appreciation for on this 4th of July?

Go out and create your great memories of this 4th of July 2009.

And may they be fond memories that you’ll be proud to carry with you, tell your friends and family over and over for many more 4th of July’s to come.

Simply ask your friends, business associates, clients, members of your family, etc., “Who do you know who could help me with (Fill in the blank here).”

Start thinking about all of the people who could help you to achieve your goals (you do have written goals, don’t you?), realize your dreams, and help you to become more successful.

Ask everyone you know to give you an introduction to someone who might help you to reach your goals.

Twenty percent of the people you know will introduce you to individuals who can help you without even having to ask the person you know for an introduction.

Sixty percent will give introductions to you after you
ask them.

Twenty percent will never help you, no matter how many times that you ask them.

“You can’t help someone uphill without getting closer to the top yourself.”
- Unknown

It’s been said that you are never further then three people away from being introduced to the person who can help you.

Keep this in mind:  NEVER ask for help from someone who doesn’t know more than you do.

About a year ago, I wanted to interview the president of a local fortune 500 company in Detroit. I was looking for help putting together these secrets (he did know more than I did).

I started asking everyone I knew if they could suggest anyone who could introduce me to him. After about two weeks, I got a call from one of my clients, who said that his brother-in-law worked for that company.”

I called the brother-in-law, who turned out to be a vice president of the company. This gentleman said that he would speak with the president about the possibility of  interview with him to talk about his marketing efforts. The following week, I received a call from the president, he inviting me to come in and interview him for this guide.

It doesn’t always work so smoothly, but you never know. You have to keep trying!

What problems do you need solved?

Who will you ask for help?

How often has this question been asked by you, your boss, your sales manager, or someone else?

The only one who really knows the answer is your former client.

So, why don’t you ask this person why s/he no longer buys from your company?

You might get lucky and find a customer who is prepared to talk, but keep in mind that s/he has moved on and may not want to talk to you.

Also, your customer probably will give you only one reason, then thank you for your efforts and wish you well. How much have you learned? Not much at all.

“Success is going from failure to failure without a loss of enthusiasm.”
- Anonymous

I once lost a client for whom I had created a successful direct-mail campaign. This marketing effort had produced a nice 1,148.85% Return on Investment (ROI).
I found out from my client that she was upset with the slow response that she was getting from me regarding a marketing questionnaire for which she had paid. After answering the questions, my client wanted her marketing analysis, but we just couldn’t seem to find a mutually convenient time to get together. Ultimately, I gave her a refund on the questionnaire and we parted friends.

However, to this day I feel that there had to be something more. Maybe there was a hidden “decision-maker,” someone else who had a final say about who my client does business with or who harbored some ill feeling. I felt very bad when I lost my client because I was hoping that there would be a long and profitable relationship for both of us.

Sometimes it’s hard to pinpoint the definite reason why someone chooses to stop giving you his/her business. It can be hard to determine what complaints s/he had about you that led to the decision.

Oftentimes, you are left with very little information.

Working backwards to discover what went wrong can be very difficult. However, if you are prepared to ask a new client for a little time after the first sale or, even better, after s/he has been buying from you for awhile, then you probably can determine the things that keep him or her coming back and buying from you.

After the relationship with your client gets past the new phase and is “long-term,” ask him/her why you get his/her business.

There will be many reasons, not just one or two.

You may have to probe a little, so ask some open-ended questions. I’m sure that it will be worth it.

Build a file or a database of the answers that you get—the reasons why your clients came to you, of course, but also (if possible) the reasons that they stopped using your competition.

Learn from their answers and discover what you can do to prevent clients from going somewhere else

“ One man’s loss is another man’s gain.”
- Unknown

You can benefit by using what you have learned with your next prospect.
This information will help you to convert him or her into a new client.

What are you willing to ask your clients about

How many people send you a complimentary letter or email?

Your love letter may arrive by way of the U.S. Postal Service, via a fax or e-mail, or through a voice-mail message.

There are two great reasons why you should save a copy of every love letter or “white mail” (positive messages) that you receive.

Here’s the first:

When clients tell you what they like about your product or your service, you’ll discover you may have the ability to improve the things that they like.

If they approve of a product, then you can make or acquire more of it.

If they like your service, then you can make sure that you maintain its quality.

Odds are good that if one customer takes the time to send a message to you, then the way that they feel would apply in a similar way to many other customers.

Negative comments can also be turned positive.

How? They show your honesty.
They show you are not perfect.
They show you are human.
People know mistakes happen and that nothing is perfect.

The second reason for hanging on to your “Love Letters” is to use its comments as positive testimonials about your product/service.

Unsolicited remarks tend to be more open and honest than testimonials for which you have to ask.

If you want to use a customer’s comments in your promotional material, you should ask for his/her permission.

Oh. By the way. It’s okay to paraphrase and/or edit a testimonial so long as you do not change the meaning of the message.

Or you could pull out a short phrase. Even a word or two and use as a testimonial.

Give him/her credit in your marketing by including name, city, and state.

Phone numbers, e-mail addresses and photos also are extremely beneficial.
However, only use them when your client gives you specific written approval.

Sometimes, I’ll use a stock photo of a different person that fits the same age range if I can’t get permission.

Some people are overly concerned about their privacy, but most people probably will grant you the permission that you seek.

I can’t stress it enough:
Testimonials are a great tool. Use them to your advantage.

When you talk about how great your product/service is, people assume that it is part of your marketing and salesmanship—and rightly so.

However, when someone else praises your product/service, it sends a much more powerful message.

Now, what are you going to do with the Love Letters that you receive?

• Call your competitor on the telephone and pose as a prospective client.
• Talk to their sales staff
• Ask the right questions and most salespeople will tell you exactly what you want to know about their business. Many salespeople love to talk about themselves and their business. This can help you with your research.
• Collect your competitors’ brochures, ads, and sales letters.
• Record their voice messages and their radio and TV commercials.
• Visit their booths at trade shows and go to their showrooms.
• Also, check out their Web site(s).
  Most Web sites will give you a lot of information about how the company does business with its clients. The site may even provide a list of clients, which can become a great “target list” for your own sales efforts.
  While visiting the Web sites of your competitors, request more information regarding their companies and their products/services. Then, keep an accurate record about how quickly they respond.