marketing

Last week, a friend called to say we had just been given an opportunity to claim one of two remaining spots at a local expo that really seemed to fit one of our markets to a tee.

Awesome.

The only downside was we had a whopping 30 hours notice and pulling it off professionally would require assembling a ton of resources very quickly and marshaling the talents of some already very busy people. And oh, yeah… an eleven hour round trip to Minneapolis and back.

Downside? Nah…

I wish you could have seen it… well, who knows… maybe you did. We had the kickin’est exhibit in the place… people packed in, literally six and eight deep, across the entire length of the display ’cause… well, they weren’t really sure why.

I was.

We were there to serve… we were there to connect… we were there to bring hope and offer respect and give acknowledgment and encouragement and… yeah, we also had the most talked-about, cool product in the hall.

Oh, and not only that… we were Light and Life and Love to any and all who came near.

“They’ll remember us forever!!”

Won’t they?

***********************************************************************************************************

“The beat goes on…” – Sonny and Cher

As I was reaching out to all of these wonderful folks this week, not only was I thankful but I also realized the wisdom in those words. Not the rest of the song, mind you… just those four words.

The beat goes on…

If leads are not followed up quickly, the challenges and issues and complexities of life can begin to crowd out some of the goodwill that we work so hard to forge.

Which, BTW is really interesting… I read the other day that most leads are never followed up. As in, NEVER!

Huh? That’s right, and according to this article, it doesn’t matter from which lead source. From the people that we meet at Trade Shows and networking events… to those in gyms and hotels and elevators… to our seat mates at sporting events and on airplanes… most leads merely fade away.

Need proof? I didn’t… I had only to look in the mirror and remember the boxes of cards I collected many years ago in business. Wow… what friendships there might have been if only I had just listened more… cared more… and served more. If I had just followed up.

Yes, all too often we can become too focused on ourselves… on our own thoughts, our own goals, our own desires. And if we’re not careful, we can search for and settle for the home run, the easy money… the one-night stand.

That’s right.

Studies seem to indicate that many businesspeople just want a contact… just want a sale. But when the sale doesn’t come at the moment of first contact, the potential can go right out the window.

Because most often, that potential lives inside of a relationship… and relationships don’t develop in an instant. They take a ton of work and a lot of commitment, and the truth is that, unfortunately, many people just aren’t that good at relationships to begin with!

***********************************************************************************************************

So what are we doing?

Well, I’m happy to say that our team is batting a thousand. That’s right, we’re 212 for 212… every lead followed up… cards, e-mail, telephone, smoke signal… whatever it takes.

Step-by-step… the way all relationships begin.

Questions:

Have you ever met a “perfect-fit”, and then not followed up?
More than one?
More than one hundred?
What are the causes that lead many good people to procrastinate in this area?
What are some solutions?

I look forward to hearing from you.

Photo Credit:

Markus_76

{ 0 comments }

*This evening, it is my great pleasure to introduce you to a gentleman that I have known and respected for… gosh, is it possible… over thirty years!

Please enjoy now, Part 1 of his important message – Steve

Steve and I talked the other evening on the phone and actually one of the topics we talked about was procrastination.  I had commented on Steve’s post “I Can… I Will… Part 2” and this hit a chord with us both.  We discussed me doing a guest blog post, so here it is.  Now I certainly have a different style than Steve, you’ll notice I get a bit too wordy, but I’m sure you’ll enjoy it.  You should also note that as a dominate left brain thinker and being a guy, I have to write about feelings.  This is certainly a first for me.  The topic, procrastination in business because of the fear of rejection, and how it effects prospecting.

The number one reason people are hesitant or don’t pick up the telephone and call some prospects is the fear of rejection.  This is not only true of the telephone but extends itself to other areas of people’s lives.  The anxiety felt causes a knee jerk response that is typically out of proportion to the event itself and is most likely a reaction to a past experience dating back to childhood.   Since that time, any new negative experiences have only compounded that old memory and reinforced the apprehension.

As a networker or entrepreneur, it is vital to your business that you get a clear and true handle on rejection.  You need to know how to handle rejection and how not to take it personally.   Over the years negative signs, signals, tones, inflections, words and phrases pile up.  They may have come from parents, siblings, aunts, uncles, teachers, babysitters, or neighbors.  Some were intended, some weren’t.  Either way, they became self rejecting beliefs that contend with your adult relationships.  Anything that resurfaces those old beliefs can ignite into reactions larger than life.

The reason people will not pick up the phone to do prospecting is they fear being rejected and hearing the word, “No”.  They take it personally and hold on to it and often times feel like they are a failure or that they did something wrong.  This paralyzation is the number one reason people fail to fulfill their dreams.  When someone experiences this phobia because of a verbal attack, not only are they dealing with the situation at hand, but typically old previous traumas going back to childhood.  Often they were actions or consequences however intended, that shaped our lives over time.

We fast forward today to the average networker or entrepreneur and we have a common situation of fearing rejection.  In fact, many of the apprehensions are perceived before we even get them.  We fear that someone will make a negative comment about our network marketing opportunities,  then the word, “No”.  People enter into their opportunities very energetically.  They spend a large amount of time getting ready to get ready.  They do everything they need to, except…. the phone.

So we first need to understand the nature of the problem before we can tackle it.  Now I’m predominately a left brain thinker and a male, no comments from the peanut gallery now, so talking about feelings and nurturing, abandonment and fear, and otherwise other right brain thinking is a little hard for me.  Needless to say, it’s our upbringing, and how we were raised, or not raised, that makes us what we are today.   We are products of our experiences.  Many of these experiences were just the way things were.  Men are supposed to be strong and not show their feelings.  This is still en-grained into society today.  We are not supposed to question authority and the status quo.  We are not supposed to be individuals and nonconformists.  Why?  We get shunned.  We get shunned and then because we did not properly understand why, we experienced feelings of abandonment, guilt, shame, and a host of other feelings.  We all have negative experiences in our upbringing that effect the way we are today. These feelings then get buried and are stored in our subconscious and manifest themselves years later with fear, mainly of the telephone.

The first thing you have to do to overcome the problem is stop taking things personally.  A “No” on the phone is not a permanent condition nor is it a status of your life.  “No’s” are simply a part of the process.   Start to view the things that hold you back in life as short term.  Realize there are no failures.  All roadblocks can be turned around to make building blocks if you change your philosophy.   Start to view everything you do as a part of a journey.

Next time…  Dozens of ways to change….

Visit Chris online at http://www.ChrisKilber.com
Home of 101 Traffic Generating Strategies

{ 2 comments }

As the cost of Traditional Advertising and Mass Marketing continues to rise, New Media is quietly connecting producers and consumers and deepening their relationships… all at the speed of light, and at a price point fast approaching zero.

That’s the good news.

Now, if you happen to be working with a company that hasn’t quite figured this out yet, then I guess that would be known as… yes, the bad news!

Oh well, C’est la vie…

I’m happy to report that over the past 24 hours I have been approached by several people who wanted to speak with me about the article we published yesterday on Mass Marketing.

Based on those conversations, I thought I’d upload this video that we recorded recently regarding the transition from Traditional to New Media!

I hope you enjoy it, and would love to hear from you.

Photo Credit:

dichohecho

{ 0 comments }

I received the most intriguing voice-mail yesterday.

In it, the caller was making a case against the ineffectiveness of what he called “Mass Marketing”.

His point was that:

1) Mass Marketing is a waste of time
2) Mass Marketing is a waste of money
3) Mass Marketing doesn’t create personal relationships

Of course, he was right.

I would also add that Mass Marketing, as I define it, doesn’t create much of a relationship with your brand either!

Further, any attempt to market to everyone will undeniably water down your message and likely the quality of your product or service as well. One size… rarely fits all.

But that’s not what was so interesting to me.

No, what interested me was how the caller defined Mass Marketing. His definition described people who would seemingly use what he termed “Social Media” channels, spamming thousands in an effort to have a few people buy whatever product it was that their company was hawking.

You know, it’s the tired old idea about throwing enough mud on the wall.

Certainly, any such approach used online will continue to generate the same pathetic results as it always has offline – plus the added negative today of just plain ticking people off who hate spam!

NOTE: Ticking people off is a universally lousy Marketing Strategy :)

But the assertion that the Internet is just another broadcast channel is to miss its significance entirely. The Web, and especially mobile technology, is all about connecting with others just like ourselves… who value the same principles and with whom we share a common bond.

These threads wind their way through our lives and thoughts and relationships, and in business they become identifiers of our ideal market.

In other words, our niche.

And in our niche, it is all about the relationship, all about transparency, all about getting to know our customers and really letting them get to know us.

And, if they get to know us well enough, they may actually begin to like us and then to trust us. Heck, they may even fall in love with us!!

And, at that point it is completely possible that they may consider buying from us… imagine that.

**************************************************************************************************************

Oh, and one more thing.

This voice-message revealed to me how ingrained concepts can often stick with us even when they no longer make contextual sense.

Here is a individual who has been in the business world for decades, but who is still hanging on to a preconceived notion and applying it with force to a new and wonderful and freeing technology that has the potential to make the world a more humane and connected place.

And what’s more, this gentleman happens to be a leader within an organization that recently announced publicly their intention to target almost $500,000,000.00 to Big Media traditional branding and advertising campaigns of the sort that were popular at the height of the Merchandising and Advertising ages of long ago.

In other words, Mass Marketing…

C’est la vie.

Photo Credit:

dichohecho

{ 2 comments }

I wonder what goes through your mind when you see a business card holder with, you guessed it… business cards in it, and there is a small placard that says something to the effect of, “Let us know how were doing… we’d love to hear from you!”

Maybe it’s just me, but as you know from the previous couple of articles… I was very happy with the service I received from one particular Barista at a local Starbucks.

So I see the business card display and I read this and think, “I really should call… I may be the most satisfied customer they have today!”

And what the heck, I figured… maybe Miss Elisabeth needs a raise… a promotion… or maybe even an offer to work for one of my clients!

Yeah, I know… it’s that continual improvement thing! So, I took the card of the Store Manager… and determined to call.

**************************************************************************************************************

The following afternoon I picked up the phone and dialed.

When a young man answered and inquired how he could help, I asked for Ms. SoAndSo, the woman whose name appeared on the card and display seeking feedback.

“Um… she’s not in right now,” he said.

“Okay, no problem… do you know when she’ll be available?” I asked.

“I’m sorry, sir… I’m afraid I’m not authorized to give out that information,” came his response.

Huh?

So I asked, “Oh, well do you know if she’ll be in tomorrow morning? I’ll call again…”

“Like I said, sir… I’m not authorized to give out that type of information…” he shot back.

As I pondered what deep level of security I was seemingly on the verge of cracking, the young man asked… “Can I ask what this is in reference to?”

My first thought, of course, was to tell him that I wasn’t sure I was authorized to reveal such information… but, as usual, my people-skills side won out, and I said something along the lines of, “Sure, I wanted to give her some feedback… some very positive feedback regarding one of your co-workers, Elisabeth. Please have her give me a call… my number is…”

“I’ll pass on the message, but I can’t say WHAT she’ll do with it…”

Rather unbelievably, it’s now been just over a week, and the answer is in… zip… zilch… nada.

Nothing… no call.

As for Elizabeth, I really do know of a few other companies that would appreciate her dedication to their customers. I suppose I’ll stop in one day this week!

Questions:

Is your entire team committed to the best possible customer experience?

Who do you have that is clearly head and shoulders above the others?

Do they know how much you appreciate them?

Are you sure?

I look forward to speaking with you soon!

Photo Credit:

Ever

{ 8 comments }