The Best Marketing Methods Are Personal

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I’m reading a research brief from The Center for Media Research . . . about the effectiveness of various marketing ‘tools’ or methods.

As you can see . . . the MOST EFFECTIVE means of generating new business opportunities are:

1.  Referrals . . . 59% of respondents agreed

2.  Networking . . . 57.4% 

2.  From Existing Clients . . . 57.4% . . . a TIE with ‘networking’

3.  Presentations or Speaking . . . 24.6%

KEY POINT:
While the world of marketing media has grown more digital and online . . . the prominence of ‘direct’ marketing . . . and building ‘personal’ relationships . . . has not gone out of favor!  Don’t forget this! 

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What Ripples We Create!

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I just received an email from a dear friend . . . Kathy Vincello who helps smaller business owners manage their finances as a QuickBooks Advisor and VFA (Virtual Financial Assistant).

Whatever you do . . . I hope you realize the IMPACT you have when you exchange value with a fellow business owner.

Here’s what she just sent to me . . . WOW!

When you stop and think about it . . . it’s so true.

I recall a very wise mentor of mine who once said, “If you can infuse the majesty of what you’re doing into the mundane  actions you’re required to do . . . you will never feel you are stuck doing ‘little’ jobs because EVERY job is . . . magnificent!”

Well said, Kathy . . . well said.  ‘-)

By the way, if you (or, someone you know!) ever needs a truly quality individual to handle your virtual bookkeeping needs . . . just call Kathy and you’ll be very glad you did . . .

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Are You a ‘Professional’?

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To me, the word Professional means “Worthy of Trust and Respect”. Without these qualities you’re unlikely to be an effective agent of change and growth in your company.

So here are five (5) qualities that correlate with being a pro . . .

 

1.  Competence
You could call this ‘Knowing Your Stuff’.  And while it’s important to know enough to be competent, it’s also about being confident enough to know what you don’t know and being able to admit that.

In my first job, I felt compelled to ‘have all the answers’ . . . until a senior associate replied to a client, “Y’know that’s a good question.  I don’t have a clue . . . but let me do some digging into it and I’ll get back to you”.  After that, I found it was a ‘strength’ not a ‘weakness’ to accept and acknowledge my limits and commit to learn what I didn’t know but needed to know to grow (what else!) “more professional’ to my clients.

2.  Conviction
As the recent election showed, differences in position or opinion are perfectly acceptable.  If you prefer one candidate over another, it’s because someone had a clear position on what’s important and they didn’t compromise their values to please people or gain a short-term popularity (which you know won’t last!).

3.  Commitment
You know the term, “Keeping your word”?  Well, people do prefer to work with / support / follow people who do what they say.  As one staffer at a client told me, “I may not always agree with or like what ______ says we’re going to do, but I know she’ll do it and back me up if I do the same.  I can rely on her to create ‘no surprises’ and I really find that attractive!”

4.  Transparency
This suggests a lack of pretense and that’s what the famous JOHARI Window reveals — that organizations where people are transparent have the smallest facades and ‘blind-spots’ — two factors that correlate with highly effective organizations where communications and productivity are generally very, very high!

5.  Endorsement
This is what you DO when you ARE someone who endorses others on your staff.  I used to fly with a great pilot — John H. Phillips, USAF.  His greatest compliment to me was, “I’ve got your six”.  That was an endorsement that, if the you-know-what should hit the fan . . . I wouldn’t be alone.  That kind of support would make me march into the gates of Hell for John –– as I knew he’d do for me.   If you can instill that kind of esprit-d-corps in your staff, your competitors won’t be getting much sleep!

This post was inspired by a great post by Sharlyn Lauber  AKA the “HR Bartender”

KEY POINT:
Being a ‘professional’ isn’t what you say you are, it’s something you DO . . . and these 5 qualities are useful benchmarks to judge how well you’re doing it.

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Keeping In Touch / Building Your Personal Brand

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Are you in a profession or field where selling WHO you are is just as important (if not more so) as WHAT you do for your clients?

I like to say, “If you focus on building transactions, you’ll fail to build relationships.  But if you focus on building relationships, you’ll build transactions, too”.  It’s a truth that will help take you to the bank . . . if you practice it in your business or practice!

My Advice:  Write Personal Notes
In these days when no one ever seems to have enough time to do everything we want to do, the mere act of setting aside the time to write a personal note  is a behavioral statement that, “Dang it, You Matter To Me!”.

Now I can’t speak for you, but most people are a little ‘stroke deprived’.  We get all kinds of you-know-what but never, so it seems, enough ‘love and recognition’ from others.  In basic human terms, we don’t get recognized as having value — in an unconditional way!  So . . . by sending a note to someone who’s a prospect, client or center-of-influence, you’re effectively validating that, at least to you, they matter!  And that, is what marks you as a person of interest and value to them.  That builds goodwill and . . . sooner or later . . . revenues for you.

And here’s a simple, powerful and highly effective way to do this . . .

Write One (1) Personal Note / Day
While there is value in doing more than this, let’s not overwhelm you before you even get started.  So I’m deliberately suggesting you ‘start small’ with this idea.  Once you get to the point where you’re consistently and conscientiously getting ONE personal note written (and, sent!) each day, you can ramp it up a bit.  But remember . . . ‘walk before you run’ . . . just doing ‘one note’ a day is far better than doing ‘no note’ a day.

By the way you don’t need to say a lot!  Something as simple as, “Dear Chris,   I just had a moment and wanted to say how much I admire how you never let the economy get you down.  You’re an inspiration to me.  Thank you, Dana” will work just fine!  In fact, you could even print up a nice ‘notecard’ for yourself as the gifted author (and prolific note-writer!) Bob Burg has done here:


Who and Why?
Your business network consists of many people who fall into three (3) main categories:

1.  Prospects
2.  Clients, and
3.  Centers-of-Influence

Each person in your network is in a position to do at least one of the following:

BUY . . . what you’re selling or doing, and/or
REFER . . . others to you / you to others . . . who can

Your network is your business lifeline . . . so it’s important to keep it working –– for you!  And there’s nothing like any act of recognition to demonstrate how important and valued they are to you.  That breeds tons of GOODWILL and BRAND PREFERENCE for you.  And, while that may not be a tangible asset on your balance sheet, it’s a critical factor that drives value to it.

But here’s the problem:  “HOW . . . do you stay on the ‘Mental Shelf’ of your prospects, clients or centers-of-influence in a way that makes you both memorable to and appreciated by these people?”

And, “HOW . . . do you get them to think of  you FIRST and FAVORABLY???”
whenever they (or, someone they know — a friend, family member, client, co-worker, etc.) — develop a ‘need-to-know’ about something YOU can do.

The Method . . . Ya Gotta Have a Method!
Here’s what I suggest you do . . . to get started.  Once you’re doing this for a few weeks, you’ll be ‘hooked’ on the practice because of all the positive and wonderful feedback (not to mention goodwill and business opportunities!) that will be coming your way.

Again, let’s keep this simple.  Make an appointment with yourself on a Saturday or Sunday for just 30 minutes. During your appointment with yourself, here’s what you want to do:

IDENTIFY . . . five (5) people you’d like to build (or, continue to build) a relationship with
CHOOSE . . . something about them worthy of noting — in a note, of course!
WRITE . . . a brief note to each person recognizing them for that quality or action you admire
PUT . . . each note in an envelope, address it  and add a stamp (remember those?)
SCHEDULE . . . to send out one note . . . for each day of the week

That’s it.  Kind of like working out at the gym.  Don’t overdo it.  But do get started.  The benefits you’ll enjoy will be amazing.  People will call you to say, “Thank You”.  Sometimes they’ll even say, “Funny how, after your note arrived, a friend called me looking for some help with . . . and I thought maybe you could help . . . here’s her number . . . why not give her a call and mention my name when you do . . . ”  Yes.  It WILL happen.  And yes, it is all good!

KEY POINT:
In a world where the simple act of recognition has become increasingly elusive, taking action to honor the relationships you have with your key people — by writing them a personal, handwritten note — is huge.  Hugely appreciated by your key people and hugely productive and profitable for you, as well.

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Are You Selling What Clients Think They’re Buying?

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Welcome back.  My summer sabbatical is over and I’m ready to resume my work here on the blog with a renewed vision and refreshed energy!

In case you’re thinking, “Oh no!  He’s going to belabor the old ‘feature vs. benefit’ issue . . . I get it . . . people want ‘holes’ not ‘hand-drills’ . . .”  To which I’ll simply say, “PUT A SOCK IN IT!”  That’s so basic I’m not going to insult you by seeking to make that point . . . again.  Actually, I have something far more subtle and important to share on this.

“It’s Not Really About You”
I’ve  been noticing something that’s happening . . . a lot  . . . especially over the summer months.

I call it the “It’s Not Really About You” viewpoint that so many people in business and the professions are adopting.  And it’s not endearing them to their prospects and clients.

Here’s an example of how this played out:
I was talking with an attorney one of my clients had hired to help him resolve a minor legal matter.  Not serious.  But it had to be addressed.

At one point, I asked this attorney to explain the basis for the statement that my client just received.  I wasn’t challenging his bill, I was truly curious about what it represented.

Long story short, the attorney explained how he had to do this (and charged .5 hours for it) and then he had to do that (and charged 4.2 hours for that), and so on.

At the end, I just asked, “So tell me, after all this work . . . did the client get what he asked you to do for him in the first place?”. “Uh, not yet . . . but I’m working on it!”  True.  And he was very proud of the effort (and, time-consuming activities) he’d done on behalf of our mutual client.  But the client still did not have what he engaged this attorney to do for him in the first place.

In my own world, we’d had some work done on an online service (software) a developer built for us. At one point, it needed some ‘maintenance’.  So we hired a firm to correct the ‘bugs’ in the software.  At one point, we still had some issues — and a hefty bill from the developer.  I asked, “Why?”  The reply was essentially, “Look, we had to put in all kinds of time trying to figure out why the software wasn’t working as it should and THAT . . . is why we billed you for X hours of our time”.  The fact that my reason for hiring this firm hadn’t been addressed was (apparently) secondary to the primary interest of this firm to be paid for it’s time.  This firm had a legal right to be paid.  But their focus on their time vs. our outcome . . . was an emotional ‘wrong’ — to us as the clients.

It’s Way Beyond “Holes vs. Drills” . . . It’s About EMOTIONAL FULFILLMENT!
In both these cases, the providers of the service were ‘top shelf’ quality providers of their respective expertise.  I never doubted (still don’t!) their expertise.  But it seems to me that there is an inherent tendency to focus on WIIFM (M = ‘me’ as a provider) rather than WIIFTC (TC = ‘the Client’).

We can all take a lesson from the ‘contingency’ or ‘PI’ (personal injury) attorneys.  They’re a great example of professionals who are converting their expertise into compensation (roughly 33% of any damage award they win for a client).  While they do charge for expenses, that is not (or, shouldn’t be) the main basis for their compensation.  They are paid, pure and simply, for their . . . PERFORMANCE and RESULTS . . . that follow from their performance.

KEY POINT:
Focus more on what your client wants to receive by hiring you . . . and less on the time or activity their request may require.  The Result . . . is what your client wants, the Activity is what you want . . . just be sure you don’t lose sight of why you’re being paid  . . . to go into the swamp in the first place!

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Recovery Is Next To Godliness!

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Every contact you make with a client or prospective client is a ‘Moment of Truth’.

You either make or break it . . . depending on how well you respond to the situation.

Much like our friend here on the right . . .

A Tail of Getting It Right
Recently, we had to take one of our cats to the Veterinarian for a dental cleaning.  While we love and trust our Veterinarian, we were a little apprehensive about this procedure because our pet would need to be anesthetized.

As a safety measure, our Vet did need to draw blood to analyze it as a way to make sure our cat could safely undergo the anesthesia and the dental procedure.  We expected that.

Surprise! . . . It  Isn’t Always a Good Thing
When we picked up our beloved Jake at the end of the day we got a surprise.  Actually a couple of them!  The bill for the dental cleaning was significantly higher than we expected.  Only a few months earlier, his sister Jasmine had her teeth cleaned and the bill was about half of what we were being charged for Jake.

The fee, while a surprise, didn’t concern us as much as the basis for the fee.  It seems there was more than one blood test performed.  That made us question if something had been ‘discovered’ from the first blood test that suggested a problem with Jake’s health.  In addition to that, there was a charge for “ICU services” and ‘hydration with lactated Ringers Solution’ that seemed odd and created a lot of consternation in my wife and I.

After sharing our concerns with our Vet and her practice manager, our fears about Jake’s health were allayed and the billing was adjusted.  Why?  Because it was the ‘right thing’ to do.  As a result, we’re even more pleased with our Veterinarian and her practice manager.

Look, things do happen.  That’s life.  But remember — it’s what you do AFTER things occur that is most telling about Y-O-U.

When The Bloom Goes BUST!
Also this week, a new garden shop opened in my town.  

They managed to get a nice piece written up and published in a local paper. The former owner had passed away.  A subsequent buyer tried to rekindle the magic but shut the doors within a year.  So now this newest owner seemed to suggest a ‘turnaround’ was about to happen.

Hello?  Is Anyone There?
The Garden Center’s ‘Grand Opening’ was last Sunday.   On Tuesday, my wife called to find out their operating hours.  No one answered the phone.  No machine.  Nothing.  So she went there to buy some products for the garden. Incredibly, there was no one at this ‘brand new’ Garden Center.  It was locked.  No staff.  Nothing.

Joyce then proceeded to go to a nearby competitor and bought what she needed.  When she told me what happened, she concluded with, “. . . and if they think they’ll ever see my money, they have another thing coming!”.  They lost a customer before they were open a week!

KEY POINT:
Good management is the basis for great marketing.  Promoting a firm that makes a customer or client mad, sad or scared is a guaranteed road to ruin!

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Communication Improves Performance

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If you know me, you know I believe that how you operate your business is as important as how you promote awareness of your business or professional practice.

The Secret of a Great Team?  Communication!
I just read a fascinating article in HBR on The New Science of Building Great Teams.  

In it, Alex Pentland, a professor at MIT and the director of MIT’s Human Dynamics Laboratory and the MIT Media Lab Entrepreneurship Program, and the chairman of Sociometric Solutions, shared a fascinating insight — the more team members interact (i.e. communicate) with one another, the more productive and effective they are.

Professor Pentland created a ‘tech-tool’ that, worn by team members, collected data about:

1.  who people talked with,
2.  how much intensity (energy) they used, and
3.  how often they interacted with other members of their team or work-group

Net result:
The more team members actually communicated, the more effective and productive they were.

The ‘Bee’ Among The Flowers is Not Only Busy but Increases Productivity, As Well
Pentland noted (around 3:30 sec into his 6 min video in the article) that some team members are ‘above-average’ at getting to know and share awareness of special skills and abilities of their team with others on a team.  They’re the people who are always seeking out people to meet, asking them to ‘Tell me more about how you . . .” and then connecting these people into parts of a project on an ‘as needed’ basis.

The more of these ‘bees’ you have in your ‘hive’ . . . the sweeter the honey . . . the greater the success of the team, overall.

KEY POINT:
Productivity is attractive in marketing your business.  Facilitating communication — quality and quantity of it — among your staff or team-members may be one of your best ‘marketing’ secrets. 

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Take Time To Matter

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Seen your doctor lately?  You probably get more ‘face time’ at a speed-networking event than you get with your doctor!

It’s not the doctor’s fault.  Today’s M.D. sees, on average, about 60 patients a day.  Do the math.

In an eight hour working day, that means the average patient gets about 8 minutes with their doctor.  Some get more.  Many get less.  Not much time to ‘build the physician-patient bond’, is it?

Relationships Matter
In a world where most of us have more to do than time to do it, it’s easy to give clients less time and attention than they’d like.  Easy but also deadly.

Because if you do, you do so at our own peril.

A Quality Experience Is a Great Differentiator
To your client, a sincere, authentic, and heart-felt connection with you is . . . priceless.  It doesn’t take much.  But, it takes time.  Time to listen to what is troubling them.  Time to communicate you care.  Time to let them know you care about what they care about.

I like to say, “Treat your clients like prospects” . . . because they can be stolen away if you neglect them.  But I also like to say, ‘Treat your prospects like clients” . . . so they will know what it’s like to be your client.

Take Time to Make a Difference!
Either way, take the time you need to make your prospects, clients and centers-of-influence feel important.  It doesn’t take much time.  But it does require a commitment to help people see you differently because you make them feel better about their issues after sharing time with you . . . better than any alleged competitor who’s too ‘time-starved’ to care to act better.

KEY POINT:
People want to feel SPECIAL . . . take the time to make them feel that way and they’ll love you for it!

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Building Valued Client Relationships

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When you think about what makes for a valued relationship between two people, I think EMPATHY has to be a key factor.

Empathy Invites Emotional Engagement and Commitment
Jane Wurwand, Founder of Dermalogica wrote an article and cited author, Daniel Pink who argues that empathy is a right-brain quality.  Jane feels empathy is more ‘feminine’ than ‘masculine’ and it’s why, more often than not, highly successful business people seem to possess this quality and exercise it liberally.

Empathy Is a Key Factor in Business Success
Wurwand’s article reminds us of how both the masculine quality of ‘assertive energy’ as well as the feminine quality of ‘connective energy’ are necessary for reaching effective decisions and building consensus to implement them effectively.

Gertrude Bell’s Legacy:  Rim-Walker
Gertrude Bell was woman ahead of her time.  A graduate of Oxford University in England, she was an advisor to Arab kings, European heads of state and spoke several dialects of Arabic.

Her ability to connect with her clients was incredible.  She knew how her clients saw the world because she lived as they did.  After graduating from Oxford, she learned Arabic by living with the Bedouin tribes in North Africa for several years.  When King Faisal of Iraq (it was 1921) sought her counsel, she not only understood Arab culture, she spoke his language.

If western culture was in one ‘bowl’ and arab culture was in another, Ms. Bell was able to ‘walk the rims’ of each — seeing what both had  to offer (or, protect!).  Her role as advisor and liaison to powerful world leaders resulted from her being highly effective at providing empathetic counsel and using it to gain consensus from extremely disparate parties.

What You Can Learn From Happy Clients
Ask clients of highly regarded / desired advisors, “What do you like most about your advisor?”.  They’ll tell you.  Usually, it’s some variation on “S/he understands our business, our culture, our industry, our competitors but most of all . . . me”.

This makes it easy to ensure any recommendations you may make will be more acceptable and more likely to be implemented. But it all hinges on your ability to understand your client’s world, hopes, fears, concerns and desires.

KEY POINT:  
Get out of your world long enough to get into your clients’ world and business

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What Do Clients Truly Want?

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In the end, clients want . . . a valued result.  That’s what they’re buying from you.

How you make that desirable result happen for a client, while important, is less critical to generating a client than understanding what they want and why that’s important to them.

“I’m Getting a New Knee”
Some years ago, I received a call from my mother who had moved to Ft. Lauderdale, FL for her retirement.  She said, “I’m going to do it, Bill!”  Mom seemed rather excited and I was very confused.  “You’re going to do WHAT, mom?”  That’s when I learned that ‘it’ was a ‘total knee replacement’ –– a serious surgical procedure.

I was a little freaked out at hearing that.  I asked, “Why are doing that, mom?”  “I just want a new knee”.  Again, I asked, “Why?”  Mom replied, “I just want to dance again, Bill”.

How It All Happened
Mom told me she’d been invited to a ‘lunch ‘n learn’ session sponsored by her church.  As she entered the gym/theater of the church, she heard music playing and saw all these people (some of whom she knew) dancing upon on the stage!  As people continued to arrive, the music and dancing continued.  Apparently to the delight of those in attendance, I’m sure.

The Shortest and Most Expensive Presentation . . . EVER!
Mom told me that once everyone was seated, the minister welcomed the guests and introduced the doctor who was speaking that day.  “Dr. _______ (name not used to protect the guilty!) is an orthopedic surgeon at the Holy Cross Hospital here in Ft. Lauderdale.  He’s an expert on Total Knee Replacement surgery. Blah, blah, blah . . . so now, without further ado, I give you . . . Dr. so-and-so”.

The doctor then stood up and gave a 1 minute presentation to the people at mom’s church:

“I won’t bore you with all the details of knee replacement surgery — as fascinating as that is to me.  Instead, what I’d like you all to learn today, before you return to your lunch, is this:  Everyone you saw dancing on this stage when you came in today . . . is a patient of mine.  They had been unable to dance BEFORE they had knee replacement surgery. Many of them attended a lunch ‘n learn similar to this one today and, like many of you, required canes, walkers and even wheelchairs to simply get around.  After surgery, they’ve been able to dance and do many other things they feared they’d lost the ability to do ever again. 

Then, he ‘closed’ his presentation very simply (and highly effectively!):  “If you have any questions about whether you may be a qualified candidate for knee replacement surgery . . . please see me before you leave.  Thank you”.

And THAT . . . is all it took to get my mom to ‘go for it!’ and get the surgery.

KEY POINTS:
•  Prospects for your services want to know the RESULT you offer, not the way you create it
•  Gaining access to quality prospects in an ‘endorsed’ manner is a huge help
•  Be laser-focused on your point — it means a shorter message and . . . better results!

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