branding

About Face

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mark mullet years   

Let’s pretend you are just like this handsome dude in the picture;  a guy, single, and in a bar.   And it’s 80’s night.

Your name, as always and of course is…Rock Ledger.  (Just go with me on this – my blog, my rules).

Even though you are still a certified Sales legend, these are not Good Times in the romance department.

Things are so bad that one woman said “No” to a date with you,  even after you handed her 2 concert tickets, promised you wouldn’t bother to show up and that you’d never contact her again.

You don’t understand what’s happened to you!  You have never had these kinds of problems in the singles scene before.  Heck, your buddies named you years ago, “The Other Rock Legend”.   Maybe you’re in a rut.   Maybe the world is changing and your approach has to be different.  Maybe it’s just a run of bad luck.  Real bad luck. 

Despite the cool Tears for Fears music, you’ve had it.  You get up to leave.   But then..…

…….She ……slowly…..walks…..by………

She is stunning.  She is more than stunning…… she is amazing. 

She actually turns around ……………….and looks at you.  

You realize your mouth is awkwardly agape as you bask in the awesomeness of her beauty. So you snap it shut, straighten up and give her The Look.  (The Look of course, was invented by you back in the day.  It’s the one in which the left eyebrow arches, the head bobs with a half smile that says, “Hi there, I am Rock Ledger, and you deserve me).

It worked!   She starts to walk over to you.

Good Times are back.

Her name is Cassandra and well; you are feeling good so you’ll spring for something special.  You motion to Marty that you’re moving “uptown” now and will pass on the normal Bud Lite cuz’ for the lady, only Bud Lime will do.

“You are so beautiful” you tell her.  And she is.  “You’re so beautiful that you don’t even need much make-up”.  You can feel you are getting your groove back now.   She smiles sweetly and takes a sip of her Bud Lime.

You are a romantic guy so you keep on with the sweet talk.  “Not much make-up at all Cassandra.”  She smiles again.  You know it’s a great move to get her to talk about herself, so you ask a good one.  “Are you happy with the way your face looks now?”

“Excuse me?” she says.

You reply “No, what I’m saying is I’ve seen a lot of other women ….do like a whole total makeover thing on their faces and even look more beautiful than ever.”

“Are you talking about my FACE!” she cries.  “What is wrong with my FACE?!” a little louder. 

You’re thinking maybe you are in a little trouble but this is the best you’ve done in a while so you keep on keeping on.

“Cassandra, your face is beautiful.  I bet everyone loves your face and knows your face, but you have had that look for a long time.   I think I have a few good ideas you might like if you want to you know, freshen it up a little bit.”

She stares at you.

Yep.  You suspect that now you are in fact, still in a rut.  Deep in a rut.

Cassandra slams her Bud Lime bottle on top of yours and as that explodes all over you and the bar, she takes the rest of her bottle and dumps it on your head.  

Good Times no more.

*******

I needn’t beat you over the head with the lesson we learned at the bar today.  So I’ll keep it brief.

Cassandra has a face and a business has face.  And both are things you as sales people,  consultants and advisors need to be very careful about. 

That face is very important to a business owner,  especially if that business is small to medium sized.  Be it the logo, the website, the facebook or LinkedIn page, the storefront,  brand promise, the status in the community, the unique services they provide or the colors, the cars,  or even the style of the owner- it’s all a crital “face” of the business.

And it can be that personal.   

If you are in the business of helping businesses get better and or change; be careful how you go about messing with the “face” of that business. 

Small business owners in particular are a prideful ego-laden bunch.   You can’t talk like Rock Ledger did here (yes that picture is really me, but the nickname..not so much)  and suggest tactlessly a  business makeover, a switch in strategy or revamp of their websites or marketing plans – whether you’re a marketing consultant, a printer or software salesperson.   If you do, trouble might brew (pun intended :)).

Whenever you foster change a business, especially a smaller one, you can be changing that “face” of the client.  Be smart about it.   Do it wrong and it can go very wrong.    It’s not taboo – It’s just different.

Till next time,

Grow The Business.

Mark

Love

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I’ve gotten a lot of good natured ribbing lately about the word “Love”.  

Yeah, I helped the talented staff here and designed a short training a couple of weeks back around a particular sales effort.  I recommended that salespeople use the word “love” in voicemails and conversations they have with folks.

Darn proud of it I am.   It’s good thinking.  Heard we got some sales rollin’ in too.   

You don’t like the idea?  Feels uncomfortable for you?  Too bad.  You are missing the point.    

It’s not the word “love” that matters as much as what that type of word does.

You have a choice.  Do you want to sound like every other Sales or Account Rep calling or leaving voicemails for clients and prospects or do you want to be different? 

Do you want to be the 11th voicemail the small business owner picks up that is not a needed customer, or their accountant, or a family member but instead is a sales rep (you) and pray that your brochure-like language gets an inkling of attention?  Or do you want to be memorable?

In Voicemail your biggest obstacle isn’t how you deliver your value, or how you position your offer or if you can sound credible – it’s the dang Delete button. 

You bore and you are no more. 

A word like “Love” in a voice mail or in the first minute of a conversation as in “We sent you a coupon for this because we love you” makes wonderful sense when you are calling on customers with any tenure to your organization.    A word like “Love” as in “I love what you are doing, opening a new business- that is exciting” when working with prospects will surely get attention.

Still feels awkward?  It just doesn’t feel right still? 

Find a way.  You are still missing the point.

“Love” and words very much like it, engage something wonderful in a customer or prospect.  They don’t expect to hear that and in one word, it signals uniquely what you think of them – which is impossible to go unnoticed.   No other vendor, sales rep or partner leaves words like “love” on a voicemail today let alone in a conversation.  And maybe, just maybe if you do this – that customer or prospect will perk their ears up, listen to the rest of the message and who knows, write your number down and call you back.

So whether the word is “love” or “adore” or “cherish”, each will get attention.   And it sets you apart in a memorable, wonderful way that will get you far more business than if you sound like everyone else.

Till next time,

Grow The Business.

Mark

How To Avoid Being an HR ( and Customer) Nightmare

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Am I an HR Nightmare? You decide. 

Imagine that you and I just ran into each other in the street.  We’ve never met before. 

I smile and ask, “Excuse me Miss, may I take your hand?” or I smile and ask “You are simply gorgeous, have you ever been a model?” or I smile and I ask “Your place or mine?”

Well?  Am I an HR Nightmare?

Before real HR personnel here race down the hall and escort me out of this building, let me explain why I ask.    There is a lesson here. 

First I understand a majority of you (OK, all of you), would have been appalled and/or frightened if any of the vignettes really happened.   “Hell no!”,   “Get away from me!” and “Police!!” would likely be the vitriol lobbied at me.   

But let’s change the vignettes just a wee bit.

**

Imagine that you and I just ran into each other in the street.  We’ve never met before.

I smile and say “Excuse me, I am a doctor and you don’t look well, may I take your hand?” or I smile and say “I am with Martin & Stevens modeling right here in Boston.  You are gorgeous, have you ever been a model?”  Or I smile and say “I am Detective McCarthy with Boston PD and I need to ask you a few questions – your place or mine?”

 

 **

You get it now.  Makes a little more sense. 

But while I may not be a true HR nightmare; some of us are Customer or Prospect Nightmares.

Within moments of meeting customers or prospects, whether they call us or we call on them, some of us ask questions we have not yet earned the right to ask.   We ask questions like “How’s business?” or “How do you market your business?” or “What challenges do you face?”  Or “What are the goals?”   

And shockingly we often don’t take the time to drop the necessary credibility first.  We never proclaim our being a doctor, an agent or a police officer so to speak and hence we create a whole lot of tension, confusion or even anger.

Tension, confusion or anger by the way, stops the sales process dead in its tracks. 

In a perfect sales world we have the credibility, trust and time already invested and would be able to ask these questions without worry of how a customer or prospect might feel or respond.

But we don’t live in a perfect sales world and yet still need information from our clients.  So when that phone rings or we make that cold call we ask and ask away, sometimes to our detriment. 

Here is a surefire simple way to avoid being a Customer Nightmare (Sorry really can’t help you if you are an HR Nightmare) and improve your chances of getting good questions answered.

  • Preface It:  If you want to ask “How’s business going?” of a small business owner seconds after meeting them – Preface It with “I’m hearing a lot of things from my retailers lately, but how’s business going with you?”  Here your experience with other like customers (retailers) earns you street cred and reduces risk of posing a question that might be considered an affront so early on.    It also piques interest that you may know something of value; which can help you avoid getting booted out the door or off the phone sooner than you’d like.

 

Preface It is a simple formula:  Any variation of Your Experience + Teaser + Customer’s line of business = one heck of an assist to get a good question answered.

Have at it. 

(Next time, I’ll share another tip you can button right on to this one that will greatly enhance your effort to discover well with your customers and prospects).

Till next time,

Grow The Business.

Mark

Cool Sheep

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Google’s +1 (plus one) launched last week.  It’s flattering proof once again that what your network likes is a vital influence in your decision to buy something.

We are sheep – albeit the smartest, coolest and most innovative sheep ever.  And we largely act and buy because of what we see other people like us do or recommend.

No influence in the history of the world is more powerful.  None.

Advertisers know it.  You must know it.   Strive always to share and show the cool sheep what is so liked about you and your product – all their friends are watching. 

Till next time,

Grow The Business.

Mark

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Mondays are busy. All posts are 100 words or less. 

Kidnapped

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I realize now I never told him what we were doing and why we were doing it in any real detail.  It just needed to get done. 

I was busy, so he needed to be busy.  I just told him to get in the car with not much more than a “We gotta go!”

We went to Lowe’s.  We went to get him a haircut.  We went to the grocery store.   

Finally on our way to a fourth destination he said, “Am I not a real person here?  Don’t I matter?  Where are we going!!? ”

I realized then that I had essentially kidnapped my 12 year old son.

 

The problem is “Kidnapper” was not on my bucket list.   And a bigger problem might be that it happens in business more than we think.

During the kidnapping, my child felt anxious about where we were going.   He felt anxious about not being able to influence where we were going.   He felt anxious about not having any control of the situation.  And he felt anxious that he’s as the mercy of his captor (me) who is not talking too much. 

In hindsight, I think that if I offered more in guidance, direction or real or perceived collaboration about these errands, he would have felt a lot more comfortable and would have been engaged in helping me get everything done.

In foresight, I wonder if we as leaders or account executives or customer service reps unintentionally “kidnap” our employees or customers at times.    I wonder if we unintentionally kidnap these folks in a major way for as long as weeks or months or in a mini way for as little as hours or minutes.   Either way, kidnapping is a problem.

I wonder in the rush to get the message out, the order placed, the demo done or that call completed if we aren’t always so clear enough about where we are going and why we are going there. 

I wonder if we aren’t open minded enough about being influenced or sharing some control along the way in these and other situations.   I wonder if we don’t realize that our charges or customers feel as if they are at times, at our mercy.

What I don’t wonder about is this; If there is anxiousness about where, why or about influence or control, then employees and customers just stop.  Stop listening, stop caring and in the worst case, stop attaching themselves to you.

In the end, ask yourself if you’ve ever heard or sensed iterations of my son’s words to me on Saturday from an employee or customer.   “Do I matter?  Where are we going!? ” If the answer is yes then check the kidnapping skills at the door.

Till next time,

Grow The Business.

Mark

[100 Words Or Less] – Mayhem Who?

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When I post on a Monday, I’m pledging to keeping it to 100 words or less.

It’s busy enough on Monday no?

I like those Mayhem commercials with Dean Winters. They’re funny. Here’s one.  Problem is everyone I ask can’t remember which insurance company he is shilling for.  Doesn’t happen with Flo or the Gecko or even that floating “T” Umbrella.

Funny, smart commercials only work when people associate them with your company. That goes for you Mr. or Ms. Salesperson.  Make sure your smart commercials ( voicemails, emails, contacts) aren’t just memorable about you but something bigger too.

Till next time,

Grow The Business.

Mark

6 Rules Of Marketing & Sales

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I admit that I like rules.

Without some rules you see, it’s really just chaos out there.   

1) If the content of your campaign or sales presentation is poo, it does not matter how many ways you distribute it or how many impressions of your poo you give; it is still poo.

2) It’s more important to first understand and act aggressively upon what your customer thinks about you than what you think about your customer.

3) All the new ways to communicate with customers and prospects are by definition now, marketing and sales tools.  Everyone in each group should learn to use them well.

4) Sales is an extension of Marketing.  Sales is an extension of Marketing.  Sales is an extension of Marketing.  And Sales is an extension of Marketing.

5) Knowledge and Service is more of what many of us are selling and marketing today.  They both therefore are as much a product as any traditional tangible product and need all the planning, support and care any widget ever did.

6) The only reason Marketing and Sales exist is because your customers are not jazzed enough about your products that they’ll go out and sell them for you.  Aim for that.  When that happens, Nirvana is achieved and no rules need apply.  

Till next time,

Grow The Business.

Mark

The Wicked Awesome Awards

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If I was in fact, having an actual awards ceremony, I think these four winners would give some inspiring acceptance speeches.   And if they actually knew they were winning a Wicked Awesome Award (they don’t) they would be thrilled.

Until the WAA’s reach that “coveted” status, the awards actually mean more to me (and hopefully you) than anyone else.   Why?  Because each of these winners affected me in some wonderfully wicked awesome way.   And you get the benefit of knowing how.

Each of these people over the last 6 weeks did something simple, yet so helpful they inspired me to stop, grab my red book and write down these moments.  That’s a big deal in my book (literally) and makes them worthy winners.    

Here they are;  

Adolphe at Verizon who called me on his lunch break from his own cell phone to confirm that my cell phone was working properly while I was traveling in Kansas City last month.  He said he would; I didn’t really believe it but by golly, he did.    

Helen at Target who checked left, right and then all around her looking for her boss.  And not having found him, grinned, left her register and helped the elderly woman bag her groceries way down at the end of the checkout lane.  Helen, you’re right; some things just aren’t in the training manual.

Rev. Dean who sat next to me on the plane last month, each of us sharing stories about work and life, stopped mid sentence and sincerely asked if there was someone in my life he could pray for over the next month.   There was Rev. Dean, thank you, thank you very much.

Tim and Jimmy at Hannaford, who insisted on loading my wife’s groceries in the pouring rain saying “Just get in the car- we got it!”.  Tim is a made up name (and so is Jimmy) but this complete stranger and his son totally made my day and I wasn’t even there.

Congratulations all.  No lives saved or Herculean efforts here but Wicked Awesome for sure.

Till next time,

Grow The Business.

Mark

What’s Easy

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image from hockeyindependent.com

I write a lot about easy.  But this one’s a little different.

I write often about how important it is to small business customers and prospects that your products are easy, that your website is easy, that your billing is easy, that your ordering is easy, or that your customer service is easy.    Basically easy is what small business needs.  

Here’s the rub though.  What’s easy for small business isn’t necessarily easy for you.

What’s easy for small business is:

  • To Keep Who They Got:   Dislodging a vendor in a small business is not easy.  Last I checked SB’s don’t have a team of sales or process strategists charged with looking at the value of bringing something or somebody in brand new.  Nope it’s more like, “I’ve been with them forever”, or “I know his family”, or “It’s too much work to change mid year”, or “This thing is like 1/100th of my budget why do I care?” etc. etc.     You have got to make it easier to switch.

 

  • To Blow You Off:   Heck, they themselves are or were, sales reps or account managers in one way or another for their own business-most of em’ anyway.  And they have staff trained to get rid of sales reps and marketers like you and some personally make it an art to avoid everybody but customers, family, their accountant or their banker.  It’s not that they don’t think you have a good product, it’s just that there’s no darn time to spare.    You have got to make it easier to see why just a little time with you might be valuable.

 

  • To Not Believe You:  The Small Business owner who has that type A personality, and is the wearer of all hats, and with the ego through the roof and the work ethic like nobody else;– Is she going to flat out just believe you when you say you can help grow her business?  Heck no.  You have to make it easier for her to trust you. 

 

 

I usually end all my posts with real applications, real ways to get it done.  I usually give you a few things you can just run with right now and tackle the problem and grow the business. 

That would be too easy. 

And there’s a better way.  Though this blog is only 6 months old, type in the search box the word “easy” (10 posts) or “value” (13 posts) or “credibility” (7 posts) or any darn word you think might be make sense.  Therein is a lot more help to make it easier for you and your customers.

Till next time,

Grow The Business.

Mark

5 Oddly Wonderful Things to Say to Customers

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They are only “odd” because folks don’t say them too often.   And they are “wonderful” because well……just read on, and I’ll tell you.

  • “I just came out of a Training class on….”  We rarely say this yet many of us attend training regularly in the classroom or online.  We think it is a sign of weakness that we had or went to…um.. a training.    Our clients want to know that you are getting training because heck,  maybe you are getting smarter about them.   And even if you didn’t go to a recent training,  our clients want to know that you read that book on small business marketing trends or that other one on customer loyalty.   Smart sells.  Wicked Smart sells even better.  You have to share it.

 

  • “I Love You…”  Ah yes, warm and fuzzy for sure but I say, why not?  Why not say “I love you” but tie it to a good reason?  “John, this is such a pleasure.  I love to talk to 5 year plus customers because you know the marketplace and you know us….” Or “I love to talk with customers who take the time to give us feedback, I know how busy you are …”.   Love is a word customers don’t expect to hear, at least from a partner or supplier.  And unexpected love is a very cool thing.

 

  •  “Guess which one is the most popular these days?”  If you want to improve your chances of a client or prospect listening well or listening longer to your presentation (or even a conversation), you should embed survey-like questions early into the experience like “What % of retailers do you think would say “keeping returning business is more important than getting new business?”” or “Which do you think most retailers prefer, this or this?”  You make the call on the question but do two things; draw out the answer so you insert your value proposition,  and then if you don’t believe me that this works,  read the bestseller Made To Stick (Heath Bros) and take a look at the evidence supplied on page 89.  Folks will pay attention longer to see if they are right or just to know what the right answer is.  Find a way to conversationally add this to your client facing meetings and contacts and more sales will ensue.

 

  • “You can trust our business with your business…”  This is obviously a B2B thing but 10 years ago I pitched this phrase as something we could and should close phone calls with or have on business cards or ( and these were really new then): emails!  etc. etc.  I have never forgotten it and always wanted to make it part of our customer experience but we haven’t done it just yet.   Now I have proof that this would work –  Have a look at this Roger Dooley article at his Neuroscience Marketing blog  and learn about the real evidence supporting in “10 Words That Build Trust”!  Then, tell me why you wouldn’t want to say “And as always, you can trust our business with your business, have a great day!” 

 

  • “Here’s what I want you to do..”.    It’s a rare day that we sales and marketing folks send out samples or emails or catalogues or brochures or links and ask any customer/ prospect to do anything.   The most we often eek out is “Have a look and if you have any questions let me know” or “I’ll give you a call next week and you can let me know what you think.”  Ugh.   Be specific and give instruction.  “Have a look at page 3 and circle your two favorites” or “Watch the video and jot down two things that you want more information on as that will be my first question to you when we talk next week”.  People like to help people.  People like (most of the time) to have clear direction.  Psychologically, people will more likely keep that next meeting when there was something of detail they were supposed to do vs. just another scheduled contact.

 

There, oddly wonderful aren’t they?   Let’s make them a little less odd shall we? 

Till next time,

Grow The Business.

Mark