selling

SMILE Goals

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I think I’m done with S.M.A.R.T. Goals. 

It’s the time of year now when so many of us are in a frenzy over setting and writing annual goals for ourselves or our staffs.

You remember those SMART goals don’t you?  Goals that you set, according to the formula,  should be;

  • Specific
  • Measurable
  • Attainable
  • Realistic
  • Timely

 

Yeah OK; got it.

It’s not that there is something terribly wrong with SMART goals; the tenets are solid.   It’s more that I’m not sure SMART goals go far enough in reflecting what drives real people and real business anymore.  It’s more that SMART goals may not be so..um…smart anymore.

For 30 years (yep, in 1981 this formula first appeared) SMART Goals have served us well.  But it’s time for a needed upgrade.  The world is in a different place.  And people are in a different place.  

So before you put those final touches on the SMART goal setting sheets you have proliferating your desks and email boxes, have a look at what I think is a better way.  

S.M.I.L.E Goals  

Strength Focused:  No one person will ever be perfect.  And no one person typically has as many weaknesses as strengths, yet much of our goal setting is often focused on goals  that “fix” a problem or weak area.   But what if all of your annual goals were focused on taking your greatest strengths and either applying them more or making them stronger? Where would we be?  Let’s say you are great at networking.  Set a SMILE goal to build a seminar on that topic where you are required to teach others. What if you are great at floor coaching?  Set a Smart goal that has you delegate many of your other tasks to staff or colleagues so you can do significantly more floor coaching.    Strength Focused goals get you to do more of what you do well.  That’s smart.

Modifiable:  This tenet is the acknowledgement of the age old “elephant in the room” in that many goals written at the beginning of the year are often by the end of the year, ridiculously irrelevant.  Every December from my staff, I usually get two lists; one list that is all the evidence and data to support the SMART goals we set on paper a year before and the other list is called “Accomplishments”.  Rarely do the two match.  Sad.  You could say that that reflects on poor goal setting on my part but often you would be very wrong.  Stuff happens.  Stuff changes.  Business happens.   Business changes.  In the space of a week or a month, your initiatives and priorities could be yesterday’s news.   Often your SMART goals set in February are meaningless by June because you are working on things completely different, more needed or more important.   Modifiable allows you to edit, amplify or delete.  That’s smart.

Inspectable: There’s a difference between measurable and inspect-able.   Measurable is measurable.  Inspect-able is measurable but transparent.  You have stakeholders be they your customers, your boss, your team or your shareholders and inspect-able brings a higher level of trust when it comes to measuring.  Trust I contend, is far more important today in business, than it was in 1981.  Post your goal metrics on the shop wall, in your cubicle or at your desk.  SMILE goals should be ones that don’t require 4 hours of data collection each quarter and a 1 our meeting with your boss to see how you are progressing “so far”.  Inspectable makes it easy to see how you are doing.  Inspectable goals show you have nothing to hide.  That’s smart.

Learning Focused:  If you are not learning you are dying.  Goals to achieve are fine. Goals to achieve that don’t reflect learning or growth are not.  You can do both.  You must do both.  More than ever, landscapes in business change at speeds that make even the hardest working the brightest folks cringe.  It’s hard to keep up, but we must.  In fact, keeping up is just table stakes now and keeping ahead is what is truly needed.  Achieve those numbers yes, but SMILE goals must have an aspect that force you to continuously and consciously learn from that achievement and position you for more success in an ever more complex business world.  Learning focused gives goal setting a leading edge.   That’s smart.

Enduring:  If I had a dollar for every time I forgot what my SMART goals were for the year I’d be rich.  If I had a dollar for every time I and my staff forgot what their individual SMART goals were I’d be filthy rich.   You know it’s true.  Goals are often either “the same every year” (hit forecasted quota plan of….), or “breathtakingly boring” (manage expenses within a budget of….).  Take the expected stuff out of the goal setting and do it the SMILE way.  Create goals that endure, that people remember and that will stick:  “Land face to face meetings with 2 fortune 500 companies by the end of Q2…”, “Create a video campaign that generates viral buzz with 5 digit visits and link backs from 2 of these 15 influential bloggers..” or “Make the pain of the customers from brand ABC as they transition to brand XYZ go away by the end of Q1…”.  You get the idea.  Enduring makes it easier to remember, easier to focus and easier to succeed.  That’s smart.

S.M.I.L.E goals reflect a truer reality of the human and business condition; i.e. what drives people and what really happens (and is needed) in the business world.   SMART goals aren’t something I’d necessarily throw away.   They are a decent formula but my advice is you should use them only if you start with a SMILE.

Till next time,

Grow The Business.

Mark

3 To Listen For In 2011

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Yep.  Listen closely Sellers.  They’re gonna happen. 

Best be ready.

1) Clickety clack clickety clack.  “What’s your name again?” you are asked by the prospect and then you hear the sound repeated: clickety clack, clickety clack.  Yep, she’s typing away and Googling you Mr. Sales Rep checking to see if you are worthy to meet with or even just to listen to anymore.  You best have a very compelling web presence.

2) “When can we see each other?”  It won’t be those 20 lbs you lose creating your sudden irresistibility or even your liberal spraying of Axe that will make this phrase be heard in 2011 but rather, your clients will really just want to see you before they move forward.  What do you look like Ms. Account Manager?  Do you have a professional YouTube video I can see?  Can we Skype our next meeting?  Where can I see your face; on LinkedIn?, Twitter?,  Facebook?   Ironically (yet fittingly), faces will mean more than ever in this increasingly digital but less trusting world.

3) Sploouurgshhthwwppt!  Yes, you guessed it!  That is the sound of a self inflicted needle plunging into the eye of your customer.  Gross yes, but it is often metaphorically a choice people make versus listening or considering us and we just can’t hear it over the sound of the customer sigh.  The stakes are higher now with each and every client impression.   Information is free.  Reviews about you or your company are free.  Products & advice are often free so when we interrupt a customer via marketing or sales in 2011 we had better bring our A game.  .  When you waste client’s time by not bringing value in every contact you just might hear that sound as that crazy busy customer yearns to suffer a different pain.

Till next time,

Grow The Business.

Mark

Chairvolution!

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It’s the easiest and most effective “how to sell” prop in the world. 

The simple chair.  

When I get a chance to speak to sales folks, I’ll occasionally launch into using a real chair that happens to be lying around to help folks learn how to sell.  Every time I do it; I see heads nod in enlightenment and jaws literally slacken as many salespeople have “aha” moments.

It resonates so well that I typically walk away from these little talks saying to myself “Geez, I’ve got to do that chair thing every time!”  But then, as I am apt to do; I forget to do it the next time.   Not any more, I am committed to embracing the chair!

So with apologies to the office furniture and chair sales folks out there, I must explain that the ubiquitous chair is the perfect prop to represent your “product” or whatever it is you are selling or marketing.  It is precisely because the “chair” is so common and so “everywhere” that it works.   It works because it allows you the teacher, speaker or trainer to easily put emphasis on more than just the product and focus on the positioning, credibility and solutions your product or service really needs to get sold.

The chair is big.  Really big.  You could spend a whole day preaching and teaching a lot more than just the 6 lessons below but heck, it’s a start.  

Welcome to my Chairvolution.   Please steal shamelessly.

6 Easy Chair Selling Lessons

Start by saying “I am going to sell you a chair” and then follow the guide below as you teach and preach.

Lesson 1: Put the chair behind your back and ask (as if you are the sales rep) “What kind of chair would you like?”  This is a great first lesson because it is about what not to do.  In this harried, crazy, no time and no trust world of buyers we live in; the age old “Tell me what you dream” is really just about dead.  Open ended,  out of the blue questions more often stop sales processes, not start them.  You’ve got to lead folks or give them a comparative reference.  Psychology notes that comparison is less brainwork than creation.   Discuss.

Lesson 2:   Bring the chair back from behind your back and say “This is our most popular selling chair”  Pause, then ask the group –   “How many of you just ever so slightly had their interest piqued?”   Here is a great 2nd lesson in the value of popularity.   Popularity is so important that the next 2 lessons using this chair go even deeper there.  There’s a reason Amazon built that algorithm! 

Lesson 3:  Continue holding onto the chair and say   “This chair is the most requested one by the folks at your company”.   Pause and ask “What’s different in this lesson?”  What’s different is that Popularity positioning you shared in Lesson 2 has been turned around and is now positioned with something more valuable to the client.  That is that prospects “like them” ( i.e. those people that work in this company) love this chair.  No doubt the interest of the group is piqued about the darn chair.  Discuss.

 

 [Here is a good place to remind the group that we have yet to talk about the features and specs of the chair as a means to sell it,  and oh by the way…in all of these lessons today-we won’t!]

Lesson 4;   “Everyone in your department on the first floor has this chair”   Here it’s getting obvious that the closer you get to the truth about popularity of product by customer and prospect type, the better.  Study after study shows that most people need to and love to do what other people just like them do and make similar choices.  Yep, like the Amazon pop-ups and the Net-flix pop ups; you get it.

Lesson 5:  Switching gears, look longingly at the chair and say “This chair will make your back feel better” or “This chair will get that capital expenditure under control” or “This chair will give your employees that “Google” office feel they want”.   The point here is that you are showing just how much work needs to be done before you talk about the darn chair to prospects.  What problem it solves, what pain it eases, what yearning it fills.  Have fun with this part as nary a mention of price, height or color is in sight. 

Lesson 6:  Take the chair and roll it up next to one of the participants in the room and say “Your mother suggested I talk to you about this chair”.    Have a good laugh at those who say “I don’t like my Mom” but the point is this –  The best selling approach ever is a credible referral from someone the prospect trusts or even better; loves.   Sales people should work hard to secure referrals and references.   Frankly with those in hand, there is no real selling involved, it’s already done.

Don’t couch this one folks.  Unseat all those beliefs that selling is about price and options.  Lay it all on the table in a different way this time and use that chair!  I promise it will open a brand new door to how salespeople think about sales.

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

Inanity

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Sometimes the reasons we give people to buy are inane.

Inane as in lacking sense or silly as dictionary.com would define the word.

Here is my most recent TV commercial favorite.   It’s the garage door that still works (praise the almighty) when you lose power at your house.   This 30 second inanity begins as the fearful family pulls in the home to discover that there is no power to the house but Holy Driveways Batman, the garage door still opens!  We are saved!  

 Are you kidding me?   A) How often do you lose power and B) are you not capable of getting out of the car and using your key to the front door?  So silly.  The scary part is that some bright marketing agency felt that a garage door that works when you lose power is the key selling feature and that it should be the central part of a 30 second television ad, i.e. the reason buy.  

That’s inane.

If inanity lives in prime time advertising it may still exist closer to home.  So let’s make sure in the B2B world we don’t have any inane reasons for someone to buy hanging out there.    Let’s make sure we don’t have reasons that lack sense or are downright silly. 

I doubt these inanities still exist around here but just in case;

You should buy because I’m your account manager.   I remember a time when folks would believe that and even say that.  That having someone “assigned” to a client to be “account managed” was gloriously stupendous all by itself.   Many a sales rep used to think (I hope) that since the customer has “me” as an account manager well that would…um….be a darn good reason to buy.   A classic sign if you or your company still possesses this kind of inanity is if you get upset, hurt or worried when a customer chooses to buy a product some other way like going online or by calling someone else at your company.  

You should buy because We’re the cheapest.  This is B2B folks; cheap is cheap.   70% off, 60% off or”I can beat everyone’s price” gets you less and less today in the sales game.  You might actually do better by raising your prices; it can reflect your investment in services/ product and impart more literal or perceived value to a client.  Cheap makes you look cheap.  Cheap undervalues what your product does.  Cheap is something to avoid, not embrace.   Very few can pull of cheap as a reason to buy and those who do it well leverage far more than the low prices to retain and acquire customers.

You should buy because We have- “hours from 8am to 8pm 6 days a week”, “.. a 100% guarantee..”. “ …free shipping on..”, “..online ordering..”, “ ..a loyalty program for…”…etc…etc”.  These are pretty much Table Stakes folks;  that is to say that  everybody has these and simply needs to have them to get a chance to even play at the table.    And frankly, one of these alone or even all of them together is not a killer reason to buy.   Conversely, and somewhat unfairly, not having these can be a reason not to buy from you.   

So let’s take a lesson from our colossally idiotic consumer group that is dumbfounded by what to do when the power goes out and they are caught outside with just a garage door remote control.    Our business clients aren’t like that; they carry a bunch of keys to get where they need to go and they’ll need a lot more from you before they look to you for help.

 

Till next time,

Grow The Business

Mark

A Card

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She looked at the envelope and didn’t know quite what to think.   She didn’t expect anything from him and hadn’t for a long time.   He had drifted away it seemed, they hardly ever talked yet she still felt loyal to him.

So she opened the card.

**

Dear Erin,

I wasn’t sure given all that was going on that you’d stay with me.   But I am so happy that you did. 

We have shared much over the years but I know I’ve taken you for granted.   I know I just expected you to always be there.   I know I just assumed you would never leave me. 

And you didn’t.   For that I am so grateful.

When we hit that rough patch last year I got scared.  I’m still a little scared.  I realize I had gotten careless around you and around others in my family.   You Erin, were there for me in the beginning when I was young and just starting out and I think I forgot that.

This note is very important to me because you are important to me. 

This note says “thank you” for being there then and being there now.  This note embodies that adage “Make new friends but keep the old, for one is silver, the other gold”.

Erin, thank you for sticking with me.  Thank you for keeping me close.  This note says I won’t forget that ever again. 

Thank you for your business,

Steve

**

Surprised?  Unfortunately, most of us reading this probably are. 

But Erin is not a lot different from many customers who have been with you for a few years. She’s likely similar to customers you have or maybe your business has, that despite the fiscal challenges, the new competitors she could choose from, and maybe even absorbing your price increases, has chosen to quietly stick with you.

Would a business owner write a note or have a card ultra personalized like in the above example for Erin?  Sure, why not?  Maybe not as much as written above (but I wouldn’t besmirch anyone who wanted to write a card for their top 10- 100 customers like above- well worth it!)  The point is that a card done right can be a very special message to a customer, one that can make them feel cherished.

A well done card maybe for Thanksgiving, or Christmas, or for any Holiday can mean so much more than a mere ”thanks”.   Heck, a simple “thank you” note done right can mean something quite wonderful.

And it should.   

It’s time to start planning about how you’ll acknowledge your clients. 

Do it better this year.

Till next time,

Grow The Business.

Mark

A Salesperson’s Halloween Poem

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Beautiful Poetry can lift the soul, make one weep inconsolably, inspire through a lifetime and especially around the Holidays, bring great strength and joy to all who read it.

When I write poetry about my beloved salespeople….not so much.  

A Salesperson’s Halloween

Oh Hallowed Eve, oh night of ghoul,
Your day is full shrieks and shrills.
But I’m thinking what trick or treaters really need
Is some help with basic sales skills.

A 3 foot tall, pillowcase toting Dracula
Squeaking out “Trick or Treat” is pretty weak,
It’s actually a cold call gosh darnit!
Yet no effort to get the neighbor to speak?

Wee Goblins, Witches and Headless Horsemen
Offer some scares but no sales approach.
Don’t we all want more candy? More upgrades?
Let me at em’, Let me coach!

So with a wicked twist on Trick or Treating
I’ll lead this effort as a hands-on leader
As I on this night, and finally for a change,
Will be a Treetee and not a Treater.

We’ve seen it before, the real tall ones
With the beards and even a cigarette dangling
Those arms outstretched as child pretenders,
Doing hardcore candy angling.

But being a middle aged sales pro, I’ll be different,
Use real sales skills and dress like Freddy Krueger!
I’ll either get oodles more candy and teach these kids,
Or end up in a cruiser.

Till next time, 

Grow The Business. 

Mark

Why Your Network Stinks

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Have a lot of followers on Twitter?  Nice.   A gazillion friends on Facebook? Cool.  500+ LinkedIn connections?  I’m happy for you.

Sometimes that don’t mean nothin’ though.

Marlene, one very talented trainer on the West Coast, reminded those of us gathered for workshops last week about the real value of a good network. 

A real network, Marlene taught us, is about how you compliment each other and how you leverage what is different about you.   A real network isn’t about how many of you there are or worse, about how many of you there are that are just like you all connected.

Marlene made us publicly identify the unique skills of our in-room “network” and record them in a literal (and of course, metaphorical) little black book allowing each of us to walk out with a networking gem.

“Use this book” she said “to tap into the help you need when you need it from your network.”

Thanks Marlene.  I think we sometimes forget that

  • A real network aligns you the sales expert with Jimmy the time management guru because one day you’ll both need each other when you finally decide to go chase that dream together.

 

  • A real network aligns you the online marketing savant with Sandy the offline marketing pro when that prospect you share just wants to grow the heck out of her business and yes she’s still got brick and mortar on Main Street. 

 

  • A real network aligns you the call center supervisor with Art the field sales manager when Art needs to beef up his team’s phone skills and you need to start dabbling in feet on the street.

 

Networks need to work.  And while amassing lots of fans who like you (and too often are like you), seems to be the focus for so many of us today, the better approach should be asking how does this connection fill the gaps that each of us have.

Till next time,

Grow The Business.

Mark

You Wouldn’t Think…

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You wouldn’t think you’d get farther by doing things that feel weird or counterintuitive to sales, but you will.

  • You wouldn’t think you’d get farther by asking “Can you help me?” vs. “Can you tell me?” but you will.  People like to help people more than they like to serve people.

 

  • You wouldn’t think you’d get farther by fumbling your voicemail message than by delivering it perfectly, but you will.  People like real imperfect people more than real perfect people.

 

  • You wouldn’t think you’d get farther by not trying to close on every call vs. saying “Let me walk away and think about this” but you will.  People like people who listen and think more than they like people who just listen and solve.

 

  • You wouldn’t think you’d get farther by saying “Thank you for your business” vs. “Is there anything else I can help you with today?” but you will.  People more than ever; remember being appreciated rather than the check to see if their wallet was still open.

 

  • You wouldn’t think you’d get farther having a catalogue, a brochure or a handwritten letter in your tool belt vs. just landing pages, links and emails, but you will.  People like to do more than just surf sometimes; people also like to swim.

 

Till next time,

Grow The Business.

Mark

A New Sales Model

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Have a new sales model for you.  Don’t fall asleep just yet, you should care about this.  It’s simple but different.   Different is good.  

A sales model for our purposes here is the process or the steps you take to make a sale.   The process you trust, the process you live by.   Sales models are important; they are a roadmap so to speak, of how to do what you want to do, which is of course, to grow the business.  

You use sales models all the time.  Want to go out on a date with someone?  Here is an age old popular model to get that done.

Prepare / Search / Impress / Close

First you go and Prepare (look sharp, take a shower that day (you can do it!) then go Search ( scope out the lounge, the beach, the bake sale – whatever) then Impress ( sound wicked funny/ smart/ nice and get your favorite pick up lines ready like “Excuse me do you have a tissue? I was just listening to Susan Boyle on my IPod“) and finally the Close (“I have a hankering to watch The Notebook again, would you like to join me?”)

Traditional Sales models have been around forever too.  A typical sales model is something like:

Rapport /Discovery / Present / Close.

That is to develop a connection, ask good questions, make a product offer and then close the sale.  You get it. 

I don’t much like the traditional sales models.  Not for us.  Not for anyone really, but especially not for us. 

Here is a new sales model

Time / Trust / Create Need / Discover / Advocate / Close / Support 

Looks complicated?  It’s not.  Don’t worry about the last 4 here (discovery, advocate, close, support), those are traditional and something to detail another day.  Just think about the first 3; Time, Trust & Create Need, those are the “New” in this sales model versus traditional ones.  

The New Sales Model is front loaded like never before.  It needs to be. 

The very beginning of any sales process has been underwritten and underplayed for 50 years.  Getting attention, earning the right to talk with or market to folks wasn’t like then what it is today.  It’s different now; how you really start or really begin is the most important part of the sales process.  Do that well, superbly well and the rest of the sales process is easy.   That’s why we need to change the traditional model.

Dig up any sales training or sales models from today or yesteryear and you’ll find almost nothing on getting salespeople to see TIME as a critical commodity that must be purchased from the prospect before anything happens.

Search Google and look for all the TRUST training and theory out there for sales forces of the world; you’ll find some for sure, but mostly you’ll find a lot of superficial blather about “building rapport” or “forming relationships”.  Used to be a hearty handshake or some smart product knowledge or “my office is down the street” was trust enough to get the sales process started.  No more.  Nobody’s company has that kind of infallibility anymore.   It’s take a lot more and a lot different now to earn the Trust you need today.

Instead of CREATE NEED help, you’ll find a gazillion sales theories and courseware around “finding needs” or “finding pain points”.  It’s as if the prospects and customers of the world are walking about “injured”, “lost” or “clueless” about themselves anxiously waiting for a company or sales rep to come in diagnose and prescribe medication to fix the pain.   I don’t think so. 

Sales Theory in large part is not keeping up with the times.    Much else is different in the marketplace than when some of the biggies rolled out their iconic sales models (companies like Wilson Learning, Dale Carnegie, Huthwaite and the like).  What’s changed?

    Everybody has gotten smarter; your customers in a couple of clicks can get a lot more info and now need a sales rep to be smarter than them in different places, in more Trusted places.

    It’s harder to be unique.  Companies are changing and entering new spaces but consumers still have lots of choices (more than ever) for a provider.  It’s like Malcolm Gladwell in his book Blink who said essentially that “if given too many choices, then nothing happens”.   Create Need my friends.

    Used to be you could be assured your customer “listened” to you, now they are in control.  Their Time and attention is precious and they know it- YOU know it.   Marketing is changing radically to respect this; Salespeople need to too.

This model is your map to better success.    This model needs our attention, our rallying around, our design and planning around.

Old sales models are for old companies and old sales reps in old marketplaces.   Don’t believe for a minute we are old.  Nope, we’re new, brand new.   We have to be. 

Till next time,

Grow The Business.

Mark

Want more fodder for thinking about the new model?   Take note..

  • Seth Godin gets totally the “time” piece of the model; so read his book Permission Marketing. 
  • Gitomer and Steven Covey Jr. (the son, not that father) get the “trust” piece fairly well so have a gander at Trust by Gitomer and Speed of Trust by Covey Jr. 
  • Lastly go here  http://www.icrinc.com/web/videoportfolio.php  Scroll down to Easton Bell Sports who essentially base their sales philosophy on “creating need”.  Love it