strategy

I am Joe’s Lead

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I am Joe’s Lead

I am Joe’s Lead.

Here I  sit, in Joe’s queue.  And It’s way boring man.

All I can see sitting in this CRM is this big banner over my head that says “moc.ecrofselas”   That cursor thingy keeps swiping by me now and then,  but never quite lands on me.

It’s been 2 darn days.

Waiting.  Waiting.  Waiting.

And I am dying fast.  Way faster than anyone realizes, particularly, Joe.   He doesn’t get it.  I’m a Small Business Lead you see.  We don’t wait for anyone.  We are crazy busy.  If we ain’t moving – we’re dying.

I raised my my hand two whole days ago!  But I am dying so fast I am starting to lose my memory as to why I am here.  When Joe finally clicks on me and calls my business owner he’ll  probably flat out forget why the heck he made me.  He might even deny I exist at all because frankly  he can’t remember why he filled out the form, and dammit, he’s busy.

Joe has a bigger problem about me, Lead.  He doesn’t get me at all.   I’m not “his lead” or his “commission ammunition” or his  “meal ticket”.   That just ticks me off.  I am not something to burn thru, beg for, to be traded around or worse – to be ignored.  And don’t think I don’t hear Joe dissin’ me and my peeps when he occasionally says we are “weak” or a “joke” or “trash from corporate”.      If I could ( stupid glass!), I’d  reach out and slap Joe’s scowl and headset clear off his face when I hear that.

Nope, Joe doesn’t get me.  I raised my hand somehow, some way 2 days ago.   It doesn’t matter how high I raised it – I raised it!  And I am not a Lead, I am a Need of my business owner!  I’m a gap, an idea, a dream, a pain that won’t go away, a prayer to save a business, a chance to go big, a plea for some education because I just don’t understand, a fear of my competition, a hope for a few more sales per month or a chance to put a stop to all these customers leaving us.

I am all of those things and more.  I am a Need, not a Lead.

Hope this clears things up a bit.

So Joe do me a favor will ya? Click on me man.  Do it fast before I forget how you could help me.  God knows I needed something.

Till next time,

Grow The Business.

Mark

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Surprisingly Attractive

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Suprisingly Attractive

It’s why we like to fish.  It’s why we like Bingo and love gambling.  It’s why some of us even like checking the mail ( any kind of mail I suppose).  It’s why we like looking for seashells or walking thru old cemeteries or even trolling for old friends on Facebook.

We like surprises.  We are wired that way.   There is a thrill and pleasure of seeking – yet not really knowing what you are going to get or find.   There is a ingrained yearning, a waiting and a hoping for good, interesting or just plain “cool” stuff to surprisingly appear.

I know people like that.  People on the “cool” end of things.  People like Mike who whenever you see him, you know he’s got something exciting to tell you, to teach you – heck – even his emails you don’t open right away cuz’ you have to be ready to take it all in. 

People like Mary, David and Walter who when you are talking with them face to face or on the phone,  are constantly surprising you with stuff or ideas to the point you walk away and write it down, google it or better – act upon it.

There are a handful of colleagues I roll the dice with often and on some days I land the  800 lb. Wicked Tuna of surprises talking with these folks.  Brilliant stuff that makes you want to cash in and celebrate on the spot.

Surprise attracts;  good surprises especially.   All of the people above are successful, are always surprising and have huge fan clubs or client lists  and are on the speed dial for more than a village of folks. 

Are you a constant pleasant surprise to your customers? To your employer? To your family?  Shouldn’t you be?

Are you offering valuable ideas, insight or selfless help to the point you attract people, prospects or those in need to you?  Shouldn’t you?

If not you, is your company, your division or your team constantly surprising in a good way?

Good Surprise is great.   We like it.  We yearn for it.  We manufacture entire industries around searching for it.  And those individuals who do surprise well, tend to be the accomplished  types who are magnets to those around them.

Surprise is, when you think about it, surprisingly attractive. 

Go do that.

 

Till next time,

Grow The Business.

Mark

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The Laminator

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The Laminator

This is the actual machine pictured in Kansas City.   

It has its own cubicle The Laminator does, right outside the Site Leader Dale’s office.    Really it does.  It is the only thing on this desk right near the front door.    And it deservedly has this space all to itself because of all the good work it does.   

The Laminator’s work was plastered everywhere in the KC facility I visited.  Laminated Certificates were hanging from the shelves, the monitors and the walls.  For some folks, they even hung from the ceiling. 

I sat with some employees for a bit that day.   A few had evidently received many certificates from The Laminator and I was kind of surprised by the care in which these were displayed and hung in their cubicle spaces.

I commented to one person I was talking with who had a dozen or so in his cube and said “Wow look at all of those…” and with what I admit was more pride than I expected,  he grinned and said “ Yeah, pretty cool eh?”

The other folks I sat with seemed similarly proud of them.   Dale’s center had a pretty good vibe and I couldn’t help but think this emphasis on recognition had something to do with it.

Flying back home that night it got me thinking about that darn laminator and how we need more of those around these parts.  But of course what I really walked away with is how important it is to recognize and be recognized. 

Sure some of us,  we tend brush the need off with comments mostly to ourselves like “Who cares” or “It’s no big deal” or “People know they are valuable”   but if we are honest – recognition is a big deal.     If we are honest, we do look twice at that email from the boss that says “good job” or “great point”.  If we are honest, we do look at the comment from the blog reader or the person that liked your status update.  If we are honest, we do smile a little inside when we get a little public recognition be it your name called out in a meeting or yes, on a certificate for all to see. 

The Laminator knows this.  The Laminator is as honest as they come.  A little heat, a little plastic and Voila! – it’s a shot in the arm for someone.   There are dozens of other ways to recognize people and I’m sure Dale and his team is using more than just The Laminator. 

But here’s a thought – if you have an empty desk and a need for a bit more acknowledgement of good people and good work, fill that space with a laminator.  It does a darn good job. 

Till next time,

Grow The Business.

Mark

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I Hate You Ann Peterson

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I Hate You Ann Peterson

I don’t really.   Just in a few trying moments now and then.  

Anyway I wonder if what she said works elsewhere in life or at work.

Ann said something 5 minutes into our first running session that really hit me. 

“It’s not how far you run, its how much time you run”.  

Really?  Since when?  It’s all about distance when I was running back in the day (way way back in the day).  It was all about running 1 or 2 or 3 miles every time and if time got involved it was “can I run those 2 miles faster?”

But I did what we as a big group of us were told.  We had all joined the “Couch to 5K” running club a couple of weeks back.  Ann is the leader, the one with the whistle and the stopwatch.   And in that first session we ran for a few minutes each time, walked for 3 minutes, ran for 3 minutes.  Rinse and repeat.  Increase the time running each week she said.  Hard.  Brutal.  But I like it the concept.  Makes sense.   

Let the time you run each week grow, not necessarily caring about the overall distance.

While I can’t say I’ve enjoyed the running these last 2 weeks (I still cursed Ann out last night in fact while running in Stoll Park a thousand miles away on business here in KC)  The stopwatch can’t be right—these time intervals are the longest ever!  But I really like the premise of focusing on time. 

  • Maybe I don’t need to get through my whole to-do list today but rather spend one hour solely focused on that to-do list every day.
  • Maybe I don’t need to read those two books by next Friday, but rather focus an hour a day every day on just reading.  Period.
  • Maybe if I am a sales rep, I don’t have to focus on making 45 calls out before lunch today but rather focus on 3 hours of just making calls as quickly and wonderfully as I can.
  • Maybe it doesn’t matter what I do with the kids on Saturday but how long we just “do” something that matters.
  • Maybe if I quit counting stuff (am I the only one who does that?) and focus on counting the time I spend doing stuff I should, maybe the results would better.

Let’s hope I’m right ( and I think I am)  – I don’t need any more reasons to be taking it out on Ann.

Till next time,

Grow The Business.

Mark

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I Killed You

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I Killed You

I was not a big fan of you. 

In fact,  You is a killer.  So strike first and kill that darn you before you kills you.  

“You” of course here is the 3 letter word. 

When I was selling by knocking on doors and making phone calls back in the day, I just plain killed you every chance I could get.  I killed the word “you” in closing sales, objection handling and anywhere else I could.

Helped me sell more.   

Let’s take a closer look at killing “You” in the closing of sales.

Use “Let’s” vs. “You”.   Here’s what I mean.   Psychologically from the beginning of time, things are just easier when we do things together.   These things range from hunting down the Wooly Mammoth 50,000 years ago with your buddies, to going in with another couple on the $$ needed for the vacation rental this July.  There is “safety” in numbers and if it’s just you things can be tougher.

So though it may seem unbelievable, the influence of this “togetherness” can help close sales.

Instead of saying things like “Would you like to go ahead and get started today?” try “Let’s go ahead and get started today, OK?”    Before you guffaw and stop reading, know that there are actually three psychological advantages here with this subtle turn of phrase. 

  • Removing the word the word “you” avoids shining that heightened spotlight (even for that nanosecond) on the prospect forcing them to overtly decide “yes” or “no”.   Few like a spotlight and we all are fairly conditioned to say “no”.   
  • Using the word “Let’s” though you are not literally investing with the prospect in the true sense of the word, you are in an instant, suggesting that you are “in this with them” and if you’ve sold well thus far – and you are already a guide and leading this client – why not guide right thru the close? 
  • This approach avoids the “yes” or “no” intersection and instead asserts the question “do you agree with me?”; Agreement with another is often a safer feeling path for a prospect.

There are no tricks or manipulation here.  You aren’t going to trick someone into buying something they do not want by changing the way you might close.  What you are doing though by avoiding that word “you” is avoiding throwing up language that raises tension, forces spotlight decisions and hampers partnering and collaboration.

Do this and you have just improved your chances of closing sales.  Really you have. 

 

Till next time,

Grow The Business.

Mark

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Mark’s Blog

Sudden Death

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Sudden Death

I don’t like going to the Doctor much but he’s a smart and funny guy, so it’s kind of bearable. 

Bantering with him last week (cuz’ the longer I can keep him talking, the less prodding he ends up doing – which is fine with me),  I joked about how I read that recent studies suggested a daily aspirin regimen could cause some nasty side effects like stomach issues.  (I don’t have a problem with the daily aspirin he recommended but like I said, the more I keep him talking….. )

Anyway, being funny but mostly smart,  he said, “Well then don’t take the aspirin Einstein, it’s no big deal to me. The side effect though could be Sudden Death for you – so have fun with that.” 

Hilarious.

But it hit me as a bit more poignant as I walked out of his office thinking about how we do some horn blowing at work about the perceived awful side effects of doing this or that, but sometimes we forget the side effects of making a change to something we know works could be a lot worse.   

You can give up walking over to talk to someone or using the phone:  Heck, a stroll down the hall wastes time because you don’t know if someone is there.  A phone call or Skype doesn’t get recorded so you don’t have a record of what you talked about like email does.  But truth is, face to face and/or voice to voice carries a gazillion other intangibles that are still valuable.  And the “Sudden Death” impact of giving that up?  Sudden Forgetfulness of YOU.   Do people only know you by your emails?  If so, you matter little to them no matter how many you write.   

You can give up making quality cold calls:  Cold Calling has awful side effects at times that can be painful, depressing and darn near ruin your day or week.  So you can hire someone else to do it for you or fire off a gazillion emails and skip it altogether, hoping the darn phone rings.  Or you can suffer the Sudden Death side effects of not cold calling and not make any sales at all.  Good luck feeding the kids with that.
You can give up saying fervently “Thank you” or “I’m sorry” or “I appreciate you” or “Mr.”  or “Ms.” to customers:    After all, everyone has no time, everyone is busy and heck, there are a lot more important things I should be saying to customers.  But no, your getting in the words “today’s special promotion is…” or the “the confirmation number is…” or the “best number to reach you if we get disconnected is…” doesn’t trump the power of the smaller phrases or titles.   The Sudden Death impact of losing those little ones is the erasing the difference between you and someone that can be replaced by a computer.

Till next time,

Grow The Business.

Mark

On Dislodging

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On Dislodging

You best be getting better at dislodging the competition.  It’s going to get harder out there.

Oh sure it’s fun to sell products/services to small businesses who have never had a website, or any online meeting software, or water/ coffee services, or insurance, or you fill in the blank.

And it’s not just fun, it is darn easier too.  Everyone knows that.

Every salesperson ormarketer knows it is a heck of a lot easier to get that small business into some product or service they never had before than to dislodge the competitor and stealmarket share. 

I remember us sales people back in the day ( I was one of them),  nearly careening into each other as we screeched out of the parking lot upon hearing a new construction site was opening up.  Oh to be the first one there to sell the contractors on stuff!  So much easier than kicking out the competition.

But you can’t bank on being first anymore – it’s just harder.  More competition from not just your local region but from around the world.  More competition because that small business prospect is not waiting for your knock or your call but is on the web looking at you and your competition making decisions and placing orders while you are snuggled in your bed unawares.

And soon,  very soon – every small business new or old,  is going to have things like a website package, online meeting services,POSsoftware, promotional products, outsourced legal support,  business cards and more often right at the time of their business launch and just as likely right at the time you decide to give them a ring or a knock on their door.     Now you may be lucky and all that business belongs to you, but I’m guessing you’ve got a bigger quota to hit than relying on that pipe dream.

All is not lost – Here are 5 Keys to Dislodging:

  • Find The Trigger:  When you need to dislodge a competitor or another means in which the client is getting something done, search for that opening -be it a new sales leader or business partner that moves in, a new location that opens up or they just started putting a Twitter logo on their materials.  Whatever that trigger is – there is a chance that new blood, new ideas or new budget is involved and your chances of dislodging have just gotten better.
  • Make is Easy & Fast & Painless to Come to You.   Get it all done inside 24 hours; be it the product, the demo or the proof that gets in the clients hands.    If you can, offer to cancel the competitor service for the client (like Geico does).  Pain to change and pain to switch is as big an enemy of dislodging as anything else.  
  • Remove The Risk;  If there is no pain to “try you out” or “run side by side” or “guarantee you will be more satisfied”  then you have great shot.  Gutsy stuff for sure but what you do with that shot is what really matters.  And do the math, compare this CTA ( Cost to Acquire) versus CTA for new business and you’re often surprised it’s cheaper. 
  • Say it/ Script it:  “I want you to come to us”, or “We can do better than what you are doing today” are great phrases.   I know one group of sales people today who are having success dislodging by saying right up front to customers –  ” This year we are committed to an aggressive approach towards competitive packages based on an annual volume.”  
  • Be Incomparable or Comparable ( not anywhere in between) :  Sometimes the worst thing you can be is “kind of like the other guy “.  Nothing bores like a perceived commodity.   Be, and accentuate the difference(s) hard or go straight up head to head ( like Flo’s Progressive insurance company ads do.)  If you are decidedly different in one area – that is your lead story.  If you are similar across the board to the competition; share that, be an advocate for getting the right solution for the client and beat the competition more often than not on price,  service or quality.

Till next time,

Grow The Business.

Mark

Show Rooming Is Our Fault

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Show Rooming Is Our Fault

Target got all a tither last week firing off letters to their suppliers demanding they either reduce their costs or focus on giving Target more unique and exclusive products to sell in their stores.

Problem is that folks go to Target, look at a product, touch it, hold it, feel it, ask questions about it and then turn around and go online and buy the same thing cheaper from some online company that doesn’t have the costs to bear for the brick and mortar, the labor and all the rest.

They call it Show Rooming and brick and mortar retailers like Target are getting sick of it. 

But Target is mad at the wrong people.  It’s not the supplier that’s the problem – it’s us. 

Maybe it was the way I was brought up or where I’ve worked but there’s something wrong about using one company to learn and see everything about a product and then going out and buying it online ( or anywhere else for that matter.)   And it happens a lot.

There’s something wrong with walking into the local hardware store, getting that advice on which paint to use to cover paneling, spending some time at the color wheel and then saying “Thanks man!” while jumping in the car to speed off to the superstore to get the exact same paint a little cheaper.

There’s something wrong when the Veterinarian examines your dog, hands you the product she needs to stay healthy and you put it down sheepishly saying “gee I can’t get that right now” only to go on line, look for the same product and order it there for 3 bucks cheaper.

There’s something wrong with going to a car dealer, working the sales rep for 2 days, getting all the answers, taking that test drive and getting all of it down on paper  to then neatly fold it, slip it into your back pocket and then shopping around with all this new knowledge to get better price from some other dealer who sells the same model car.

And it happens to you too.

It’s not real different in sales either when you spend 3 weeks educating a prospect about a solution, prepare a proposal and that prospect takes your proposal and their new education, then turns it over to a competitor and says “Beat that”.  That happens, that’s life but that’s Show Rooming a Sales Rep and that ain’t right.

It’s a lot like stealing I think.  For too many people it’s not a problem to take insight, or time, or commitment, or ideas only to use them against the very people and places that were so skilled or gracious in giving them to you in the first place by going somewhere else to buy.

That’s called Show Rooming and nope, even though its rampant and even a source of pride for some, I don’t like it one bit. 

Till next time,

Grow The Business.

Mark

The DIFM Kid

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The DIFM Kid

I gave up.   January 1st was the day that I was done.

I gotta just focus on what I do well and maybe do that better.

Now I pay a 14 year old whiz kid (a friend of my son),  to just do technology stuff for me now.  “The DIFM Kid” (Do It For Me) is what I call him. (He is pictured here as rendered by my wife)  I don’t pay him a lot.  But the ROI is unbelievable.

Let him set up the Netflix on the Wii, let him set up my wife’s new Facebook Business Page, let him figure out how to connect the piano keyboard to the PC so we can record some of my son’s music.  Let him figure out why the wifi sync doesn’t work or why we need two Routers now because of all the stuff using whatever it is they use.

I’m not stupid.  Some people (and this is hilarious) think I might be a little on the  “techie” side of the ledger.   ( LOL- that’s called Acting man) but it is getting harder out there.  I don’t have the time,  but I have the need.

I just realized no matter how many manuals and instructions I read, or how many tutorials or videos I watch, I’m not going to get it.  Or I am not going to get it done fast enough.   Or sometimes I am going to make it even worse.   And maybe I need to focus on what I do well already and quit wasting time on stuff I don’t.

And now word has spread about “The DIFM Kid” and me using him.  Now everybody in the extended family is asking for him.  He disappears on Sundays 3 towns over at brother in-law’s house to go set up a new TV or to fix a slow laptop or to connect a transmitter to an outside thermometer.    There’s a darn waiting list for him and texts asking “When is “The DIFM Kid” gonna be around? ”  Things are looking great for him.

There are a lot of us out there feeling that way, consumers and small businesses alike.

You don’t have to look that far to see that Do It For Me services are going to explode not just in my family but in the marketplace too.  I see them every day grow stronger and stronger where I work.    They’ve been around forever,  but now the speed in which new becomes old, or good becomes just OK or keeping up becomes “What the hell just happened?”  is accelerating at a pace where DIY ( Do It Yourself) might soon feel so yesterday. 

That smacks of opportunity.  Be ready- The next DIFM Kid could ( or maybe should) be you. 

Till next time,

Grow The Business.

Mark

What I Learned Acting In Star Trek

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from wikipedia.org

What I Learned Acting In Star Trek

This last weekend we again watched the recent J.J. Abrams Star Trek film from a couple years back.   Awesome movie.

I thought back to when I was an actor in Star Trek from the original series.   Working with the other actors on set was life changing for me.

But let’s talk about this latest movie version of the series for a minute.  It is a look back to the beginning of Star Trek – a “prequel” view at how the original characters, (i.e. the likes of Shatner, Nimoy and Deforest Kelly) all started out; how they formed their relationships and beliefs.  About why and how they go about “boldly going” so to speak. 

It made me think about my original days involved in Star Trek and what influence it had and has on my life today.  My experience acting in Star Trek was huge.  Those days on the “Trek” set shaped some very important things about me and how I act today. 

Maybe you could learn from it too.

Star Trek wasn’t much of a hit when it originally aired late in the 60’s, but in syndication all through the 1970’s, it rocked. 

I have 3 brothers and we were all growing up in the 70’s.  

William Shatner and his crew had nothing on us; truth was, we were Star Trek.

I was Capt James T. Kirk.  My first officer Spock (played by my older, sci-fi book loving, overtly logical brother Kevin), was incessantly harangued by Dr. “Bones” McCoy played by Brother Paul.   Paul and Kevin kind of had that relationship off set at times, so it was a good fit.  My littlest brother James played the role that offers the focal lesson for today.

James always played (he had no choice) …… “The Guard ….Who Went Bad”

You gotta have a bad guy sometimes.  It makes it more fun.   It gives you a purpose.  It gives you a “mission”; a mission to succeed, to win and sometimes, to save the world.

Baby brother James had a rough time of it when you think about it.  He always started out as part of the “crew” (which he liked) but only for a while (which he didn’t).   His role, being about 7 years old, was always to guard the ship and crew as he slowly moved from room to room.   (One bedroom was the “Bridge”, the other was “SickBay” and the rest of the little house was whatever dangerous planet we beamed down to).  

Suddenly James (aka “The Guard…Who Went Bad”) was forced to “snap” and turn on the crew, putting our mission at risk.  Racing through the house we would chase James, tackle him,  and even though we had only set our phasers to “stun”,  we somehow always killed him – his body blown to bits all over the living room ( somehow that was better than the “disappearing thing” that happened with the phasers on TV.)   Good Times.

Gotta have a bad guy sometimes.   That sticks with me.   I have to have a purpose occasionally, to defeat something.   My guess is you might too.

Maybe you work hard everyday to beat down this Guard Gone Bad sketchy economy thing.   Maybe you strategize, work weekends and nights to knock this thing out and grow the business despite what seems like an incredibly hard mission.

Maybe you work up a sweat by3 o’clock pounding out calls and working hard to have conversations with your customers  because you are fighting this Guard Gone Bad enemy that is someone’s false perception that you “can’t” do something.  Take that Guard Gone Bad; don’t tell me I can’t do something. 

Maybe the Guard Gone Bad for you is the competition.  You won’t let “these other guys” take your market share, take your sales or take your future away from you.  Nope; skip the phaser, give me the photon torpedo.

Maybe the Guard Gone Bad for you is a demon you are battling inside yourself.  And it would be so easy to give up and check into Sick Bay but ain’t no way that is going to happen.  

So maybe ( no assuredly),   there is something good to be said about finding a foil, about finding that enemy to defeat and about creating and/or finding that Guard Gone Bad.  

Thanks to my cast mates in the original series produced in Norwood, MA in late 70’s and especially to James.  Sorry you got killed so many times bro, but at least it wasn’t in vain. 

 

Till next time,

Grow The Business.

Mark