strategy

Why I love Dancing With The Stars

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I don’t dance.

Well, I do but it’s frightening.   Think Kevin James dancing in Hitch and that’s me.

I don’t watch dancing and I certainly don’t watch a TV show about dancing with celebrities.  

Three weeks ago my wife and daughter forced me to watch at least the start of this Dancing With The Stars show.  Glumly I sat ( though not that glumly holding an ice cold beer in one hand and a spatula in the other as I had every intention of making a break for the grill as soon as we hit first commercial), and I watched.

I watched it again last night.  There is something about the show that moves me (thankfully not literally) aside from the competition.  Some things I think can make a difference that if like me, they move you too.

It’s uncomfortable.  Stars in their field (like sports or acting) are doing something perhaps against every fiber of their body and mind.  I get that some celebs are addicted to the celebrity or the money but honestly, there are more than a few where it is very clear that the person is both highly comfortable with themselves and yet remarkably self deprecating.  I know people just like that at work and in my life.  They are the best leaders and the best friends.

There’s a mentor.   I want one.  I want a dance pro partner who takes me under her wing and says “This is crazy but you are going to do it anyway”.  I want to stretch and do uncomfortable things, really uncomfortable things and would love that kind of guidance and support and direction from a mentor.    It’s powerful.  Maybe I need to go find one and beg him or her to consider helping me in a space I long to be but seemingly do not fit.  Or maybe, I need to be available as a mentor for someone else who is looking for that unbelievable stretch.

That expertise blows my mind.  The dance professionals – they are athletes at the highest level.  Yet unlike most athletes, they also choreograph the plays.    How many superstar athletes have that vision, that artistic vision, to tell a story on so many levels?  They must interpret the dance, the era, the story, the emotion and oh yeah actually dance it themselves.  That depth of skill is bit unfathomable to me.  See, Create, Direct and Do.  To See, Create, Direct and Do exceeding well yourself is incredible.    Many of us play, gravitate or just settle at doing one of those four things at work.  Why not do them all?

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. 

QVZ

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I suspect some of you are like me.  

And I bet like me, you would hate it if you started seeing highway signs with just three letters – “QVZ”.

Let me explain.  

On Sunday, my wife and I decided (along with the two 13 year olds in the back seat who somehow pried the Ipods and Iphones from their cold cramped hands), to play that classic Alphabet game you play while driving.  Don’t think too deep; it’s a long ride.   But the game is Old School.  Good Times. 

20 minutes into the game, one of the recently minted teenagers, (perhaps cranky not used to keeping his head held level for any extended length of time) exclaimed “I wish there was a sign with all the hard letters!”  

Really?

What fun would that be?  Where’s the challenge in the alphabet game if the three toughest letters to find (Q, V & Z) are just given to you? What mini thrill, what little adrenaline rush would that be?  None is the answer.  And what good is that?

People like us enjoy the “thrill” of getting through that alphabet before we get to our destination or we …..LOSE.  We like to look hard, fast, wide and crazy** trying to find what we are looking for.  

People like us set little challenges, little goals, little obstacles in front of us just to see if we can get it done and….WIN. 

People like us do this at work too.   We challenge ourselves to make 30 calls before 11:30, to not leave work until those three competitor sites are reviewed, to spend 3 hours on the floor coaching cuz’ that is what we woke up with as goal for today and today only.

People like us add an initiative to our list that must be done in a week not because it’s been asked of us, but because we want to challenge ourselves in a good way. 

It’s a bit of game for us; these mini challenges.   And when we succeed it’s a rush – perhaps even addictive.   If it’s not something you’ve tried before, I encourage you to give it a whirl. 

And I promise there’ll be no highway signs with the answers to ruin it for you.

Till next time,

Grow The Business.

Mark

** Last year, with the same two kids in the car (pre- teens then at 12) we played that alphabet game.  We played to win.   We got to “Q” and found nothing (alas, no QVZ highway signs) and with just 6 miles left before home we, ( as you would expect), pulled into a handy cemetery to find our “Q”.   

 

News Flash:  – Meeting House Hill Cemetery in Dunstable, MA has apparently no Quinns, McQuaids, Quimbys or any other such souls with a darn Q in their name.  Not one.  We rolled and wound our way peering and craning to look at hundreds if not thousands of headstones and yet no Q was found. 

 

Darkness loomed, we left depressed and slowly headed towards home with irises wide straining to see anything that might have a Q.   200 yards beyond the entrance to the cemetery on the left stood an old house with a little lit sign that read “Antiques Sold Here”.  Hurrah!  We got our Q and the remaining 9 letters (V and Z were shockingly easy finds license plates that night).   Victory!  

Yo, Hero

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We watched Rocky again Saturday night.  It’s the hero formula we love. 

Someone who is down on his luck, down on his skill or down on himself who faces obstacles, has a dream and against so many odds, succeeds.  Doesn’t matter if it’s Rocky or Rudy or even the King in The King’s Speech – it’s all the same and we love it when we see it.

Try feeling it. 

There’s something out there that nobody thinks you can do, including maybe even you.  Go do it anyway. 

Till next time,

Grow The Business.

Mark

Forgetting How Wonderful

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It’s funny that we sometimes forget how wonderful the customer is.    

Well it’s not really funny.

I know we forget though because we often don’t think twice about using words and phrases like “There are calls in queue” or “How many leads did I get?” or   “How many where’s my order calls” did we get last month?”

These are our customers and prospects folks.  These are the wonderful people that help you and me feed our kids, or pay for our medicines or spring for our steak tips or allow you to even think about marrying your girlfriend this summer. 

These customers are wonderful.  You know that.  I know that.  But we forget. 

It’s not that we are short sighted, selfish or stupid. 

It’s that we get caught up in systems and keyboards and processes and meetings and incentives and what’s on the lunch menus and inexplicably forget that the customer really is wonderful.

When that phone rings, 20 people should be leaping over walls to answer it.

When that customer decides not to leave us, there should be cheers heard loud across the floor.

When that voicemail light comes on, or that mail piles up, or those calls come in fast and furious- they are customers and there should be wondrous smiles and joy all around, not sighs.

Till next time,

Grow The Business.

Mark

[100 Words or Less] Persuasion

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You’ve got a way of persuading.  What is it?

Persuasion is crucial to your success.  Can you articulate and write down that process?  Is your way the same for customers as it is with colleagues?  Is your way the same for your boss or with your family?

What pray tell, is your way? 

If you don’t know, you can’t fix it when it’s broken or when the world changes around you.  If you don’t know it, you can’t influence, lead, close or help in any consistent way.   Persuasion for the best, isn’t by feel, luck or hope.

It’s known.   

Till next time,

Grow The Business.

Mark

Mondays are busy enough.  Any Monday post is 100 words or less. 

Help for Loooonnngg Sales Cycles

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Too much information running through my brain
Too much information driving me insane
Too much information running through my brain
Too much information driving me insane

 

            – The Police “Too Much Information” (Ghosts in the Machine 1981)

The Police (Sting’s old group for you youngin’s-) had it right way back in the 80’s with this song.   Too much information is indeed a problem.

But 30 years later, insane would be better result than some of the other stuff that happens today because of information overload. 

For us business folks, the sales cycles are getting longer.  It feels like it is taking longer than ever for prospects to close or move to the next step or to just say “no” and allow us to move on.  That hurts.  That also makes us crazy. (Fortunately crazy is a tamer version of insane).

One of the biggest reason sales cycles are getting so long is that there is just so much information out there.

Today a prospect has a quadrillion options on line to learn about your industry, your company, your product or even you.  And what’s worse is that this prospect given the tough economy and the corporate trust issues, feels obligated to do that research.  He or she feels that due righteous diligence means a lot of research and study that years ago just wasn’t available. 

You do it too.  Used to be you threw the Sony Walkman on the beanbag, slipped on the Members Only jacket, jumped in the Taurus and trundled to the local department store to get a new fridge cuz’ the Kenmore up and died. 

Now you analyze product reviews, consumer reports, price shopper sites, debate whether to buy online or offline, wait for Twitter and Facebook replies from friends before you trundle anywhere and have a look.    Businesses do the same.  Your competitors are all over the world and they all have a website.  There’s a never ending supply of helpful online groups and associations to solicit feedback from.   Testimonials aren’t requested any more, they are already there and must be read through.

So much to look at.  So many options to study.

That takes time.  And that lengthens Sales Cycles.  That’s some of the pain of too much information. 

So what do you do?  Here are two strategies to help.  

Set A Table of Urgency: 

Some of the ownership of “over analysis” by clients lies with us sales and marketing folks.  Our meetings or our phone calls or our emails don’t always set the best expectations (often none at all) around time.  If they did, they might speed up the information review.

  • Set Up “Tentative” Meetings:  Trying to set up a meeting for real can be difficult when the prospect has all this information they want to review.  Set it up at least tentatively as you end the call or leave the meeting.  Use the word “tentatively” (it keeps that buyer tension low) and get it on an Outlook Calendar.   A recent study I saw said prospects are 70% more likely to keep a tentative meeting on a calendar than just an open ended invitation.

 

  • Build Checkpoints up front into the sales process. (Always position as a benefit to the prospect of course).  “At the end of this meeting you should be in a position to say you want to review more materials or not. Your time is not something I want to waste.”  Or “If you are interested in going to the next step after this meeting, the next 3 days are fully staffed for us to run numbers with your data groups”. 

 

Prescribe The Research:

 

Part of the problem with too much information is the prospect wondering where to begin to look- further stalling the sales cycle.

  • Share What To Do.   Give your prospect the competitor names, the associations to solicit feedback from and the sites where they can see objective product or company reviews.  Send them the links to the videos or the white papers and encourage them to dig in.    You’ll be surprised how this cuts the time and builds your credibility simultaneously.

 

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

Think Wider

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It’s good that some car dealerships realize that it’s not just the car that is in need of getting fixed, but the driver too.  That’s why the newer establishments that understand this have valet service drop offs, uniformed check in managers and wait rooms with Wifi and cafeterias that make a service wait almost bearable.

It’s good that some Hospitals realize it’s not just the patient that is in need of getting fixed, but the loved ones of that patient.   That’s why the ones that understand this have nurses and staff that seemingly “check in” as often about the visiting families comfort as with the patient who is ill.  They have comfortable chairs in patient rooms and yes, even offer to have food and drinks brought up for you; the healthy relative of the patient.

It’s good that we realize that it’s not just a customer’s product or delivery or bill that needs fixing, but it’s that person or business too.  That’s why those of us who understand this need no prodding or training to apologize sincerely, to work feverishly far beyond that one call or connection to rebuild the broken trust and to find ways to mitigate that customer’s loss of time, reputation or even revenue. 

It’s not good enough or actually, different enough to just fix the traditional problem be it the car, the patient or the customer’s product.   Think wider.

Till next time,

Grow The Business.

Mark