When we speak of mass marketing, advisors often turn up their noses. “We don’t use telemarketing or direct mail,” they say. Mass Marketing is defined as, “Broad-brush, unfocused attempt to appeal to an entire market with one basic marketing strategy utilizing mass distribution and mass media. Also called undifferentiated marketing.” (www.businessdictionary.com)

The problem with mass marketing is the lack of focus. However, speaking and seminars provide a great way to mass market in a focused manner.  There are a wide variety of civic organizations, retired employee organizations, and others that would love to have you present a program that tells ablout you and your services. Also consider networking organizations as a way to mass market in a more focused manner.

I practice what I preach. On September 9 I will be speaking at the Midwest Speakers Bureau’s Got Talent Speaker Showcase. Meeting planners from across Iowa will have to opportunity to hear eleven quality speakers in one location.

Consider how and where you can speak in a focused manner to a target audience that wants and needs your services.

Good selling!

Often, sales technique or lack thereof is subtle. Recently I attended a business luncheon in St. Paul, Minnesota at a rather well-known restaurant. Significant business transactions are some of the main fare at this establishment, known for fine food and deal-making. While waiting for my client, a party was about to be seated, and the hostess asked one of the ladies in the party if a certain table would be acceptable. Then another lady in the party – the salesperson – said to to her guests – and the hostess – that “I have several documents that I want to show you, and I want to be able to spread them out.” As a result, another table was selected for seating the party.

You may ask what is wrong with this scenario. Aren’t you supposed to control the selling environment? What was said that was so wrong?

The most dangerous word in selling is also the shortest – the word “I” kills more sales than any single word or phrase. Closing rates plummet when the most frequently used word in a conversation or presentation is “I”. Simply change the focus to the prospect by changing your words. In a famous 30-year study, Yale University determined “You” is one of the 12 most persuasive words in the English Language. Our focus should be on our clients first, and our words support us – or sometimes they betray us.

So how could this lady have better controlled her selling situation? First, by telling her prospects that, “You will want to be able to see some documents I have prepared for you, so why don’t we get a table when you can spread them out?” Second, by getting to the hostess early, she could have expressed her need for a larger table in a more private area.

Placing the emphasis on the client and their needs instead of yourself and your needs always helps position you as a client-focused advisor.

This Memorial Day weekend, I hope you enjoy the time off, and relax with family & friends. But please remember those who served and made this holiday weekend possible for all of us. The following poem, written after WWI by a field doctor, tells of the cost and the reverence that should be accorded the memories of those young men and woman who have served this country. Remember also the fathers and mothers, brothers and sisters, and all those who have lost one of their own. It should be noted that some people and nations want to destroy our nation. Take a moment to read this poem, reflect, and give thanks.

In Flanders Fields

By: John McCrae, MD (1872-1918)

In Flanders Fields the poppies blow

Between the crosses row on row,

That mark our place; and in the sky

The larks, still bravely singing, fly

Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead.

Short days ago

We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,

Loved and were loved, and now we lie

In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:

To you from failing hands we throw

The torch; be yours to hold it high.

If ye break faith with us who die

We shall not sleep, though poppies grow

In Flanders fields.

—————-
“McCrae’s “In Flanders Fields” remains to this day one of the most memorable war poems ever written. It is a lasting legacy of the terrible battle in the Ypres salient in the spring of 1915. Here is the story of the making of that poem:

Although he had been a doctor for years and had served in the South African War, it was impossible to get used to the suffering, the screams, and the blood here, and Major John McCrae had seen and heard enough in his dressing station to last him a lifetime.

As a surgeon attached to the 1st Field Artillery Brigade, Major McCrae, who had joined the McGill faculty in 1900 after graduating from the University of Toronto, had spent seventeen days treating injured men — Canadians, British, Indians, French, and Germans — in the Ypres salient.
It had been an ordeal that he had hardly thought possible. McCrae later wrote of it:

“I wish I could embody on paper some of the varied sensations of that seventeen days… Seventeen days of Hades! At the end of the first day if anyone had told us we had to spend seventeen days there, we would have folded our hands and said it could not have been done.”

One death particularly affected McCrae. A young friend and former student, Lieut. Alexis Helmer of Ottawa, had been killed by a shell burst on 2 May 1915. Lieutenant Helmer was buried later that day in the little cemetery outside McCrae’s dressing station, and McCrae had performed the funeral ceremony in the absence of the chaplain.

The next day, sitting on the back of an ambulance parked near the dressing station beside the Canal de l’Yser, just a few hundred yards north of Ypres, McCrae vented his anguish by composing a poem. The major was no stranger to writing, having authored several medical texts besides dabbling in poetry.

In the nearby cemetery, McCrae could see the wild poppies that sprang up in the ditches in that part of Europe, and he spent twenty minutes of precious rest time scribbling fifteen lines of verse in a notebook.

A young soldier watched him write it. Cyril Allinson, a twenty-two year old sergeant-major, was delivering mail that day when he spotted McCrae. The major looked up as Allinson approached, then went on writing while the sergeant-major stood there quietly. “His face was very tired but calm as we wrote,” Allinson recalled. “He looked around from time to time, his eyes straying to Helmer’s grave.”

When McCrae finished five minutes later, he took his mail from Allinson and, without saying a word, handed his pad to the young NCO. Allinson was moved by what he read:

“The poem was exactly an exact description of the scene in front of us both. He used the word blow in that line because the poppies actually were being blown that morning by a gentle east wind. It never occurred to me at that time that it would ever be published. It seemed to me just an exact description of the scene.”
In fact, it was very nearly not published. Dissatisfied with it, McCrae tossed the poem away, but a fellow officer retrieved it and sent it to newspapers in England. The Spectator, in London, rejected it, but Punch published it on 8 December 1915.

- From ArlingtonCemetary.net

Traditional client appreciation events often are inexpensive banquets at best and poorly masqueraded sales seminars at worst. Either one can serve a useful business purpose, but consider hosting a slightly different client event – a event based upon “purpose.”

Recently I visited with a financial advisor in the mid-south who takes a novel approach to client events. This advisor sponsored a golf tournament; nothing unique about that. What made it unique was it was a charity event tied to a major national charity – The V Foundation. From the Foundation website: “It has been just 17 years since The V Foundation for Cancer Research was founded by ESPN and Jim Valvano. And what significant work has been accomplished during that time! Since 1993, The V Foundation has raised more than $90 million and awarded cancer research grants in 38 states and the District of Columbia. Researchers have developed their laboratories and taken their science from the labs to the clinics with the help of funds raised by The V Foundation.”

The event was replete with unique gifts from national sports celebrities, creative hole sponsorships, and appearances by regional sport icons. Clients loved it, and the event drew a huge number of affluent prospects. In addition, considerable publicity mentioning the advisor’s name offered significant favorable exposure.

This advisor used this event for a good purpose. A wonderful charity received tens of thousands of dollars, and the advisor is viewed as someone who puts something back into his community and society. Consider this type of client event next time you decide to host another boring chicken dinner.

What does it take to be successful in sales?

Some say the most important thing is Enthusiasm.

en·thu·si·asm n.

1. Great excitement for or interest in a subject or cause.
2. A source or cause of great excitement or interest.
3. Archaic

• Ecstasy arising from supposed possession by a god.
• Religious fanaticism.

While you need to have a passion for what you do and what you sell, it takes more than enthusiasm to be successful.

Selling is not just “telling.” Successful selling takes more than just spewing facts about products and services. It is relationship development, prospecting, making the approach, interviewing, presenting, answering objections, asking for the order, and keeping promises. Selling requires enthusiasm, product knowledge (yours and your competitors), and confidence.

con·fi·dence n.

1. Trust or faith in a person or thing.
2. A feeling of assurance, especially of self-assurance.
3. A trusting relationship: I took them into my confidence.
4. The state or quality of being certain: I have every confidence in your ability to succeed.

Expertise breeds confidence. Confidence results from knowing you are prepared, and that you can deliver and keep promises. Confidence forms the basis for enthusiasm. Enthusiasm is a choice. But still you don’t want to run around screaming about your product. Unbridled enthusiasm results in a lack of focus. It takes more to truly succeed in sales.

pro·fes·sion·al·ism n.

1. Professional status, methods, character, or standards.
2. The use of professional performers, as in athletics or in the arts.

Professionalism takes all of the factors listed above to a higher level. It helps you form a cogent story, run your business like a business, build and work a plan in an organized, focused manner.

So what is the most important factor?

There is no one most important key to success in sales; they are all important! Your success is a product of how well you execute on the activities and behaviors listed above, and the attitude that you bring to these tasks.  Successful salespeople are confident in their abilities, enthusiastic about their solutions, and professional in their execution.

Good selling!

LinkedIn® provides professional services marketing and sales people with a wonderful tool for building and expanding relationships and growing business. Consider the following tips for maximizing the use – and profitability – of one the top business building tools on the Internet.

This daily game plan has 8 steps and takes 15 – 20 minutes.

1. Comment on Comments – Show your connections you are paying attention.
2. Make recommendations – If you have not made a recommendation for a connection, DO SO if at all possible. Please make sincere recommendations; remember, your name is on the line. If you cannot recommend someone in good faith, don’t do it.
3. Make your profile publicly available – While you can set the information which is publicly available to non-members/contacts, be careful with blocking too much information as this will also be unavailable to the search engines. As a minimum, consider providing enough information for the search engines to index your profile and cache the external links you have listed! In terms of optimizing your profile, the main goals are normally to rank for your own name, company name and possibly industry keywords related to this.
4. Comment on Profile Updates – Congratulate others on promotions and awards, inquire about other changes, and always offer assistance.
5. Check your Inbox – Respond to requests and messages in a timely manner.
6. Look in the “People You May Know Section” – Find new connections and leads.
7. Check Your Groups – Look for new discussions, answer questions, and look for other items of interest. Ask questions to gather information and open new relationships.
8. Use LinkedIn® Answers – This can help to build up your reputation within a field. For SEO it also builds the number of internal links pointing to your profile from within LinkedIn, therefore helping to strengthen your profile in the search engines!

A word of warning: LinkedIn® is a tool, not a religion. Relationships are still made person-to-person, not digitally. You can receive an introduction or introduce yourself on the web, but true relationship building comes from personal interaction. LinkedIn® and other social media sites help maintain and grow relationships. In a busy world, that is truly priceless!

Marketing is serious business, and you should always be serious about serious business. Yeah, right…

Logan Crawford portrays a comical news anchor in a series of TV commercials for AT&T’s the Backflip, from Motorola. Crawford is seen “reporting the news that’s important to you…” with impeccable sources such as Facebook and Twitter. The key feature of the Motorola Backflip is advertised as “Facebook, Twitter, text and more, streaming on a single screen.”

The commercial spoofs the common absurdity of social media posts with lines like, “This just in via text message and wall post: “The search is on for cute boots.” Another line reads, “This just in on Twitter and Facebook: A local bachelor has just enrolled in Karate.”

Here’s the paradox; so many social media posts are trivial dribble – and AT&T is using that fact to SELL. We buy from companies that get us to laugh at ourselves. The question is simple; do you take yourself a little too seriously in your marketing and sales presentations. The work of an advisor is serious business, but too often advisors treat every recommendation as if they are a doctor telling a patient they have terminal cancer. As a professional it is perfectly acceptable lighten up, use a little humor, and let your clients see you are real, even when you are making important recommendations. Don’t try to be a comedian, just relax and be yourself.

Good selling!

CLICK HERE TO SEE THE AT&T COMMERCIAL

One of the factors that differentiate things that we succeed at, and things that we fail at, is focus. In the workplace, if you manage or even work with others, you know how critical an ability it is for a team to focus.
Focus is critical for client meetings as well. Ever come out of a client meeting and say, I forgot to…!” Consider using a Client Meeting Agenda. Nothing formal is required, but a little additional planning prior to your meeting makes certain you don’t forget anything. Take a look at the following question headings and items that you might include on such an agenda:

• Items to cover today
• Areas of Need
• Additional Products/Services To Recommend
• Introductions Requested
• To-Do Items As A Result Of This Meeting

Using a short form – even if you write in the details – makes certain nothing is left to chance and nothing is forgotten.

Good selling!

Last evening I had the privilege and pleasure to be in the audience for the National Speakers Association – Minnesota Chapter meeting. Professional speaker Phillip Van Hooser, CSP, CPAE spoke on building a business and serving clients. He spoke from the heart, and has demonstrated every single principle contained in his presentation.

Phillip Van Hooser, CSP, CPAE

Phil spoke of his basic philosophies that guide his life and his business. He discussed career evolution, re-thinking, re-positioning, and re-tooling a business. And in spite of the fact that he is President of the National Speakers Association, he stated unequivocally, “I am not a speaker; speaking is what I do.” Phillip Van Hooser stands upon faith and family as the bedrock for his business and his life.

I cannot fathom hearing a message more relevant and effective than what I heard last night. Any business or organization will do well to hire Phillip if they want to transform the way they lead their employees and serve their customers. Check out Phil at www.vanhooser.com.

Well done, my friend. You are my hero.

Many firms have a “packaged” proposal system. While proposals are all over the map in terms of structure, most contain huge amounts of information, with numerous charts and graphs, volumes of copy, and endless disclosures. Whether you present financial plans or individual product presentations, proposals generally contain enough information for a doctoral dissertation. It’s all about disclosure and dictated by the compliance department.

Some clients want the bottom line. Other clients look for detail. And after all, isn’t the presentation about the client? How do you build a presentation and presentation strategy that always provides you with the tools you need to deliver whatever information your client needs to make an intelligent buying decision?

Consider making a summary of recommendations for your presentations. Take the detailed analysis and spreadsheets, and put them in an appendix.

If your client channels Jack Webb and wants the facts – just the facts, or if the client is an actuary with graduate degrees in statistical analysis and engineering, you will be prepared to provide the information needed to fulfill your obligations to communicate in a manner best suited to your client and provide appropriate and complete information. Provide the summary, and give the clients as much detail as they need. Your closing ratio will go up because you are adapting your communication techniques to your clients needs.

Good selling!