The Fishing Hole

In order to understand ‘why’ response to B2C marketing within a social media environment often fails, or returns without any fish in your net, let me start with one of my favorite definitions of what social media is:

 Social media is like 4 or 5 female friends gathered in a group, at a very large shopping mall, discussing various personal points of interest.

 Too often, marketing into a social media setting is like someone from one of the stores in that mall just walking up to that group of women and beginning to pitch their product.

 (Important side note: typically, every store in that mall would consider themselves a “friend” of each of those women, just because of their proximity/location).

 Your Tackle Box

The marketer failed to ask, and answer, the critical questions before trying to engage the group:

What can you say that…

• Won’t come across as you butting into their private conversation?
• Won’t be perceived as self-serving?
• Be of interest to them? 
• Invoke a positive perception, thought or response? and/or
• Actually makes them want to ‘do’ something that is of benefit to your company?

 Because so many B2C marketers break most if not all of those rules, their message is ignored or publicly rejected. They fail.

 Conditions

You need to come up with an answer that justifies the investment (time, personnel, $, etc.) required to effectively engage targeted individuals within that particular social media group.

 Caveat: Few marketers are able to match up what ‘can’ be done inside a social media environment (from a B2C standpoint), with a form of effectual or responsive engagement that is perceived to be a benefit to their company. Part of that problem rests with their inability to track, quantify or measure the types of engagements that ‘can’ be done, as they understand ‘measurement’.

 One of my Grandpa’s many anecdotes was: “Don’t blame the fishing pole, just because you didn’t catch any fish”. The same goes for your social media marketing campaign.

The Right Gear

The soundness of ‘what you want to get out of marketing into a social media environment’ is highly conditional on how effectively you’ve crafted the set of criteria that must be determined and answered first:

• What outcome are we looking for?
• Does this plan meet the company goal?
• Is the goal valid inside Social Media?
• Is the campaign feasible, actionable, trackable – and can it be replicated?

 So, make sure you’ve researched your favorite fishing hole, your tackle box is well stocked, the conditions are right, and you have the right gear before setting out on your next fishing excursion. Here’s to a big “catch”!

Sales guru and Wizard of Ads©, Roy H. Williams, posted in today’s MondayMorningMemo©:

People don’t really change their minds. They simply make new decisions based on new information. In the absence of new information, there will be no new decision.

Give a person the same information you’ve given them in the past and they’ll make the same decision they’ve made in the past.

Want a new decision? Provide new information.

People trust what they already know. Present your customer’s own suspicions, beliefs and prejudices as “evidence” and they’ll judge your assertions to be completely credible.

I definitely agree with his concept of ‘speaking indirectly to your customer’s hidden suspicions, beliefs and prejudices’ in order to attach a new idea/concept onto one they have bought into (or already believe).

How do I know what they already believe?

The more I know about a prospect’s current and past buying patterns, their likes and dislikes, and personal information I can glean about them, the easier it will be for me to isolate a particular belief and then attach something new I want them to receive from me. I learn these things from my research – via their web site and the top social media sites. I also have to do a methodical introductory meeting where I carefully diagnose their history, current situation and identify points of need.

I need to craft my sales presentation so that I begin with their ‘truisms’, and then attach my new idea to something where they’ve already demonstrated ascent.

What might this whole process look like?

You expect that your target decision maker most likely holds the position of Director of Purchasing at the prospective company you’re researching. Through your searches on the web, Facebook, LinkedIn and their Twitter posts you’ve discovered the prospect’s name, email address, office extension, birthday, anniversary, spouse’s name, and even to whom they report. You know they have 3 kids, coach soccer, they’re a huge Packer’s fan and just returned from a family reunion in Colorado. You also know the last 3 companies they worked for and the names of 7 executives you both know in common – 2 are current clients. Unlikely, you say? I found exactly that information on one of my target prospects just last week.

Armed with this information you easily secure an appointment and have little difficulty creating several points of trust during your investigative meeting. Your only decision now is to determine which of your prospect’s many existing belief points match most closely with your product or service. Lead with a preconceived notion/idea that they already believe to be true, tie it to your new information, and your prospect’s own subconscious will perceive it to be true.

Getting to know our client’s proclivities better will allow us to more clearly identify which of our deliverables we will want to present – and then crafting the language in our proposals so that both the established and the new ideas blend together will result in more closes.

Your sales career will follow your expectations either to ultimate success or ultimate failure. Get these 4 points right and you can expect to close 2, 3 or 4 times as many sales.

Never consider no’s as no’s – they’re simply a necessary part of your path to success

Step one, get rid of one of the most damaging misconception about closing: ‘If you get a no, you lose’.

Reality: The only time you lose is when you don’t ask. No’s are just a part of the process. We all get them. Success in sales is a series of no’s culminating in an exciting yes.

Expect going in that you’ll need to get through 7 no’s before you get a yes. Then, when you get 2 or 3 no’s you’ll realize that you’re actually that much closer to a yes.

The reality is that most sales people will take the no personally and give up. Decide right now that you will not deal with no’s on an emotional level.

Focus on the benefits your client will realize after they say yes

Instead of being anxious and worrying about the close, help your prospect focus on the benefits they’ll realize after they’re happily using your product or service.

Selling is a process of transferring your excitement as well as the advantages that come with owning your product. Your belief in how your product or service will benefit your customer will truly be infectious. Prospects will catch your enthusiasm, but they will also catch your hesitancy.

Be prepared to provide more positive responses than they have objections

Bringing a prospect to the point of saying yes requires plenty of preparation in advance. Write out every objection you can think of and come up with 3 possible convincing responses for each objection. Pick the one you feel the best about and memorize it.

This works for two reasons – the prospect will be positively impacted by your ability to respond positively to their concerns. Second, you’ll go into the presentation with more confidence and enthusiasm that the client will be able to feel.

Focus on beginnings, not endings

Closing is only a first step not a final step in the sales process. You will reduce your anxiety about closing by realizing that the second, third and fourth orders are much more important than the first sale. Visualize a long term, mutually profitable business relationship.

The close is just the beginning of that relationship so use closes that emphasize the client’s future with you. Let them know up front that you look forward to providing them with the best products and service for years to come.

One last tip – never use gimmicks, tricks or half-truths to close a sale. Even if you can get the contract signed, you’ll soon be dealing with buyer’s remorse and you’ll ruin your reputation in the long run.

I assume you’re reading this because you want to be much more than just a ‘salesman’ or ‘saleswoman’. What you really want is to develop a reputation as something much more. While they’re referred to by different names…’trusted advisor’, ‘solution provider’, ‘new business consultant’ – in every case, their clients actually look forward to meeting with them. They don’t just squeeze them in for a quick meeting, they rearrange their day to make room for them on their calendars – and they often ensure that any other necessary department heads are in attendance.

If you’re just looking for a quick way to get a yes out of some prospect and move on to the next sucker in line then none of these steps are for you. On the other hand, if you want to put into action the steps that will help you build the type of reputation that sets you up for closing a lot more long-term business then read on.

1.     Identify why you’re calling on a prospect

Do your homework first. Meet with someone only if you can specifically identify how this person is going to help move you toward growing your business. Making calls just to fill a quota; hoping that the person you’re seeing just might be interested; guessing that they’re a decision maker; chasing long shots; or just dropping in to say ‘hi’ – none of these are a productive use of your time.

2.     Set the stage for success

As a part of your homework, determine which of the companies that you’re already working with will generate the highest level of respect from your prospect. Send the prospect a testimonial from that satisfied customer along with confirmation for your meeting date and time. Include an agenda and an outcome for the meeting that teases at their “what’s in it for me?” question.

3.     Never meet without a plan

Plan out your goals for the meeting. Write them down. Include notes from the person who referred you, from their web site, from articles about your prospect or their company. Know up front where you want to start, where you need to end and a couple options on how to get there.

4.     Forget what you want to sell

What you want to sell doesn’t matter. You’re there to clearly identify the real issues that are of importance, or concern, to your prospect. What matters is what the prospect wants/needs to own. Don’t try to get them interested in you, your company or your product/service until you’ve demonstrated that your primary interest is in them.

5.     Provide a solution, not a presentation

Your role is to be viewed by the prospect as the person most capable of providing them with a valuable solution – not someone only interested in putting on a show. Stop the act and be real with them. And if you’ve got a canned speech your sales manager taught you – scrap it. Prepare one that enables you to be “authentic”.

6.     Objections are as valuable as gold

Even though your first impulse will be to answer, or counter the prospect’s objections – resist the temptation. You will never hear more clearly from your prospect what it will take to earn their long-term business than when you get them to elaborate on their objections. Really hear them out; dissect the objection; draw them out by feeding the objection back to them; discover what they really want/need. When you get to the bottom of an objection you learn what it will take to engage them.

7.     Don’t be timid about asking for the business

The numbers vary – 76%, 83%, 89%. The bottom line is that the vast majority of presentations or business meetings never get to the point of actually asking for the order. Regardless of how many steps you took to get to this point, do not walk out of that office without asking your prospect for their business. Plan for it, rehearse it if necessary, but say it.

8.     Plan to over deliver on what you promised

Know exactly what your company is capable of delivering and then promise a little bit less. Never stretch it to get the sale – or you won’t get a 2^nd one. Unmet expectations are extremely damaging and hard to recover from. Let the other guy come up short – you build your reputation on always exceeding expectations.

9.     The sale’s not over even after they sign

Getting a signature, or even the check, is not the end of the sale. How much follow-up business you’ll generate is dictated directly by how well you follow up on what you promised to deliver. From hand-written thank you notes, to walking the order all the through the production line and even the delivery, if you have to – you take the responsibility for ensuring that the customer is taken care of.

Treat every step of the process with every prospect as if your future depends on their giving you your best testimonial yet. The results…the beginnings of a successful relationship and the creation of a powerful reputation that will reap rewards for years to come.

What’s your specialty – SEO; social media marketing; copywriting; consulting, Web design, blogging? With hundreds of people out there doing the offering the same services, how do you compete for new business? How do you get prospects to use your services over someone else’s without having to play the price game? 

You’re thinking it, so let me get this one out of the way right up front. ‘All things being equal, friends buy from friends…and even if they’re not equal, friends still prefer to buy from friends’. A true statement, but so what? You’re not going to be able to launch a thriving business on your limited list of current friends.

How do you price your offering?

Does that mean you’re relegated to having to offer the best deal, the lowest price, in order to build your business? Do people buy a Lexus, Starbucks coffee, a Cartier watch, Hartman luggage or Berkshire Hathaway stock because it’s the cheapest or on sale? No.

You can certainly choose to offer your services or your products at the lowest price. There are plenty of companies out there who devalue themselves and their company to the point where little thought is required for their customers to decide to buy them. If they can sell enough product they can actually turn a nice profit. However, if your business is based on a professional service (meaning ‘you’) you’re quickly going to run into a scalability problem.

Choose to create value

Real value starts with you. You must realize your own value – believe in it – proudly proclaim it. As your own confidence in yourself, your abilities and your product or service grows so will your client’s confidence and perceived value in you.

A share in Berkshire Hathaway stock currently sells for over $101,000 – clearly a value stock. And the value of the company all started with Warren Buffet. Mr. Buffet is more than just Berkshire’s CEO, he’s the face of the company and its biggest champion. Is there any question whether he believes in himself, or in the value of what he offers?

Look around at those who are highly successful in our industry: Gary Vaynerchuck, garyvaynerchuk.com; Chris Brogan, chrisbrogan.com; Scott Stratten, unmarketing.com; Mari Smith, whyfacebook.com; Darren Rowse, problogger.com; Carrie Wilkerson, barefoot-executive.com; I could go on and on. What sets them apart? Just that they know what they’re talking about? They certainly do, and they work hard at it – but their biggest advantage over their competition is that they highly value themselves and what they offer. They proclaim it boldly and proudly. And if they do it more than the next guy does then they win.

Craft your value message

Translate your belief in yourself and your product or service into your sales message, marketing pieces and every bit of correspondence you send out.

Your message will be customized to fit your specific business, but should sound something like this:

Mr. Client, we’re talking today because I’ve done my homework. You’re not looking for cheap, you’re looking for the best value. You want quality, results and a consistent level of service that you can count on. You won’t find a company that will serve you and your needs as professionally or as thoroughly as I will.

My commitment to you is proven results, targeted experience, personal service, and the bankable outcomes you expect. A year from now you’ll still be happy you chose to work with us.

You get the idea. Incorporate value and a strong belief in yourself into your offering – into every aspect of your business – and you’ll be able to eliminate ‘low price’ and ‘deal’ from the sales equation. Your value, your brand’s value and your sales will all grow.

Before you can begin converting skeptical, highly informed, ‘what’s in it for me’ followers into happily engaged customers you need to understand  the actions and attitudes that will win them over.

Make these seven practices the standards for how you run your business – and you’ll kick your conversions into high gear:

1.    Tell Them the Truth

We’ve all heard enough empty promises from companies galore to set a pretty strong prejudice against anyone selling anything. What’s rare these days is someone being totally upfront and honest with us. Be that kind of business professional and you’ll bring down the walls with the most jaded prospect.

2.    Put Them First

There’s no getting around it, people don’t care about anything as much as they do  themselves. Put them first and they’ll give you their ear.

3.    Respond Promptly

Nothing can sour a formative business relationship more quickly, or imperceptivity, than unmet expectations. Whether they mention it or not, treat every request as if it’s urgent. They expect it.

4.    Care More About Their Needs Than Yours

Before proposing a product or service solution – answer these two questions: 1) Are you proposing what you want to sell, or what they really need? 2) If you were your own client is this offering what you’d be happy to pay for? When you really care about your client’s needs it shows – big time!

5.    Provide A Solution Not Just An Answer

Don’t settle for the easy answer – look for a solution to your client’s real needs. Don’t settle for the minimum necessary to make a sale. This means more work on your part. It’s easy to make a pre-packaged sale, it takes a lot more research, digging and questions to find the real need and then provide the best solution.

6.    Prove it with Testimonials

Every one of your clients will deal with varying degrees of doubt before, during and after deciding whether or not to buy from you. What they’re anxious to hear is something like this: “Clients A, B and C each made the decision to buy and now they are all so happy they did!” Eliminating their fear of making a bad decision through the use of testimonials is one of the strongest ways to build confidence in both you and your brand.

7.    Do More Then You Promise

There’s no better way to set up repeat sales and strong referrals than doing more than you promised. The key word being “more”. Please don’t make the mistake in believing that doing fully what you promised is in any way the same thing.

Applying these seven principles has enabled me to realize tens of millions of dollars in business from folks that became long term, deeply engaged customers. I know they can do the same for you!

Brands stuck in the rut of yesterday’s marketing practices are increasingly seeking personal endorsements from spokesmen and women who have earned a level of believability or engagement from their audiences/fans as a way of countering the declining efficacy of radio, TV or print advertising. But even personality-based endorsements are still only one-way communication – they lack any real relationship, and therefore provide limited persuasion.

If pushing harder isn’t the solution, what is?

In-your-face advertising is out – today’s more highly informed consumer is seeking trusted referrals and advice. Remember, people love to ‘buy’…but hate being ‘sold’. Social media networks like MySpace, Facebook and Twitter; social news networks like Digg; video sites like YouTube and Flickr; even blogs have all emerged as a proven method of marketing where prospective consumers are being drawn in, instead of being coerced or manipulated to buy.

While still difficult to accurately benchmark, results strongly indicate that the cost per lead from the various relationship-based media, like Twitter, Facebook, blogs, etc., is coming in significantly lower than leads acquired from traditional lead generation vehicles like trade shows, direct mail, advertising, telemarketing, etc.

Don’t Switch – Mix

A media mix used to be how you blended your TV, radio, direct mail, print and outdoor advertising. However, except for the continuity of the core message of the ad, there was nothing that actually merged that mix of media.

With Social Media each component is interconnected to all the others. With your blog as the core of your marketing plan, Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube, etc. become the extensions – entwined with each other. All linking interchangeably to the others – expanding your reach and impact.

In addition to the advantages of incorporating the benefits of relationship marketing to your ad campaign, blending emerging media into your current mix improves measurability and a viral component to greatly expand both the reach and life of your message. Formative new media analytics will continue to evolve as outcomes measurements are proofed, but it is clear that these emerging media are not a fad, but rather a way of life – one your brand desperately needs to incorporate.

Q: What bugs you the most about the way brands currently use Twitter or Facebook to promote their products or services?

Much of the rise in interest in new media is being driven by the declining efficiencies of traditional media like broadcast, print and direct mail. No matter how salacious, no matter how urgent, no matter the promise, traditional advertising continues to become less and less effective as consumers’ ability to block, skip over or avoid those types of advertising increases.

The me generation has evolved to the point where we don’t just know that we ‘can’ have it our way, we now demand it. Our impatience has never been so short fused. Our sensitivity to anything even resembling spam is so much more acute.

Look at your own changing media habits:

• You block unwanted email
• Use a DVR to record TV programming and skip the commercials
• You listen to your iPod when the radio station doesn’t satisfy
• Throw away anything that looks like junk mail
• Screen your phone calls using caller ID
• You’ve likely dropped your newspaper subscription
• And since you buy your products online, you don’t even see those in-store marketing ploys.

Effectiveness of traditional advertising continues to erode

Exacerbating the situation is an increasingly more desperate cadre of advertising, PR and marketing execs whose existence is being threatened.

The advertising world has always understood that word of mouth (WOM) advertising is most effective way to build believability, drive perceptions, secure buy-in and eventually purchases. But, how to harness it? While marketers have ‘bought’ fans for everything from new movie releases, club launches and concerts, still, that’s not a personal recommendation from someone in your social network, or inner circle.

Behold…Social Media!

All of a sudden, if done correctly, it’s possible to enter into your personal online social networks. Suggestions and recommendations from your new virtual friends is resulting in a much greater impact on our decision making then ever before.

Quite a few large brands have already begun to learn how to play this ‘new media’ game. As they figure out the new analytics and adopt a new paradigm of this online social realm they’re also beginning once again to realize a level of influence they thought they had lost.

A New Career for Many of Us

Even as the social network vehicles continue to grow, evolve and trade popularity positions, many of us have launched new burgeoning careers. We’re plying our new-found skills and sharing our knowledge with these same large brands. It’s a lot of fun to be on the cutting edge of a new industry – especially one whose future is yet to be determined.

In an upcoming post we’ll examine how to manage this shift away from Intrusion Advertising.

A 24/7 Cocktail Party for B2C

If your team is selling directly to consumers then help them to see social media, such as Twitter, as a gigantic, 24/7 cocktail party where they can meet and engage with an endless flow of potential customers. If you’re seeking a mentor or expert in your own field, they’re there as well.

An Ever Expanding Expo for B2B

For those companies selling to businesses, position the various social media venues as a never ending Expo or conference. The best part, as you become more proficient, you’ll be able to position your “booth” right in the highest flow of traffic in this online trade show.

Making an Entrance

How do you engage prospects in these two environments? You start by checking out the room – who’s there; then listen to the conversations taking place – not just what they’re saying, but how they say it; begin introducing yourself by Tweeting short bits of helpful information your target clients typically find to be of value. A great way to start your network is to Friend or Follow some of your existing clients – this is also a safe way to begin learning Tweet-speak and a quick way to garner valuable introductions.

Building Your Online Reputation

Making your mark on social media, just like conferences, cocktail parties or networking lunches requires proving yourself, over time, to be a knowledgeable and valuable resource – not someone who uses others for their own gain. In no other networking environment is this more true than in social media networks.

Authentic relationship building demands that you throw out the gimmicks, the sales tricks, and every form of manipulation. Think you’ll be naked without those crutches? Go buy Keith Ferrazzi’s book, “Never Eat Alone” – and you will learn ‘how to build a lifelong community of colleagues, contacts, friends and mentors’.

Your Social Media Networking Mantra

Write out the words “It’s NOT about me!” on a post it note and stick it on your monitor. Read those words each time before you jump on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, or any other online network. Break that rule and you might as well kiss your social media relationships goodbye.

Lead by Example

OK, reality time for the DOS. Some on your sales team just won’t engage social media networking with any level of commitment until they see someone else generating at least some level of tangible results. If you don’t have a champion from among your existing team that you can use as an example, then you do it. Besides, you can’t lead your team into the Twitisphere if you don’t understand it yourself. 

Share Your Networking Success Story 

Got a great networking success story? Please share it as a comment so others reading this blog can gain from your experience.

The challenge: Overcoming “radio silence” for listeners

Women of Faith wanted to air a campaign in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida for a fall event. But the best radio station for the job could not accommodate the ticket giveaways because that station’s programming is actually fed from the network’s headquarters in Colorado. So while the station could run the giveaway announcements, without local air staff there was no one to take the call-ins from radio listeners.

The solution: Twitter provides a winning strategy

By setting up the giveaway so that listeners can use Twitter and Tweet to win, the campaign can be run from the station’s main studio in Colorado and broadcast to the station in Ft. Lauderdale.

Here’s how it works:

1. A specific message is mentioned on air and posted on the station’s web site and Facebook page.
2. When listeners re-Tweet that specific message, both the radio station and the client are copied on those posts in their Twitter “Replies” column.
3. A selection app then randomly picks a winner and Tweets the winner a direct congratulatory message – with a copy going to the radio station and the client.

A growing trend

More and more advertising and marketing campaigns are beginning to blend in a social media component — like Twitter — to broaden a particular medium’s reach.

And that makes sense because you can:

• Improve effectiveness
• See results by tracking replies
• Solve a challenge with creativity rather than extra funds

Now it’s your turn

Have you used social media to extend your reach? Has your favorite radio station started promoting a blog or Twitter account? Have you ever heard a radio commercial encouraging you to go online to win something? Did you enter? Did you win?