Blog Archives
Would You “Scroll Past” Your Profile?
Think of all the times you have scrolled through long lists of profiles on social media sites.
I like to use the analogy of what makes you stop and look at a résumé when flipping through a big stack of pages?
- What makes you stop and click to find out more?
- What makes you keep scrolling past?
How is your online presence looking lately?
Is it maybe time to check your :
- Pictures
- Profiles
- Links to other social media sites, videos, blog posts etc.
The social media space is becoming more crowded every day. What are you doing to entice others to stop and take notice of what you are doing?
If the answer is not much, you will blend in and just be another “résumé in the pile”.
Make today the day that you step up your game 🙂
The Connect and “Barf” Method Rarely Works!
I love to discuss this scenario when speaking about networking with anyone who is interested in hearing my take….
You are at an after work business mixer – a cocktail party per se. You meet somebody for the first time, shake hands and exchange business cards. What would their body language be, and what would they say if the next thing you did was try and sell them something?
So why do so many people think this is ok to do when connecting online?
I could rattle off many examples when this has happened to me. I am stunned and bewildered every time. I am now less and less surprised because it is becoming more prevalent online.
Relationships take time to develop, and people typically only purchase from those that they know, like and trust.
Somebody can’t possibly have a hot clue what you are all about after you have just said “hello”. Most people would think you were an alien trying to connect for the first time offering your products and/or services.
- Thank people for connecting when they confirm your “request to connect” via social media
- Provide value
- Get to know them, and actually listen to them
- Connect them with like-minded people in your network
People will see right through you if you are only in this to sell. But if you put the focus on them, and show that you actually care about building long-term relationships, you will be much more successful when it comes time to present your offer.
Don’t just “barf”. That is just plain lazy!
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And Your Best Online Connection Is…..
Only you know the answer to that!
Take a moment to think about it.
How does your best online connection make you feel when…
- they teach you about something
- they connect you with other like-minded people
- share your content
- make you laugh
- pick you up when you need it most
Hopefully they feel the same when you do some (or hopefully all) of those things for them too!
What would happen to your network in 2014 if you developed more connections like your best one?
Is it time to…
- develop more quality relationships online?
- “go deep” with people and find out how you can help them?
- focus on a “serve first” mentality and stop thinking about “what’s in it for me”?
- care more!
I would love to hear about your best connection, and how you have helped each other.
What are your social networking goals for 2014?
Leave a comment or email me at TimMushey@gmail.com
I will publish the responses in a new post later in the month!
Hey! Let’s connect!
https://www.facebook.com/SellLeadSucceed
(Don’t forget to like to stay connected!)
https://twitter.com/TimMushey73
My Favourite 5 Posts of 2013 – #2 “The Beer Dude”
So, like – there are lots of us on earth right?
Many of us are trying to stand out from the crowd and do “out of the ordinary stuff”. Heck many of us are trying to do ordinary stuff but still get noticed.
Like delivering beer to people’s seats at a baseball game.
There is no way to stand out from the crowd doing that right?
WRONG!
I had the pleasure of attending a Chicago Cubs exhibition game in April of 2011, and did not realize how much of a treat I was in for from watching a beer vendor work. His coverage of our section immediately caught my attention! He was more charismatic, more outgoing, more energetic, and more fun to watch than any other beer concession worker than I had ever seen before. I caught myself watching him work more than the game itself!
But that was not even the best part. When he left our section for a bit, I followed him and we had a bit of a conversation. I was captivated by his stories of working in the industry for many years. When I left with my drinks, he gave me his “business card”. It was a laminated baseball-like card with his picture on the front working at a game. On the back it had all of his “statistics”. By statistics I mean all the venues he had worked at during his career, and events that he attended.
I still have his “business card”, and look at it from time to time to remind me what it truly means to have a well-developed personal brand.
- What do you do to stand out from the crowd?
- Where do you know that you can improve to increase your exposure?
Developing your personal brand is not a “when I feel like it” thing. It should be ongoing. Daily if possible.
Be memorable, be engaging, be caring and for goodness sake have some fun!
Have A Laugh Fridays – The “Olden Days”
My wife and I have had several chats with our son lately about the “olden days”. For us, that is the 70’s and 80’s.
His favourite fast food restaurant is Wendy’s. I recently said to him,
“Wanna see a great commercial from the olden days?”
Enjoy and have a FANTASTIC weekend!
Have A Laugh Fridays – Happy Belated “Pie Day”!
Dave Fleming is a Corporate Comedian that I discovered last spring. This is one of two videos that I used for Have A Laugh Fridays at that time. One of these three clips talks about food in the office lunchroom. It is very funny.
I got thinking about food at the office because one of our employees brought in two pies yesterday. It was apparently “Pie Day”. I take all holidays very seriously so we were excited about the deserts. One problem – it was “Pi Day” and not “Pie Day”.
You know Pi…. the mathematical symbol for 3.14 …. and on and on it goes. Yesterday was March 14 (3-14) so I guess somebody was very clever with that one. I am sure lots of pie was still consumed though!
Enjoy your weekend!
Three Pillars of Business – Marketing, Sales & Service
Sarika Periwal reached out to me about a guest blog. I thought it was a great idea to do a post on marketing, sales and service.
For any business to succeed keeping customers happy is essential. It is always more profitable to retain an existing customer who will come back for repeated purchases than to convert new potential customers for each sale that the company makes. Statistics exist to support the fact that the cost of acquiring a new customer can be six to seven times higher than retaining an existing customer. To this effect you need some strong policies which help the company to improve their customer retention rate.
The focus of these policies is to deliver a flawless customer experience when they deal with your company. It does not matter what you sell. It could be a physical product, a digital solution, a service that is offered in special circumstances, or anything else. There are three main areas where your customer or potential customer will interact with you. These are marketing, sales and service. They are also known as the three pillars of successful business. If you manage to get your act together for these three aspects you will have a thriving business model. Here’s how you can do this and benefit the customer and the company both.
Marketing
All the marketing campaigns that you run are to get your customer’s attention. These all hope to make the right kind of offer to the customers at the right time to tempt them into making a purchase. Here the focus is to build on the trust that the company brand name inspires. To make the customer believe that they have the right solution to their needs and to provide the customer with the ultimate financial deal when they buy what the company is offering.
Sales
There is nothing as sad as losing a customer who would have bought from you but couldn’t find how to complete the sale. This pillar deals with providing the potential customer with the ease of buying the product in a quick and hassle free experience. You need to be able to provide the customer with many ways of buying the product. It could be in the shop, online or through partner vendors. There should be many payment options as well. A lump sum payment is easy for a small purchase, but arranging finance options for a larger purchase is a good idea. Also let there be the option of paying via cash, banker’s cheque or credit card. Each customer may have a preference for a specific payment mode.
Service
When it comes to encouraging retention and customer loyalty to your brand it is the after sales service that is most important. Many customers feel that a company loses interest in them as soon as they make the final payment for their purchase. This does not encourage them to buy from the company again. What needs to be done is to make the customer realize that the company is just as interested in pampering them even after the sale has been completed. A well trained team can make this a reality.
Author biography:
Sarika Periwal represents KarmaCRM, an online CRM service for small businesses and individuals. Karma offers a powerful and feature-rich backend system with an easy user interface. This tool can help you manage all 3 areas of your business efficiently. Contact us for more details or connect with us on Facebook or Twitter .
Paul Castain says “Screw The Water, Go Brand Yourself!”
For those who have followed me for any length of time, will know how much I admire the work that Paul Castain is doing over at YourSalesPlaybook.com
This quick 3 minute video will get your week off to a great start, I guarantee it! If people have made “zillions of dollars” by branding water, why the heck can’t you brand yourself?
Enjoy and have a fantastic Monday…
Sell, Lead, Succeed! 