How Do You Know Your Business Needs CRM?

"I just need a Simple CRM"

CRM systems are no longer an option, they’re a necessity. Customer Relationship Management systems are now used by businesses of all scales and sizes. How do you know you need one? It’s simple, just ask yourself: Are you selling services or products? If your answer is yes, then you definitely need a CRM software. If you’re still not convinced, here’s why else you need a reliable CRM system:

You’re losing precious data

When you don’t have a CRM system you’re bound to store data in emails, Excel spreadsheets, paper files, and notes. The worst thing is that all that pieces of information are scattered, and as such they become meaningless because you can’t have them all at once when you need them the most. The process of storing customer data becomes laborious and even impossible.

You’re having communication problems

When you don’t have a centralized data system available to all your employees in real time, it’s difficult to communicate and pass on important information and decisions as they happen. The communication gets delayed and the results of that are missed opportunities and clients gone elsewhere.

Your sales team isn’t doing much

If you feel like your sales team isn’t making any progress despite their best efforts, then you know you desperately need a CRM system. Today, there are so many things you can find out about your potential customers that can help you transform your business into something more prosperous. The key lies in managing and using your data more efficiently.

Leads turning cold

When your once hot leads start to turn cold and there’s nothing you can to do reverse that, again, you know you need to get a CRM system. Sure, there will always be leads who turn cold for no apparent reason, that’s not the point. The point is that in the majority of cases you lack the knowledge that would make them change their mind. You lack the details about your customer behavior and their habits that you could use in your advantage.

You lack data access at all times

When your sales people are gathering information about the customers, if they’re storing it on their own laptops or even papers, you don’t really get to see that information right away. Plus, with a CRM it’s easier to keep everyone updated on all the changes and new data entries. The ability to access your data at any time can significantly improve the quality of your work.

Creating Quality Sales: Let's get SIIC

Sales is not only about selling; it is about experience, connections, and most importantly...relationships. Creating Quality Sales helps to nurture relationships, make them stronger, and in the end, last longer. There are many things we as salespeople do incorrectly, such as thinking only of the bottom line. Don't get me wrong, the numbers matter, but how you get there is important not only to your wallet, but to the reputation you carry for yourself and your company. 

There are four main steps, pieces of the puzzle so to speak, that I practice when it comes to selling and working with prospects and customers. Let's get SIIC! Selling with Sincerity, Intuition, Integrity, and Common Sense that is; when they come together is when the quality of sales increase. Let me define and break them down for you one-by-one:

Sincerity: The quality of being free from pretense, deceit, or hypocrisy; a mix of seriousness and honesty

In today's world, sincerity seems more difficult to come by. Social media, blogs, and the age of selfies tend to put a focus on me me me. Everything we do and post, we are more focused on our own wants and desires more than ever. In sales, we must put our clients and prospects first, and us second. Just as we want others to respect our time, we must respect their time in return. Be prompt, be ready, and avoid rescheduling as often as possible. I much rather have a client reschedule a meeting than me. After all, we are the ones that need them, not necessarily vice versa. When you are in a meeting put your cell phone away, not on the table flipped upside down. Allow the focus to be on them; this shows them that you not only respect their time, but their presence as well. You cannot be fully engaged with an individual if you are scrolling through emails or glancing at how many likes your lunch post is receiving.

Most importantly, care about who they are before you care about the sale. Business is great and all, but do not forget they are a person with a life outside of the office. Ask questions about their families, hobbies, where they are vacationing. Empathize with your clients and prospects. If you know their grandmother was in the hospital, send a note to ask how she and their family is doing. Find areas outside of a proposal and quote where you can relate with the client or prospect, such as similar hobbies. Knowing who a person is, is key to any lasting relationship, even within business. Not to mention, if you find out unfavorable facts about someone, their morals, and integrity, you can proceed with caution or kindly back away, and save yourself from hidden stressors down the road...and a potentially bad partnership!

Intuition: A feeling that guides a person to act a certain way without fully understanding why; something that is understood or known without proof or evidence

Some people are born with natural intuition. Some must work to understand the difference between intuition and individual perception. Paying attention to a prospects' body language and voice inflections are ways to help you to hone in on your intuition. If someone keeps looking at their watch, have delayed reactions, or are sitting with their arms across their chest, they are probably not interested. You might even be talking too much! If they are leaning in, nodding their head, and asking questions, they are engaged and their interest is peaked.

When all else fails, and you cannot read your prospect, do not be afraid to ask questions! Be upfront, ask them for their thoughts and if they understand what you are offering. People appreciate when you show you care what they are thinking, as opposed to assuming or guessing. You know what they say about assuming, right? Listening beyond your rationalizations (a.k.a. personal perception), and putting yourself in their shoes can help you better understand what is going through their mind.

Integrity: The quality of being honest and having strong moral principles; moral uprightness

Keeping your personal integrity is not only important, it is key. Do what you say, own up to your mistakes, and make sure everything is on the table. At times we are tempted to say, "Sure, we can do that!", when you have no clue if it is even feasible. Being upfront with your prospects, even if they might not like what you have to say, is vital. The truth is always appreciated, and empty promises can easily break their trust in you and your company. If you make a mistake, which will happen, be upfront and make sure to apologize. We are all human, and mistakes are expected; however, how you deal with them shows your true integrity.

Avoid the sleazy salesman status! Pressure sales is a thing of the past, as should be little white lies. If you can't give a prospect everything they want, be clear on what you can offer and focus on the positives. If they say "no" do not try to push the sale on them, they will only become frustrated and annoyed. Not to mention, you can come across as desperate. "Do they need the sale THIS badly?!" Bad mouthing a former employer or competitor is also frowned upon, and can come back to haunt you. You want to sell by how good your product is, not by how bad other products or salespeople are. So, do not be tempted to talk down someone to talk yourself up, this reflects in poor taste and poor integrity.

Common Sense: Sound and prudent judgement based on a simple perception of the situation or facts; normal native intelligence

For me, Intuition and Common Sense are similar, but they do differ. Intuition is inference, whereas common sense is more factual and experience based. When is comes to common sense, listen for specific keywords and phrases. If a prospect is saying that their team is small or they do not have resources, you do not want to try to sell them something that is built for a large company; move to a more suitable fit. If a prospect is having a difficult time grasping what you are saying, your product is probably not for them. Again, step outside of your individual perception to understand what they are saying; reality vs. identifiable reality.

Know your industry. Know your clients' industry. This is where straight up factual common sense comes into play. A product built for insurance companies will not work well for real estate clients. The more you understand exactly what your client does, the better you can qualify your offerings. Doing your research is vital to generating quality sales. Learning from experience will help you time and time again. Set aside the needed time in conversation with your clients to ask relevant questions, as well as doing your homework ahead time, will help build the common sense you need for closing a deal.

Author: Erin Ahaus Contreras
Director of Business Development at AddressTwo CRM
erin@addresstwo.com
www.addresstwo.com

Mom Did Know Best: Clean it up!

It has to happen every once in a while and this is the perfect time of year to face it. I’m talking about cleaning up your list.

This realization came crashing down on a client recently and it just serves to remind me that it is one of the last things busy small business owners are thinking about, but it is just so important.

photo credit: ginasanders @123rf.com

Is your list a mess?

This client wanted to establish a monthly email newsletter. One of the steps was uploading the CSV

file of his list into the app. When the CSV file arrived and my team and I took a look at it, we immediately realized that there was a lot of work to do before it could ever be uploaded.

First off, information had been entered into the wrong fields and we had first names like Quick and surnames like Order. Then there were company names entered where the contact’s name should have been. That was just the beginning. After reviewing the file, there were lots of other changes like who the contact for the company was now and outdated email addresses.

Hey, don’t beat yourself up because there are always changes and mistakes, it’s inevitable that your list needs to be cleaned up, sorted out and purged of all sorts of inaccurate information. But the thing you have to keep in mind is that your list of contacts is one of the most valuable assets you have in your business. So you need to keep it polished up and in good working order.

Make an update part of your regular maintenance.

The end of the year is a busy time and part of the busy-ness is sending “thank you for your business this year” greetings to your clients. Take this opportunity to review your list. Make it part of the process in sending those greetings. Schedule it for fall. That gives you time to actually remove any problem entries as well as request new, updated data.

In some instances, the email contact may be the only information you have. Sending out requests for actual postal mailing addresses via email will help you sift through outdated emails as well as provide an extra touch with the client and get more information from them.

AND, while you are doing that, remind yourself of all the contacts and potential clients that you haven’t connected with for some time. Out of mind means just that – out of mind, and out of mind means a big NO SALE on the cash register.

So cleaning up is not just cleaning up, but use it for bringing to mind potential clients that need a note, call or some other bit of communication from you. Use it to re-connect and update your records. The biggest benefit is that you are ready for a big push in the New Year.

To Your Success!

Jack

GrowYour Business™ Coaching founder Jack Klemeyer is recognized as a preeminent resource for business professionals. As a John Maxwell Certified coach, speaker, trainer and facilitator of Mastermind groups for business owners and professionals, his results-driven philosophy calls for action and accountability. He and his Grow Your Business™ team are dedicated to taking businesses and their owners to the next level. Jack can be reached at Jack@GYBCoaching.com or at 317-755-6963. Learn more at GYBCoaching.com.

A CRM Might Just Save Your Business

Sending out a warning into the air just won’t work
 to provide your clients with urgent and important information.
Photo credit: alistair Cotton, www.123rf.com

This has been a really trying week here in our office. You see, we have had our website hacked. And we have been frantically trying to get it fixed. You might think that is because we don’t want to miss any potential clients, and it is. But even more important to us is that we don’t want to share any viruses or any bad digital thread with any of our existing clients and contacts.

And, we have several programs with open registrations, blog posts and other bits of information out on social media and in email communications that link back to our site.

Now, you might wonder why I am telling you all of this. Well, we have figured out the protocol for when bad things happen and we have to notify our clients urgently. We know we can’t just stand at our office door and yell out into the street. We have to be effective!

When it’s urgent to reach your tribe…be smart and use your CRM

It’s your CRM. Yes, once again a CRM is key to making business work. With all your contacts in a CRM like AddressTwo, you can very quickly send out an urgent message and reach as many people as possible. With a subject line that lets them know there’s a problem and you have an important message, your open rate (ours did) will soar.

This solution is not limited to letting people know your website is down – or is dangerous to their digital health – but also any time there is a problem, great news, or important information they need.

If you are making regular touches through a weekly email or monthly digital newsletter, your contacts expect to hear from you and your subject line should let them know you are sending a message for them. But when these random important communications go out, you have to let them know there is a special event, reason or warning that you are sending and your subject line is the place to do that.

Of course, you can put the information out in your social media, but social media connections are sporadic. The latest statistic I’ve heard is the only 7-10% of your fans see your posts on Facebook and tweets are swallowed in a blink of the eye. So using your email list makes sense. It’s fast, effective and easy.

The case for a contact list in a CRM

Sure you have contacts in your email and you may even have groups set up for emails, too. But building a contact and client list in a CRMmakes life really easy. You will recognize that when you have an urgent need. And the beauty is that it grows right along with your business. It’s not a fill it in and then continually have to update. No, you build it one person, one contact, one client at a time and before you know it, you have a herd, or a tribe, whichever way you want to think about it.

Choose the technology app that serves you best and can grow with you. Choose one and use it. Don’t get caught out with new somethings that are bright and shiny. Stick with one until it no longer serves your purposes. Learn all the features and utilize every tool inside it.

You’ll find your day-to-day operations and those random, urgent situations can both be handled quickly, easily and professionally.

-Jack Klemeyer

Grow YourBusiness Coaching

How a CRM Can Help Relieve Small Business Growing Pains

View image | gettyimages.com

Small businesses have the reputation of being a more personal business experience. As a customer of a small business, you expect more intimate customer service than a big box business. The down side from a business perspective is trying to live up to expectations as your business grows. Having a CRM can help you to maintain that personal customer service experience even as your business expands. AddressTwo’s simple CRM for small businesses has three simple features to help relieve small business growing pains:

1. Personalized marketing, no matter your business size

There are multiple ways a simple CRM helps you to personalize your marketing. In particular, trigger email campaigns and history recordings are your best personalization tools in the system. With these tools, AddressTwo helps you maintain that personal touch with every customer of your small business.

*Triggered email campaigns

Email marketing has no doubt become a personalized norm today, but triggered campaigns (also known as drip campaigns) add to that personalization level. They allow you to launch a campaign of personally cordial emails triggered manually or by a formal event such as signing up for a free trial. These emails help to align the customer experience with your brand and make them aware that your company cares about their personal experience.

*History recordings

History recordings are a great way to personalize your messages to your customers. Any interactions you have should be recorded in your history so when a different employee takes the time to reach out to that customer, they are aware of everything that has happened in that customer account. This information allows you to relate to the past events your customers have experienced in your company.

2. Multiple users

With the ability to add more users to the system at any time, the owner isn’t the only person who can deliver a personalized message to the customers. With the click of the history button, new users can learn all they need to know before reaching out to different accounts. The ability to add more users also allows you to lighten the load of following up as your customer base grows exponentially. Tasks can be assigned for different users to reach out to certain customers within their department as well so that the right employee is taking care of the right customers.

3. Task list reminders

When dealing with multiple customers, it is easy to forget an interaction you had last week when you told them you would call them with product offerings. Don’t let your brain do all of the remembering, leave that up to your CRM and the ever-vast memory of the cloud. When tasks are assigned to a certain user, that user receives a task list in their email. In this way, both the CRM and the email task list will remind employees of their work load for the day. This helps to ensure that no customer slips through the cracks as your business grows and flourishes. 

Establishing and expanding your business is no simple task, but having a CRM can ease these business growing pains. With a CRM software, it’s not a question of if, it’s a question of when. The time is now to start maintaining and managing your customer database so that your business doesn’t miss another opportunity. Personalization is just one way a CRM will help you keep in touch with your customers past, present and future, giving our business that small business personality with a bigger business customer potential.

Start your 14 day free trial with AddressTwo today and find the simple CRM solution to personalizing your marketing while growing your small business. 

Breaking Down CRM- The 3 Keys to Better Business Relationships

Customer Relationship Management is as simple as C-R-M. Breaking down these three parts of a greater whole will help you to deeper understand how a CRM software system is the key to business success. Here are three videos that will explain each of the important aspects of CRM: Customers, Relationships, and Management.

1. Customers: It is important to maintain data on current and future customers of the business, but defining the term “customers” goes far beyond this scope. It’s about maintaining relationships with people who may never even intend to become a customer. Troy has a better way of explaining what I mean:

2. Relationships:

Relationships are much more than just knowing the permanent details of a person. It’s about learning and understanding more about a person through keeping record of the different interactions that you have with one another. In turn, it is important to adapt future interactions based on these records. So how can a CRM software help you to deepen these relationships? This is where video two comes into play.

3. Managment:

In business, we often need more relationships than any one person can manage on their own. In the final installment of “Breaking Down CRM,” Troy explains how a CRM system can help you manage and maintain your business relationships.

The C, R, and M of CRM software is only the tip of the iceberg. You can learn more about the benefits and usability of a simple CRM software by visiting the website for AddressTwo or by attending Troy’s weekly AddressTwo demo on Wednesdays at 3pm. Sign up here today!

Online Reputations Matter

Everybody knows that the customer service at Xbox Live and Microsoft stinks—even when you have to report serious issues like sexual harassment and threatening behavior. How does everybody know this? Because people talk.

They don’t just talk anymore, though: they type—they type and tweet and update their Facebook pages and leave online reviews on every review site they can find. They email their friends. Those friends tweet, etc.

In the case of Jenny Haniver (see link above), the biggest part of the problem was how far she had to go (posting about the problem publicly and inadvertently creating a media circus around her situation) to get any sort of action taken. Even with repeated calls and emails in to customer service and support teams, she couldn’t find out whether or not her complaint had gotten farther than being registered with the system.

This is not the sort of thing you want people to equate with your company.

The biggest part of preventing this is, obviously, having a stellar customer service team on staff. In addition to being available, you need to train your customer service and support departments on how to help the people who send in feedback feel heard. Imagine how much better Xbox Live could have fared if its team kept customers happy and buying by following up immediately with people who file complaints.

Sure, there’s room to acknowledge that Xbox Live is a huge company and probably has to deal with thousands if not millions of tickets submitted every day. They probably employ a large number of people to handle, at least on a superficial basis, the tickets that get filed. It’s possible that they even outsource a large amount of their customer service duties to call and support centers. They can do that because their company has gotten so big that—even in the wake of this recent slough of bad press—they know that people will keep playing even when they mess up (at least for now).

You probably don’t have that confidence just yet. Unlike Amazon, you don’t have the dough to hire a couple thousand more customer service agents. So what can you do? How do you make sure that your company’s online presence and reputation are as solid and positive as possible?

The best way to ensure that you don’t have to deal with the level of bad press that XBox Live recieved is to be proactive. Solve problems before they can grow. If you don’t have the staff power to take care of that in house, follow the big guys’ leads and outsource those duties to companies like Brand.com who do have the staff on hand to manage your presence and reputation.

Make sure that, whoever you employ to handle your customer service and support—in house or outsourced—understands how to make sure that the person filing the ticket feels taken seriously. How do you do that?

1. Have the team respond immediately and personally. A quick, “thanks for your feedback” note that features the person’s name and a couple of details about their issue will suffice.

2. Follow up. It should be customer service policy that no complaint or raised issues go more than forty eight hours without a follow up. Even if you don’t have anything new to report a simple “we’re still working on it” will get the job done.

3. Keep the person in the loop. Letting the person know what you’re doing to fix the problem goes a long way toward building trust and rebuilding the relationship.

Imagine what would have happened if XBox Live had just used these tips!
_______________________________________________________
Alex Woods is a freelance writer who most often writes about smart business choices. You can find him on Google+.

Breaking Down CRM: "Management"

What makes up CRM?  Simple: Customers, Relationships, and the Management Thereof.  In this three-part series, we looking at each term to better understand what a CRM system is and what it can do for you.

Today, let's look at the final term: "Management."

As individuals, we have many relationships that we do not often think about "managing" in any structured sense.  But, that is because we are not seeking the same outcome from every relationship, and we do not have success metrics and goals for how well we do with that process.  In business, however, we do.  And moreover, we often need more relationships than any one human can maintain naturally.  So, naturally, we rely on technology like CRM to manage it all.

Managing business relationships begins with defining how we want relationships to progress.  We cannot begin to manage a process until we have defined it.  How do strangers learn about us?  How do prospects experience our value?  How do leads come to buy our product?  How to customers refer us future customers?  These are all aspects of a relationship that must be defined before they can be managed. 

But once they are defined, management is not a passive tracking or monitoring, it's the act of progressing relationships through the defined processes.  Managing customer relationships using CRM software can be scheduled, held accountable, and even automated in many cases. 

You cannot manage what you cannot define.  The first step in managing customer relationships is to define how they are expected to progress.  But the most effective form of management will automate as many actions as possible so that the human interactions required can be most effective and efficient. 

Without the "M" a CRM is reduced to little more than an archive.  Management is the crucial component that makes CRM an essential tool to any small business.

Breaking Down CRM: "Relationship"

What makes a CRM?  Simple: Customers, Relationships, and the Management Thereof.  In this three-part series, we are taking a detailed look at each term to better understand what a CRM system is and what it can do for your business.

Today, let's look at "Relationship."

The term relationship is one that we use so often in our personal lives that it seems almost impersonal to attempt a rigid definition of it for business purposes.  Not only so, but relying on a computer system to plan, script, and automate a relationship probably seems even more impersonal.  But in business, every process must be scalable and repeatable, especially the process of building customers.  So, a CRM software is not only wise, it's often necessary.  But just what is it that we're managing?  What is a relationship?

To start, relationships entail things we know.  For sure, relationships are much more than facts we know about a person, but they are not less than those facts.  My relationship with my wife is much more than knowing her birthday, eye color, favorite foods, and her preference in gifts.  But if I did not know this information, deepening the relationship would be difficult, if not impossible.  The first thing that a CRM must do to manage a relationship is store and recall pertinent details.

But we can know facts and figures about complete strangers.  A relationship, by definition, takes on a much more dynamic nature.  There is interaction, messages back and forth, conversations and discoveries that build the relationship over time.  In a good relationship, my interaction today will be impacted by what I've learned over the interactions in the past.  If I do not adapt my own behavior in the relationship based on what I've learned previously, then I am a bad friend (or vendor, or client, or what-have-you).

Lastly, relationships ultimately will entail commitments between parties.  When we say that we are managing relationships with customers, we are not only storing facts, figures, and a log of historical interactions for reference.  We are using the system to hold us accountable to commitments made and future interactions.  Relationships are fluid and must be maintained, not merely archived.

Your CRM must be able to not only archive, but also drive the relationship forward. 

Keeping Customers Happy

AddressTwo University Podcast 

with Scott Ginsberg of Hello My Name is Scott

Tune in 4pm (E.S.T) Tuesday 15th

Click here to listen U.AddressTwo.com

 

Scott Ginsberg is an author, speaker, consultant, mentor, publisher, award-winning blogger & one smoking hot piece of brain candy. He's done 600+ programs worldwide on approachability, identity, execution and stick-to-itiveness. He also wears a nametag 24-7. Even to bed.

Breaking Down CRM: "Customers"

What makes a CRM?  Simple: Customers, Relationships, and the Management Thereof.  In this three-part series, we are going to take a detailed look at each term to better understand what a CRM system is and what it can do for you.

Today, let's look at "Customer."

If you took a good look at anyone's CRM database, you might be surprised that it chronicles data on far more than merely the company's existing customers.  It may contain leads and prospects--those whom we hope to become a customer some day.  Just like any relationship in life, customer relationships began long before they became customers.  We each had relationships with our friends long before we may have counted them a friend.  They could have been strangers in our building, attendees at the same church, or even family members.

So, when it comes to relationship management, we have to adopt a broad definition of the word "customer" if the exercise is ever to grow our businesses.  But the scope of the term "customer" often extends even beyond prospects and leads.

Managing relationships with customers entails relationships even with people who will never become a customer, and were never intended to.  For example, in any CRM database we might find vendors.  VRM (Vendor Relationship Management) is a practice all to itself, but often the relationship a business maintains with it's vendors, if well-managed, can lead to new customers.  A vendor relationship is perhaps one of the most common examples of a "Strategic Relationship."

Our CRM database helps us to manage relationships with members of the media, government offices, bankers, and even some competitors -- none of whom we would ever pursue as a customer.  But, all of whom have the propensity to lead us into new relationships with would-be customers. 

When we speak of "Customers" in business relationship management, we should be careful to consider all the relationships that, either directly or indirectly, impact a customer relationship.

Sales Elite Start At The Top – Selling The D-Suite.

In GFS™ training we spend important time in session covering “Relationship Management”
which itself divides into a few sub-sessions, one of which is DISC Analysis.  As GFSers know,
DISC profiling provides a basis for judging the pacing, tone and some guidance on the content of
business conversations based on the natural communication style of you counterpart. The intent
of the training is to utilize the DISC methodology to help sales professionals adapt their own
style to that of the person they are speaking with.  Particularly in first meetings, effective
communications and therefore our ability to establish credibility is based as much on the way we
speak to someone as what we say to them.  This is nowhere more critical that when you are
talking with the top management, in the C-Suite; or what we call “the D Suite”.

D-Suite because top management tends to be populated with “D”  or dominant type DISC
personalities. When it comes to business discussions Ds live by the crito: “Be brief, be bright, be
gone.” So how do we adapt our natural personalities, our natural communication style to  assure
successful initial conversations in the D-Suite.

Most of us approach senior level D’s the way the cowardly Lion approached “Oz the Great and
Powerful”  in the “Wizard of Oz”, trembling and on his knees. In fact this is the precise opposite
of what a D is looking for in communications. In a nutshell D’s are looking for the ‘unvarnished
truth with all the bark on it’. They want reality not romance; funds not friends. You have a D’s
undivided attention when you speak in irrefutable truths and scrap the indefensible assertions.
The key to the D manager communications is one word:  REAL. Revenue, Earnings, Assets &
Love.  Everything you address with a D better speak to improving sales, bottom line, asset value
or address the core passion about why they are doing what they are doing. The Ds personal
emotional motivation for why she wants her business to go higher and further; her vision of
tomorrow.

But for many of us (about 75% of all people and about 50% of sales people) this is much easier
said then done. In a ‘lights, camera, action moment when its sink or swim; do or die and we seem
to lose our ability to think on our feet and respond intelligently to the most mundane question.
“Sooo, what do you want - Scarecrow?” Our knees get weak and we collapse to the floor; a
reflex response to the Ds natural instinct to attack as a way of establishing relevance, ‘I guess if
they run it couldn’t have been very important!’ (By the way, the very reason the RMS Titanic hit
an iceberg!)

Key to overcoming this requires us to create five counter-reflexive behavior patterns for dealing
with the D-Suite:

1)    Talk REAL. And in the context of their personal investment in REAL outcomes.  If it’s
    phony you’re finished, but Ds can’t resist the attention and interest in their priorities as
    long as it is genuine. After all what other priorities are there anyway?

2)    Assert Nothing. Make absolutely zero assertions that you aren’t prepared to defend to the
    death. And when you finally make one couch it amongst other statements that are
    irrefutably true. “Sales Evolution is not a fit for every company.” “We are not the
    cheapest provider, so if that’s what you are looking for then we probably can’t help you.” 

3)    Kill Small Talk (unless they insist). Even if she drifts into small talk she will love you for
    being the one to pull the conversation back to business.

4)    “Disentrall yourself.” Abe Lincoln’s advice and just as valid today. Be like a doctor when
    it comes to dealing with D’s; you are there to create certainty about the D getting the
    outcome she is seeking – that’s it. In the end it’s yes or no; you just want the decision.

5)    Resist & Go Negative: D’s thrive under pressure; without it they are like a fish out of
    water. Load your talk with RTQs (reality testing questions) that strike at the heart of
    “Why are we here and why are we having this conversation.”

And the good news is that in senior management even if they aren’t a D they have adapted D
attributes that will be coherent with this approach. Once you learn to “Deal the D” you are on
your way to becoming one of the GFS Sales Elitesm; those who deliver number crushing results
every time by dedicating their time to those with the authority to say “yes”.

Scott Messer scott@salesevolution.com
Phone: 610-353-8686
A guest blog post from www.salesevolution.com

The Importance of Repetition in Business Networking

Advertisers swear by the power of repetition. The more familiar a customer is with your brand, the more credibility they attribute to it. The first impression is designed to expose; subsequent impressions build familiarity and comfort. Eventually, the repetition leads to assumed expertise. When the time finally comes for conversion, the desired cumulative effect of repetition is that your product is the first thing that comes to the customer’s mind. 

The same model holds true as it relates to business networking. Yet in some ways even more is at stake. You may not be pitching a multimillion dollar campaign, but you are trying to sell people on you. As a small business owner, that equates to potential future earnings. If you come across poorly – too arrogant, not confident, generally off-putting – you’re digging yourself a hole. 

Your goal, the first time you enter a room full of potential contacts, is to let people know you exist. Who are you? What do you do? Why are you there? You need to be consistent, engaging, and positive. You are there to meet new people, but you also want them to find you interesting. Leave a good impression. The second time you appear – preferably at the next scheduled meeting – the intent is to build familiarity. Again, consistency is critical. Who you are, what you do, and why you’re there should, barring a few tweaks, be similar. Following that pattern and increasing the positive impressions will lead to familiarity. The final step, while maintaining that repetition, is to attain top-of-mind placement where you’re known as an expert in your field. 

Good business networking practices take time to master. But repetition of good habits will ensure you take advantage of your opportunities.

What are some repetition strategies you employ to make the most of business networking?

Who You Are: The Importance of Being Genuine

It’s a timeless sales adage:  When you’re in front of a potential customer, you’re not just selling them on your product; you’re selling them on you. The customer feels that sense of trust and comfort. There’s an implicit bond that you’re offering something they need. One of the keys to the connection is being genuine.

That honesty and sincerity is just as important in business networking. Consider a typical scenario: You’re launching a new business and you’ve been invited for the first time to attend a monthly get-together of other small business owners. The room will likely be filled with 75-to-100 people that you probably don’t know. Each one of those people has a network of contacts, so the potential is there to have access to several thousand more connections. A lot is at stake. 

Now, you can enter the room with ego on display all set to talk about the great and powerful you. Or, you can choose to engage with people and learn about them. What do they do? Why are they there? How long have they been attending? 

Here’s where it gets tricky. If you come across as fake, as if you’re going through the motions just to build business, the truth will peek through. But if you’re truly curious about the people you meet, and the process feels natural, that’s when you’re being genuine. More often than not, that earnestness will be recognized and appreciated.

The importance of being genuine in business networking can’t be understated. Most people can intuitively sense when passion and sincerity are pure when compared to someone faking their way through the motions. By being genuine, your business networking connections are more likely to want to help you succeed. 

What about you? Have you noticed a difference in your attitude toward someone in a business networking situation when they were genuine?