Anne Miller | March 2010

Thursday, March 18, 2010

A New Way to Get Return Calls

Sometimes fortune lands on you when you least expect it. I had been periodically calling/emailing two companies to follow up on conversations about sales training they had said they wanted and I was getting no response. What finally got their attention was totally unexpected...

It was a date.

My family and I are leaving on vacation for Buenos Aires this weekend for two weeks. I sent a courtesy email to those prospects as well as to close clients saying, “Hi. FYI, I will be out of the country and pretty much out of touch from ... to.... If you are thinking of future training or coaching, please let me know by Friday of this week, even if times are tentative. Otherwise, I will respond to any inquiries when I return.”

To my surprise, everyone responded! My guess is that until they received that email with the specific dates in it, they had put me on the “when–I-get-to-that, I’ll-respond” priority list. The Friday deadline suddenly made responding urgent. It was an example of the evergrreen time management principle that "deadlines drive action."

So, what are the lessons here?

One, find a way to “go on vacation.” Find a logical deadline to put into your emails and phone message to spur faster returns.

Two, on a broader scale, put deadlines on all those things that you have been procrastinating doing:

-Contacting a set number of prospects a week

-Re-connecting with a set number of clients per week

-Learning whatever new skills you need to get you to that next level of sales success (I can help)

-Attending to key matters in your personal and family life

The list can go on indefinitely, depending on your situation, your objectives, and the pay-offs you are seeking. Regardless of the activity, to get it done, date it.

Announcing:

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Time is Limited: Make What You Say Pay

Back in April. Enjoy the weather.

Thursday, March 11, 2010

A Rarely Asked But Powerful Negotiating Question

Think of the questions you ask clients in negotiations. Do they include “How do you see yourselves in your industry?”

Your client's answer to this question can be very informative and helpful to you at the point when there is disagreement on price or on some other term of the deal. If you think about it, the only possible answers to the question will be variations of A. Leader, B. Wannabe leader, or C. Some other (often metaphorical) characterization (bell weather, pioneer, pit bull, tortoise, road runner, anchor, etc.) In all cases, these answers reflect either pride or ambition, or both, and, occasionally, fear (on life-support). Tap into your knowledge of those deep values and feelings as you defend the value of what you are offering.

"Mr. Client, you are the leaders of the industry. Why would you not want to work with the leader in our industry?" Or, "Why accept less than the finest quality because of lower price (or other factor on the table for discussion)?" Or, "That is exactly why you are the ones to try this new program, because you ARE the leader."

"Ms. Client, you are among the top three widget companies in your field. Here is a chance to be the lead player in your field. Why miss that opportunity?"

"Ms. Client, you said you see your firm like a 'pitbull.' .What better opportunity to demonstrate that by taking on the bigger firms in this event?"

This appeal to their personal vision is not always going to seal the deal, but it will certainly add emotional punch to your position and may be just the argument you need to tip the final agreement in your favor.

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Good source for general business, marketing, sales articles: www.bnet.com

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Time is limited: Make What You Say Pay

Thursday, March 04, 2010

Dazzle With Value

He stood there, very nondescript, sandy colored hair, hands in pocket, average looks, average height, somewhat overweight, no one special—and then he began to speak. Steve Stott, Founder of Tampa SEO Training Academy, delivered an amazing presentation to a Microsoft Partners meeting that I attended yesterday. It wasn’t the slides--too wordy. It wasn’t the topic--search engine optimization, very technical. It wasn’t his delivery style—though extremely energetic and engaging. It was the fact that he delivered so much more than we expected both in quantity and quality of information. In a 90 minute presentation, we felt like we had received hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars worth of useful information, delivered in an obviously thoughtful and entertaining way that was genuinely meant to help the audience.

Why is this impressive? We live in an age where many people on both the buy and sell sides are coming from a mental framework of scarcity: Buyers--Get more for less. Sellers--Give as little as possible to get as much as possible. Steve’s presentation reflected a mindset of abundance: Give as much value as possible and do it in a spirit of true desire to help listeners—whether they ultimately buy from you or not.

I encourage you to do the same with your clients. Give more value than they expect and do it with enthusiasm and professionalism. It pays off. Just look at this blog. Hundreds of people, who Steve could never reach on his own, will read this. He is now my number one referral for SEO work. And, if I ever need SEO help, he will be my first call. All that for just 90 minutes of work. And I was just one person in that audience.

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Just as Steve's "performance" carried lessons with it, if you loved watching the Olympics recently, lessons for business from the athletes are captured in this short article that appeared in Ad Age.

Time is limited: Make What You Say Pay