Are You Listening to Me?

When I attend networking events, frankly, I'm amazed at the number of times I'm bombarded by other sales people spewing forth their pitches to everyone in sight, without any idea whether their solution will help me, along with everyone else they meet.

Now, of course, the point of going to these events is to meet prospects: a.k.a. other people you can help. The problem begins when sales people are so busy watching for their ship to sail in, they forget the part about helping.

Especially in this economy, I can sympathize with people who desperately need to cover the bills. Trust me, I'm in the same boat. The difference is, these days my ship is coming from a completely foreign place than theirs. I've already been to where they are, and I know the channel they are on will not lead them to where they want to go. Many souls will continue to be lost searching for that Northwest Passage. This is mainly because they have a beacon above their head saying: "Buy from me. I really need your cash!". No wonder everyone turns and bolts away.

Just yesterday, I was approached by someone in my local grocery store parking lot. It was pouring down rain, and yet he stood there to ask me for a food donation. His pitch was sincere and he was well-spoken. He wasn't homeless and although he wasn't dressed in designer clothing, he was clean and well-groomed... at least, as groomed as you can be in the pouring rain. In fact, he looked a lot like people I meet at networking functions. Clearly, he was desperate and so, most people were bolting from him. The rain didn't help his cause either.

How can you keep from appearing as desperate as the man begging at the grocery store? How can you turn your ship around, so it's not coming from a place of hopelessness?

To start with: take the focus off yourself. No one is interested in you, sorry to say. They have their own issues and concerns. Everyone is tuned into only one radio station: WII-FM (what's in it for me).

How do you do this? It's really quite simple. 1. Start asking lots of questions. 2. LISTEN to the answers.

People who ask questions, not only are guiding the conversation, but also appear to the other person, to be acutely interested in them. And you should be. What they have to say, will guide you towards finding out whether you have a solution for them or not. So, listening closely and focusing on that other person is a critical skill for you to develop.

The beautiful thing about using this system is two-fold: In the first place, you find out whether this person needs your services or not. If they don't, you can politely move on to the next person you'd love to help. Often your prospect isn't even aware you were prospecting.

And secondly, you have not burnt a bridge with them by prematurely jumping all over them with your solution they don't need, and seeming as desperate as the man in grocery store parking lot who got 1lb of ground beef from me, but who will have to come back, over and over again, hoping he will find new prospects who won't see him coming and navigate around him completely.

What You Invest = How Your Interest Compounds

How do you create more business? From large corporations to the small business owner, this is the million dollar question everyone mulls over. You can spend loads of money on studies and committees devoted to the question, but it really boils down to something very basic: show interest in others.

Clients can quickly discern between sincerity vs. self-interest. The question remains, how can you be certain you are being perceived as sincere? Being genuine could be as simple a gesture as looking at the client's business card for 10 seconds after they offer it to you.

A large corporation may need to work at this end result harder, in order to implement this strategy uniformly across all departments and franchises.

Implementing training about relationship marketing and developing efficient, yet simple systems to nurture client relations will go a long way to helping this mission along. And as long as this vision is outlined clearly, it's achievable on small or grand scale.

Sending Birthday Cards Boosts Business

How do you build better business or personal relationships? It's not rocket science: You need to provide value and find ways to connect with your client, and as a result, you begin to build trust and generate repeat sales.

One strategy corporations are using is to send birthday cards to loyal customers. It shows the client you are paying attention to them and gives them one more reason to continue to decide to buy from you. It takes 6X more effort, money and time to land a brand new client. It is a much more effective use of your resources to generate more sales from customers who have already made the decision to purchase from you.

As reported in The San Diego Union-Tribune (2/4/2008), many large companies such as Banana Republic and Southwest Airlines are seeing the return on investment to sending out birthday greetings. This is a strategy all companies, right down to a Mom and Pop operation, can use.

Banana Republic encloses a $15 gift card for all their customers who have registered for a Banana Republic credit card. Fully 1/3 of all coupons are redeemed. This is a substantial and measurable success rate.