The Incredible Power of an Elevator Speech |
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Marketing -
Marketing
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Written by Dave Kahle
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“Why should someone spend time with you?” That was the question I asked the six sales people who were the subjects of an intense week-long training session.
The response? Blank stares. Some uncomfortable fidgeting. Nothing anywhere close to a coherent, persuasive response.
That experience made me realize the need for what I call a “value-added proposition,” and what many people refer to as an “elevator speech.” It is a well-thought-out, meticulously prepared, and memorized set of ideas that ultimately answer the question above. It should exist in several different versions:
1. There should be a one-page (250 words or so) description of
* who you are
* what you do
* why your customers and prospects should care.
2. That should be reduced to a 30 word version that should be memorized by everyone who has contact with the customer.
3. Finally, that should be further reduced to a four-to-eight word version that can accompany every communication, from web site advertising to face-to-face interactions.
Why this is important
“Five minutes or it’s free.” That was the banner hanging over the fast food restaurant near my house. I noticed it as I drove past one day. Interesting. In a mini-environment of intense competition (there must be a dozen fast-food options within a mile of this road) they chose to focus on one aspect of their offering – speed – and turn it into a “value-added proposition.” In a world of other options for the customer, they chose to take their strength, turn it into a benefit for the customer, and boil that down to say to the customer, “Buy it from us. We’ll guarantee quick service. “
It had its desired impact. I noticed the banner, and decided to stop in for breakfast. The waitress took my order, noted the time on the order pad, and handed me a stop watch! I took up the challenge, clicked it on, and waited to see if they would perform. The order arrived within five minutes. I noticed the waitress look at her watch and note the delivery time on the order pad.
Let’s consider what we can learn from this experience. First, the value-added proposition consolidates some of the strengths of the organization, and turns them into benefits for the customer base. Then, it translates those benefits into a “proposition” which challenges the customer to become involved. It reaches out into the world and says “Consider me. Here’s why.” It serves, then, as a proactive way to interest and attract potential customers.
Just as importantly, it helps refine who you are as an organization. You will become who you tell people that you are. For example, I suspect that the restaurant did not have a quantity of stop watches in their inventory prior to deciding to toss “Five minutes or it’s free” into the world. I suspect that the order forms were modified to accommodate the claim, that the wait staff was trained in the processes to implement it, that some items came off the menu and others were added, and that there were some cooks who don’t work there any more because of their inability to be who the restaurant said they were.
Once you say that you provide “outstanding customer service,” or “the highest quality products” for example, you have to back that up. You must become who you say you are, and actually do what you claim you do.
The value-added proposition, then, brings with it tremendous power to focus your image to your customer base and, at the same time, organize your internal operations to deliver what you say you will.
From the point of view of the sales force, the value-added proposition gives them a focal point -- a place to hang their claim for uniqueness. But it also gives them a wedge into the doors of the prospect, and an appropriate topic of conversation with every contact.
That’s why the 30-word version should be memorized and practiced until it can be delivered accurately, fluently and persuasively.
How to do it
The creation of a value-added proposition can be much more significant than it may look at first glance. Once you understand the power of this set of words to attract customers, equip sales people, and shape operations, you will realize that this can be a “bet the business on this” strategic initiative.
Get it wrong, and your organization’s very survival may be in jeopardy. Get it right, and it can provide fuel for your growth for the foreseeable future.
So, it ought to be treated as a major strategic initiative in your organization, and given the allotment of resources that accompany such efforts.
Gather your best people for a brainstorming session. Capture the output, and bring it to a more analytical group to refine. Put it in the hands of your best communicators to create the three versions mentioned above.
Then, test it before you commit to it. Put it in the hands of some sales people and gather their comments. Float it by some of your customers whose honest opinion you expect. Run it through the search engine optimization folks.
Refine it until you are ready to live with it.
Then, publish the short version in every conceivable place. On business cards, letterhead, voice mail messages, web sites, email signatures, etc.
Bring the sales people in, require they memorize the 30-word version, and train them in persuasively presenting it. Lots of role-play and practice here. Do the same with anyone who has regular customer contact.
Finally, publish the one-page version. Make it into a hard copy leave-behind for the sales force. Publish it on your web site. Hand it to every vendor.
Distribute it to everyone who has an interest.
Then, watch as it begins to flow into every aspect of your business, stimulating and shaping your growth.
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Why Creating Great Content Needs to be One of Your Top Goals |
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Marketing -
Marketing
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Written by Colleen Francis
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In today's market, you and your organization are more than sales professionals: you’re subject experts who can offer something of value to customers and prospects.
That is why it’s so important to create a base of thought leadership in your work: transcending what you are selling, and sharing what you know. This is especially vital if you're selling to large-sized businesses, where you're dealing at once with many more decision makers and much a longer decision-making process.
In my webinars and sales training sessions with clients, I’ve talked about how big changes in the marketplace are rewriting the rules on sales. Selling is far more relationship-based than it used to be. That puts a premium on likeability and trust. Adapting to the new normal isn't an option anymore: it's essential.
The best way to ride that tidal wave of change isn’t by pitching more of that impersonal marketing collateral that everyone has seen and read before. The solution is your ideas, shared in your voice as a subject authority. This is what customers crave. Feed that appetite. Whether you’re a small company or part of a large organization, creating great content needs to be one of your top goals.
What do we mean by content? Taking your ideas and insights and sharing them online with a mass audience, using products and tools that are enjoyable to use.
Let’s look a little deeper at why this is so important…
You are the sum of what you create and share.
What’s the first place people go today to find out more about you, your company and your products or services? It’s not the yellow phone directory, and it’s not your company brochure. They turn to Google and other online search engines. When they do that, they’re hoping to find more than just your website.
With every article you post, every personal video you create, every free ebook you publish, every product review you share, and every comment you make via social media, you are building your profile, sharing what you know and adding value to your relationships with others online.
Know how you are seen.
Do an audit of your existing online content. Google your name (or your company name). Examine the results carefully. What do the results tell you about how customers and prospects perceive you when they look you up online? Since the content you create and share has a direct influence on how you are seen in your market, start thinking about how you can increase your output of ideas and advice and sharing it online.
Cycles have changed.
Growing a rich forest of content helps you tackle two very important changes in the marketplace. First, since the decision-making cycle is longer now than before, you need to work harder at being persuasive. One of the key ways you do that is by showcasing your knowledge and contributing something of value to your readers on a regular basis.
The second important change is in how quickly information spreads now. As Google CEO Eric Schmidt notes: "The harsh message is that everything will happen much faster. Every product cycle, every information cycle, every bubble, will happen faster, because of network effects, where everybody is connected and talking to each other." When you create and share thoughtfully developed content, you help your readers gain knowledge faster...and that positions you as a trusted resource.
Audience attention is scarce.
Seth Godin explains it this way: "In a world where everything is a click away, and in a world where everyone can have their own YouTube channel, ten blogs and a thousand email accounts...the only thing that's scarce is attention." It’s not enough anymore to just generate traditional marketing collateral and hope that someone will read it and respond. You can’t count on having anyone’s sustained attention for long periods of time anymore. However, with regularly posted content, you have a great opportunity to connect with people for brief periods on an ongoing basis.
More than just opinions.
Sharing what you know is about a lot more than just stating your opinion on something. Back up what you have to say with facts and research. Whether that comes from your own research in your company white paper, or sharing the results of an industry-leading think tank, insight and knowledge thrive best when it’s shared. We living in a world now where every two days now we create as much information as from the dawn of civilization up to 2003. Use that to your advantage.
Add extra value to social media activities.
By posting and sharing all-original content, you also create a platform that you can build on via social media. No pitching. No hard selling. When you use social media to share what you know via your content (e.g., blog posts, newsletter articles, white papers, ebooks), you become a resource to others.
Tie-in what you know to what you do.
Engaging content sticks with people. It’s memorable because it’s not about you: it offers something of value to them instead. That’s a much more effective way to remain on someone’s radar and makes your job much easier to connect that knowledge with the value of what you are selling.
More than just websites, white papers and blog posts.
Advertising legend Lee Clow says that today "everything is media." You have at your disposal the ability to share what you know with far more people than just your existing customers and prospects. You can shoot how-to videos on your mobile phone and post them to a special YouTube page. You can create a personal magazine on your smartphone or tablet and share your favourite stories via Twitter, Google+, Facebook or LinkedIn. You can collect your blog posts and self-publish your own ebook.
Things that used to require an entire industry to do over a period of months, you can create on your own over a period of days. This is a huge shift and a major opportunity for anyone in the selling business.
Do it yourself if you have time. Get help if you don’t.
It’s important that your voice remains authentic in all your content. But let’s face it: in sales, your time is always at a premium. You still need to concentrate on prospecting and looking after your existing customers.
Get help. There are writers and content specialists out there (I can recommend some, too) who will help fine-tune your persuasive message and grow your audience while ensuring that the ideas you are talking about and the voice you use to do that remain your own.
You are your own media channel, if you want to be. Make it happen by making content creation a top goal for yourself and your organization!
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When it Counts, Make the Time to Marinate |
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Marketing -
Marketing
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Written by Robyn Davis
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Have you ever made spaghetti sauce from scratch for a special night in? If you have (and I don’t mean pouring pre-made sauce out of a jar, heating it up, and adding some parsley to the top), then you know an all day process is required to achieve the perfect mix. After preparing the core ingredients, they have to be added to your pot in layers along with the appropriate seasonings. Then, as the saying goes, “a watched pot never boils,” so don’t expect the vegetables to soften or the flavors to meld together any quicker just because you’re standing in front of the stove and it’s almost dinnertime…
That’s not to say you couldn’t complete this process more quickly (after all, you probably don’t need a gourmet quality meal every night; so you could just microwave the veggies or season more liberally to compensate for the lack of time contributed to this process). However, in that case, you will also have to accept it when your final product is less impressive than it could have been.
This isn’t only true in the kitchen; the same trade off can also be found in creative projects. If you don’t invest the time and effort in your projects, you will not enjoy exceptional results. Take an extra minute to let it sink in. If you start an important project at the last minute, you will not have the time to obtain the distance (which provides the perspective) necessary to improve past your initial ideas.
Doesn’t your business deserve the most impressive product possible?
Are you writing your next series of educational articles for publication? Designing new marketing materials for an upcoming trade show? Preparing a special presentation for VIP prospects? These are a few example circumstances where “just okay” is not good enough. If you don’t want to regret your (lack of) effort on your next key project, you need to make the time to let your ideas marinate.
Follow these steps:
(1) Prioritize and start early.
When you say “yes” to one project, you are saying “no” to something else. If you have decided that, yes, you will make time to approach your next project as if it were that homemade (time consuming but totally worth it) spaghetti sauce, you will have to reduce the time you spend on something else to compensate. Look at your schedule as a whole and compare your available time with the time required for each project. Schedule extra buffer time into each project’s timeline (or consider obtaining some assistance) to enable successful completion even if/when other issues arise and cut into the time you had set aside.
(2) Commit and put your ideas on paper.
Many professionals become overwhelmed by large projects and find it difficult to get started with their most important tasks. That’s why you must decide that you will invest the time and effort to do your best work moving forward and then record your initial thoughts immediately. After making a commitment to yourself or others, you should feel more motivated to complete your task because doing so means avoiding failure and upholding your word.
At the same time it is important to take pride in your initial effort, you must also avoid feeling like your first draft has to be perfect. Don’t forget that you have scheduled the time necessary for your initial ideas to be edited later. Collecting your thoughts will help to get the creative juices flowing and build confidence in the amount of information you have already considered (often subconsciously) so the size and/or importance of your project doesn’t paralyze you.
(3) Walk away.
Once you have typed (or written) your initial ideas in one place, walk away. Find an activity which distracts you from the project so that your mind has an opportunity to process the ideas you have assembled without feeling unnecessary pressure to perform on the spot. Be sure to select an activity which is actually relaxing (otherwise, you would just be avoiding work, not helping the creative process by refreshing your attitude). Then, when you return to your project, you will do so with a fresh pair of eyes and the perspective required to continue working productively.
(4) Edit, walk away, and then edit again.
With each round of “edits,” you will become more attached to your project and it will become more difficult to remain objective. This is good because you will be cementing your dedication to your project’s success, but bad because one of the keys to productive editing is in seeing your work as your audience sees it (so you can edit accordingly). Force yourself to get some space in between each round of edits so that you can pretend you are viewing your project as your target audience for the first time. Upon your return, observe any minor issues you would have otherwise missed and expand upon your creative ideas to clarify and improve your work. Repeat this cycle until you are certain that you have done your very best work and don’t be afraid to ask for an outside opinion as you become more confident in your final project.
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What Separates the Good Marketers from the Great Ones? |
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Marketing -
Marketing
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Written by Jeff Beals
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If you go to work every day, you might as well go all the way and shoot for the pinnacle of your profession. It’s a competitive world, so set your sights high. If you’re going to take the risk and invest the time, strive for greatness.
Ever since Jim Collins wrote his best-selling book, Good to Great, in 2001, business people worldwide have been fixated on greatness. Why do some companies do so well when a similar competitor languishes? Why do some companies transition from being merely successful to being truly great? What traits and behaviors separate the good from the great?
Of course, good-versus-great questions apply not only to companies; they can be asked of people who want to be great salespersons or marketers.
And remember, everyone is in sales and marketing regardless of their title.
Whether you’re selling medical equipment, working in business development or brokering international business transactions, it’s frankly easy to fail. Salespersons, marketers and dealmakers in every profession commonly fail. Some succeed, but only a tiny percentage achieves greatness.
The question then is what sales-and-marketing traits will lead you to the top of your profession?
Character - Great professionals are ethical and honest. They don’t tell a client or colleague what he or she wants to hear, it’s what they need to hear. Leaders with character tend to hire employees who are also upstanding citizens. Together, they attract clients of character. Everybody wins.
Be competitive - “Second don’t mean nothin’,” said Hall of Fame football coach Barry Switzer who led the Oklahoma Sooners to three national championships and the Dallas Cowboys to the Superbowl. Play to win. Be persistent. Don’t let anything fall through the cracks. Keep track of your competition and do what it takes to run at least a couple steps ahead of them. Be bold for the world has no room for shrinking violets.
Interpersonal skills - It sure helps if you possess some charisma, but rule number one is to listen. Great professionals listen and truly HEAR. When you are engaged in conversation, remember it’s not about you; it’s about your client.
Strategic Thinking - Have a plan that takes into account the big picture. What’s your philosophy? Strong organizations have developed mission and vision statements. Great individuals need them too.
Focus - Whether you are looking at this from an organizational perspective or a personal one, determine your competencies and spend the majority of your time, energy and resources working on those. If you feel like you’re spinning your wheels, ask yourself, “Am I doing what is truly important?”
Have a good product - Contrary to the popular saying, nobody can really sell ice to Eskimos. If your product or service doesn’t stand on its own merit, trying to sell it is no different than beating your head against the wall.
Others first - Real estate agents, accountants and trustees are said to have “fiduciary” responsibilities to their clients. In other words, they are legally required to put the client’s interest before their own. No matter what you do, pretend you have a fiduciary duty to the customers you serve. If you do this, you will build rapport, which leads to a relationship, which leads to the holy grail of sales and marketing: trust.
Ability to handle stress - “There are many guys who can paint an incredibly cogent picture of why a company should be investing in China or why a football team should run a certain offense,” says Joe Moglia, who serves as both chairman of TD Ameritrade and a head coach in the United Football League. “The reality is, when things are not going well, when you’re losing money in China, and your guys keep fumbling the ball, how do you handle yourself?”
Keep prospecting - No matter how busy you are as you put the finishing touches a big deal, remember to think about future deals. Always take time to fill your hopper, so you always have a steady supply of business. Don’t get emotionally attached to a certain piece of business, because you give up your power. Always go where the business is, where your best prospects live. It makes no sense to fish for business in a deserted lake.
Wrap it up - Ultimately, the purpose of marketing is to get somebody to say “yes.” Know what you hope to achieve from a prospect before you meet him or her and then keep steering the conversation toward closure.
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