If you want something done, give it to a busy person

Why have I said this to you?

Because, the person who is normally asked to do something, is usually, the most effective person within the team, project or organisation.

I have known a lot of people who have enjoyed such privileged status - Haven’t you?

Such people are usually fully committed and effective.

One such person once surprises me, his boss and even himself.

He made an excuse not to except an invitation to do a particularly important and demanding task.

Which was most unusual, as he would normally be more than willing to accept any challenge put to him? He had a reputation for willingness and to accept and perform any task.

But on this particular occasion he surprised us all by saying “NO”, and he went on to say “I have another equally important project to complete”.

So, Why the change?

Well when, in confidence, I asked him “why the change of attitude”.

He said “I can only be fully supportive if I believe that the request has been made of me in good faith”.

In other words he was saying “yes I’m a busy person and normally I am happy to help out, but if these sorts of requests are not handed out on a fair and equitable basis, eventually even the most committed and supportive of us will eventually say “NO”!

So be careful when you ask a busy person to do something!

It would appear that once requests become the norm i.e. ‘give it to Fred or Mary to sort’ it undermines, devalues and reduces the willingness of busy and effective people the respond positively.

Where exactly does marketing and selling fit into your business?

In my line of work I talk to lots of business owners, directors and partners of businesses who say they hate selling and don’t really understand what marketing is all about.

Most appreciate that marketing is an essential business process and yet some look on selling as a necessary evil!

In these stringent economic times clients are very careful about what they spend their money on. They may even be afraid of the whole buying process or of making a big mistake. Which makes marketing and selling both difficult but essential?

To be successful at marketing you need to follow some well thought out and much focused steps.

If you follow the steps laid out below your marketing/sales process will become much easier, mainly because there is a logical flow to them and together they will gradually connect you to your prospective clients, help build your credibility and get you much more involved.

Nine Steps:

1. Choose a niche and get to know your prospective clients needs, frustrations and viewpoints.
2. Empathise with them.
3. Describe how you can add value to them, before, during and after delivery.
4. Offer to do something for them free of charge.
5. Remove or reduce their risk.
6. Have a variety of ways clients can get your help/buy from you.
7. Help people make a decision to say ‘yes’ to you.
8. Deliver more than you promised
9. Keep them informed

If you address the above within your own business context you will produce a process that is tailor made to you niche clientele. Once you have helped and guided your prospective clients through your nine step marketing/sales process they will very likely buy from you.

When your potential clients decide that they need and want your help, they will also want to feel that you enthusiastic about wanting to work with them. It’s all about helping them to make a good business decision that will give them the benefits they want and you have promised.

When you have developed and follow a fully thought-out set of steps your prospects will begin to trust you and see you as the essential expert you no doubt are. They will also tell their business friends and associates.

Follow your planned steps and things will get easier!

How involved are you with your clients?

I have a client that thinks he’s above any form of involvement with his clients!

I've tried to get him to change his mind on numerous occasions, but never got close to doing so.

Yet, I have a number of other client that take great pleasure in totally immersing themselves in their client bases.

One in particular told me recently, “you can't learn what's going on in the minds, hearts and souls of your clients by sitting around trying to be clever. What you must do, if you really want to learn how to market and sell your products and services, is to ensure that you make contact with and get amongst them.”

He also said, “to be successful you need to talk, laugh, weep, eat and drink with them, in fact do whatever you can do to get to know your clients as well as possible.”

So how do you stand on this?

Steve Jobs’ Top 3 Presentation Tips

I do a lot of presentations and workshops in my line of work.


But, because I’m professional and a bit of a perfectionist, I am constantly searching for better and more effective ways to engage with delegates.


As a consequence, I recently came across a transcript of a lecture Steve Jobs gave to a group of business development people.


He made three suggestions:

• Use personal stories to make a Point
• Speak from Your Heart
• Connect the Message to the Listener

Rather than lecturing them about the importance of following their dreams, improving abilities and having the confidence to know that everything will work out OK in the end; Steve Jobs’ chose to share three of guiding principles for ensuring an effective presentation. Presentations that are hugely effective because they are personal, memorable and connect with the listener on a heartfelt level.


Each of Steve Jobs’ three guiding principles forms both an anchor and a hook to the presentation and help to embed it in the listener’s memory.


So Tell a Story to help you make Make a Point!


If you have ever listened to Steve Jobs’ you will know that he always spoke from his heart. His stories were true, genuine and heartfelt, and his listeners could easily detect them as such.


So, how can YOU speak from your heart?


Well you need to speak about topics that you care about, things that you are genuinely passionate about. If you do, it will show through in your presentation.


So speak from your Heart!


Steve Jobs’ tells heart-felt stories that connect us and the lives we lead to his message.


Each of his stories has a key-takeaway message that the audience can apply to their lives.


e.g.  “You can’t connect the dots looking forward. You can only connect them looking backwards, so you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. You have to trust in something: your gut, destiny, luck, life, karma…because believing that the dots will connect down the road will give you the confidence to follow your heart”


So connect your heartfelt message to your listeners!

My Daily Actions

From time to time clients have a tendency to side track our conversations.

Often a conversation may go from “our marketing gets us to this point in the process then it just stops, so what can we do to improve things”  to “Terry you’re a really organised person, what’s your secret for always appearing to be on top of things?”

Once I’ve worked out that they are not ‘pulling my leg’ I tend to answer as follows:

1.  Plan – plan what you need to do tomorrow the evening before; and bring outstanding actions forward and prioritise them. Then, as faithfully as possible, action each in priority order. At the end of the week do a similar exercise but to cover the whole week ahead.

2.  Records - keep a record of your actions, outcomes and progress. What you might record will probably be different to what I would. Just keep a record of what’s important to you. Then review it periodically and try to deduce from it what it’s trying to tell you. Sometimes getting the ‘message’ is not that obvious.

3.  Positive Mental Attitude - your positive mindset will help you face all your challenges. Stay focused and be positive. If you do your actions (which in the fullness of time will become constructive habits) will significantly shape how successful you will be.

4.  Speak to others - if you keep your services to yourself, don’t be surprised if you don’t get any work. So be visible, speak to as many people as you can each day i.e.  Clients, prospects and contacts. This will keep your name and services ‘front of mind’ within your current and expanding network. It helps them to get to know you, like you and ultimately trust you; which will inevitably lead to more business.

5.  Write to someone - and make a significant impact! ‘Snail Mail’ is making a comeback. In an age an instant electronic communication how good is it to receive a real letter or card from someone who has taken the time and trouble to write to you personally. Receipt of such methods of communication will pay off in spades!

6.  Keep up to Date - we are only as valuable as the knowledge, service or products we can deliver that benefit our clients .So ‘read’ widely and your competence will increase and you will be more able to communicate with everyone more effectively.

Sometimes of course, clients don’t actually ask for my opinion - Their loss perhaps?

Call me back, pleeeaaase!

I don’t know about you but I use the telephone a lot, particularly my bright shiny new smart phone. Which I readily admit is a lot smarter than me i.e. it runs bills up that I‘m not even aware of!


So the telephone is a fundamental and irreplaceable resource to me.


If you’re anything like me you have to initiate a lot of telephone calls for all kinds of reasons. Not surprisingly a lot of my calls are associated with marketing/sale in some form or other; and yes I don’t get through to folk all the time. Which is OK because we are all busy people aren’t we? 


But you know some people are so busy they never return my calls. 


Why not?


Well I don’t really know, but I do suspect that these people are missing out a lot of the time, or as my American friends would say “they are just leaving money on the table”.


How’s that?


Well, if they did return our calls they may benefit significantly. Let’s say that the person calling:

• Could be your very next client! 
• Was wishing to refer you to your very next client
• Could have a significant influence in one or more of you most important areas e.g. industry, sector, region or client; or even in some other way that if you ignore them, it could prove not to be a good thing for your reputation or business profits. 
• Could know someone or something that you need to know to help you grow your business; make it more profitable or sustainable.

So don’t just assume its someone trying to sell you something (and strangely enough that could even be to your advantage) they may actually be wanting to do you a good turn!


Think about it!

When did you last receive a postcard from someone?

One of my clients uses a postcard system that I introduced him to a couple of years ago.


It works wonders for him in that it warms prospects up to consider the use of his services, get’s him referrals to other prospects and helps him retain clients.


He sends about 200 cards out per month and he gets about 30 responses as a consequence.


His cards look great. They always have great photographs and illustrations on them; and some really thought provoking copy.


Printed at the top of every card are the words:



"The World's most helpful Postcard"


He reckons it’s the best tool he has and its great in terms of ROI (return on investment) 


Why not try it yourself?


As a trial exercise, put a list of 50 of your contacts, prospects or client together and send them a postcard. Obviously it’s got to carry a personal note from you and should ask them to do something for you i.e. a call to action from you.


How much is that going to cost?


Nothing at all once it starts delivering the results you want.


Even if it were to produce only one referral, or repeat client  or reminds someone that you still want to do business with them  what could that be potentially worth to you?


Plus it's easy to do!


If you don’t know how you know a man who can help


Terry O'Mahony

WORDS ARE TRULY POWERFUL

It’s true, the right series of words can describe your company and the services or products it provides in the most positive terms possible. Such words will, if chosen wisely, help you break through all the other advertising messages out there and it will differentiate you from your competition.

 Alternatively they can actually break you!

So don’t wait, get yourself a really good copywriter and experience the difference he or she can bring to your sales performance.

They will, through the power of words:

·        write headlines that quickly attract your ideal clients

·         make your marketing message crystal clear & simply irresistible

For example, what do you make of the following copy?

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Did it motivate you to make contact?

Apparently it was one of the most effective methods used to generate new enquiries; it increased them by 63%.

So words can be extremely powerful, they can get people to do what you want them to do i.e. respond or be moved onto the next planned sales step.

If you need some help, you know a man who can.

IN RECESSIONARY TIMES, IF CASH IS KING, THEN MARKETING MUST BE QUEEN!

Jack, King or Queen, does it really matter?

Yes, in the sense that we have to recognise the effective marketing of your firm’s services or products is essential, especially in difficult recessionary times, and it must be given the appropriate level of attention and resources.

For instance, in a recent survey of construction firms and the types of marketing tactics and tools they employ, the following results were obtained;

Brochures and other printed sales materials-85.7%

Email-81%

Social Media-76.2%

Events-76.2%

Branding-61.9%

Public Relations-59.9%

Advertising-57.1%

Direct Mail-42.9%

Marketing Plans-28.6%

Website/SEO-28.6%

Blogs-23.8%

Lead Services-23.8%

Market Research-19.1%

Other-14.3%

Convincing stuff, yes?

Well, not in my experience. I have found that when I work with clients to create a better future for their firms, we tend to track the following steps.

Gain a perception of what business they are actually in or want to be part of

Develop a Marketing Plan

Produce a sale orientated and fully optimised website that generates leads

Re-engage with existing customers

Utilise planning report data

Make telephone introductions

Combination of automated direct mail, email and newsletters.

Social Media

Networking events (construction related)

The above actions tend to get clients on track, they know how to contact people, how to get them to move logically and smoothly to the next step that leads prospective clients towards closing out the sale.

Obviously, other clients find them selves driven and controlled by the procurement processes of others. Some clients insist on us following their methodologies which require a different approach.

But that’s for another occasion.

If you need help, you know a man who can

REMEMBER IT’S NOT ABOUT YOU AND WHAT YOU SELL; IT’S ALL ABOUT THE BUYER!

But, what about our products, marketing materials and our after sales service?

 It’s taken us years to get to where we are!

Is it our fault that things have changed, that buyers are more demanding now, more informed and less loyal than they used to be?

Well, it doesn’t really matter what we think it’s what our prospective clients think that really matters.

So, we need to get up to speed or ahead of the curve if possible.

How?

Well, in the first instance you could start by asking your existing customers why they have bought from you in the past, why they continue to buy from you and not from your competition.

You will probably find it very revealing.

It will make you change the way you see yourself and what you think is good, bad or indifferent about you and your products.

If you get your team to think in these terms, you will make changes that will improve your ability to provide 

most if not all that your prospects expect or require of you.

You have nothing to lose and everything to gain, so start now and expect more.

If you need help, you know a man who can.

WHY RE-INVENT THE WHEEL

They say “There is nothing in this world of ours that’s new, different or unique”.

Everything is really a finding, development or an extension of something past, or is an amalgamation of a series of things that when joined together produces what appears to be different, novel or provides a new competitive advantage.

So we don’t have to ‘re-invent the wheel’.

All we need to do is find the most relevant or effective way to start to create something that appears to be new, different or better.

Start from that point.

For instance, there have been so many books written on the subject of sales and marketing that you can find some form of inspiration to get you moving in the right direction, e.g. how to prospect, qualify or establish you’re USP (Unique Sales Proposition).

Few of us enjoy true creativity, original thought or even a simple new idea.

So don’t try, just find the nearest information that approximates a reasonable starting point.

It works;  it’s quick and can be very effective. Try it!

Or, you know a man who can help.

HOW ‘SMART’ IS YOUR MARKETING?

I didn’t even know what they where talking about when they kept saying “Yes, but we do need to ensure its’ SMART’ though”.

I learnt later that SMART meant that everything had to be:

‘Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic & Targeted’

Well, of course what we were working on was, isn’t everybody’s project?

Perhaps, in Marketing terms this is particularly important, if only because there is absolutely no excuse for not measuring your marketing investments and tactics. We have the technology to monitor measure and report on all traffic to and from our location of business, websites, advertising and telephone communications etc.

If you measure your activity you will know how far from planned your various initiatives are, how significant is the deviation and possibly some idea as to what the data is potentially indicating.

Measurement can help you maximise your promotional investments; or as a minimum help to make your budget more effective.

Remember the old adage:

We know that half our marketing works…; we just don’t know which half!

So get ‘SMART’ and you will get much more for your buck, as our American friends tend to say.

Need help?

 Well you know a man who can.

THERE’S NO FUTURE IN KNEE-JERK MARKETING

In my experience most small firms us some sort of knee-jerk marketing.

It usually comes about following the visit of an effective salesman.

Picture this; an owner/manager gets a visit from a man who sells a ‘proven’ lead generation tool.

The prospect buys the idea, concept or ‘tool’.

Then, the prospects sits back to wait his being inundated with an avalanche of new enquiries.

Usually the promised tsunami of new enquiries never happens.

So, another dissatisfied customer comes about.

Unplanned, bright shinny and knee-jerk purchases of marketing tactics and tools usually ends up with a dissatisfied customer.

So how can a small firm avoid expensive marketing mistakes and at the same time find effective ways generate more business?

Well, calling in someone who can help you to appreciate how to establish what it is your really selling, who needs to buy it and what their frustrations tend to be when they use it, usually works well.

If you want your business to be more successful you must be more marketing savvy.

A good starting point would be to start listening to your customers, and then finding ways to deliver what it is that they want i.e. find ways to solve their problems.

If you need a head start you know a man who can help.

HEARD OF ‘ME TOO’ MARKETING?

To be different from our competitors we need to think, act and do things differently.

‘Me too’, i.e. duplicating what everyone else does, gives you no advantage at all; it means you have no competitive advantage and so the only way a customer can differentiate you from your competitors is through the prices you charge!

So you need to consider the following:

• Will our evolutionary gains be sufficient?
• Do we need to make revolutionary improvements to what we offer how we market it or support it once sold?
• Should we find out how we can re-imagine our industry, our role within it and how we communicate our new approaches to clients?
• Can we do things sufficiently differently so that we make the rules?
• If we can, we will leave our competitors behind, because they will remain stuck in their old fashioned ‘me too’ marketing ways.

Appreciating the need to change, thinking about how to go about it and actually creating real progresses is easier to contemplate rather than bring to fruition.

But it is essential that you do because the world has changed, will continue to change and the pace of change will accelerate.

The easy way to address such issues is to use a predetermined check list.

If you don’t have one, you know someone who has.

Strategy versus tactic of the week!

Eventually, we established that almost every initiative my prospective client had invested in had not paid off for them.

Why?

Sometimes that’s not easy to determine.

However, when we enquired further we managed to establish that almost every marketing tactic that they had invested in was what might be called a ‘knee- jerk reaction’ to a business problem or marketing need.

No real strategy often delivers ineffective tactical results.

So strategy is paramount.

They help to determine:

-best direction of travel

-target markets, customer profiles and their frustrations

-competitor advantages (and weaknesses)

-who can help you etc

So once you have worked out a ‘Strategy’ you can more easily determine which promotional/lead generation tactics are relevant, cost effective and which will deliver.

So if you need some clarification you know a man who can.

Terry O’Mahony

YOU ARE WHAT YOU THINK ABOUT!

When I first heard this contention I didn’t really think much of it.

For instance, if you’re thinking about making money do you automatically become a millionaire? No!

More realistically still, if you think about how to become a top class marketeer do you just become one? No!

You only become one, if at all, if you invest all your time, energy and ability in becoming fully effective in your chosen field.

You become something you aspire to be because you directly or vicariously invest the majority of your time in doing it/living it/loving it/becoming it.

I know someone who really wanted to be a top marketeer.

She read every book she could lay her hands on related to marketing. Unfortunately for her she wasn’t a very practical person and even worse had no innate innovatory capabilities or instincts.

So do we really become what we think about?

Well I think we can.

But, over and above our decision to become something of our choice we do need to have  some related qualities. Imagine wanting to be a triathlete but not being able to swim. Not a good foundation really.

However, in terms of marketing and sales functions, you can become what you think about if you care enough about one fundamental issue:

‘Do you really want to help people to solve their business/marketing challenges and problems ethically, quickly and cost effectively’?

If you do want to be an effective marketeer I do think you can learn or develop all that’s necessary to become what you think about or aspire to be!

If you’re honest and helpful by nature!

If you need any help, you know a man who can

TOLD & SOLD

When I asked him, “Do you know which of your advertising is working for you”, he said “no not really”. Not a good start; but pretty typical of most small companies.

Which reminds me, I once read that someone had stated that ‘half their advertising worked; but they just didn’t know which half’!

Following on from which, after some discussion, I suggested that it would be a good idea if he filled out a form that informed him who was buying which of his products.

Why?

Because this is a very methodology that anyone can put together.

Down one side of a piece of paper record all the promotions you have invested in; on the other axis list all your clients that have bought your advertising/products.

What it will clearly show you is who bought what.

Which is really powerful stuff, because it actually tells us which ‘half’ of our advertising is working!

If you need help, you know a man who can.

DO LESS-EARN MORE!

Have you ever had too much to do and too little time to do it in?

Well, I’m there right now; in fact I seem to be there all the time of late.

Stuff just seems to keep coming through the door all the time and not surprisingly the folk that have sent it expect an instant response; and so they should. Why not, it’s easy to supply strategically important marketing strategies, tactics and communication tools, isn’t it?

But seriously, when the pressure is on, how can we actually do less and earn more at the same time?

Well, I find the following of some positive use; I ask myself:

• Is this request important, urgent, or both?
• Am I working longer and harder than I planned too?
• Is there a fast/easy way to do what is required of me i.e. can I find a relevant and accessible answer which already exists in-house or is publically available, or am I attempting to reinvent the wheel all over again?
• Do I know someone who can help me or accelerate my ability to respond effectively?

What I actually find best, is too simply prioritise what is required of me and respond accordingly, even if I can’t satisfy everyone within their chosen timeframes.

No exceptions or excuses!

I am also conscious that there is often no excuse for good old experience.

If you need a formula to follow, you know a man who can provide you with one.

EVERBODY IS REALLY BUSY, BUT NO ONE HAS ANY WORK!

What!

Lately a lot have people have said this to me in one form or other.

They might have also said “we are being busy fools”.

In these deep recessionary time most of us seem to be really short of time.

Why?

Well, it’s probably because our clients have become more demanding, we have lost a few so the pressure is on us or it might be they have found us wanting in some way.

Wanting!

What do you mean?

Well, when clients are in the driving seat again, they can and will be more selective in terms of who they are prepared to work with.

Lost a clients or project opportunity recently?

I have had a string of company’s come to me because the tide of business has turned against them.

‘We are busy, but we are not making any money’ is the cry!

In reply ‘no problem’ I confidently reply!

What!

Yes, we can all be confident if we know what to do in terms of effective marketing.

If you feel the need to know more, you know a man who can help.

WHY DOES RICHARD BRANSON SPEND 25% OF HIS TIME ON MARKETING?

Because, he knows from experience, that without effective marketing nothing of any significance will happen; no services will be delivered, no one will be employed and life as we know it will come to a crashing halt!

But Richard Branson is mega successful and rich!

So why does he focus so much of his time on Marketing?

Probably, because he knows that it is the one real action open to us all that will make a real change to our business circumstance and futures.

You could align it to the old adage ‘no pain, no gain’.

Where ‘pain’ represents investment and ‘gain’ represents ROI (return on investment) i.e. profit!

Arguably, no other form of investment can deliver the same levels of return that marketing can.

Also, it can not only help to build businesses, it can create its value and in certain circumstances it can even save the business from going into bankruptcy!

Marketing done properly can change every business for the better.

I have endless numbers of clients and examples of how marketing has changed their worlds.

Ever heard the phrase ‘fail to plan, plan to fail’.

This phrase can be interpreted as ‘If you fail to plan your marketing efforts effectively; you are actually planning to go out of businesses! Remember the Polaroid camera!

If you need help with your marketing, you know a man who can.

DON’T MAJOR IN MINOR THINGS

I used to do this.

Quite a lot.

I don’t any more, because I have learnt, often from being lucky enough to have worked over the years with a lot of very smart colleagues and clients that focusing on the wrong issue at the wrong time for the wrong reasons can get you in to real trouble.

Because, if you do find yourself majoring in minor things, you will not only miss the point by miles, you often deny yourself the chance to redeem things later on.

Always remember to give your thoughts, ideas and impending actions a ‘Sense Check’ before embarking yourself and your team on a particular course of action.

Always try to determine what represents a best fit or best course of action to follow before finalising your decision.

Over the years I have met so many people who have found themselves ‘majoring on minor things’, or in other words focusing on one unimportant issue, rather than being able to spot what is the real problem to solve.

So in order to make progress we need to major on the key or core issues confronting us and determine a best course of action: that way you won’t go far wrong.

If you need some help in this regard you know a man who can

LOTS OF PEOPLE CONFUSE ACTIVITY WITH ACCOMPLISHMENT

He never stops working. He starts every day at about 5:30 am and and goes ‘hell for leather’ all day long, every day!

Sadly he doesn’t seem to ever meet his targets and often lets people down.

That’s not very productive or satisfying, is it?

I have often told him that he needs to be less focused on getting stuff out of the door and be more focused on working through his ‘to do list’ in a more prioritised fashion.

He sadly confuses being busy with being productive.

Ever heard the phrase ‘being as busy fool’?

My mother always said “less haste more speed”!

So, if you are, or any of your colleagues appear to be confusing activity with accomplishment, try to point out the error of their ways. They may not thank you for it initially, but we all need a friend who cares enough about to be able to tell us when our breath smells!

If you have bad breath, you know a man who is brave enough to tell you!