client k – Page 624

The Guest Host Relationship

A local business held an event recently.
The press came,
the press received their goodie bags (press bags),
the press had a good time, and
the press wrote long stories on the event.
Then instead of using the local business’ name,
the location of the event was identified quite deliberately
as “a local bookstore.”

A President of a certain country visited
a U.S. University recently.
Before he even said a word,
before he could even thank his hosts
for the invitation,
he was treated to a berating of his policies and actions.
A berating that went on and on,
that had to be translated so
he could be insulted in his own language.

The bookstore will likely never treat
the press so well again.
The next guest of the University is likely right now
rethinking his or her decision.

Being a bad guest or a bad host
does not hurt others as much as it hurts yourself.

Kelly Clarkson Fighting For Her Songs

In the August edition of Reader’s Digest,
the first American Idol Kelly Clarkson
talks about going to the record label
and fighting for her songs.

“The song I wrote that they hated
the most was “Because Of You.”
I fought and fought for it,
it became successful and
they finally got behind it.”

I have yet to launch a product
that I didn’t have to fight for first.
Resistance is part of the process.

You Never Write, You Never Call

I have a loved one
who used to complain
I never thought of her.
Despite calling her semi-regularly,
sending her emails, etc.,
I would hear that repetitive complaint.

Then I started sending her weekly letters.
Now for a cost of a stamp and a postcard,
she’s happy.
She feels loved.

What does this have to do with sales?
Most customers have a tiny, tiny “thing”
that if supplied, they feel loved.

For me, as a customer,
it is the follow up phone call/email/letter
after I buy.
Do that and I’ll be a customer for life.

How to find out that one thing?
Simple. Ask.
Ask about their best buying experience
and what the salesperson did during it.

Selling Specs

I was on a site selling blogs
(doing research for a friend).
Listing after listing had the same information.
Page Rank, Monthly Revenue,
Unique Visitors, Links In…

Then there was a listing
with none of that.
And no bidders.

The comments?
Asking about the common information.
It was common because
that was what the buyers were looking for.
That was how they valued the blogs.

By not listing the information,
the seller looked like a junior jammer,
out of touch with the market.
Not likely to get premium pricing.

Partnership Prenup

From my recent adventures
in blogging partnerships,
I’ve learned that,
as with marriages,
its often best to decide
how the partnership will end
before the partnership starts.

This “prenup” is needed even for
the most informal partnerships
(as my blogging relationships were).

Launching a new venture is a tough, tough business.
To expect all partners to survive is unreasonable.

The Business Card Is Not Dead

I’ve read on different blog posts
that the business card is dead,
that email signatures are the new method
of recording contact information.

I disagree.

A few weeks ago, I won a contest.
The holder of the contest, an author,
included her business cards as part of the prize mailing.
She gave me a dozen and
by the end of a week 1,
I had given them all out.

Why?

It was the quickest way to
convey her information during
a face-to-face conversation.
The business card had
a picture of her new book and her website.

Collecting On Collections

People buy on emotion and
no where is this more apparent
than in collecting.

Why do people collect?

Terry Shoptaugh,
University archirist and instructor
at Minnesota State University Moorhead says
“We use keepsakes to stimulate memory,
especially to trigger fond memories.”

The top collectibles?
Coins, stamps and teddy bears.

Investing In Capital Last

I worked for a Fortune 500 beverage company.
We were coming out with a new product.
In my plans, I planned for capital investments.

But not in the first year.

In the first year,
we planned to have a co-packer
make the product.
This co-packer would supply the equipment.
This meant leaner margins, less profit.

So why this strategy?
Because we weren’t assured of success.
And until we knew that it was,
we weren’t investing long term.

If a Fortune 500 company bootstraps new products,
so should the untried entrepreneur.

Handling Sales Objections With Feel, Felt, Found

Hearing no is part of sales.
Learning how to deal with objections
is a must for any salesperson.

Brian Tracy in this book “Be A Sales Superstar”
suggests using the Feel, Felt, Found method.

“When a customer says something
like “It costs too much,” you can say,
“I understand exactly how you feel.
Others felt the same way
when they first heard the price.
But this is what they found
when they began using out product or service.””

Jay Leno’s Star Placement

In today’s information culture,
it is pretty much impossible to hide your past.

There are two basic ways to approach the “bad” bits.
You can try to keep them a secret and
hope they never surface
(impossible to do if you are ever in the media spotlight)
or you can be open about them.

Jay Leno?
He puts a star on them.
The placement of his Walk Of Fame star is
on the site where he got arrested for vagrancy.