According to
Guerrilla Marketing Weekly Intelligence
“52 percent of callers hang up
when they are placed on hold
for one minute in silence,
but only 13 percent hang up
when music is played,
and a mere 2 percent hang up
when there is a spoken message.”
But what to say?
A study in the Journal of Applied Psychology
states that customers prefer
information over apologies.
Tell them
where they are in line.
Paul McCord has a great article
on How To Develop Client And Customer Trust.
One of the best ways is
to give the right advice for the client
even if that may not be the right advice
for the salesperson.
“Once the client knows that
you are willing to sacrifice
an immediate sale
for the sake of maintaining your integrity,
your reputation with that client is sealed.”
Consumer Packaged Goods companies
know this.
There’s a coveted position
of category captain
at grocery
and manufacturers compete for that honor.
The category captain leads shelf redesign
and is expected to put the needs
of the grocery store ahead of
the needs of her company.
When designing ads,
great marketers not only concentrate
on what is there,
but they also pay attention
to what isn’t.
In Marlboro ads,
there are never any fences.
Why?
Because they didn’t want to
give an impression of restricted freedom.
In Coca-Cola ads,
you should never see
a child drinking a cola.
Why?
Because it would be socially
irresponsible.
Everything,
even nothing,
sends a message.
A Opinion Research USA’s study
revealed
that the number one meeting pet peeve
is “disorganized, rambling meetings”.
The distant second
was
“peers that interrupt
and try to dominate meetings”.
Are these peers
the same folks
dealing with the first?
You may not have time
but invest a little up front
to plan the meeting
and avoid wasting mine.
Get to the point,
get agreement,
and then
get out.
A common saleswoman trick is
to travel with a navy blue or black blazer.
Putting on a blazer immediately dresses up
a polo shirt
or tank top
or a pair of jeans.
I took this trick
and applied it to corporate.
I had a blazer hanging
on a clothes hanger
behind my office door.
The rest of my wardrobe consisted
of pieces that I could wear with that blazer.
Even if I was pulled into a board meeting
on casual Friday
during the company bbq,
I looked half decently dressed.
When I moved from Road To Forbes
to my own domain,
I almost reposted
my two years of history.
I told myself that it was
because readers wanted the old posts.
A lie.
All that content is available
with a simple Google search.
No, it was arrogance, pure and simple.
It irked me to be back to being
a baby blogger,
starting all over.
The price for this arrogance
would have been high.
I’d be back in the Google Sandbox
(where I have my own chair)
penalized for duplicate content.
How is that serving my readers?
Easy answer.
It doesn’t.
An accounting friend is interviewing.
She’s gifted (yes in finance)
and companies are wooing her.
One of her criteria for
a prospective employer?
She has used the latest version for months
and it simply doesn’t work
(for finance people).
It has all the bells and whistles
(though no flight simulator this time)
and that is the problem.
The fancy Fluent menu bar
interferes rather than enhances.
The product is over developed
and is not longer usable.
Seth Godin has a great post
on how people accustomed to saying no
will continue to say no.
The opposite is also true.
People accustomed to saying yes
will continue to say yes.
A common sales “trick”
is to start the prospect off
with easy yes answers.
Have you thought about getting a new car?
Yes (or else what are they doing on the lot?)
Do you have some models in mind?
Yes (again, they are on your lot).
Those types of questions.
Working, of course, up to the big yes,
the yes to your sale.
Guy Kawasaki interviews
author and career columnist
Penelope Trunk.
What interested me was
her stance on being a specialist
vs being a generalist.
She says
“In Hollywood,
the best way to get your pick
of any role in the industry
is to become a specialist
funny guy, tough girl, action hero
get known for being the best at something,
and then use that star-power to branch out.
The same is true in business.”
That is exactly what I did.
I took my base in accounting
and wedged myself into
marketing meetings,
sales meetings,
and eventually
new business development meetings.
This tactic works.
Surprisingly, it is rarely used.
I love this cartoon by Hugh
at Gaping Void.
The pawn thinking that
all his hard work will allow
him to be King
and the King thinking that
all the pawn’s hard work
will allow him
to remain King.
A wonderful illustration of two people
thinking “what’s in it for me.”
That could be you and your client
or you and your boss.
When you frame your pitch
to appease her concerns
while satisfying your own goal,
you’ll have success.