5 Ways To Ruin A Business Relationship. Forever.

Early on in my career in sales I closed "THE" deal. I landed a substantial corporate account. It was a significant boost to my income and the company was growing rapidly. Things were going so well I was writing the specifications. If you have been in that world you know it does not get much better than that!

They had multiple local locations that I personally serviced and received commission. Perfect! They brought in a new manager at one location that had a long standing relationship with one of my competitors. We just did not gel, but I really didn't care because I had this corporate account locked up. We got into an argument one day and I was unprofessional in my response, but I didn't care because I had this account locked up. You know where this is going. I received a phone call from my locked up contact at corporate. I lost the account! Really, just because one person did not like me?

Wrong. I lost the account because I was arrogant and narcissistic in thinking that I was more important than I really was.  The problem wasn't this one person it was me. I had taken this relationship for granted. A great lesson to learn. Sometimes you need to get hit by a 2x4 and in the wallet to learn. I did apologize to that person. Not because I thought I would get the business back, it was the right thing to do. FYI- I never got that business back.

Here Are 5 Ways To Ruin A Business Relationship. Forever.

Narcissism

Thinking you are smarter than everyone else. I recently had a friend that wanted to learn more about Google Analytics on their website. I love it when someone wants to get engaged with data so I was happy to help. The first step was to get access to their account. You would never have imagined how they were treated by their web designer that had installed Google Analytics. To paraphrase, you aren't smart enough to understand it and so you shouldn't waste your time. Wow! Guess what happened? They fired their web designer. A simple request met with a demeaning answer ruined that business relationship.

Arrogance

Blaming others and not taking ownership of  mistakes. What if you performed an internet search on SEO. You find some really useful information about Google Search Console, Google Webmaster Tools and Bing Webmaster Tools. You now know that it is important that your website sitemap be submitted to Bing and Google.  You contact your SEO company to find out if this is part of their strategy. " We are experts and have been doing this for a long time." "Trust us, we know what we are doing". The fact is that your sitemap had not been submitted and you question this. Mr. Customer, if you had wanted that you should have told us that specifically. We are not mind readers. If it is not covered in the scope of work you  have no right to get upset with us for not doing it. Yes, that was an actual response. The customer was blamed and it was the customers fault. No mystery here... they were fired. Imagine how simple it would have been to say: Mr. Customer we are very sorry, but somehow we missed that. It is our fault and we will fix it. Moving forward we need to do a better job communicating with you.  Let's go ahead a schedule a set time to listen to you so we can do a better job.

Myopia

Thinking you are the only option.  Myopia is the medical term for being nearsighted. You are nearsighted if you have difficulty reading road signs and seeing distant objects clearly, but are able to see close-up tasks. You can't see the big picture. A business relationship is like any other relationship. You are not the only choice. Maybe they even settled.  You were the closest fit, but not a perfect fit. There will be bumps in the road. Disagreements will occur. As in any relationship you will get distracted by urgent things and forget about important things. Solve problems, don't create them. This may require you to bring in outside resources. Build a strong enough relationship that you don't feel threatened by using outside experts.

Talking More Than Listening

The sales cycle has changed. People don't want to be sold. They want to buy. There is a big difference! Most consumers research BEFORE they visit a store or ask for a quote. You need to understand who your ideal client is and what questions will provide you with that information. Simply talking about your product or service is boring and does not build a relationship. What specific problems do they have and what solutions can you provide to solve them? If you can't provide a solution find someone who can. This will strengthen the relationship long term. When problems arise, listen and ask questions. Find out why it is important to them.

Burning Bridges 

A graceful exit can leave the door open to have a relationship with your business in the future. Some decisions to go with another company have absolutely nothing to do with you. You have heard of that thing called "corporate." Even if the decision was about you and your performance, the grass is not always greener on the other side. Make it easy to exit and even easier to come back. The new vendor may not be able to fulfill all the promises they made so keep the relationship friendly and the door open.

Have you been in a business relationship where this has happened?

Share your experience in the comments section.

3 Steps to Implementing Kaizen in Marketing.

You have had a Kaizen event on the shop floor as part of your continuous improvement strategy. What if you could do the same with your marketing? If the you only got 3 new customers would it be worth the effort?

The principles of a Kaizen event are very straightforward:

• Pick a specific area for improvement.
• Identify opportunities for improvement.
• Prioritize actions.
• Set a timeline.
• Measure progress.

One thing that makes this approach successful is the implementation of small incremental changes.  You are not changing everything at once.  Plan.Do.Check.Act.

Download the Content Audit Workbook

A recent survey  showed 57% of businesses plan to redesign their website in the next 12 months. Anyone that has been involved in such an undertaking knows it is very expensive and time consuming. Most people settle for done versus perfect. I don't know about you, but for me this sounds like a good place to apply Kaizen.                                                                                              

Imagine the frustration you could avoid by continually improving your marketing using Kaizen events.

Marketing can really be broken down to 3 simple steps/principles:

• Right Message
• Right Audience
• Right Time

Knowing this we can use these 3 steps to implementing Kaizen in Marketing.

• Right Message- Content Audit
• Right Audience- Buyer Persona
• Right Time- Content Mapping through the Buyers Journey

Content Mapping allows you to use Buyer Personas and Buyers Journey to create targeted content. Once you identified the Buyer Persona you match/create content for each step in their buying process. Check out this FREE resource from HubSpot to help you get started.

Once you have generated content and mapped it to match Buyer Personas and the Buyer Journey, the continuous improvement cycle can begin. A Content Audit allows you to identify gaps in your current marketing and as you identify new markets you can see what existing content can be modified to specifically address these new opportunities. We strongly recommend a set schedule for your content audits.

We are providing a Content Audit workbook to help you in this effort.

 Download the Content Audit Workbook

You might also be interested in our Marketing For Manufacturers page.

Why 51% of businesses do not have a Business Facebook Page

A recent poll conducted by Manta revealed that 51% of business owners did not have a business Facebook page . It also showed that 50% of those surveyed did not feel there was a positive ROI for time spent on Facebook.

Facebook has almost 2 billion monthly active users.

Twitter has 313 million active monthly users.

LinkedIn has around 500 million users.

Do you really believe there is not at least 1% on social media that might be interested in your product or service? Even at 1% those are BIG numbers!

A common thread I find when talking to business owners is that they just don't feel social media will work for their business because they are unique. If the conversation goes deep enough it usually settles on a common misunderstanding of how to market your business on social media.

Common mistakes businesses make with social media marketing:

• The ideal client has not been identified.
• The ideal audience for each social stream has not been identified.
• No effort to offer useful information in the buyer's journey.
• Using RSS feeds instead or original content.

When using traditional selling methods, most businesses clearly understand that everyone is NOT their ideal client. If you are selling commercial maintenance services you would not target homeowners with your marketing. Yet, it is common for businesses to take a shotgun approach to social media.

Facebook allows a business to focus on those demographics that are relevant to your product and service. This includes Gender, Age, Geography, Language and Interests. Did you know you can set your page audience in Facebook? Click here to learn how.

Blah,Blah,Blah....Buy my product. My product is on sale. Work for us. The list goes on. No real effort is made to provide any relevant content to guide visitors through the buyer's journey. A false assumption is made that everyone is ready to buy immediately. Once again the shotgun approach with no real appreciation of the buyer journey or experience. Social media can be an effective lead generation platform and not just a click and buy platform.

You do not have to hire a full time staff person to manage social media. Studies suggest that when you are building a following Quality/Relevance beats Quantity. Avoid using auto feeds that simply repost content. Research has shown that Quality beats Quantity. If you do not have the time or do not want to spend the time developing quality content then you can outsource your social media marketing.

Should a business outsource their Social Media Management?

I have seen ads that offer these services for $3/day. I can assure you no professional copywriter will develop unique content for your social media for that amount of money. ( It is very likely they will just auto post from RSS feeds). Multiply that number by a factor of ten and you can hire a professional marketing firm that will develop unique and engaging content for your audience. This approach is significantly less than hiring a part time employee and you can expense the cost on your taxes. If you are unhappy with the results you can fire the agency and not worry about paying unemployment!

Are you ready to not be part of the 51%?

Do You Have A Personal Meta Description?

OK. So what is a Meta Description?

A Meta Description are those "words" you see under the web page title when you search on the internet.

The purpose of a Meta Description is to provide a compelling message to your ideal client so they will click on your web page.

What is a personal Meta Description?

I attend many networking events and the thought came to me that in a large crowd you simply do not have time to present a 30 second elevator speech/commercial to everyone. Thus the idea of a personal Meta Description. One or Two sentences that would compel your ideal  client to want to learn more.

Here are some good examples:

Here is a good one from Andy Kelley who works for Receptions.

"I work with business and groups that like to meet and eat."

You know instantly if you or someone you know is looking at booking an event you need to talk to Andy. Who doesn't like to meet and eat?

Here is another good one from Janice Thomas who owns Talent Strategies.

"I help mid-sized companies solve their toughest people problems."

You either have that problem or know someone that does and you will get her information.

Short and to the point. Once someone asks for more information you can give your 30 second elevator speech/commercial.

Let me know if this is a good idea to maximize your networking or if you think I am just crazy in the comment section.

Predictive Lead Scoring: A Lean Tool For Marketing

Posted by Phil Wiseman on Oct 25, 2017 2:40:50 PM

• inShare5

The concept of Lean is very straight forward. Eliminate or reduce waste in a process.  The principles have been applied across manufacturing, but are often overlooked or simply not understood in marketing.

The sales cycle/process has evolved from a benefits/features model- look what I have for you- to a customer driven model- what do you have for me. The role of the salesperson has evolved dramatically in most market sectors. Spending time knocking on doors and making cold calls on the phone has become a dinosaur method of selling.

Modern selling methods understand that you need to allow a customer to buy from you and that you eliminate any steps that complicate that process.- Lean Marketing.

One highly effective tool that eliminates waste in the sales process is Predictive Lead Scoring.  Predictive Lead Scoring is a data driven method based on  behaviors, demographics and engagement. 

Image Source:https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/traditional-predictive-lead-scoring

How can you use Predictive Lead Scoring as a Lean Tool For Marketing?

Sales and Marketing can now agree on what is a Marketing Qualified Lead and a Sales Qualified Lead. This resolves the age old conflict of " We send sales leads and they don't close them!" and " Marketing sends us bad leads".

Sales now spends time on those leads that are qualified and marketing spends time on generating content to engage and move leads through the sales process. As you gather more data you can improve lead scoring by weighting contributors and refining your model. Quality 101: Plan, Do, Check, Act.

Download our free Ebook on generating high quality leads.27 Proven Techniques For Generating High Quality Leads

Why Your 30 Second Elevator Speech Does Not Work And How To Fix It

I am fortunate to attend many networking events and get to meet some really impressive people. Problem is the 30 second elevator speech/commercial. You get 30 seconds. There are 15 people at the event. Simple Math: 15 x 30 seconds = 450 seconds.

How do you stand out from the crowd?

By the time the last person is done you can't remember anything about the first person or what they do. I'll admit it happens to me. One of the big problems I face is not having any idea about what people actually do and how I might be able to connect them. They lost me in the "jargon".

Does this happen to you?

Want to know how long people pay attention?

Take this 10 question online test and find out.

Should we just give up on the 30-second elevator speech/commercial? I don't think so. Here are some example of really good 30 ones:

Greetings, my name is Dustin Miller and I’m a Solutions Consultant with Intrust IT, and we’ve been helping small to medium sized companies conquer their business challenges with trusted IT solutions for more than 25 years.

There is one common factor in all of the solutions I’ve implemented for my clients and that’s their desire to take their business to the next level. IT is about more than computers and servers, it’s about progress. If you’re not sure how technology can take you to the next level let’s talk about it together.

My name is Dustin Miller with Intrust IT and my passion is in your progress.

Dustin does not use a bunch of geek speak to convey what he does even though he provides a very sophisticated service. His commercial is disarming and if you are having IT problems you would be comfortable approaching him. I have seen him in action at several networking events and what he does works.

Here is another great example from my friend Betsy Kent.

Hi, I am Betsy Kent and my company is Be Visible.

I have a disability that can be a curse or a blessing. It's that I'm an empath, which means that I pick up on and feel the pain and joy of other people. I've learned how to make it a blessing in my work as a marketing consultant and copywriter. I help businesses discover the words and phrases that will make an instant emotional connection with their ideal customer. And this has a huge positive impact on the success of their marketing and networking. 

It is very common for people to approach Betsy and ask for a meeting after hearing her 30-second speech.

If you struggle with what to say, think of your 30 seconds like a meta description on an internet search: Interesting enough to make people want to learn more.

How To Implement Kanban In Your Marketing

Kanban is an inventory control system well known for its application in lean production and Just In Time manufacturing. It is a visual story board and has been applied to areas beyond manufacturing.

Can you implement Kanban in your marketing? The reality is this has already been done.

Inbound Marketing allows you to implement Kanban in your marketing.

The visual above from HubSpot shows the flow of the customer buying journey.

The core principles of Kanban are easily seen:

• Visualize Work
• Work In Process
•  Flow
• Continuous Improvement

Learn More About Inbound Marketing

A Deals Dashboard allows you to visualize work, work in process, flow and focus on wins and losses to implement continuous improvement on your sales and marketing efforts.

Predictive Lead Scoring addresses Work In Process by focusing on those leads that are further along in the buyers journey. This allows resources to be focused on those leads that are likely to close and avoids chasing after leads that are not ready to buy.

Learn More About Predictive Lead Scoring

Continuous Improvement can be achieved by looking at page performance and aligning with overall business goals for lead generation.

Implementing Kanban in your marketing allows you to more effectively manage resources and get more leads and close them.

You may want to look at Marketing For Manufacturers.

Topics: kanban, inbound marketing