Time – The Most Precious Resource

I was talking today with Roberta Cohen on the state of the event and trade show business. Roberta’s company, Vector Expo Group http://www.vectorexpogroup.com helps clients increase their ROI on trade show investments.  One of the dynamics Roberta has identified this year is the increased scrutiny that attendees are using to choose which conferences and events they attend. According to Roberta attendees want the face-to-face experience but they also want great content, ROI for their time invested and more value from the events they are attending.

I spent time last week at both the DPAC Conference www.dpaconference.com/ and the Online Publisher’s Association presentation – A Sense of Place: Why Environments Matter www.online-publishers.org.  Both important forums for those in the digital ad space.  Pam Horan and the folks at the OPA have figured out a great format and venue for giving the ad community insight into new research initiatives and perspective to consider in their media planning and choosing.  My only complaint was that I was wishing for more time for Q&A, the audience had some great questions – and ideas worth exploring. At the end of the day it was time well spent. Time – a  precious and limited resource.

It’s a great concept for all sellers to grab hold of and identify the ROI you can offer customers for spending time with your site, your product or services – with you!  Delight your customers with more value than they expect and respect their most precious resource – their time.

Pitch Perfect

If you are a new company selling a new product, your first sales pitch is one of the most important that you’ll create.

Understandably, we all are enamored with our own products, their unique features, intuitive UI or innovative design. And sometimes, (because as good sales people we know our products inside and out) we rush into showing ‘how’ a product works before we’ve established “what” it is and how it benefits that prospect.  It’s the opposite of third grade. It’s not Show & Tell, it’s Tell and then Show.

When you’re creating that first pitch you’ll get the feature set, screen shots, technical specs and demos from the product team. Great stuff!  But that’s usually a product overview, not a sales pitch.  There is a big difference! Take a step back and make sure you can describe what you do and why it’s great before you rush into the ‘let me just show you’.  If you move too quickly to the Show part, you’ll leave your prospect behind trying to figure out what it is and why they should care.  As my good friend Jeff said, death by PowerPoint has been replaced with death by demo. Follow the Tell & Show and you’ll be pitch perfect!

Breakthrough Thinking

I had the opportunity to listen to a presentation by Kevin Carroll, a really engaging speaker, at the monthly southern Connecticut chapter meeting of the  ASTD (American Society for Training and Development) last night. Besides our commonalities of being Yankee fans, and spending time early in our careers in advertising, I found myself nodding and smiling at so many of the great points he made including the value of “Deliberating With Outsiders”.  So often the perspective of someone outside of our current situation sheds instant light on a problem or challenge we face. One of his Breakthrough Thinking Techniques is “Imagine You’re Eight”.  As he says, “great insight can come when you don’t know too much”.  Both of my kids have given me great insight and clarity over the years when I’ve found myself facing a work or sales dilemma.  Who do you turn to when you need to think ‘outside the box’?

Sort of Happy Customer

Let’s say you made a mistake with a customer. (It happens. To all of us.) And the customer tried to communicate the mistake to you four times over a three-month period. (Ouch!) You finally figure out the mistake and correct it. You send the customer an email of apology both for the mistake and the time and frustration you caused them.  (Great!) Customer is now happy.

That’s what should have happened in my recent experience with JetBlue.  An airline who came on the scene about ten years ago with the customer service ethic of Southwest (their founders came from there) and changed air travel for millions, with an easy reservation system, low prices, free snacks and online entertainment; but for me, most importantly, with employees that had an unbelievable can do spirit and attitude of service. In the early days (pre-kiosk check in) the folks at the check in counter would check everyone in, then go work at the gate and help with baggage to boot. They were all smiling and looking like they were having a really good time.  The service was friendly, gracious and all about how THEY could make your travel easier, cheaper, more fun. What a way to send people off on vacation, business or just a quick overnight trip!

The email apology that I received from Jet Blue was fine for the first two paragraphs.  I was the happy customer again. But the third paragraph began “For future bookings here are a few helpful hints…”. Huh? Use the apology email to let me know how I can change my behavior in the future? Even if my behavior caused the problem, you were the folks who took three months, three emails and a forty-five minute wait on hold on the phone to resolve it.

Moral of the story – mistakes happen. Sometimes we are less responsive than we should have been. But once you realize the mistake – correct it, apologize, thank the customer for their continued loyalty and business. Period. End of conversation. Don’t utilize the opportunity to shift blame or provide an object lesson.  You’ll have a sort of happy customer on your hands.  In today’s competitive environment, no one wants sort of happy customers.

Moments In Time

There are moments all companies face. Moments that present opportunity for great success or dismal failure.  Making the right choices at those moments is what separates those who triumph over those who don’t.  Sometimes we realize it – right then – in the moment. Other times we only realize in hindsight how a decision impacted a success or a missed opportunity.  Answering tough questions Are we ready? Where is the opportunity? Who are our best customers? What does the market think of us? with clarity and objectivity are key.  Know what you know. Know what you don’t know and get the answers.

Hiring Great Sales Talent

I was asked earlier today “What makes a salesperson great?”  Obvious answers came quickly – smart, quick, persuasive, knowledgeable, hard-working. But there are other characteristics that I’ve looked for when hiring, ones that set the “great” apart from all the rest: Curious, Optimistic and Charming.

Curious, because to be a great seller you need to care and be interested in your client’s business more than your own. Optimistic because sales is The Land of 1000 NOs. Believing in your product and service and getting back up after each rejection with passion separates the great from the good. And charming. A quality I’ve found in the best sales professionals I’ve known.  Your prospects and customers might not need your product or service today or tomorrow. They may six months or a year from now. Being able to wear well over time, to be a pleasure to see and to meet with guarantees the door will be open to you when the opportunity arises.  Think of the best sales professionals you’ve met. What comes to mind?

I Had a Bad Attitude or The Power of Mo

Ok. I admit it. I had a bad attitude. By Monday afternoon heading into 48 hours without heat, hot water, electricity, an iPhone that was losing power faster than the speed of light from overuse and encountering delays and detours every time I set out because of newly downed trees, I was fed up.  So I stopped. Everthing. Trying to respond to clients, answering the phone, replying to emails. Bad Mo had taken over.

Everyone who has sold for a living knows the power of momentum, both good and bad.  When the momentum is good everything works – people answer their phone, clients buy, new leads appear.  My advice is always the same. When you have Good Mo just keep doing what you are doing. Don’t leave your desk, your phone, your email – exhaust the positive potentials in front of you.  And when the Bad Mo hits, as it will and it does, just stop.  Clean out your drawers, talk a walk. You need to interrupt the power source of the Bad Mo, and voila! Your attitude, your energy, everything changes.  How do you manage the Good and the Bad Mo?