SpeakerSue – Sue Hershkowitz-Coore, CSP

Archive for July, 2009

What you tweet may be held against you July 30th, 2009

Let Freedom ring.

I’m here in Hainan Island, China, just off the coast of the mainland, in the South China Sea. Think Maui.

Except here, I have no access to Twitter, YouTube or Facebook because the signals to those sites, among others, have been scrambled. For now though, I can still get email and other sites so when I was able to read the FastCompany post, Would you Twitter if Your Tweet Carried a $50,000 Price Tag?, I thought, Yes.

Yes, we need to be aware that regardless of the medium – email, Twitter, blogs – what we say can be held against us. But here is the thing: we get to say it.

How to use social media as a prospecting tool: No more cold calling! July 29th, 2009

Cold calling. Even the name is, well, cold. Social media, however, provides an opportunity to warm relationships and understand needs so that you don’t have to break the ice or ever get the cold shoulder again. (Chill… I’ll stop with the “cold” expressions now.) Here is a simple process:

Step one: Set your privacy settings! Social media can be used for personal or professional purposes but it’s hard to use it for both. It’s possible to have more than one address but when prospects google you, they’ll most likely be directed to all your social profiles. Set those privacy settings and get a new username. Remember the photos other people can post…

Step two: Search sites for contacts you’d like to make and people you’d like to learn from. One group of prospects for me, for instance, is meeting professionals. I search “meeting planner” and other keywords and find out who the people I respect are following. Then, I follow them too. I don’t expect them to follow me back. I know though, that they’ll see my follow, and at least become aware of who I am. Even more important, I learn what matters to them by reading what they’re saying.

Step three: After learning what matters to your target audience, tweet, post and publish tips, insights and information that might be of interest to them. Eagerly retweet (RT) information. Earn the right to advance by becoming known for the quality and value of the information you post.

Step four: Don’t break the rules. Selling or promoting your services on discussions and forums is more than frowned upon. Last week, Russ Williams, LA Examiner reporter wrote an article about how writing well helps social media connections. He based the article on my book, Power Sales Writing. I changed his title, Using the web for selling, pitching, spinning and plain old profit, to a question (Do you use the web to sell, …) and posted the article to various social networking communities I belong to. I even wrote a note after the title saying (In the interest of transparency, this author references my book.) And one group moderator pulled my post and chastised me, saying the group was not to be used for self-promotion. I’m lucky she didn’t throw me out of the group.

Prospecting with social media really is the same as prospecting has always been. Just warmer. Unless you act like a jerk.

The 5 most important things clients look for… July 27th, 2009

Michelle Wood, Senior Sales Manager at Hilton Garden Inn Orlando at SeaWorld International Center, asked her LinkedIn community a great question: “What are the top 5 things you find the client is looking for?”

Michelle, herself, thought these 5 things important:

Clients look for:
1. Someone who listens, really listens and understands what they want.
2. Someone they can trust.
3. Value: a price they can afford for the desired product or service.
4. Answers/Referrals for additional services needed.
5. Someone to call next time they have a project that they know will help.

Jiang Nan, Director of Ops, BookHotelandTour.com listed four points:

1. value for money, comoparatively cheap
2. service, being there when they wanted you
3. listener, someone to talk to, complaint to, yell at..
4. Friends, not too close but neither a stranger
5. Style, knowing that coming here places them above average.

And here are my top five:

1. help the customer feel smart and safe about their choice
2. care about the clients’ success more than making a sale
3. are excited about coming up with creative ideas to solve customer challenges
4. are easily accessible and communicate responsively
5. do what they say they’re going to do, when they say they’ll do it

What do you think are the 5 top things clients look for? (Can you come up with five?)

Why “indispensable” isn’t possible and what you can do about it July 24th, 2009

Years ago, in a galaxy far away (or at least it seems that way), I presented a program called: How to Make Yourself Indispensable. I stopped using that title when I realized it was a lie.

No one is indispensable.

No matter what we do or how good we may be or what we bring to the table, we’ll never be indispensable. In fact, thinking it’s possible to be indispensable, may through some wonderful karmic blessing, automatically make one dispensable.

You can position yourself for success. You can work harder than your competitors are willing to work, you can learn more than most people are willing to learn. You can be more patient, more speedy, more focused, more open. You can be all things, you can be specific, you can provide value, value, value.

You can care more about the other person’s success. You can stay positive, hopeful, curious. You can live more, love more, lift more.

But you can’t be indispensable. Instead, you can be you. Your best self. It doesn’t get better than that.

Social media doesn’t work July 23rd, 2009

According to today’s Research Brief from the Center for Media Research, social media doesn’t work to build brand, extend relationships or to impact buying decisions. In fact, they say:

A study, recently released by WorkPlace Media, outlines some of the hurdles facing major brands as they attempt to harness the worlds of Facebook, Twitter and MySpace, to create an impact with consumers.The study, which polled office Internet users, found that 55% maintained at least one social networking account. However, of those respondents, only 43% reported accessing their social networking accounts at work, and even for those with access, 78% reported spending less than 30 minutes per day on their site(s).

They are wrong.

They’re looking in a rear view mirror and if you remember the singer, Meat Loaf (and who doesn’t?!) then you know, ”Objects in the rear view mirror may appear closer than they are.” There was a time when studies like this would have been true about owning an automobile, a phone, or inside plumbing.

It’s true that many companies today don’t allow their associates to check social media sites during work hours. They’re afraid that they’ll spend too much time being social and not enough time working. I get that. It’s pretty addictive and if work is boring…

The thing is that conversation, communication, collaboration and connection are taking place today, right this second, on line within social media sites. Using Twitter, for instance, I’ve communicated with people and even arranged times to meet and when we’ve meet, we’re already friends. Yesterday, on FaceBook a colleague asked for donations for a meeting. At last count, she had 10 confirmed donations. And don’t get me started on how much I’ve learned through others comments on their blogs, LinkedIn discussions, and even the 140 character Twitter tweets. Social media provides the village we need today.

WorkPlaceMedia/Center for Media Research cited additional findings to support their message:

A recent Harris poll also supported this assertion, says the report, showing that word of mouth is a much stronger influencer than social networking.

Here is the thing: Social media is word of mouth.

Backwards looking folks don’t get that. But if what the “research” is saying is that we trust our friends more than a random on-line comment, I agree whole heartedly. Except that my definition of friends has expanded beyond the people I break bread with. Am I a bit skeptical when I see four negative comments on a site and then one that says this place rocks? Of course. Anonymity allows evil. If my on-line friends – people I’ve chosen to follow on Twitter, for instance, or a friend of a friend on Facebook or a member of a LinkedIn community group – tell me something, I have no more reason to be skeptical than if my neighbor told it to me. (And I might ask both of them to give me more examples..)

If you’re looking for excuses to not join the social networking community, you’re looking in the wrong direction. Look forward to expand possibilities, persuasion and profits.

Join the conversation!

Replace “how are you” to sell more July 20th, 2009

Whether it’s an email or cold call, saying “how are you” is:
A. Necessary
B. Useful
C. None of the above

Correct, you are, if you said none of the above! Why?
-If you really care how I am, you’ll pick up the phone. Asking “how are you” in an email is tantamount to saying I have no clever way to begin this message so I’ll pretend to care about you. (Years ago there was a great study on the Princeton campus. A group of undergrads were told to answer with a 4-letter expletive that started with the letter “F” when they were asked how they were. The hitch was that their body language was supposed to indicate that the F-word they were saying was the word, fine. They were to smile and say the other F-word, as happily as possible. “Hi, Sue, How are you?” “*&(*)_*” If I recall, less than 10% of the askers heard the actual response probably because they didn’t care about the answer to begin!)
-If you’re cold calling, you are a stranger to me. Why would I tell you how am I? Not only that, but you’ve already interrupted me with your cold call and now you expect that I’ll have the time for small talk. I don’t think so.

So what then?
In a cold call, start with your name and a touch point; tell them how you know them. Be transparent about the connection:

Hi this is SpeakerSue and I’m a colleague in the Arizona Sunbelt Chapter of MPI.

Hi this is SpeakerSue and Michael Brady suggested I phone you.

Hi this is SpeakerSue and you and I met briefly at the trade show last week.

Hi this is SpeakerSue and you and I were on the buffet line together at the ASAE meeting last month.

Hi this is SpeakerSue and your name was given to me because you book meetings.

Then, of course, you have to have something to say that will matter to the buyer:

Hi this is SpeakerSue and I’m a colleague in the Arizona Sunbelt Chapter of MPI. Name, I’m wondering if the meetings you plan are similar to Sophie Spaniel’s meetings (a well-known colleague in the chapter).

Prospect: Actually, Sophie’s meetings are much bigger than mine and, who is this?

You: Thanks for asking! My name is Sue Hershkowitz-Coore, most people just call me SpeakerSue because it is so much easier. I’m sorry we haven’t met at the AZ MPI chapter. The reason I asked about Sophie’s meetings, and thank you for letting me know that hers are bigger, is that we just helped her put on a meeting that she said, and I’m quoting her now, “gave her sales people exactly what they need to sell more.”

Prospect: What did you do?

You: We crafted a presentation around the results she needed from her meeting; her goal was to make sure her sales people felt appreciated, and she wanted them to leave with practical tools and fresh ideas to start positioning themselves for a better 2010.

Prospect: Who did you say you are?…..

Instead of going for the totally lame “how are you” default, be bold and brave! Say hello, mention the touchpoint and know what you want to know from the conversation. (In this case, I wanted to know if her meetings and Sophie’s were similar. Notice that I didn’t ask her if she planned meetings or anything else that I could easily discover from a review of the company’s website.)

Replace how are you with something that matters to the recipient. You’ll be amazed at how much prospects will tell you once they feel that you care about them, instead of just pretending to.

Comments? Questions?

5 ways you can use email to sell more July 8th, 2009

Just about every sales person, when I ask what they want their email to accomplish, says they want their email to make the sale. Yeah… and I’d like Hagen Daz peanut butter ice cream to be a diet aide.

But email can be a wonderful sales tool as long as you follow some rules:

1. Know what you want your email to achieve. Use email to create curiosity. Do this by getting them excited about how they can benefit from what you have to offer. Read that again! It’s not about what you have to offer; it’s about getting them excited about how they can benefit from what you provide. Most often, you want your email to persuade, motivate and influence your prospect to click a link so they can learn more.

2. Use an intriguing subject line. Why did you read this post? Because the headline was intriguing to you. It spoke to something you want to be able to do. What do your prospects want to do? Do they want to increase attendance at their next meeting, drive revenue with training, energize attendees to be positioned for success? Those are subject lines that I might use to invite prospects to read my email messages. Think about what your buyers need. Start with a verb and a promise, and then fulfill that promise quickly in your email.

3. Keep it short and sweet. Brief is good; blunt isn’t. Remember the point isn’t to tell them everything; it’s to excite them about their potential, so they’ll want to click to learn more.

4. Use the 20/80 selling rule: Your message should be 80% valuable content and clear benefit to the prospect. Up to 20% of your message can provide features. They’ll fast forward through your commercials anyway.

5. Use it to follow-up: You can follow-up through all sorts of channels. Email is one of them. Keep your name in front of buyers and when they need what you have (and need the benefits of what you offer), you’ll be the go-to. Follow-up to position yourself for tomorrow.

Business relationships have never been easier to cultivate. Email is the perfect first step to successful selling today. Use it to engage your customers and move them to other channels that provide the information they need to buy from you.

Your comments? Want more info? Email me: Sue@SpeakerSue.com or post your comment here.

Sales Mastery: How being “nice” may work against you July 6th, 2009

Is it possible to be transparent, sell relationship-ly and still lose to others who position themselves more cleverly. Yes.

I may have lost a bid to a competitor who initially was blackballed by the client because the client was uncomfortable with the competitor’s ethics (as told to me by the client). In my world, being uncomfortable with ethics means stay away. But my client needs sales and needs them today. And that can color everything.

I may have lost the bid because I made it too easy for the client to say maybe. From now on, when I know I’m the best choice, I’ll let the client know that too.

From now on I’ll ask for what I want. (Promise me, you will too.) No longer will I say “when the time is right for you, I’ll be honored to work with you” when I know the time is right, right now. No longer will I be reticent to speak my authentic truth. Never again will I “check in” or “touch base” (which even though I’m a baseball fan, I’ve never really understood anyway). Instead, here is what I’ll say (please copy!):

Hi Name,
I’m wondering if you’ve had a chance to meet with your team (or whatever is appropriate here) to recommend the training we discussed. Please let me know how I can help you create the business case that shows then that this training will give them the tools they need to succeed in today’s economic climate/ separate themselves from the competition/sell more/drive revenue and generate profit.

I’l be more Ms. Nice Guy, blended with more truth. I’ll be more authentic and I’ll be more fearless.

My daddy always said, “What’s the worst that can happen?” If they say no at least you know where you stand and what steps to take. It’s much better than pretending that the answer isn’t pending.

What do you think?

Archive for July, 2009

My Latest Book

Recent Posts

Categories

Archives

Why Sue?

Preview Sue

Stay in Touch

Latest Blog Posts

Latest Tweets