The Fishing Hole
In order to understand ‘why’ response to B2C marketing within a social media environment often fails, or returns without any fish in your net, let me start with one of my favorite definitions of what social media is:
Social media is like 4 or 5 female friends gathered in a group, at a very large shopping mall, discussing various personal points of interest.
Too often, marketing into a social media setting is like someone from one of the stores in that mall just walking up to that group of women and beginning to pitch their product.
(Important side note: typically, every store in that mall would consider themselves a “friend” of each of those women, just because of their proximity/location).
Your Tackle Box
The marketer failed to ask, and answer, the critical questions before trying to engage the group:
What can you say that…
Won’t come across as you butting into their private conversation?
Won’t be perceived as self-serving?
Be of interest to them?
Invoke a positive perception, thought or response? and/or
Actually makes them want to ‘do’ something that is of benefit to your company?
Because so many B2C marketers break most if not all of those rules, their message is ignored or publicly rejected. They fail.
Conditions
You need to come up with an answer that justifies the investment (time, personnel, $, etc.) required to effectively engage targeted individuals within that particular social media group.
Caveat: Few marketers are able to match up what ‘can’ be done inside a social media environment (from a B2C standpoint), with a form of effectual or responsive engagement that is perceived to be a benefit to their company. Part of that problem rests with their inability to track, quantify or measure the types of engagements that ‘can’ be done, as they understand ‘measurement’.
One of my Grandpa’s many anecdotes was: “Don’t blame the fishing pole, just because you didn’t catch any fish”. The same goes for your social media marketing campaign.
The Right Gear
The soundness of ‘what you want to get out of marketing into a social media environment’ is highly conditional on how effectively you’ve crafted the set of criteria that must be determined and answered first:
What outcome are we looking for?
Does this plan meet the company goal?
Is the goal valid inside Social Media?
Is the campaign feasible, actionable, trackable - and can it be replicated?
So, make sure you’ve researched your favorite fishing hole, your tackle box is well stocked, the conditions are right, and you have the right gear before setting out on your next fishing excursion. Here’s to a big “catch”!
People don’t really change their minds. They simply make new decisions based on new information. In the absence of new information, there will be no new decision.
Give a person the same information you’ve given them in the past and they’ll make the same decision they’ve made in the past.
Want a new decision? Provide new information.
People trust what they already know. Present your customer’s own suspicions, beliefs and prejudices as “evidence” and they’ll judge your assertions to be completely credible.
I definitely agree with his concept of ‘speaking indirectly to your customer’s hidden suspicions, beliefs and prejudices’ in order to attach a new idea/concept onto one they have bought into (or already believe).
How do I know what they already believe?
The more I know about a prospect’s current and past buying patterns, their likes and dislikes, and personal information I can glean about them, the easier it will be for me to isolate a particular belief and then attach something new I want them to receive from me. I learn these things from my research – via their web site and the top social media sites. I also have to do a methodical introductory meeting where I carefully diagnose their history, current situation and identify points of need.
I need to craft my sales presentation so that I begin with their ‘truisms’, and then attach my new idea to something where they’ve already demonstrated ascent.
What might this whole process look like?
You expect that your target decision maker most likely holds the position of Director of Purchasing at the prospective company you’re researching. Through your searches on the web, Facebook, LinkedIn and their Twitter posts you’ve discovered the prospect’s name, email address, office extension, birthday, anniversary, spouse’s name, and even to whom they report. You know they have 3 kids, coach soccer, they’re a huge Packer’s fan and just returned from a family reunion in Colorado. You also know the last 3 companies they worked for and the names of 7 executives you both know in common – 2 are current clients. Unlikely, you say? I found exactly that information on one of my target prospects just last week.
Armed with this information you easily secure an appointment and have little difficulty creating several points of trust during your investigative meeting. Your only decision now is to determine which of your prospect’s many existing belief points match most closely with your product or service. Lead with a preconceived notion/idea that they already believe to be true, tie it to your new information, and your prospect’s own subconscious will perceive it to be true.
Getting to know our client’s proclivities better will allow us to more clearly identify which of our deliverables we will want to present – and then crafting the language in our proposals so that both the established and the new ideas blend together will result in more closes.
Your sales career will follow your expectations either to ultimate success or ultimate failure. Get these 4 points right and you can expect to close 2, 3 or 4 times as many sales.
Never consider no’s as no’s – they’re simply a necessary part of your path to success
Step one, get rid of one of the most damaging misconception about closing: ‘If you get a no, you lose’.
Reality: The only time you lose is when you don’t ask. No’s are just a part of the process. We all get them. Success in sales is a series of no’s culminating in an exciting yes.
Expect going in that you’ll need to get through 7 no’s before you get a yes. Then, when you get 2 or 3 no’s you’ll realize that you’re actually that much closer to a yes.
The reality is that most sales people will take the no personally and give up. Decide right now that you will not deal with no’s on an emotional level.
Focus on the benefits your client will realize after they say yes
Instead of being anxious and worrying about the close, help your prospect focus on the benefits they’ll realize after they’re happily using your product or service.
Selling is a process of transferring your excitement as well as the advantages that come with owning your product. Your belief in how your product or service will benefit your customer will truly be infectious. Prospects will catch your enthusiasm, but they will also catch your hesitancy.
Be prepared to provide more positive responses than they have objections
Bringing a prospect to the point of saying yes requires plenty of preparation in advance. Write out every objection you can think of and come up with 3 possible convincing responses for each objection. Pick the one you feel the best about and memorize it.
This works for two reasons – the prospect will be positively impacted by your ability to respond positively to their concerns. Second, you’ll go into the presentation with more confidence and enthusiasm that the client will be able to feel.
Focus on beginnings, not endings
Closing is only a first step not a final step in the sales process. You will reduce your anxiety about closing by realizing that the second, third and fourth orders are much more important than the first sale. Visualize a long term, mutually profitable business relationship.
The close is just the beginning of that relationship so use closes that emphasize the client’s future with you. Let them know up front that you look forward to providing them with the best products and service for years to come.
One last tip – never use gimmicks, tricks or half-truths to close a sale. Even if you can get the contract signed, you’ll soon be dealing with buyer’s remorse and you’ll ruin your reputation in the long run.
I assume you’re reading this because you want to be much more than just a ‘salesman’ or ‘saleswoman’. What you really want is to develop a reputation as something much more. While they’re referred to by different names…’trusted advisor’, ‘solution provider’, ‘new business consultant’ – in every case, their clients actually look forward to meeting with them. They don’t just squeeze them in for a quick meeting, they rearrange their day to make room for them on their calendars – and they often ensure that any other necessary department heads are in attendance.
If you’re just looking for a quick way to get a yes out of some prospect and move on to the next sucker in line then none of these steps are for you. On the other hand, if you want to put into action the steps that will help you build the type of reputation that sets you up for closing a lot more long-term business then read on.
1. Identify why you’re calling on a prospect
Do your homework first. Meet with someone only if you can specifically identify how this person is going to help move you toward growing your business. Making calls just to fill a quota; hoping that the person you’re seeing just might be interested; guessing that they’re a decision maker; chasing long shots; or just dropping in to say ‘hi’ – none of these are a productive use of your time.
2. Set the stage for success
As a part of your homework, determine which of the companies that you’re already working with will generate the highest level of respect from your prospect. Send the prospect a testimonial from that satisfied customer along with confirmation for your meeting date and time. Include an agenda and an outcome for the meeting that teases at their “what’s in it for me?” question.
3. Never meet without a plan
Plan out your goals for the meeting. Write them down. Include notes from the person who referred you, from their web site, from articles about your prospect or their company. Know up front where you want to start, where you need to end and a couple options on how to get there.
4. Forget what you want to sell
What you want to sell doesn’t matter. You’re there to clearly identify the real issues that are of importance, or concern, to your prospect. What matters is what the prospect wants/needs to own. Don’t try to get them interested in you, your company or your product/service until you’ve demonstrated that your primary interest is in them.
5. Provide a solution, not a presentation
Your role is to be viewed by the prospect as the person most capable of providing them with a valuable solution – not someone only interested in putting on a show. Stop the act and be real with them. And if you’ve got a canned speech your sales manager taught you – scrap it. Prepare one that enables you to be “authentic”.
6. Objections are as valuable as gold
Even though your first impulse will be to answer, or counter the prospect’s objections – resist the temptation. You will never hear more clearly from your prospect what it will take to earn their long-term business than when you get them to elaborate on their objections. Really hear them out; dissect the objection; draw them out by feeding the objection back to them; discover what they really want/need. When you get to the bottom of an objection you learn what it will take to engage them.
7. Don’t be timid about asking for the business
The numbers vary – 76%, 83%, 89%. The bottom line is that the vast majority of presentations or business meetings never get to the point of actually asking for the order. Regardless of how many steps you took to get to this point, do not walk out of that office without asking your prospect for their business. Plan for it, rehearse it if necessary, but say it.
8. Plan to over deliver on what you promised
Know exactly what your company is capable of delivering and then promise a little bit less. Never stretch it to get the sale – or you won’t get a 2nd one. Unmet expectations are extremely damaging and hard to recover from. Let the other guy come up short – you build your reputation on always exceeding expectations.
9. The sale’s not over even after they sign
Getting a signature, or even the check, is not the end of the sale. How much follow-up business you’ll generate is dictated directly by how well you follow up on what you promised to deliver. From hand-written thank you notes, to walking the order all the through the production line and even the delivery, if you have to – you take the responsibility for ensuring that the customer is taken care of.
Treat every step of the process with every prospect as if your future depends on their giving you your best testimonial yet. The results…the beginnings of a successful relationship and the creation of a powerful reputation that will reap rewards for years to come.
What’s your specialty – SEO; social media marketing; copywriting; consulting, Web design, blogging? With hundreds of people out there doing the offering the same services, how do you compete for new business? How do you get prospects to use your services over someone else’s without having to play the price game?
You’re thinking it, so let me get this one out of the way right up front. ‘All things being equal, friends buy from friends…and even if they’re not equal, friends still prefer to buy from friends’. A true statement, but so what? You’re not going to be able to launch a thriving business on your limited list of current friends.
How do you price your offering?
Does that mean you’re relegated to having to offer the best deal, the lowest price, in order to build your business? Do people buy a Lexus, Starbucks coffee, a Cartier watch, Hartman luggage or Berkshire Hathaway stock because it’s the cheapest, or because it’s on sale? No.
You can certainly choose to offer your services or your products at the lowest price. There are plenty of companies out there who devalue themselves and their company to the point where little thought is required for their customers to decide to buy them. If they can sell enough product they can actually turn a nice profit. However, if your business is based on a professional service (meaning ‘you’) you’re quickly going to run into a scalability problem.
Choose to create value
Real value starts with you. You must realize your own value – believe in it – proudly proclaim it. As your own confidence in yourself, your abilities and your product or service grows so will your client’s confidence and perceived value in you.
A share in Berkshire Hathaway stock currently sells for over $101,000 – clearly a value stock. And the value of the company all started with Warren Buffet. Mr. Buffet is more than just Berkshire’s CEO, he’s the face of the company and its biggest champion. Is there any question whether he believes in himself, or in the value of what he offers?
Look around at those who are highly successful in our industry: Gary Vaynerchuck, garyvaynerchuk.com; Chris Brogan, chrisbrogan.com; Scott Stratten, unmarketing.com; Mari Smith, whyfacebook.com; Darren Rowse, problogger.com; Carrie Wilkerson, barefoot-executive.com; I could go on and on. What sets them apart? Just that they know what they’re talking about? They certainly do, and they work hard at it - but their biggest advantage over their competition is that they highly value themselves and what they offer. They proclaim it boldly and proudly. And if they do it more than the next guy does then they win.
Craft your value message
Translate your belief in yourself and your product or service into your sales message, marketing pieces and every bit of correspondence you send out.
Your message will be customized to fit your specific business, but should sound something like this:
Mr. Client, we’re talking today because I’ve done my homework. You’re not looking for cheap, you’re looking for the best value. You want quality, results and a consistent level of service that you can count on. You won’t find a company that will serve you and your needs as professionally or as thoroughly as I will.My commitment to you is proven results, targeted experience, personal service, and the bankable outcomes you expect. A year from now you’ll still be happy you chose to work with us.
You get the idea. Incorporate value and a strong belief in yourself into your offering - into every aspect of your business - and you’ll be able to eliminate ‘low price’ and ‘deal’ from the sales equation. Your value, your brand’s value and your sales will all grow.
The Fishing Hole
In order to understand ‘why’ response to B2C marketing within a social media environment often fails, or returns without any fish in your net, let me start with one of my favorite definitions of what social media is:
Social media is like 4 or 5 female friends gathered in a group, at a very large shopping mall, discussing various personal points of interest.
Too often, marketing into a social media setting is like someone from one of the stores in that mall just walking up to that group of women and beginning to pitch their product.
(Important side note: typically, every store in that mall would consider themselves a “friend” of each of those women, just because of their proximity/location).
Your Tackle Box
The marketer failed to ask, and answer, the critical questions before trying to engage the group:
What can you say that…
Your sales career will follow your expectations either to ultimate success or ultimate failure. Get these 4 points right and you can expect to close 2, 3 or 4 times as many sales.
Never consider no’s as no’s – they’re simply a necessary part of your path to success
Step one, get rid of one of the most damaging misconception about closing: ‘If you get a no, you lose’.
Reality: The only time you lose is when you don’t ask. No’s are just a part of the process. We all get them. Success in sales is a series of no’s culminating in an exciting yes.
Expect going in that you’ll need to get through 7 no’s before you get a yes. Then, when you get 2 or 3 no’s you’ll realize that you’re actually that much closer to a yes.
The reality is that most sales people will take the no personally and give up. Decide right now that you will not deal with no’s on an emotional level.
Focus on the benefits your client will realize after they say yes
Instead of being anxious and worrying about the close, help your prospect focus on the benefits they’ll realize after they’re happily using your product or service.
Selling is a process of transferring your excitement as well as the advantages that come with owning your product. Your belief in how your product or service will benefit your customer will truly be infectious. Prospects will catch your enthusiasm, but they will also catch your hesitancy.
Be prepared to provide more positive responses than they have objections
Bringing a prospect to the point of saying yes requires plenty of preparation in advance. Write out every objection you can think of and come up with 3 possible convincing responses for each objection. Pick the one you feel the best about and memorize it.
This works for two reasons – the prospect will be positively impacted by your ability to respond positively to their concerns. Second, you’ll go into the presentation with more confidence and enthusiasm that the client will be able to feel.
Focus on beginnings, not endings
Closing is only a first step not a final step in the sales process. You will reduce your anxiety about closing by realizing that the second, third and fourth orders are much more important than the first sale. Visualize a long term, mutually profitable business relationship.
The close is just the beginning of that relationship so use closes that emphasize the client’s future with you. Let them know up front that you look forward to providing them with the best products and service for years to come.
One last tip – never use gimmicks, tricks or half-truths to close a sale. Even if you can get the contract signed, you’ll soon be dealing with buyer’s remorse and you’ll ruin your reputation in the long run.
I assume you’re reading this because you want to be much more than just a ‘salesman’ or ‘saleswoman’. What you really want is to develop a reputation as something much more. While they’re referred to by different names…’trusted advisor’, ‘solution provider’, ‘new business consultant’ – in every case, their clients actually look forward to meeting with them. They don’t just squeeze them in for a quick meeting, they rearrange their day to make room for them on their calendars – and they often ensure that any other necessary department heads are in attendance.
If you’re just looking for a quick way to get a yes out of some prospect and move on to the next sucker in line then none of these steps are for you. On the other hand, if you want to put into action the steps that will help you build the type of reputation that sets you up for closing a lot more long-term business then read on.
1. Identify why you’re calling on a prospect
Do your homework first. Meet with someone only if you can specifically identify how this person is going to help move you toward growing your business. Making calls just to fill a quota; hoping that the person you’re seeing just might be interested; guessing that they’re a decision maker; chasing long shots; or just dropping in to say ‘hi’ – none of these are a productive use of your time.
2. Set the stage for success
As a part of your homework, determine which of the companies that you’re already working with will generate the highest level of respect from your prospect. Send the prospect a testimonial from that satisfied customer along with confirmation for your meeting date and time. Include an agenda and an outcome for the meeting that teases at their “what’s in it for me?” question.
3. Never meet without a plan
Plan out your goals for the meeting. Write them down. Include notes from the person who referred you, from their web site, from articles about your prospect or their company. Know up front where you want to start, where you need to end and a couple options on how to get there.
4. Forget what you want to sell
What you want to sell doesn’t matter. You’re there to clearly identify the real issues that are of importance, or concern, to your prospect. What matters is what the prospect wants/needs to own. Don’t try to get them interested in you, your company or your product/service until you’ve demonstrated that your primary interest is in them.
5. Provide a solution, not a presentation
Your role is to be viewed by the prospect as the person most capable of providing them with a valuable solution – not someone only interested in putting on a show. Stop the act and be real with them. And if you’ve got a canned speech your sales manager taught you – scrap it. Prepare one that enables you to be “authentic”.
6. Objections are as valuable as gold
Even though your first impulse will be to answer, or counter the prospect’s objections – resist the temptation. You will never hear more clearly from your prospect what it will take to earn their long-term business than when you get them to elaborate on their objections. Really hear them out; dissect the objection; draw them out by feeding the objection back to them; discover what they really want/need. When you get to the bottom of an objection you learn what it will take to engage them.
7. Don’t be timid about asking for the business
The numbers vary – 76%, 83%, 89%. The bottom line is that the vast majority of presentations or business meetings never get to the point of actually asking for the order. Regardless of how many steps you took to get to this point, do not walk out of that office without asking your prospect for their business. Plan for it, rehearse it if necessary, but say it.
8. Plan to over deliver on what you promised
Know exactly what your company is capable of delivering and then promise a little bit less. Never stretch it to get the sale – or you won’t get a 2nd one. Unmet expectations are extremely damaging and hard to recover from. Let the other guy come up short – you build your reputation on always exceeding expectations.
9. The sale’s not over even after they sign
Getting a signature, or even the check, is not the end of the sale. How much follow-up business you’ll generate is dictated directly by how well you follow up on what you promised to deliver. From hand-written thank you notes, to walking the order all the through the production line and even the delivery, if you have to – you take the responsibility for ensuring that the customer is taken care of.
Treat every step of the process with every prospect as if your future depends on their giving you your best testimonial yet. The results…the beginnings of a successful relationship and the creation of a powerful reputation that will reap rewards for years to come.
What’s your specialty – SEO; social media marketing; copywriting; consulting, Web design, blogging? With hundreds of people out there doing the offering the same services, how do you compete for new business? How do you get prospects to use your services over someone else’s without having to play the price game?
You’re thinking it, so let me get this one out of the way right up front. ‘All things being equal, friends buy from friends…and even if they’re not equal, friends still prefer to buy from friends’. A true statement, but so what? You’re not going to be able to launch a thriving business on your limited list of current friends.
How do you price your offering?
Does that mean you’re relegated to having to offer the best deal, the lowest price, in order to build your business? Do people buy a Lexus, Starbucks coffee, a Cartier watch, Hartman luggage or Berkshire Hathaway stock because it’s the cheapest, or because it’s on sale? No.
You can certainly choose to offer your services or your products at the lowest price. There are plenty of companies out there who devalue themselves and their company to the point where little thought is required for their customers to decide to buy them. If they can sell enough product they can actually turn a nice profit. However, if your business is based on a professional service (meaning ‘you’) you’re quickly going to run into a scalability problem.
Choose to create value
Real value starts with you. You must realize your own value – believe in it – proudly proclaim it. As your own confidence in yourself, your abilities and your product or service grows so will your client’s confidence and perceived value in you.
A share in Berkshire Hathaway stock currently sells for over $101,000 – clearly a value stock. And the value of the company all started with Warren Buffet. Mr. Buffet is more than just Berkshire’s CEO, he’s the face of the company and its biggest champion. Is there any question whether he believes in himself, or in the value of what he offers?
Look around at those who are highly successful in our industry: Gary Vaynerchuck, garyvaynerchuk.com; Chris Brogan, chrisbrogan.com; Scott Stratten, unmarketing.com; Mari Smith, whyfacebook.com; Darren Rowse, problogger.com; Carrie Wilkerson, barefoot-executive.com; I could go on and on. What sets them apart? Just that they know what they’re talking about? They certainly do, and they work hard at it - but their biggest advantage over their competition is that they highly value themselves and what they offer. They proclaim it boldly and proudly. And if they do it more than the next guy does then they win.
Craft your value message
Translate your belief in yourself and your product or service into your sales message, marketing pieces and every bit of correspondence you send out.
Your message will be customized to fit your specific business, but should sound something like this:
Mr. Client, we’re talking today because I’ve done my homework. You’re not looking for cheap, you’re looking for the best value. You want quality, results and a consistent level of service that you can count on. You won’t find a company that will serve you and your needs as professionally or as thoroughly as I will.
My commitment to you is proven results, targeted experience, personal service, and the bankable outcomes you expect. A year from now you’ll still be happy you chose to work with us.
You get the idea. Incorporate value and a strong belief in yourself into your offering - into every aspect of your business - and you’ll be able to eliminate ‘low price’ and ‘deal’ from the sales equation. Your value, your brand’s value and your sales will all grow.