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Name of author Rick Baker, P.Eng.

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People want to hear positive messages…give them what they want...deliver some positive messages.

by Rick Baker
On Apr 18, 2020

The Thinking Behind the Tweet

We tested positive and negative marketing messages. We tried both "in these tough economic times" and "to build for the future". We found our positive messages were twice as successful as our negative messages. So we work to keep our communications on the positive side of centre.

Time to Stop Hogwashing Relationship-Selling

by Rick Baker
On Mar 20, 2017

I recently read an article, written by a sales guru about four years ago. The article stated “relationship selling is dead”.  As I read this effort at sales wisdom, I had to smile. Obviously, the fellow who wrote this article has not attended some of the meetings I've been in recently. I've had the pleasure of sitting back and seeing some extraordinary relationship-selling and relationship-buying activity.

The conclusion: Don't believe the hogwash about the death of relationship selling.

There's no question, relationships are changing. This applies to relationships in general and more specifically to sales-client relationships. As an example, I believe it can be much more difficult to initiate sales-client relationships now than it used to be. This is particularly true if “relationship” is framed in face-to-face personal contact. 

For some people, relationship selling has fallen and always will fall somewhere between a challenge and an impossibility. My guess is the fellow who wrote relationship selling is dead is one of those people who either has never made an effort to sell or has made an effort and found the work to be somewhere between challenging and impossible. So, writing relationship selling is dead aligns very well with that person’s experiences, mindsets and natural talents. In other words, the person lacks the natural gifts that must exist if a person is to succeed at relationship selling. 

The fact is, for many people relationship selling is still alive and well. 

Don't let them hogwash you. Regardless of all the stereotyping and pedantic arguments provided by sales gurus, relationship selling still flourishes with some people. The sales gurus who possess sales ability understand relationships are a critical piece of the sales equation. The sales people who understand this don’t generally parade their sales views – they focus on getting sales done.

 

Tags:

Communication: Improving Communication | Personalities @ Work | Sales

Are you too busy to know other people’s businesses?

by Rick Baker
On Mar 14, 2017

Common sense tells us:

  • Most people look for a fair deal, where both parties exchange value,
  • Some people look to cheat others, heads I win - tails you lose, and
  • Some people look to help others, expecting little or nothing in return.

Those three things probably fit nicely in a bell curve, where the norm is business people exchanging fair value with one another.

That's the viewpoint here: most business people do business with one another in an effort to obtain some value and deliver some value in exchange.

People exchanging value - that's the essence of business.

If you agree with that then to grow business you must increase the exchange of value. And, as you work to increase the exchange of value you will do better if you know how both parties define the value they seek and the value they deliver.

Most business people just scratch the surface of value exchange. Sales people tend to know the value they think they're delivering. Purchasing people tend to know the value they think they're receiving. Sales people may make a serious effort to try to determine what the purchasing people want to receive. Purchasing people may make a serious effort to try to understand what the sales people want to receive. But it's highly unlikely their thoughts go beyond those things. For example, sales people do not understand what value the sales people who work at the purchasing person's company are looking to receive or deliver.  And, vice-versa, purchasing people do not understand what value the purchasing people who work at the sales person's company are looking to receive or deliver.

Even worse, sales people do not understand the value the purchasing people at their organization are trying to receive and deliver and purchasing people don't know the value their organization's sales people are trying to receive and deliver.

People tend to know what they want and what they're prepared to deliver in exchange for it. However, they have a much smaller understanding of what other people want and are trying to deliver in exchange for it.

This applies within companies. This applies between companies. This applies between people.

Some years ago we addressed this with our Clients' Clients Philosophy.

Here are the starting-point questions …

  • What value do you want to receive from people at other companies?
  • What value do you want to deliver to people at other companies?
  • What value do other people in your company want to receive from people at other companies?
  • What value do people in other companies want to receive from other people in your company?

***

People who possess an ongoing curiosity around questions about what other people value have the opportunity to excel in business, to excel in interpersonal relationships, and to deliver and receive tremendous value.

Some people are too busy. So, they don't get these things…and they don’t get most of the other things they want.

Stopping to think about CRM tools

by Rick Baker
On Dec 5, 2016

Most small businesses want to gain advantage over their competitors.

Most small businesses want more sales.

Most small businesses want to keep track of their operating activity.

And - the operations of most small businesses become far more complicated than outsiders [and most insiders] would have guessed or expected…and much of that complication is unnecessary. Considering this from another perspective, most small businesses do not perform basic planning activities such as SWOT analyses and 80/20 Rule analyses.

Consequently, most small businesses struggle with business development actions and business development results.

CRM to the rescue...

Well, maybe not!

Here's why [not].

There's lots of small-business talk about finding simple and user-friendly CRM tools and using those CRM tools to improve management of actions, improve monitoring of results, and grow a base of satisfied customers. Yet, relatively few of these small businesses are ready to use a CRM system. In addition to the lack of planning introduced above, there are two main reasons why they are not ready for CRM tools:

  1. they cannot [clearly and concisely] describe their existing operating actions
  2. they lack knowledge about CRM tools, in some cases they cannot even define what the abbreviation 'CRM' means

So - let's start by defining CRM.

Here's the definition-picture provided by Wikipedia -

Now, that picture introduces CRM...as long as you agree "CRM" is an abbreviation of "Customer Relationship Management". And, for now, let's work from that base, CRM = Customer Relationship Management. If we accept "CRM" means "Customer Relationship Management" then we should also be able to agree CRM tools/systems do not include business tools/systems for on-line sales/ordering or inventory-control. While CRM does not include these tools/systems, CRM may or may not link with these and other tools/systems.

More about CRM in future Thought Posts...

 

 

Tags:

Business Plan: Writing Plans | IT & TECH | Marketing | Sales | Thinking as in Think and Grow Rich

Do you aim to give people more, less, or exactly what they expect?

by Rick Baker
On Nov 9, 2016

When you aim to give people more than they expect…

  • You must be ready, willing and able to go the extra mile.
  • You must embrace Napoleon Hill’s ‘QQS’ principle: deliver more Quantity and Quality of service and do it with a winning Spirit.
  • You must seek out problems, knowing you can solve them because you know how to take advantage of new technologies.

When you aim to give people less than they expect…

  • You must be ready, willing and able to drive hard bargains.
  • You must be prepared to lie, cheat and steal.
  • You must be wary of the inevitable reciprocation that is sure to come your way.

When you aim to give people exactly what they expect…

So -
  • What are your Values?
  • What do your clients value?
  • What value will you deliver to your clients?

Referrals bring huge value to small businesses

by Rick Baker
On Oct 24, 2016

15 or so years ago, Jay Abraham recommended telling your clients you will have more time to do a better job serving them if they provide referrals to you. The idea made some sense to me when I first heard it. On the other hand, I could not see how that sort of communication could be packaged so it would be well received by clients. 

Recently, I developed a different perspective. Most, if not all of us, would agree that people in general complain more about being busy now than they did 15 years ago. And as a result of that mindset of busyness, business leaders must be attentive to the limitations (realities) ‘lived’ by many people in the workforce. Many people feel so busy they must cut corners throughout all aspects of their lives, including cutting corners at work. To the extent business leaders could make these people’s lives easier at work, it would be in everyone's best interest to do so.  It would be in the employer’s best interest, it would be in the employee's best interest, and at the end of the day it would be in the best interest of clients and suppliers. 

In small businesses, the owners and leaders in the organization often wear multiple hats - including a sales/business development hat. To the extent these small-business leaders receive referrals they are in a position to spend more time serving their clients and suppliers. And that service would [or at least could] be at an ‘improved level’. An ‘improved level of work’ could mean more creative work, which could replace mundane work [such as plodding through CRM programs to determine the next required phone call and/or the next required email for development of new business]. 

So, with that thinking in mind, I strongly believe referrals bring huge value to small businesses. 

So, small-business leaders should spend the time figuring out how to package messages that help generate referrals.

[Of course, products and services must contain value and that value must be delivered with spirit - those are prerequisites.]

Tags:

I'm too busy! - I don't have time! | Marketing | Sales

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