Ronnie Noize http://www.veronikanoize.com is one of the most talented professionals I know. I think you will agree that this article reveals her wit, as well as her wisdom. Ronnie knows how to market your business or how to market you, if you are your business!

Not long ago, I was highly motivated to join a gym.  I did my research, and identified two gyms to check out.  After making appointments to speak with a sales person at each gym, I felt confident that I would find the right gym for me. The sales person at the first gym welcomed me, showed me the weight room, the swimming pools, and the women’s locker room before politely showing me the door.

Standing in front of the gym after my quick tour, I wondered why he didn’t ask me to sign up on the spot, and I came to the conclusion that there was something wrong with me.  I checked my breath, then (embarrassing but true) I opened my jacket to see if I smelled. Nope.Obviously, this was not the gym for me, so off I went to the next gym.  This time I was prepared with my credit card in my hand during the tour so that there would be no doubt that I was ready to buy.  Again, the sales person greeted me warmly, showed me the amenities, and showed me the door.Ouch.  I knew I didn’t smell, but wondered if I were too old, ugly, fat, or offensive to join a gym?

Get a grip, I told myself.  Both of these sales folks are very young, just out of college, so perhaps they know of a new sale technique that is not familiar to me.  Perhaps they are trying to build my desire to join a gym to a higher level.  That must be it: They want me to really want it!Secure in the knowledge that I had figured it out, I waited for the follow up call that I knew would come.  After all, hadn’t I been very specific about my interest in joining a gym sooner rather than later?  Hadn’t I made it clear that I was ready, willing, and financially able to assume a gym membership?

Maybe so, but was anyone listening? Neither sales person (now you see why I have not referred to them as sales “professionals”) bothered to call me to see if I was ready to join. The lesson?  OK, not what you might think: Not that young sales people are not competent, which it might seem to be, because I have experienced similar situations with sales folks of all ages.

No, the lesson was that it is the seller’s responsibility to facilitate the solution the prospect is seeking, and ask for the business.And then it hit me: I was equally guilty of the same thing.  I was making the very same mistake as the greenest guys!How many times had people come to me for help solving a marketing problem, and after determining that I could help, I failed to ask for the business?  Did I expect my prospects to demand that I accept them as clients? Force me to accept their money?

I cringe at the memory of how some people must have felt after a conversation with me that did not result in a clear invitation to work together.

Asking for the business is possibly the single most effective thing you’ll ever do, but more than that, it is your obligation as the professional to let your prospects know that you want to help them and are able to help them.  It is your responsibility to invite them to work with you.  It is your responsibility to ask. So if you are not asking, you’re making a mistake. STOP IT.Searching for the right words to use to ask your prospects for the business?  Choose the words or phrase that works for you, or be inspired to create your own way to ask, but for your clients’ sake, ASK them to work with you!

A Marketing Mistake to Stop Making © 2006-9 Veronika Noize.  All rights reserved.

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Vacationing to me is having new adventures, doing a little sight seeing, and always, but always, reading!

For several years I’ve been a huge proponent of Law of Attraction. Long before The Secret, long before it was the ‘trendy’ thing to do. One day I realized that one of the key components to the success we’ve endured in our business http://www.itakethelead.com is a law of nature; like-minded professionals attract other like-minded professionals.

If you ever have the opportunity to pick up “Excuse me, Your Life is Waiting” I’d grab it! Lynn Grabhorn is witty, fun, and really keeps me engaged with her stories. This is a yearly read for me.  While I was reading through, I realized that Lynn offers some sage advice for anyone who networks. Have you ever felt in a slump…had one of those off days…and attended some kind of networking function anyway? How’d it go? Kind of what I thought…..you’d have been better off curled up with the cat and blanket watching the tube!

Advice from Lynn:” Since we’re sort of dead batteries until we get charged, I found the best way to get a buzz started was by doing something physical that would jump-start me into a nice feeling. So lacking cables, I use a smile!”“That’s right, a meaningful little smile, the kind that feels like butter melting on a hot roll; the kind of smile you couldn’t help but break into at the sight of newborn kittens tumbling all over each other, or a baby giggling just for the sake of giggling. Not a phony grin, but a loving, tender smile as if a youngster had just brought you their most cherished treasure.

As you take that feeling and pull it up from the inside, you’ll feel yourself smiling the deepest point of your being. Now you’re at what I call the Gentle Inner Smile, a warm lovely sensation that feels like a soft buzz or a delicate whirling.”I arrived back home to a chilly temperature of 30 degrees, snow on the ground, and ice layered on the windows of the neighbors’ vehicles. As a matter of fact, today was supposed to be my first day back at networking, but going out in the cold was not looking very appealing. So I prepped for the meeting by getting a soft buzz going.  It worked, and the meeting was a total success….maybe because I was on top of my game!

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• First impressions are lasting impressions. Always put your best foot forward. Yes, dressing appropriately, wearing deodorant, bathing, and using mouth wash are suggested acts for leaving a positive lasting impression.
• Be interested in others.
• Listen. Are you busy thinking about what you’re going to say next, or are you actually listening?
• Ronnie Noize, Google’s #1 Marketing Coach http://www.VeronikaNoize.com  says that Networking is about connecting and serving. Connecting others is a great way to be of service. Those can be some of the most powerful referrals.
• Never, ever, ever confuse networking with selling. No one likes to be sold.

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 “I have been impressed with the urgency of doing.  Knowing is not enough; we must apply. Being willing is not enough; we must do.”

Leonardo DaVinci

 © 2010  Straight Edge NewsWANT TO SEE MORE ARTICLES LIKE THIS ONE? Check our website: Straight Edge Solutions.WANT TO USE THIS ARTICLE IN YOUR E-ZINE OR WEBSITE? You can, as long as you include this complete blurb with it: Abigail Dougherty, PCC, is the founder of Straight Edge Solutions, a Professional Certified Coach, Business Process Expert and Motivational Speaker. To read more articles by Abigail and learn more about her work, please visit her website, StraightEdgeSolutions.com or contact Abigail at Abigail@StraightEdgeSolutions.com.

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1. Offer a valuable piece of educational material on your website. This piece of information could be a free report, ebook, audio, newsletter, assessment, or other tool; all that really matters is that it is of sufficient perceived value to entice your visitor to exchange her name and email address in exchange for it. Caveat: Make sure that you require a double-opt in process, rather than an immediate redirect to the free stuff so that you capture valid contact information, or you won’t be able to follow up.
2. Speaking at a meeting, seminar, or other public event. As the guest expert (which speakers usually are), you are in a position of visibility and credibility that is a powerful combination for prospecting. Invite your audience to give you feedback, request a copy of your presentation, or redeem a free or reduced price consultation with a feedback card that you bring to the presentation. Or you may simply hold a drawing for a book or other prize at the end of your presentation, using the drawing entry forms or even business cards as leads.
3. Referrals from your current clients are usually much more likely to buy than cold leads, so consider putting referral programs in place. There are three ways to get referrals, and you should be using all of them. The first way is to earn referrals, meaning that your clients are so thrilled they can’t stop telling others about you. The second way to is ask your clients, colleagues, and Power Partners for referrals, and to take responsibility for following up so you don’t burden your referral partners with the work of referring. The third way to generate referrals is to reward those who refer in both a public and a generous manner. Perhaps you thank them in your newsletter, award points that they can redeem for cool prizes, or better yet, send them personal thanks by mail.
4. Post special offers and/or specific programs in your online communities. Examples include Craigslist in the small business ads or classes sections; or in listservs such as Yahoo or Google groups; online communities such as LinkedIn, Biznik, and Facebook; or even online forums and bulletin boards.
5. Live meetings and events provide the perfect opportunity for eyeball-to-eyeball connecting, and can be fun, too. This doesn’t have to be a networking meeting per se, although those can be terrific for meeting new folks. Also in this category are association and trade meetings, conventions, rallys, and other meetings that offer opportunities for interaction between participants.
6. Drawings or giveaways at trade shows, conventions, or other live events can generate loads of great leads, as well as plenty of folks who are not at all interested in what you offer, so be sure that your prize is something that is of specific interest to your target client, or that the pool is already pre-qualified in some way. One way to pre-qualify is to use entry forms that gather pertinent info rather than simply using business cards.
7. Direct mail to a qualified list of suspects can be very profitable, as long as the list is qualified and the offer is strong. Lists can be obtained in a variety of ways, but one way that I really like is the endorsed mailing to a Power Partner (a non-competing professional who shares your ideal client). This strategy combines direct mail with referral, and can be very persuasive. The endorsed mailing can be as simple as a letter from the Power Partner to her clientele introducing you (and your special offer) and explaining why she’s recommending that her clients work with you.
8. Advertising is often the first thing business owners consider, and for most folks traditional advertising is a total waste of money because it is not measurable. Advertising can be a good lead generator when it is what is called direct response advertising, so that you can see a return on your investment by the number of responses you receive. This would include a coupon, special offer, toll-free phone number or other response mechanism that can be measured and evaluated. Remember that pretty ads may win awards, but direct response ads win leads.
9. Recorded messages on toll-free information lines are a wonderful way for the shy suspect to investigate your product or service without the pressure of having to speak to a sales person, so do consider using this as a tool. The free message is not about how to buy from you, but usually a message educating the suspect on the pitfalls, dangers, or unexpected outcomes of choosing a vendor before knowing all the facts, or some other piece of information that is necessary to make a good decision, followed by a special offer and call to action.
10. Coupon mailers can entice new clients to try your services at a fraction of the cost of regular mass direct mail. This is an especially good option for retailers or recurring services businesses like dentists and garages. Caveat: If your offer is for a price reduction on a regular product or service and you run the offer consistently, you will teach your prospects to wait for the coupon to buy. However, if your coupon is for a discount on an additional item or free bonus or premium, you will not canibalize your regular sales, attract new customers and keep your margins high.
11. Directories such as the yellow pages are often best for emergency services, but a solid offer in a directory ad can bring in the new folks like clockwork. I like to test messages and offers with a Google adwords campaign before committing to a full year in a directory, so that I can be confident that my ad will actually work without just crossing my fingers and wishing.

Of course, there are lots of other ways to attract new clients, but there is a reason that these are on this list: They work. Now go out there and find new clients!

SoHo Marketing Guru Business Coaching & Development LLC 951 Officers Row · Vancouver, WA 98661 · USA360-882-1298 voice · 866-560-1510 fax

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The Bottom Line

Every business owner I know has a keen sense of their business bottom line. Is the business profitable, or not? If not, most owners have ideas to improve the business’s bottom line in the future. 

As you are busy networking – trying to build your business – keep the following article, by Abigail Dougherty in mind.

The Front Line

The front line is seldom as keenly managed. Most businesses define “front line” too narrowly as the first point of human contact. Front line actually includes every contact point a customer has with the business; from the moment the phones are answered, live or mechanically, all the way through the transaction, including service long after the original transaction is completed.

We recently dealt with two front line employees in a local store with markedly different results. One took the stance that our issue was outside the policy. He could not help us and we could take our business (and 13 years of customer loyalty) elsewhere. The second person explained why we were told “no,” then took the time to negotiate a win-win solution. The second person generated a huge sale and kept loyal customers happy. Sadly, the first person was the store manager. The helpful employee was a subordinate who took the initiative to seek a solution outside the policy to resolve the issue.

Tools for the Front Line

The best way to lose customers is to have rigid customer support policies that allow no initiative from your employees. Unless you have a truly unique product or service, it’s imperative that your customers believe they are being treated as individuals and someone is ready to listen and help them.

New hires do not belong in a front line role. They need to be shown, as well as trained, on the broad view and the details of who, what, why, how, and when of your products, services, your ideal clients, and your competition.

Experienced employees need to be armed with options and examples of prior customer solutions. It’s worth the time to send regular “win” messages to your entire team spotlighting challenging customer issues and the creative solutions to resolve them.

Make it a team effort. Use your collective resources, solicit, and then reward contributions for customer satisfaction from your entire team. You will probably be surprised how creative your staff is, when given the opportunity to contribute.

The Front Line Drives the Bottom Line

More than 70% of all buying decisions are driven by referral marketing, or word of mouth. Happy customers are your best sales staff. Happy employees who understand, believe, and can share success stories about your business are essential to creating happy customers.

Years ago I was the “right-hand assistant” for a funeral director/mortician. My job definition was one line: Help him do his work. One of my regular tasks was to write up, proof, and print the memorial cards for each visitation and funeral. It was better to have extras left over than to run out. I soon learned that most people have a circle of about 250 others who know and or care about them. We printed 250 memorial cards for most services and usually had only a few left over. This was pre-social media; today 6,000 appears to be the accepted reach for our circle of influence.

It’s human nature to share bad news more readily than good news. A happy customer will tell several friends, especially soon after they’ve done business with you. An unhappy customer tells everyone they speak to about their experience and will remember the story for years to come when your business name comes up, or even when the discussion turns to the same industry. Unhappy customers never forget and seldom forgive.

We are blessed with two eyes. As business people that means we keep one on the front line and the other on the bottom line.

Abigail@StraightEdgeSolutions.com

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