New Hope For Recovering Salesmen

Hi, my name is Carey and I’m a salesman. A recovering salesman. And thanks to social media you can recover, too.

Don’t get me wrong, I love sales. It’s even addicting. But I love making a decent living more than sales, which has put me on the road to recovery.

It won’t be easy to give up the familiar sales rush that comes from enthusing across the bows of busy, preoccupied strangers about opinions and hopes that I hope will move them to action. Unfortunately, prospects knew the game as well as I.

My most important opinion: I deserve to get paid for sharing my employer’s opinions of his service or product. My fondest hope: a prospect will give me money before I can finish my pitch. That way I won’t have to ask him or her for the sale.

Most people don’t have the money or interest to purchase; so there was rarely a snowball’s chance in hell of making a sale. And that’s even before my carefully rehearsed pitch had a chance to kill any interest in me or what I’m offering.

We all know great sales professionals who are making money. For example, my friend and advisor Frank Hurtte of River Heights Consulting does his homework, carefully chooses the best prospects, qualifies them, and presents compelling reasons to buy during his carefully orchestrated campaigns.

Times change, of course; and technology will help ease the pain of recovering salesmen. Because online opinions are often bundled with solid information, we can use them together and “sell” even some knee-jerk opinion to somebody–with a stray fact or two as evidence. And when we pass on a favorite blogger’s opinion, we have their gazilllion followers as proof that it has merit.

So take heart. recover and prosper! In the social media age, we have nothing to lose but . . . the nothing on those commission checks.

How can legions of recovering salesmen make a decent living? Stay tuned. But remember: You’ll only be getting one man’s opinion.

The Internet as “Experiential Marketplace”

Image via Wikipedia

(Dedicated to my friends at Jobs Ministry Southwest)
It makes the news when an 89-year-old man straps himself onto the top of a plane for his 20th wing-walking jaunt over the English Channel (http://bit.ly/7IQpwR). He’s one example of the growing experiential marketplace.

It’s not as newsworthy when a laid-off executive sees his or her job status as “just another stage of exploration” and actively begins “tossing aside presumed limitations” by creating or enriching opportunities on the internet. But these men and women achieve much more in the long run than aging thrill seekers.

Their families, industry and community all benefit every day from their vision and bravery.

It takes guts to put aside years of identifying yourself with a title or job description, and adopt entirely new modes of communication. It’s scary to join in the hunt for online success alongside much younger people. First you have to unlearn many outmoded “secrets of success” that you learned over your long, often illustrious career.

You have to see yourself as a leader rather than one more cog in some corporate machine.

You do whatever it takes to stand out, because you’re determined not to fade out.

God bless all those old-timers who challenge their physical limitations to try something completely different. But let’s also honor those who reinvent themselves and transform society into a new and better experiential marketplace.  These pros are charting a more elusive and uncertain territory, and helping improve the life experiences of millions of us uppity “younger folks.”

How not to connect

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One evening many years ago I was standing in line at the train station in Maebashi, Japan. A middle-aged man came up and started practicing his limited English with a rapid-fire series of unrelated questions.

I answered in fluent Japanese, so he knew conversation was possible. But that wasn’t what he was after; he finished his half dozen questions and disappeared down the boulevard; mission accomplished.

For years I laughed at the memory. How could anyone confuse irrelevant, unsolicited phrases with meaningful engagement?

I’ve stopped laughing. Millions of social media users do the same thing and think they’ve accomplished something. The internet has come to resemble an enormous room full of strangers busily talking over each other, and believing they’re maintaining real relationships or selling teeth whitener.

The latter group even thinks they’re trembling on the brink of money for nothing. No really, nothing.

Yet this is how engagement doesn’t happen–it’s “empty calories.”

As our traditional safety nets and sources of recognition evaporate, we all need more personal validation and growth. And belonging to a supportive new culture or “tribe” is what most Americans are seeking. Always have, always will.

The internet is history’s greatest engagement tool. It will also help businesses tap into the greatest asset we could dream of: our internal and external customers. We just need to use it better.

Every tool you need to make authentic engagement your business‘s hallmark is available and waiting. But to paraphrase the Zen saying, you must stop confusing the tools that point toward real engagement with engagement itself.

Stop being unwelcome and irrelevant like that guy in Maebashi. Get in touch.

The World’s Happiest Leader: A Personal Tribute to Tom Beebe

“Imagine that the key to happiness is following your own intuition instead of other people’s opinions and advice.” Alex Ostrowski

Great leaders never stop following their intuition. They maintain a child-like faith in their insights. The rest of us mostly flit from one opinion du jour or breathless bit of “wisdom” to the next, like butterflies fading in the grass.

The greatest leaders create a culture in which employees or followers have faith in their own intuition. Because happiness happens, too.

As a child I was very fortunate to have a Sunday School teacher named Tom Beebe, and will always remember climbing happily onto his lap for a story. At the time he was VP of Personnel at Delta Airlines; he was eventually its President, and Delta became famous as a truly great company to work at (featured on page 253 of In Search of Excellence).

Mr. Beebe built “The Delta Family Feeling” on his amazing intuition about what people need and respond to. He was too smart to leave the fate of his company to impulsive or copycat decisions. For example, every stewardess was chosen from thousands of applicants, interviewed twice and screened by the company psychologist.

But all the procedures didn’t blanket his intuition, they validated it. Every employee gained a new confidence in the intuition that Delta recognized and celebrated. That confidence stayed front and center on the job, and every customer felt special to be served.

Delta made its employees so happy to work there, they once chipped in to buy their company a new airplane.

Today it’s much easier for great leaders to recreate at least part of that excitement. Like Tom Beebe, you’ll acknowledge your intuition and instill it in your employees or team members. All in a matter of hours. With the right tool and a world full of self-educated people, anyone can become a great leader like Tom Beebe.

Other people’s opinions and advice are fine, as far as they go. Just don’t confuse them with what brings real happiness. Use your intuition.

$ — Social Media’s “Lost Symbol”

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Does SEO really generate serious money for the average small business? Here’s a surprising fact: even its own gurus aren’t sure.

At first blush this proposition seems like a no-brainer. Selling means “keeping the funnel full.”  So the bigger your “funnel” and the more eyes you attract, the more money you should make, right? And does anybody not want to be like Google?

Google has huge resources and a growing family of great products. We don’t. If hundreds (or even thousands) of online followers join your list of strangers, have you really filled your sales funnel, or just installed a heating duct in your marketing plan?

There’s a big difference between a funnel and a heating duct. Using a funnel, you qualify your leads and focus your efforts on the best prospects. SEO’s heating duct approach just brings in lots of hot air.

SEO experts say you’ll make money by improving your search engine ranking, and therefore traffic. But even they admit that even major social media sites are money losers and that SEO’s success is uncertain. One of them wrote in a LinkedIn discussion group,

“Rank does not necessarily lead to traffic and traffic doesn’t necessarily lead to conversion. Conversion is the real business goal that we should be delivering in my view.”

Another one asked, “Is social media ROI unmeasurable?” How can he keep taking your hard-earned money if he doesn’t know?

And those same experts dismiss branding and engagement as mere distractions, “intangible excuse[s] we use to avoid the fact that we have nothing to measure.” Sorry, Charlie; there’s actually plenty to measure when you connect with real people. It’s just nothing that moves your money to the experts’ bank accounts.

So you decide. Is your business goal having big numbers that look good on a chart, or smaller numbers that generate real conversion numbers–and lasting relationships. Quantity or quality?

The Marketing Mantra doesn’t try to generate huge numbers or first-page rankings. It will, however, generate measurable results for your branding and engagement efforts. It also documents what led your audience from “stranger” to “supporter” status in their own words.

You can pay experts a lot of money for big readership. Or invest a few dollars and build market leadership. It’s time to authentically engage with identifiable people who’ll keep supporting you because you offer them so much real value.

To learn more, please visit http://www.yourmarketingmantra.com.

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Personalize your company with success

How can we persuade CEOs to create for their all-important knowledge workers:

* An authentic reason to believe–in themselves and their company
* All the tools they know they’ll need to succeed
* A culture that organically nurtures self-education
* An ideal environment to effectively deploy everything they have to offer
* A new sense of trust and hope in the company, and their colleagues
* Many new ways to add value to their team and workplace
* Significant savings in cost and resources, one verifiable percent at a time, and
* A sense of engagement that rivals the best social media interactions?

Anyone who can help wake up a CEO “asleep at the wheel” will gain attention and prestige. But the person who has a practical way to achieve these objectives at every level of an organization will have the field all to him- or herself.

As someone once said, “Don’t be so busy counting your chickens you overlook the ducks standing nearby.”

Every Employee Expects Ownership Today …

… so they may do things that employers find unacceptable. But the employer can expect at the very least some bad PR and branding problems when they take what seems to be justifiable disciplinary action.

For example, Canadian media reported the sacking of a temporary employee by the mall that had hired him to be Santa Claus (http://bit.ly/This_Grinch_Stole_Ownership). The article lead calls the employer “the mall that stole Christmas.” Not great PR in poor economic times.

Mall management reportedly said he was fired because of how he had talked to them; the Santa says it was because he had been giving away candy canes for free.

Both sides are right in a way. But the company’s position is–understandably–strictly brick and mortar thinking.

Companies must recognize that even temporary part-time employees expect to take ownership of his or her position, whatever the company’s goals may be. Parkway Mall in Scarborough didn’t bother getting David Hutchinson engaged and sharing ownership of their Santa operation with him. Now it is famous as a Grinch company that left an employee without income just before Christmas, for doing what he thought was part of his job.

In this day and age, the employee generally gets the benefit of the doubt from the online public. That means he or she  can shape international public opinion.

The Incredible Lightness of Being Responsible

Here’s a foolproof way to simplify your life and achieve more of your goals:

Accept responsibility as often as possible, even when you don’t have to. Here are ten reasons why.

1) You’ll stop worrying about who’s going to take care of a task. It’s always you. Affirm your ability to solve problems and complete tasks, and build self-confidence.

“Yeah, I can handle that; bring it on.”

2) Think about how much time and energy you’ve wasted trying to avoid or reassign responsibility. Waste no more.

“I’ll take responsibility for that. Now let’s get something accomplished together.”

3) You’ll become memorably unique.

“Oh you heard about that? Yeah, that’s me all over. I’m the person who actually enjoys being responsible.”

4) It’s the ultimate “paying it forward” opportunity. Everyone will be more attracted to you, and feel special–you value what they’re doing so much, you want to help them in a meaningful way. And they’ll feel grateful because you’ve relieved them of a burden.

“You’re a special person, with too much on your plate. Let me take responsibility so you can focus on more important stuff.”

5) It will help you bond with people you should work with, versus those who’ll try to take advantage of you.

“Bob, I notice you’re always trying to pass the buck. That isn’t my style. It’s been nice.”

6) And when you do fail (we all do)? You’ll have built up so much good will and recognition, nobody will be too critical. All those people who you’ve trained to become more responsible will be there to cover your back.

“Thanks Jane. I guess I couldn’t handle it by myself after all. Good thing I have friends like you!”

7) One thing we can all use more of is self-discipline and clarity (see #9).

“You all know me as the go-to person who takes care of business. Please help me get my facts straight, and tap into everyone’s expertise and resources!”

8) In the social media age, a leader is the man or woman who brings the most value to the table. Starting today you’ll quickly be identified as a leader, without really trying.

“Let’s tackle that issue together. I’ll take responsibility and you take the credit. How does that sound?”

9) One of my role models is the original fitness guru, Jack LaLanne (born in 1914). Everybody dismissed him as a kook fifty years ago, when he first jumped around doing exercises in Spandex on black-and-white TV. Now he looks a little silly, getting excited about juicers in cheesy infomercials. But he has spent decades making our jaws drop with incredible physical achievements and promoting self-discipline: “I do [exercise] as something to keep me alive. We all need a little discipline. Exercise is my discipline.” Why not make responsibility your discipline?

10) Enjoy the rest of your life more, because you’re so productive now.

“I got a lot done today, Lizzie. Let’s go outside and throw your Frisbee around for a while.”

What’s a Marketing Mantra, anyway?

The Marketing Mantra is a simple and flexible brainstorming tool. It helps an individual build self awareness, an organization build teamwork, and a business build an inclusive culture of employees and customers. This original business solution is specifically designed to help a business or individual succeed in the 21st century. It is driven by core value statements and shared education, just like a social media site. It isn’t about what an individual or team does, but why they do it so well.

The internet has changed our social fabric. In many ways it replicates the classic community, but at a much faster pace. Everyone spends almost every non-working hour educating themselves. They do this in a very customized environment, built around his or her specific needs. And they expect the same in the workplace, marketplace and every business transaction too.

No one must accept manipulation today. Prospects, customers and stakeholders grow more skeptical of, and impatient with, their vendors and service providers. They expect to feel special or rewarded after every task or transaction. They want to feel ownership and authentic engagement every time they interact with you. This makes them feel like future leaders, and ready to help those around them to bond and communicate more effectively for greater productivity.

By communicating uniqueness, you share a promise of real value to others. That makes you more appealing to work with and credible.

All you need is this four-step process. It is simple, repeatable and largely self-managed by participants. Once your team identifies its Mantra, it can function with as much focus as an orchestra, and with you as the “conductor.” You make sure everyone is on the same sheet of music at the same time, and committed to the common goal. The diverse “orchestra” members can then take advantage of each other’s unique strengths and values.

A unique Marketing Mantra prepares any individual or business owner to answer questions such as:

What makes me unique, and uniquely valuable? How can I convince strangers to do business with me within ten seconds of meeting them? How do I identify the best potential followers or business community members? What’s the difference between a Marketing Mantra and a tagline? How can I quickly size up the potential benefits of teaming up with a person or business? How can I create business messages and content that are consistent, clear, concise and compelling? What’s the key to becoming the leader of a group of savvy internet users?

Nobody has the time or interest to dig beneath your job title or list of achievements; they want to connect with you right away. The more clearly you can communicate your unique combination of values, insights and intent or purpose, the more you can authentically engage with others and work with them. Get connected. Get your Marketing Mantra.

Make your Mantra viral with great content …

1. And every new message will add value, somewhere
By creating a Mantra, you’ve discovered what makes you unique. Now use online or offline forums, meetings, blogs and start leveraging that uniqueness. Make greater contributions every time you participate by bringing new value to every discussion, where you work or on the Web. Whether you’re on the Web or working with people who use it, ideas with real merit will help you define a new culture and attract the followers you’ll need to make a difference.

2. And add new value to every contribution
You are already a leader or an acknowledged expert; by raising the “flag” of your Mantra you can begin to attract followers and supporters. As they follow and support you, the sum of their individual contributions will add even more value to the discussions or projects that matter the most. Al Gore got the Nobel Prize not as a former VP, but because all of his followers’ contributions added (real or perceived) value to their communal cause.

3. And watch your leadership gain impact and real relevance
Leadership is no longer bestowed by an institution, or artificially grown in the hothouse of a hierarchy. Whoever brings the most value to their “tribe,” community, group or team will naturally command the respect and attention it takes to attract more followers–because the evolving leader can help every other group member grow and prosper. A hierarchy will promote the myth that benefits “trickle down”; but in our new world, authority trickles up to the person who deserves it the most.

4. So your passion and humanity becomes an added benefit to every follower
A great butler shares many acquired skills and talents. He brings them to life by adding his passion for detail, and his (or her) humanity. A leader shares innate and acquired skills and talents  as extra value for every follower or team member.  Having a Mantra makes it unnecessary to try and command or control anyone. Now you attract them with  content that’s clear, concise and compelling. Every new message will be rich with relevance, proof and real value. Just become more useful and generous, and your followers will become more loyal to you and to each other.

5. And key tasks or decisions will always be on the front burner–where they belong
When you use the Mantra process to complete a project or reach a decision, as a by-product you will have more buy-in, credibility and long-term support. You also empower the group to prioritize what they’ve been working on together. Everyone else will perceive the project or decision’s extra value that your community members have helped make extra valuable. and everyone will see the value of making sure it receives the attention, and gets the credit, that it deserves.

6. And ensure your followers’ commitment to defining and organizing
Forget the silos. On the Web or during the Mantra process, your followers and supporters can come from any background to choose you, or the culture you’re creating around your new Mantra “flag.” Everyone will link up to or  ignore what you’ve done, depending on how much value they see in their interactions with you and each other. Working through the process together will give them get many chances to choose. They will do it constantly so what you’re doing will have an organic and healthy ebb and flow.

7. And make “pushing” (or “pulling”) a thing of the past
In brick-and-mortar organizations, resources were allocated up and down through silos, with little concern for their function, applicability or long-term relevance. More recently, “push and pull” advocates thought they could manipulate our behavior through negative or positive influence. Sharing time and attention is just one way people show who’s the rea boss in every transaction. Get them actively involved in defining and spreading value and build a real community to make a real difference.

8. And lose your fear of sharing your best ideas
The most effective way to copyright your good ideas? Turn that “your” into a plural pronoun. Develop all your ideas as a team. Then you’ll never worry about being beaten to the punch, or who gets the ecredit. No individual can make an idea as good as what a focused team will come up with. And by the time anyone learns of the idea, it will already be at least partially be documented and put into practice.

9. And take on the online (or offline) world with ideas born whole to a group
See number 8–then move into the future with it.

10. And you’ll watch your followers and supporters carry you forward
It’s not just online users who are loyal when they have a substantial say in key decisions, or how a project is being planned and implemented. You may think you’ve built the community you lead; but once the users get involved they are its creators. They truly own it, along with any culture that grows up around it.

11. And give everyone involved a very personal stake in your success
Is the web a testament to the power of intrinsic rewards and the commitment of all the people who grow online communities? Of course it is. And a nation is testament to the sacrifices and vision of all who’ve contributed to its growth. People have always given generously of themselves when they actively contributed to something; they will remain actively engaged with the leader and group that made it happen. Take this to heart and start leading.

12. And find a legitimate, meaningful way to acknowledge those who bring us the most value
Finding a group of millions of individuals with a dream, and giving them an eloquent voice and renewed sense of purpose, is what got Barack Obama elected president. They were ready to overturn the status quo; he gave them a way to do it–by electing him. His problems and loss of popular support started when he didn’t acknowledge their contributions. When he stopped valuing them, their sense of ownership over where the country is heading under his administration disappeared. Avoid making the same mistake, and you can achieve greater success.