Word Marketing Blog

Everyone is in Sales

The fact of the matter is, everyone is in sales.

It could be in the traditional sense of the idea, and you have a solid product or service that you would like someone to buy from you. It could be that you have ideas, which when capitalized or back by investors could really be effective. It could be that you have been wanting a promotion and more compensation. It could be that you want your children to grow up and be your legacy in a positive and impactive way.

In all these situations, sales is required.

If you are a student, parent, teacher, musician, actor, doctor, manager or maybe doing nothing for work, you are still a salesperson. Selling does not necessarily have to involve the exchange of money. In fact, people sell something to others every single day, they may not even realize they are selling or have even ever heard of a selling process.

• Parents sell values and wisdom to their children
• Teachers sell knowledge and learning to students
• Doctors sell skill, advice and comfort to patients
• Actors sell entertainment to the audience

The fact is, to build your company and your brand, everyone needs to sell. At least, gracefully persuade.

I've heard people say "I'm not a salesperson". They are when they want something bad enough. Kids are really good salespeople, sometimes better negotiators.

From this perspective to build brand try these tips:

• Teach and train every staff member that they are salespeople
• Make sales a good word in your company and not a dirty one
• Expose all staff to the same sales training your sales department gets
• In your role-plays (yes, you should be doing them) involve all staff in the role plays, after all when non-sales staff deal with customers, it's not a "dry-run". 

Institute a 4-part belief system into your company:

• Why do you believe in the company?
• Why do you believe in our products and services?
• Why do you believe the customer is better off with our company?
• Why do you believe in yourself?

20/20 Vision

Brands and companies do have some things in common.

One thing is vision.

A vision outlines what the Brand and/or company will look like in the future. I typically recommend to clients to do this for the next 10 years.We revolve the vision around BE/DO/HAVE.

• What do we want the Brand Vision to BE in 10 years?
• What do we want the Brand Vision to DO in 10 years?
• What do we want the Brand Vision to HAVE in 10 years?

These critical elements are then crafted into a Brand Vision Statement to help anchor the Brand Architecture.

• Vision sets the future
• Vision creates the frame in which to paint the picture
• Vision gives the people direction about which way to go

So, as you ponder the future:

• What's your vision for your Brand?
• Do your employees know what it is?
• What do your employees think it is?
• Do they think about it?
• Do you?

Brand Credibility

One of the things I talk to my clients and prospects about when building a brand is "who are you"?

Just as in a human's DNA structure, inside a brand's double helix lies complicated strands of pieces and parts, and one of those is credibility.

Credibility is made up of two parts.

Part 1-Trustworthiness

• When I do business with your brand, will I get what you promised?
• When I do business with your brand, will I get what I expected?
• Will your brand deliver it within the price quoted or budget discussed?

Part 2-Expertise

• When I do business with your brand, do it possess the skill required to deliver the results?
• When I do business with your brand, will you deliver the value I expect?
• When I do business with your brand, will the results you deliver be the best possible?

These are just a very few of the questions to pose when analyzing the credibility portion of brand building potential.

Stressing on Busy

Everyone I talk to is swamped. It's probably a condition of fewer people having more responsibility due to companies cutting back or simply not hiring. But getting stressed out about how busy things are isn't healthy, and even if you go at warp 10 for awhile, you're bound to burn out. With the approaching holidays, things will only get trickier. So how can you cope?

Here are some tips to help make your time more efficient and ease your stress.

1. Take time to plan.It may just seem like something extra to add to your list, but by taking time at the end of each day to look at what you accomplished, what you didn't and what is priority for the next day, you will get peace of mind and avoid taking the stress of the say home into your evening. Added bonus: tomorrow will be much more productive.
2. Learn to prioritize.Structure your to-do list in order of importance and make note o those thing that you would like to get done today and those things that have to be done today.
3. Know that it's okay if you don't get it all done today. It will still be there tomorrow. Relax, take a breath and be proud of what you did accomplish.
4. Learn to group together items that can be completed fairly quickly, and spend a block of time knocking these off your list. Not only will your list get shorter (relief!) but you will feel a sense of accomplishment.
5. Learn to multi-task. Hold your own brainstorming sessions in your morning shower or when stuck in traffic. While working on a project with steps that hold up your computer, also work on a project off the computer in between steps.

Learning to manage your time and your stress will make for a happier you. And the positive side of busy work days ? Weekends come sooner!

Building Brand Requires Focus

What is at the absolute core of your business?

The prevailing cause of "brand rot" in a lot of businesses and organizations is a lack of focus. Focus on the true core of the DNA of that business. Jim Collins calls this "The Hedgehog Concept" in his book, Good to Great. This is made up of three questions:

1. What are you deeply passionate about?
2. What can you be the best in the world at? (and what you cannot)
3. What drives your economic engine?

For small business owners, I also like to ask them:

• What feelings do you experience (or would like to experience) connected with your business? and..
• How do you feel now at the end of every day?

These are just some of the questions connected with the razor focus or lack of razor focus that your business might be getting from you.

Several business problems lie at the heart of a lack of focus:

• Spread too thin
• No prospective customer can actually describe what you provide or who you are
• Too long throwing a lot of things at the wall to see what sticks
• Too much generalist and not enough specialist

In most businesses and organizations, the lack of focus cure can be painful to face, painful to execute, but for the long haul, profitable for sure.

Building Brand Problems for Small & Large Organizations

The benefits of long-term brand building are very similar for both small and large organizations, however some of the most common problems related to brand building are very different.

Most likely brand problems in small organizations:

• No background or skill level in developing a plan for the brand
• Lack of time
• No or little understanding of who is buying their products and services and for what reasons
• Lack of funds
• Little or no marketplace awareness of the brand

Most likely brand problems in large organizations:

• Market/Advertising position is no longer relevant, distinctive or compelling
• Marketing (and other dept) functions are not integrated
• The brand structure (if present) has become too complicated and unclear
• Current leadership doesn't have a clear and accurate view of what the brand position should be
• The brand identity standards and systems have fallen in use or are not measured and inspected anymore
• Organizational structure and bureaucracy work against an invigorated new brand position

Although these are the most common brand building problems, they are certainly not insurmountable. Building brand is an ingredient to staying in the balanced and predictable growth mode for organizations and business.

Christmas Cards

One of my favorite Christmas memories revolves around Christmas cards.

Both of my Grandmothers had houses which contained large ornate wood door facings when entering what we called the "living room". Each year, all of the door facings were decorated from top to bottom all around the large opening scotch-taped with Christmas cards they had received from friends and family.

It was a definite tradition each year.

The first Christmas card was made by Sir Henry Cole in 1843 in London and President Dwight Eisenhower issued the first official White House Christmas card in in 1953.

During the Great Depression, many families sent homemade cards and I can remember family members doing this in my lifetime as well.

Some people forgo the Christmas card and instead send a Christmas letter, which details all the happenings in their family over the previous year and to relay messages of thanks and blessing.

Either way, Christmas cards and letters not only convey a message of appreciation, but also reflect your brand, whether business or personal. Besides being an intimate and effective branding tool, I, for one would like to see this tradition continued and if possible, increased this year. Convey a message of positivity and hope. Sometimes, just the encouragement of such a note could make a huge difference in someone's holiday and could launch them into en entirely different and more productive mindset for 2010.

Make your Christmas card/letter list, check it twice, maybe send to more that have been naughty than nice? Naughty people need love too. Love conquers all.

Tips for Confrontation

Dealing with confrontation is something most people would rather avoid, but it doesn't have to be so painful. For those who choose to do so the right way, it can be an experience that builds character and provides growth. Here are some tips to help make the process less ominous.

1. Decide what the win of the confrontation will be.
2. Think through supporting factors of why this win will be beneficial.
3. Try to envision the upside for the other party involved and articulate it.
4. Put your emotion to the side. Separate the action from the person.
5. Compose your argument. Write it out if possible.
6. Play out the confrontation in your mind, trying to anticipate anything that may cause your emotions to kick in. Determine how you will deal with this.
7. Focus on the win. Don't bring up alternate issues unless they directly impact the win.
8. Take a deep, calming  breath prior to your confrontation.
9. If the other party becomes angry, make them aware. Ask "why are you yelling at me?" This will likely refocus them back on the issue at hand and calm them down.
10. Don't get sucked in to an argument. Preparation is your best defense.

The ability to face confrontation positively is a characteristic of true leadership. Those who manage to do so will find much respect in others, and will gain more confidence and peace within.

My Boss's Day Card

Thanks to the most amazing staff for a wonderful card today on Boss' s Day. It may be one of the best cards I've ever gotten throughout the years. I just wanted to share it with you.

Here is what is says:

"A professional leader, a teacher and guide, someone who's willing to be on your side,

A mentor who helps you and brings out your best--There's a wonderful boss behind every success."

inside it says:

"You're someone who not only knows what it means to be a success, but who knows how to help others achieve their goals."

Happy Boss's Day

Then it's personally signed by the staff members and if I shared those with you, I would cry.

Thanks to the Word Marketing team. You are wonderful.

with love,

Tony

The Art of Listening

This is the first of a two-part post about one of the lost arts, the art of listening.

One of the first things I teach any employee or anyone I personally coach is there are two parts to communication, and you can't do them simultaneously.

They are:

1. Transmitting (talking)
2. Receiving (listening)

While many people actually have difficulty being effective in both parts, listening is the part most evident. Some folks can actively talk on for several minutes, but to actively listen, therein lies the challenge for many people. If you don't slow down to really hear what your superior, your friends, your co-workers, your wife or husband, or (the subject of my blog on Monday) your customers are saying to you, you will make mistakes that will lower their appraisal of your performance and the evaluation of your relationship.

If your head is so busy you can't hear what is being communicated, you will miss important facts and details. Your inability to listen will cause you to make mistakes. If it's important to you to please any of the aforementioned people or groups, it's essential to understand exactly what they want.

It sounds simple, but you really have to focus on what's being said. This takes discipline. You must discipline yourself to listen, otherwise, they will think you are listening, when, in reality, you are a million miles away. Just because you are looking into their eyes doesn't really mean you are listening. If you are really going to actively listen, you have to push everything else out of your mind and deliberately focus on what they're saying.

Train yourself to be a listener.

I can usually tell when someone is really listening ny the kinds of questions they ask regarding the conversation. Asking true clarifying questions is a sign of the active listener. When the conversation is finished, both parties should understand exactly what was being communicated because both were focused and listening to the other. Those who cultivate and develop the skill of listening make good team players because they're better able to understand other people's opinions and positions.

Some people are full of ego and arrogance, they already have their thoughts on the particular situation and they are just waiting for you to finish so they can give their thoughts or shoot you with a pithy comeback. They aren't listening TO you, they are listening FOR you to finish.

Quick assumptions make for poor communication. People are prevented from really hearing what someone is telling them when they assume they already know what the person is trying to communicate. It is really unwise to assume you understand your supervisor's instructions. If you are smart, you'll do these things:

• Take the time to ask good clarifying questions
• Make sure you understand what the other person is asking you to do
• If you have any doubt at all ask more questions, don't make any steps forward until you clear up all questions
• If you assume or pretend to understand when you really don't, you are responsible for any mistake or lack of forward movement, hearing is the foundation for all future actions